So . . . .One of the most exciting things that has happened recently is the birth of my first nephew, Eli. My youngest brother John and his wife Darby received their "little" blessing 5 days late on April 10th. Below is Darby's account of Eli's arrival. I also posted a link to Eli's Blog (see right).

Here's my version of Eli's birth. Our doula is also writing a birth story for us, but I thought I'd write one in the meantime to fill you in on how it all came about.
After 31 hours and 15 min. of labor, Eli Gordon Perkins was born on April 10 at 7:45 am, weighed 9 lbs. 14oz. and was 23 inches long. He was 5 days past his due date. I went to bed Saturday, the 8th and woke up around 12:30 with my water broken. I was pretty sure that that is what happened. I didn't have any contractions yet, so I tried to go back to sleep as best I could. In about 30 min. I felt small contractions in my back about every 6 min. I finally woke John up and told him my water broke. Around 2:00 am I called my doula, Monika, and told her what was going on. She said that I need to try and get rest for now, but to call her in a few hours. We laid in bed until around 5:00, and my contractions were about 5-6 min. apart. So, we decided to get up and call family to let them know it was time and go ahead and make the drive from Dallas. Since my water had broken, we knew it was time. After being up, packing, eating, and walking, my contractions were pretty irregular...sometime 6 min. apart, some 10 min, etc. Around 8:00, I fell asleep on the couch, and the contractions slowed even more. My family arrived around 10:00 or 11:00 just to check in, and I was still making very slow progress. I was still able to talk and laugh at this point, and it had almost been 12 hours. Monika was a little concerned b/c I was feeling the contractions in my back, which probably meant that I had a posterior baby...he wasn't positioned right. My doctor was very cooperative with us staying at home as long as possible, but she told us that we needed to go to the hospital for sure by 6:30 so that I could get some antibiotics since my water had been broken for so long and there was risk for infection. Around 2:00 or so, my contractions had become more intense thanks to ideas and techniques from Monika. They came on strong pretty quickly. John was so helpful. He definitely got a workout massaging and putting pressure on my back. We continued to labor at home, Monika continued to try techniques to turn baby, and I was in the zone. 6:30 came and it was time to go to the hospital for antibiotics. I dreaded the car ride, but it wasn't too bad. After arriving at the hospital, I had hard back labor for 6 more hours. I was stuck at 8 cm for 3-4 hrs and was exhausted at this point. It had been 24 hrs. since my water had broken, I wasn't progressing, Eli wasn't turning, and my energy was dwindling. So, we decided it would be best to get an epidural. We had a little scare after I got the epidural when Eli's heart rate dropped from 140 to 90, but after they stimulated him some, it came back up. Apparently that can be common after an epidural. It was pretty scary...more so for John since I was out of it. I was able to sleep for a few hours, then they woke me up and told me it was time to push. I had finally dialated to 10! I pushed for 2 hrs. and 45 min. longer, and Eli was finnally able to turn at the last minute. John asked to "catch" the baby, but when he was crowning, my doctor told him to grab his head and pull! John got to deliver our son! The whole experience was more intense than we expected, but it was amazing and worth the hard work! I couldn't have done it without the help and support of John, Monika, and my sister, Brynn. Eli is doing well, and we are enjpying our new family!