Samuel has arrived!

Announcing the arrival of Samuel Patrick Iverson! We are so excited that he has finally come!

Here are the key stats:

Due Date: 4 March 2011

Born: 26 February 2011 (6 days early) at 10:37am

Weight: 7 lbs. 15 oz.

Length: 21 inches

Total time in labor: 6 hours

Total time at hospital before being born: 4 hours

Amount of pain medication Jenn took: None!

Health of baby: Perfect

Health of mother: Perfect

Hair: He has less than either Henry or Ellis, and it has a decidedly reddish tint to it.

Nose: Not quite as Allred-Griffin-ish as H & E's are. A bit more like mine, we think.

First-name Namesakes: Samuel Smith (check out the link if you have time-it's worth the read), Samuel from the Old Testament, Sam Nephi's brother, Samuel the Lamanite.

Middle-name Namesake: Patrick is my Grandmother Whitesides' maiden name, and I've always wanted to honor the strong Patrick family.

What we will call him: Sam (Ben's preference), Sammy (Jenn's preference, while he's little), Samuel (when he's in trouble)

I'll forgo the blow-by-blow account of Sam's birth because it all went surprisingly according to plan, which was: contractions start, they get really bad, they get even worse, her water breaks and a few pushes later he is born. That's pretty much how it all happened.

Before I let you look at more pictures (no skipping ahead, cheaters!) I just need to mention 3 things:

1. Jenn did an absolutely incredible job managing the pain and doing this completely naturally. I even overheard the nurses and the midwife all commenting to each other on how well she did. I have to admit that I was nervous when Jenn told me she wanted to go without the epidural (and I'm not even the one that has to go through the pain!), but she was a real trooper and I would totally do it again. To be honest, for me this was by far the easiest of the three births. And, I think that Jenn might say the same thing.

2. Part of what made it easier was having an incredible midwife who coached Jenn through the whole process. I really liked having a midwife there throughout the process rather than an OB/GYN who pops in from time to time to see how she's doing.

3. I'm so thankful that there were no complications this time around. Both Henry and Ellis had heart rate issues during their births which caused the birth to be really rushed (in Henry's case, a C-section, in Ellis', forceps). Sam's birth was actually really calm, as there was no rush to get the baby out at all. It was incredible to be able to really soak in the true miracle that birth is this time around.

And now, I present Samuel Patrick:

The experienced big brother. Or, as he puts it, the big, big brother.

The newly-appointed big brother. He's already a natural at the role, however: at the hospital today he tried to share his chocolate chip cookie with Sam.

That's a lot of boys for one house. Let the fun begin!