Stone Loving Soccer

Stone started playing soccer for the first time and is loving it! In the first few minutes of his first game he took the ball down the field and scored the first goal! Everyone cheering (and the other team getting the ball) was a bit too much excitement and he ran off the field not to return that game. :-) His courage (and goals) have increased since! He's playing with two very good friends from school and they are all having a blast!

Welcome Sierra Grace Hensley!!

On Monday, August 10, 2009 @ 1:51 a.m., Sierra Grace Hensley was born in Raleigh, NC. Both mom and dad were very excited to have another healthy baby join their family. Mommy was especially happy that labor did not last as long as her first baby (Sterling was a 24 hour process with over 1 hour of pushing).

I think the nurse and doctor were a little shocked though that it went as quickly as it did. I have never seen 2 people move so fast as when they realized that Sierra was ready to come into the world and they didn’t have long to get ready. The delivery wasn’t supposed to happen until Monday morning….

On Sunday evening, Sheila and I were going to go out for dinner at a nice restaurant before we had to check into the hospital so that she could be induced Monday morning. On the way to dinner, we got a call from the doctor’s office that they were ready for us to check into the hospital. Instead of eating out at a steakhouse, we re-routed ourselves to Char-Grill for a steak burger and a shake before checking in. After we got to the hospital, the doctor told us what the “plan” was going to be. They were going to give Sheila a gel at 9:00 and then give her an Ambien @ 11:00 so that she could sleep and they would start inducing @ 7:00 the next morning.

Just like dinner though, the doctor’s plan didn’t go as they thought. The gel kicked Sheila into labor. After enduring back labor for over 2 hours, they gave her an epidural and claimed that she would be delivering around 1:00 or 5:00. We had to call the nurse in around 12:45 a.m. to check on Sheila’s IV. The nurse decided to check her and found that she was 9cm. The nurse in a more panicked state told Sheila to not do anything because she was going to get the doctor. The baby was coming. J After the doctor came in the room, the nurse told Sheila to push. Before Sheila could finish pushing, the nurse urged her to stop as Sierra was trying to exit the womb ASAP. Within 60 seconds the nurse and doctor had assembled the battleground and were ready for Sheila to finish pushing. Three pushes later and presto….a baby girl had entered the Hensley family!

Sheila and Scott were excited that she was finally here and that she was healthy. After about an hour where they weighed her, measured her, and bathed her, we were transferred to another room. That afternoon, the boys (Sterling & Stone) met their new baby sister. Both of them were very excited to meet her.

Stone still is infatuated with holding his baby and kissing his baby all of the time. He is very concerned if she is crying. He also shows a keen interest in the process of breast feeding.

Sterling loves to check in on her but being the big kid in the house, he is ready to move on to playing. He has assumed the role of the biggest brother by checking to make sure she is okay.

Sierra is lucky to have them as her big brothers (even if they tend to crowd her at times). Mommy & Daddy are the most blessed though as they have 3 beautiful, healthy, loving children!