Hudson Has Arrived!!

Our little Hudson Taylor has finally arrived!  We welcomed him into the world on July 6th at 3:25 in the morning.  He weighed 7lb 8oz and was 19in long.  I still can't believe that he is here already. 
For all of you out there dying to know the whole story, here it is...
Tuesday went just as any other day would go.  I went to P'cola to buy groceries that morning, and then took Silas to the pool that afternoon.  After dinner, Nathan, Silas and I decided to take our new stroller out for a test drive.  We ended up walking about 3 miles!  When we got back, I put Silas to bed and got ready myself.  At about 11:00, I started having some contractions, but I though they were just Braxton Hicks because I have been having them off and on for about 2 weeks.  I knew that something was different when I couldn't lay down on my side when I got into the bed.  I thought that maybe sitting up would help to ease the pain and make the contractions go away, but that didn't happen.  This led to me getting up several times, going to the bathroom, and beginning to look at the consistency of these contractions.  At 12:45, Nathan woke up and I told him that I thought "this was it. The baby could be coming."  He wanted to go to the hospital, but I told him I wanted to wait a little longer.  I wanted to make sure that I was really in labor before we made the trek to P'cola.  
The contractions continued coming every 3-5 minutes, and at 1:30 Nathan said that we were going to the hospital.  We called mom and dad to tell them we were going to the hospital and a lady from our church to come and stay with Silas.  While I was trying to tell her what to expect from Silas later that morning, my water broke.  I still thought we had plenty of time to get to the hospital.  
We hadn't gotten far from the house when I realized that we had left our camera at home.  I didn't want to go back, so we continued to P'cola. The closer we got into town the more I thought about not having a camera.  I told Nathan I wanted him to stop at Wal-Mart on the way to the hospital to pick up a camera.  "Five minutes won't make that big of a difference," I told him.  Who knew that getting a camera at Wal-Mart at 2 o'clock in the morning would be a challenge.  Nathan went in and quickly found a camera, but had to leave it behind because there were a couple of people in front of him checking out at the only register available.  When he got to the car, I told him that he had made a good choice because my contractions had gotten pretty intense and were coming closer together now.  
When we got to the hospital, I was already dilated to 7.  I immediately told the nurse that I wanted to get an epidural.  She looked at me and said that she had to get my blood work done before I could get the epidural.  Nathan heard another nurse say that she didn't think there would be time for an epidural, and that made him cringe a little because he knew how set I was on having an epidural.  
The nurse was right.  There was no time for an epidural.  Just a few minutes after that our little Hudson was born.  The on-call doctor barely made it in time to deliver.  The nurses were ready to deliver, but the doctor came in right as Hudson was entering the world.  
I still can't believe how all this happened.  I thought having an epidural was the way to go, but if all of my deliveries are as fast as this one was, going natural might be the way.  I have felt so much better with this delivery that with Silas.  I have been able to get up and walk quicker, I haven't had as much back pain, and I just feel better overall.  Well enough talk.  Here are some pictures of our little Hudson.  Hope you enjoy.