It started with a drop.....

Somewhere along the way, we had convinced ourselves that Baby Hawkins was going to arrive in one of two ways:  1) Very late with a scheduled inducement on May 11th or 2) through a highly dramatic late night race to the hospital.  Fortunately, for us, it didn't quite happen like you see it in the movies.  Around 7:30 p.m. during a leisurely stroll through the neighborhood, Penny commented that something didn't seem right.  Needless to say, Penny was very right, because about the time we cut our walk short and came home, Penny's water seemed to break.  Yes, I was the husband who said "peeing your pants is cool," but don't worry I quickly became the serious husband caretaker after realizing she was being very serious!  

After talking to the Doctor's office, we took our time getting some things straight around the house, including folding clothes, taking a shower and making sure our wonderful friends Steven and Caren could take care of Otto and then it was off to the hospital!

Last pregnancy photo prior to heading to the hospital

The trip to the hospital was quickly derailed when I suggested it may be a good idea to stop for some sort of ice cream treat (I mean, they do say eat before you get there), so we stopped for a Frosty at Wendy's.  

We arrived at Presbyterian Hospital around 10:00 p.m. on Monday night, only to discover that all 7 front row Maternity parking spots were full.  After finding a handy spot next to the elevators, we strolled into the hospital with no grunting, no heavy breathing, or anything.  I think it took 2.2 seconds for them to confirm that Penny's water had indeed broken and we were going to be admitted to the Labor and Delivery unit.  We were very fortunate to be paired with an excellent nurse, April, who would guide us through a very long night.  

After getting settled into room 852 for a night of laboring, we decided that since Heidi was not going to make it back from Oregon in time for all of the fun, we should take the laboring to Heidi, so we pulled out our Apple gear and facetimed for a hour or so.

Heidi via Corvallis, OR in Room 852 at Presbyterian Hospital

And, the night went on and on and on, with Penny continuing to dilate and neither Penny nor Matt getting a lot of sleep.  Around 7 a.m., April rolled off shift and we met Sherry, who would be spending some quality time with us today.  Between 10 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. Penny dilated to 4 cm, but what was amazing was that by the time Matt got back from getting a biscuit for breakfast, Penny had dilated to 9 cm in almost 1.5 hours.  Shortly after mid morning, grandparents rolled in for a final visit before Baby H was due to arrive.  RaRa, Grampy Hecht and Gee were able to spend a hour with Penny and Matt prior to the push party.  

As the grandparents left to get lunch, Penny and Matt met Dr. Fletcher for the first time.  Dr. Fletcher was the only doctor they didn't get to meet during their visits over the last 39 weeks, but was also one of the doctors who came highly recommended at the practice.  

Matt getting ready for delivery - nervous much?

After many hours of work with Sherry and Dr. Fletcher, Penny was ready to deliver and a huge surprise was about to be revealed.