jack anders is born!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

here is a recent e-mail sent to everyone announcing my son's birth!!!!!!!!!!!:

"jack is finally here! i went into labor thursday, june 7th. i was a week past my due date. dan and i went out to eat at applebees since it was our 4th wedding anniversary. i didn't feel "well", but i had false alarms the entire week and i was determined to celebrate my anniversary. when we got home about 7:30pm i started having contractions. i timed them and it seemed like it was the real thing! we called the hospital and they agreed that we should come in. we were admitted to the hospital at about 10:30pm.

i had a long labor--27 hours. my body just didn't respond well to labor. my dr. said my uterus didn't do what it needed to do. plus, after the fact, it was determined that my amniotic fluid was extremely low and jack had been in slight distress for about a week.
long story short -- at about 22 hours and 4 centimeters dilated i gave up going drug-free and got nubain. mistake! it didn't take my pain away, i just felt like i was "stoned". or, how i suppose you would feel when stoned. then, my dr strongly suggested an epidural so i could relax and dilate, or else she felt i would be headed toward a c-section. i fully agreed with her. after about ONLY AN HOUR i went from a 4 to 10 centimeters!!! hooray! so i got to push. i know i wanted a drug-free delivery... BUT I ALSO WANTED TO AVOID MAJOR SURGERY. so, i am glad i avoided c-section.

jack anders schroeder was born at 10:04pm on friday, june 8th. he was very alert despite the drugs and i was able to feed him right away and he is a champ! he eats very well and is satisfied. he weighed 9 lbs. 2 oz. he is 23 inches long. he has dark brown hair, huge hands and feet, and long fingers and toes. i think he has my father's bigggggg head. i really think he looks like me as a baby and that's really neat. i do hope he gets his father's nose and beautiful green eyes. we will see.

oh, by the way, i am fine! i was up and walking even with the epidural and i am just a bit tired. dan keeps saying how great i look and i am reveling in the compliments. :) i don't think i look so amazing, but i will say that i weigh less now than when i got pregnant. jack has been a super star the entire pregnancy, and he continues to make mommy happy!

dan was so great. he helped me out a lot. he took a very active part in the delivery and he was pretty amazed by it all. he continues to be a great help. he is a pro at calming jack down with the swaddling and etc. i will have to have him teach me exactly how he does it. right now i just hand jack over and let daddy do it.:)"

this is the photo the hospital took for their website. jack is about 24 hours old in this photo. this is the first photo i have of my baby. more will follow soon!!!!!! by the way, doesn't it look like he's going to punch you with his "left hook"?:) "mama said knock you out" (L.L. Cool J)