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Revised: 01 Nov 2008 20:55:03 -0500      

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Elijah Parker Empke

Born:  August 18, 2002 at 4:00 a.m.

At:  Mt. Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario

7lbs 14 oz., 19 3/4 inches

Once again, pregnancy was hard.  Not as bad as Sloane, but lots of barfing.  Once again, names were hard to come by, but at least our naming convention made the search for the first name a simpler process.  And no, he is not named after that Lord of the Rings actor. 

It was a Saturday and Marg had been having contractions on and off all day.  We were old pros by this time so we didn't panic and rush to the hospital.  But eventually, Marg became suspicious that she was leaking amniotic fluid, so off we went.  We went to Marg's parents first and had dinner and then off to the hospital around 9 pm.  And lo and behold, they didn't want to admit her - her contractions were not that strong.  But the hospital wasn't busy, she was dilated so they kept us anyway.  Room wasn't quite as nice as last time - no recliner for Colin.  But nice, nevertheless.

After we were admitted, the doctor came to conduct her first exam and had hardly started when POP the water broke.  Everywhere.  Doctor figured Marg had been leaking for awhile and had better deliver sooner rather than later to avoid the risk of infection.  So drugs were administered to speed things up.  By 1 am, the epidural was inserted (and boy, was that an ordeal - ask us about it) and things were progressing. 

At 3:55 am, the nurse asked if anyone had conducted an internal check recently.  No one had, so the nurse checked - 7cm.  Based on usual expectations, another 2 hours was expected.  As soon as the nurse finished, Marg felt the urge to push.  Another quick check and 9cm was the situation.  Nurse called for the doctor; Marg said "He's coming" and yes, his head was right there.  A resident arrived, one push later, out popped Parker.  The OB arrived in time to deliver the placenta.  All was fine.  Indeed, Parker came out so fast he didn't have a cone head - people thought he was delivered by C-section.

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