Carter Jacob Beckham has arrived!

On July 16 at 11:05 p.m. , our beautiful baby boy...Carter Jacob Beckham was born. He weighed 6 lb., 9 oz. and was 19 inches long. He is so precious and our hearts have already made room to love another little boy as much as our first born.

MY LABOR STORY

My labor began at about 3:00p.m on the afternoon of July 16. I was sitting at my girlfriend's pool and I started having some contractions. I had these same type of contractions the night before but they went away after a few hours, so I just figured these would too. After arriving home at about 3:30, I let Sam watch a video on the couch (and he promptly fell asleep). Shortly thereafter, Brian arrived home from work early with a monster headache, so the two of us layed down for a quick nap before the church picnic. It was during this time that I realized that my contrations were consistently 2-3 minutes apart. This seemed a little odd since I thought contractions were suppose to work their way down to 2 minutes apart.... not start at 2 minutes apart! So, I decided maybe I should start writing them down and timing things...just in case.

While getting ready for the picnic, I continued to time things and the contractions got a little bit more intense. Thinking this was still "false labor" we went to church and while there, the contractions got a little worse. Everyone thought I was crazy for being at the picnic and my girlfirends insisted that I call the doctor.

Next, we dropped Sam off at another church for Vacation Bible School and while in the parking lot I called my doctor. The on-call doctor, Dana Kraker, called back about a 1/2 hour later and asked me to rate my contractions on a scale from 1-10. Playing it on the safe side, I estimated about a 3 or 4. She told me I could come in and get checked if I wanted to or I could wait an hour. I decided to wait and in the mean time, finished packing my bags.

Around 7:30 some really dark storm clouds started rolling in and the TV was warning of severe weather. At this point we decided it was time to go to the hospital to "get checked" before the storm arrived. I was fully prepared that they were going to tell me that I was not in labor and to go home, but I also didn't want to push things too far.

At the hospital, the nurse checked me and announced that I was dilated to a 5 and in active labor. In her words, "Honey, you're having a baby tonight!" My heart started racing as I realized I would NOT be going home and that this was the real deal. My due date wasn't for another 2 days and I was so sure that this baby would be late and that I would have to be induced. I was so excited and relieved that my little boy would soon enter the world. I was definitely sick of being pregnant and ready to rid myself of the extra 30+ pounds, but I was also terrified of going through another labor experience like I had with Samuel.

From 8:00-9:45, I tried to "tough it out", but my contractions got progressively more and more intense until I told the nurse it was time for the epidural. At 10:00, praise Jesus!, the doctor arrived and administered the "good drugs" and in no time I was feeling no pain.. :) From 10:00-10:45, Brian and I watched a little TV and then suddenly I felt A LOT of pressure and the urge to push. I told Brian to call the nurse and upon checking me, she said, "Oh my, you're dilated to a 10, 100% thinned and I suggest you do NOT cough or laugh! That baby is about to fall out!" The doctor came rushing in (Dana Kraker) and said, "This is only going to take about 2 pushes!" Sure enough, by 11:05, Carter Jacob Beckham was born and our lives will never be the same again. He is a blessed addition to our family and we welcome him with lots of love.

Our family

My boys