And Again!

Keegan Jameson Hebert finally arrived on Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 12:59 am. He weighed in at 6 lb. 12 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. I say "finally" arrived because we have been expecting him to arrive early for weeks. Shauna was taking medication for pre-term labor for weeks, and at her Dr. appointment last Wednesday, she was dilated to 3 cm and 75% effaced, causing us to expect him any minute! I have kept my phone with me every second and checked in with poor Shauna several times a day all week, or should I say stalked Shauna all week, lol. At this week's appointment, which we never thought we would get to, she was still dilated to 3 cm. She looked so disappointed when she came out to the waiting room and said she would be induced in another week.
But that evening at 6:10, while Kirk and I were eating at Applebee's, she texted me that she had lost her mucous plug. I was so excited and knew he was coming soon! At 8:56 she texted again that her contractions were 3 minutes apart and pretty uncomfortable, and they were "going to stick around another hour and see how it goes." We were picking the kids up at church, so we hurried home and got packed up for the hospital. She texted at 9:17 and said they were going to leave as soon as they got Coop packed up. Texted again at 9:45 that they had talked to the nurse and were going to go get checked, and were leaving soon... 9:56 "getting in car" and no need for us to rush, she wanted to make sure they would actually take her. Well, we were already on the road so we could get there first to take over care of Cooper for them (she had said they couldn't reach Teri). We arrived in the parking garage at 10:11 and they drove up shortly after us. (My cell phone kept great records for me!)
We all made our way in with sleeping Cooper, but left all our stuff in the car until we knew they would keep her (I knew they would!) Teri was inside waiting for us. Shauna got signed in and went back to be checked. Noah came out an hour or so later and said she had only been at 3 1/2 cm, but they were keeping her. She was getting into the hot bath to see if it helped and he asked Dustin to go get their bags from the car, then went back in to be with her. Cooper was still sleeping and Teri wasn't sure if she should stay or take him to her house, but we chatted and waited.
About 12:55 am, I said I wished we knew what was happening and Teri had Dustin check her phone. There was a text from 12:50 that said she was at 10 cm and they were just waiting for the doctor! Wow! That got us excited and wide awake! Then Dustin got a text that said "Keegan Jameson Hebert arrived at 1 am sharp! I'll send pics as soon as I can." We were just amazed that he was really here! Then a darling picture arrived on Kirk's phone, which he sent to his laptop so we could see it enlarged. He put pics of Caleb and Cooper, as a newborn, up too and put all three side by side. We just kept gazing at our three blessings while we waited to go in to see the newest one.
Around 1:07 we heard the "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" song play and we knew it was for him. They had wanted Cooper to press the button to play the song, but he was fast asleep. It seemed like we had to wait a very long time, until finally the security guard came out and said we could come back. We went to the room, and Shauna was sitting up in bed, smiling, but there was no baby in the room. They said he was having some trouble breathing and had been whisked off to the nursery after only 2 or 3 minutes. Noah said he could take us, two at a time, to see Keegan, so Teri said Kirk and I could go first while she held the still sleeping Cooper.
Keegan was so little! He was on a warming bed with lots of wires, but he looked good. His breathing was not labored like Cooper's was and his numbers looked great. I felt very relieved!
I got to touch his little toes and I said a little prayer to ask God to watch over him and heal him.
We left the hospital about 2:30 am and went home for a little sleep, although I got none. Later that morning, I picked up flowers and a Birth Day cake and arrived at the hospital around noon, but Keegan was still in the NICU. I got to go see him when Shauna fed him in the afternoon. He didn't come into the room until around 8 pm that night, so we saw him and toasted him, but didn't get to hold him.
Keegan came home the next day (15th) and when I took dinner over to them, I finally got to hold him! He seems SO small, but he is so sweet! Thank you Lord that he is doing well and home!