Surprise! Baby is Here!

Born nearly six weeks before his due date, Samuel Albert Fullam arrived on Wednesday, August 6, 2008, at 12:07pm. He weighed 5 lb., 11 oz. and was 18 inches long. Thankfully, he had no health problems and, after 6 hours of NICU observation, was able to room with us and discharge on time.

At about 8pm on August 5th, I noticed my water had broken while Steve and I were at home watching a movie and eating dinner. Well, we thought that's what it was, but we couldn't believe it would have happened so early, at only 34 weeks! I wasn't feeling any contractions, but we realized there was "no turning back," and figured since he was so early, we had better get to the hospital sooner rather than later.

At the hospital, we discovered I was dilated to 3cm, and the nurses suspected I had been having contractions for several days. However, it took us some time watching the contractions on the monitor before I could identify them, since they were still painless. The nurse had difficulty administering the correct amount of Pitocin; too little would leave the contractions highly irregular and ineffective, but too much made them come too fast. By 8am on August 6th, I was definitely feeling the painful contractions, but the nurse said, "as irregular as they have been, you can't even count last night as labor." Ha! Having made no progress (still at 3cm), I received an epidural at that time. Everything was blissful after that, and three hours later, it was time to push. Pushing was not very difficult or tiring (thanks to the epidural, and probably because Sam was so small), but required concentration, since I couldn't feel what I was pushing! Steve did a great job coaching me through the whole process.

Once Samuel was born, he was immediately taken to the NICU, as a precaution, until he could 1) maintain his body temperature, 2) demonstrate independent breathing, and 3) eat successfully. He passed his "tests" with flying colors! At about 6pm, he joined us in our hospital room and stayed until we were both discharged on Friday. The nurses called him the "Little Peanut" because of his size.

We couldn't help feeling relieved that he would not have to remain under observation in the NICU. God is so good! Throughout the pregnancy, we have prayed that Samuel's whole life would bring glory to God. What a way to start his life! The Lord receives extra glory by demonstrating his power to provide a healthy baby at such a premature age. We are honored to witness such a miracle!