A little after midnight on Thursday morning, Betsy began having contractions. Bill stayed home from work to keep an eye on her, and Betsy's sister Cindy drove down from Denver early Thursday afternoon to help out. At about 3 that afternoon we decided we should probably head to the hospital, as Betsy's contractions were about 5 minutes apart (though they weren't that strong, yet). When we got to the hospital we found out that Betsy was only 4 cm dilated, however she also had a slight fever and raised blood pressure. Additionally, the baby's heartbeat was somewhat erratic, so Betsy was admitted. When we got to the room, the contractions continued, but Betsy wasn't dilating any more, so the doctors were concerned. The doctor thought the fever and high blood pressure were caused by some sort of infection. Additionally, it appeared that her water had broken sometime before, but because the baby was sitting so low, it's head was acting as a cork. At midnight, the contractions were very strong, but Betsy was still only 4 cm dilated. Given the slow progression, and all of the other issues, the decision was made to do a C-Section.
The C-Section went off without a hitch, and Bill got to hold Betsy's hand through the procedure. At 1:17 am on Friday, October 22nd, our baby was pulled from the womb, and Bill got to announce to the world, "It's a boy!!!" He weighed 7 lbs 10 oz, and measured 21 inches. The poor little guy's head was fairly oblong from several hours of trying to ram his 10 cm head into a 4 cm hole, but other than that, he was perfect. Bill and Betsy decided to name him William Michael Douglass, Jr, and call him Liam, since it's the last 4 letters in William. Liam also means "handsome" in Irish, which definitely applies to the little guy. He's a looker, especially now that his head is back to normal.
On Saturday morning Liam was circumcised. It was a fairly traumatic experience for the little guy, but he handled it like a champ. Bill got to "assist" on the procedure by letting Liam suck sugar water off his pinky finger to help soothe him. Part of the procedure involves putting a metal "bell" under the foreskin, over the head of the penis, to protect the penis from the scalpel. The doctor had to use a larger bell than usual, as Liam is definitely his father's son.
Betsy is recovering nicely from her procedure, Liam is eating regularly and passing all of his tests with flying colors. Betsy's parents are here helping out, and Bill's will arrive tomorrow to meet their new grandson. If all continues to go well, Betsy and Liam will be discharged tomorrow, and we will go home and start this next exciting chapter in our life. The adventure continues...
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