Here is a description of the day’s events as recorded in text messages sent to family members throughout the day:

2:00am - [Becky's water broke]

2:35am - [Phone calls to family on the way to the hospital]

6:04am - They’re giving her Pitocin to help encourage labor.

6:55am - They just told us to plan for a long day. Probably a bed time delivery.

10:38am - Not quite 2 cm. Just gave her narcotic for pain. Cervix has thinned 50 per cent. Contractions at 3 min intervals.

11:08am - Drugs working like a charm. She’s basically sleeping through contractions.

11:36am - 2cm. 70 per cent thinned. Second dose of drugs. Epidural probably next (1 hour). Then sleep (for both of us!)

1:10pm - 3cm. 90 per cent.

2:40pm - If everything goes normal, they anticipate 1cm per hour, which puts 10cm at 8:00, with an additional possible 2 hours of pushing…

2:41pm - …so we’re in this for the long haul. She’s sleeping now with a nice epidural.

3:20pm - Good news. She’s at 5 cm already and 100 per cent. The midwife said there’s a slim possibility to have Caleb by 5 or 6!

4:17pm - Plus 1 station. 6cm.

5:56pm - 9cm. Plus 1 station.

6:02pm - He’s gonna have a cone head. [The midwife felt it.]

6:37pm - Pushing now. [This was the quick prearranged phrase to let family who were in town know that they should start coming to the hospital. I had it all ready and pre-programmed into the phone so that I could just hit "Send" when she was ready.]

8:18pm - Caleb is here! [He was born at 7:39, but I had some videoing, photographing, cutting, loving, and supporting to do before I could take the time to send the message!]