Julie Clark had her baby boy, John McConnell (Mac) at 4 this morning. He is 7 pounds 14 ounces and 20 inches long.

Her water broke yesterday morning around 7 or so, and they went to the hospital immediately. Unfortunately she wasn't dilated or contracting, so they had to wait a long time for the baby to start coming. Her doctor won't allow an epidural until 3 centimeters, so she had to go through the first part of labor without any medication. Mac was facing the wrong way so his head was resting on her spine and I guess she was in quite a bit of pain. They finally gave her something in her IV that would ease the pain and make her relax a little, and when she woke up she was far enough along for the epidural.

I don't know a lot about pain medicine, but I guess an epidural only lasts for so long. Of course it wore off for the worst part at the end, and she wound up pushing for 3 hours! That's a heck of a long time. When he finally popped out he had the cord around his neck and Julie had a fever, so now they are doing all kinds of tests to make sure they are both okay. His initial blood test came back fine, so I'm sure everything will be normal.

I'm trying not to get too freaked out because I know worrying isn't going to make things go any more smoothly. I am glad she didn’t have to have a c-section, and I'm glad it all worked out in the end. But I'm telling you, she sounds exhausted.

I'll take some pictures of the baby this afternoon and post them – probably none of Julie just yet unless she's feeling better.