Okay, I'm the first to admit that my birth story is not nearly as exciting as Candace, but here it is regardless. I'm a little long-winded, so prepare yourself for a novel.

Let me start out by saying that I am a very impatient person. I don't like surprises - I like feeling in control of my situation at all times. Now rarely does this happen, but I can always hope. Anywho, ever since my 37th week I had been more than ready to have this baby. So I did what I could to try and encourage the little tyke to prepare himself to come into this world. Everything from getting my membranes stripped (3 times!) to jumping on the trampoline, doing LOTS of walking, etc. What did this extra effort get me? NOTHING.

On the 30th I went to my 39-week checkup and had my membranes stripped for the 3rd time, and went about my day just knowing that it was all in vain. By then I had given into the fact that Jack was going to come out when he was good and ready, and it wasn't going to be anytime soon. So I went to Target, the hardware store, finished winterizing our house, picked Isabelle up from school, etc. Dinnertime came and went without too much excitement or drama, then it was time for bed. At 11 p.m. Aaron crawled into bed, and I decided that now would be a good time to hit the potty so maybe I wouldn't have to wake up in an hour and do the same. So I began my 3-point-turn to roll myself out of the bed. As I went into the first turn, I felt something nice and warm. Hmmm. Finished maneuvers 2 and 3 and walked down the stairs where I realized that it was my bag of waters that was leaking, and I really wasn't peeing on myself. One thing I will not give up is my bladder control!

After a couple of minutes I climbed back up the stairs and said to Aaron - "Honey, I think my water just broke." To which I received several whoops of joy and hands clapping. At 11:15 on the dot my contractions started. Called the nurse at the hospital and she said to come on in, as by then the contractions were getting much closer. So I wandered into Vince's room, had a half-sleeping conversation with him and explained that I was pretty sure that he would in fact be sharing a birthday with his little brother, and that he was in charge of his sisters while we were gone. Oh, and YES, he would still have to wake up and go to early morning seminary AND to school. I'm such a mean mom!

On our way to the hospital we called our good friend Amanda, (who is a high school senior and wants to be a nurse) as she wanted to be present for the birth. By the time we got checked into triage in Labor and Delivery, she walked in the door ready to stand by for the long haul. Let me just say that these contractions were the strongest I had ever felt with any of my previous labors, and I'm no wimp. Never having had my water break on its own before, whoa man was I ready for an epidural! So we walked to the delivery room, I got situated, and Aaron went to deliver some candy to the nurses. THIS IS A MUST FOR ANY WOMAN!!! About 10 minutes later the Nurse Anesthetist walked in the room, chomping on a piece of candy and said, "You're the ones that brought the candy. This should be quick and easy!" And whammo, I had my epidural.

Aaron and Amanda both fell asleep at this point, and I had a little time to myself to prepare myself mentally for the fact that our last baby was about to enter the world. Hooray! I was at 9 cm. at 4:30, but we had to wait for the doctors to deliver another baby, so at 5:00 a.m. it was finally time to push. 3 contractions and 15 minutes later, Jack Robert MacDonald was born, weighing in at 8 lbs. 13 oz. 21 inches long. Nobody wanted (or dared) to cut the cord, so I got to do that - another first for me. We went home the next afternoon, and all is well! As for the name, Jack is named after both of his grandfathers. He is an absolute joy and we just love him to pieces. And that's all I have to say about that :-)