SURPRISE!!

Samuel Hyrum Palmer

8.0 lbs, 20 1/2 inches

Born June 1

In the early hours of Tuesday, June 1 this little guy decided it was time to meet the family. He'd heard plenty of singing, hollering, roughhousing and general noise going on to be curious and just couldn't wait until either his due date - June 19 - or his inducement date - June 11. In this picture he looks pretty beefy, and I must say for almost 3 weeks early he was a good size, but he's not quite as big as this picture makes him look. He was just flexing and puffing out his chest for his first picture.

I'm relieved he was born early, since he could have gained considerably more weight in his last few weeks. On the other hand, my procrastination made it so that I had just opened the baby clothes boxes the day before he was born. I had been doing his laundry all day and had just put a few of the things in the dresser I got for him last week. I just thought I was such a seasoned mom - no need to spaz out and rush to get everything ready too early. In fact, I had to pack my hospital bag in the middle of the night after I realized that my water had broken. Maggie had been born within 3 hours of my water breaking and I was nervous that Samuel would follow suit. He didn't, so I had all night to lay there and stew about all the things I hadn't gotten ready.

In the morning we tossed the kids at our very kind neighbors, the Zimmermans, and headed to the hospital. Maggie had a fever and was crabby, as was just our luck. The poor Zimmermans - we've given them our last few sicknesses. I hated that I really had no choice but to hand over a sick kid, but I wasn't doing this labor alone like I did with Maggie! Above you can see the kind of hovering that goes on all day. All the kids want to hold and touch and kiss him.
When we got to the hospital Joe joked that we were going to be sent home doing "the walk of shame." You see, I was pretty sure, but not positive that my water broke. The thought of doing all the checking in to the hospital and laying around in a hospital gown just to be sent home was disheartening to say the least. Thankfully the nurse came back and said the tests showed that my water did indeed break. Yippee! Sammy was on his way.
They hooked me up to pitocin and we spent many hours waiting and waiting for this little guy to show up. I was afraid it was going to be an all day affair like it was with the first 3 kids, but after stalling out for a while he made his appearance. I still couldn't believe he had arrived so early!
We're so happy to have our sweet little Samuel with us. He's definitely making life busy and interesting and the kids can't wait until he grows up a little so that they can interact with him. Right now they're being very good helpers by holding him so that Mom can get a few things done here and there. Okay, I'm not really getting anything done, but it's nice to be able to grab something to eat or go to the bathroom without someone attached to me.
Maggie and Daniel had great fun visiting me in the hospital. They took turns being the patient and loved the fact that I ordered them fruit cups and doughnuts for snacks during their visits. Dan was so excited that he kept doing handstands and karate kicks through the halls and in my room. At least we were in the hospital already - he was seriously pushing the bounds of safety with his wild exuberance.
We've been very blessed with kind neighbors and friends who have helped us out with child-care and bringing meals and food. Thanks everyone for all of your well-wishes!