Introducing Hudson Taylor!!

When Ronnie and I were dating, we both talked about desiring four children after we got married. After having three boys in a row, I knew I wanted to try one more time for a girl. :) Ronnie wasn't so sure he wanted any more babies, but August rolled around, and once again, we were pregnant! I was so excited! This pregnancy was completely different from the other three, including many scary side effects that kept me on my knees praying throughout the pregnancy.

It felt like the days went by so slowly waiting for 20 weeks so we could find out the gender. Finally, the day rolled around, and we took the whole family in to find out the gender of our new family member. After minutes of looking at the screen, Brayden asked the million dollar question, "Is it a boy or a girl?" When the sweet ultrasound technician, Sarah, paused then said, "I don't want to tell you!", I knew instantly that we were once again seeing blue. :) After a day of processing, I was excited about the idea of having a house full of boys. After all, we do live in Wilson Hall!

Since we hadn't planned on being pregnant, I took a new part time job this year in addition to agreeing to direct two shows for CYT. My last day of work was going to be May 25th. The second show I signed on to direct was to take place the final two weekends of May. And guess when baby Hudson was due? May 25th! I decided to risk it and continue working and directing the CYT show, knowing that none of my babies had ever been early.

Well, proving once again that this pregnancy was nothing like my other ones, Hudson decided to come 2 1/2 weeks early! On the evening of May 14th, I came home from one of my CYT performances and just didn't feel quite right. I called my friend Martine who had just had a baby two months earlier to ask her how to know if I was going into labor soon. She recommended that I pack my bag just in case. I did just that, and the next morning at 6:20 a.m., I woke up because my water broke! I called the doctor, and we headed in to the hospital. I wasn't having any contractions, so I was given Pitocin to start contractions.

All three of my other boys were born in four hours or less, so I completely expected this baby to do the same. However, it had been 6.5 hours since my water broke, and I was still not progressing. I was having regular contractions, but they weren't very intense. The doctor came in (I think she was slightly disappointed that I wasn't progressing as quickly as normal either) and decided to do an internal monitor to monitor the level of my contractions. Well, something must have happened when she put on that internal monitor, because once she did, things started progressing quickly. After a couple of hard contractions, I started losing my focus. I really wanted some pain relief. I started asking for an epidural, but just like my other three birth experiences, it was "too late" for an epidural. I was not too happy about that! But, things did progress quickly, and after an hour and a half of hard labor, Hudson Taylor was born!

This little peanut was only 6 pounds, 4 ounces and 20 inches long. I am so in love with him!!