Thomas Farrell - May 19th, 1999

Ahhh the days before digital photographs!

Before I could start writing the story of Thomas, I needed to find some pictures to scan for the post. I am pretty sure that we did not keep the pics from "First Photo" - the ones they take as soon as the baby is born. I think that they were so awful that I sent them back. So I hauled up two boxes of photos from the basement and started searching. It took about 10 seconds for me to start bawling! (Hormones?) - How could my kids be so grown up already?

I soon found out that for some reason, we did not take many pictures of Thomas. I couldn't find any pictures that were taken while we were at the hospital. Who doesn't take a camera to the hospital? I am sure they are somewhere - I know we took some. Every envelope that I opened would produce an overexposed picture of Thomas, and 23 pictures of Jonathon. I found pictures of Jonathon holding Thomas, but very few of just Thomas. Talk about guilt - I could fill 10 albums with all the pics I have of Jonathon. I hope somehow we can make up for the lack of Thomas baby pics.

Thomas

We had just moved into our first house. Jonathon was just over year old, and he was such a good kid - he went everywhere with us! Soon though, I noticed that he was not so cuddly, he loved Steve more than me, and he wanted to be more independent. He was not my baby anymore!

So we decided to add another member to the family. It sure didn't take very long, and before I knew it, I was doing the pregnant thing again. Except I don't really even remember it. Not like I remember my first pregnancy. I can only really remember the last month. By the time I hit 8 months, I was so ready to have him - I was extremely baby hungry. I used to make fun of people who talked about being baby hungry, but I am sure that I will always be baby hungry.

The last month was one of the longest months ever. For the second time, I was pretty much ready to go at my 36 week appointment. Again, the doctor said to be ready. This time I was absolutely sure that he was coming early. I could tell he was a big baby, even though the doctor said he was just regular size (she predicted he would be about 7-1/2lbs). I could barely walk - I was sure he was going to fall out any moment.

All month long, he just kept getting bigger and bigger. At each appointment I was dilated even more. The week before he was due, the doctor even did something called "Stripping the membranes." We left with the hope of a baby within the next 24 hours. NOPE!
I was due on May 18th - my next appointment was scheduled for May 19th. I was just 100% positive that I would not have to go to that appointment. My last baby was a week early - this one will be early too, right? NOPE!

I was in tears at my next appointment. The doctor took pity on me. She called the hospital to see if they had room for me to come in and be induced. It was 9am - they said that they would probably be able to do it later in the afternoon, and that I should go home - they would call me. They also said that I should not eat or drink anything. I didn't want the doctor to say that I couldn't be induced because I had eaten breakfast, so I skipped breakfast - I hadn't had anything since midnight. I was starving!

The call came at noon and we headed right out. It still took another hour before they actually got a room ready for me. Still another hour to get the IV and everything going. So finally by 2 in the afternoon, it was time to break my water. I was already having mild contractions by this time, but when my water broke, they came full on. It went so quickly - I remember trying to decide if we wanted to watch a movie, and then before we could pick one, it was time to push.

Thomas was by far my easiest delivery of all the kids so far. Things were calm and relaxed and I remember being able see to mostly everything as it was happening. I think I pushed twice, and he was out. Before the doctor could even think about getting his little shoulders out, he punched his fist right out and put a tear down there sideways - not like I felt it - Good Ol' Epidural! It did take a few extra stitches to get everything sewed up, but still, didn't notice.

He sure wasn't 7-1/2lbs!

I was just so glad that he was finally here.

This is the earliest picture that I could find.
He is 10 days old

We named him Thomas Farrell
(After Grampy - Farrell Eastman)

He was born at 5:08 pm

He was 8lbs 14oz and 21 inches long

(If I'd have eaten breakfast he would have been 9lbs!)