My name is Shantelle and I have an 8-month-old baby boy. His name is Noah William. He was born August 7, 1999 and was 8 pounds 2 ounces, and 21.75 inches long. Like many of you out there I had a rough pregnancy in and out of the hospital for one thing or another. My little Monkey was late, he was due on July 31, 1999. I so was anxious to have him, you see his daddy moved to Ontario for a job, and we were to follow as soon as I finished college and Noah was born.

So when the due date came and went we were anxious for Jeff (that's the daddy) only had little time here to see the birth of our first child. Finally we decided to get induced. Well, let me tell you the news, I was hit with a ton of bricks thinking that this was a better way to begin a birth. I got induced on August 6 at 3:30 p.m., contractions didn't start coming until about 8 p.m., at first it wasn't bad but then it was time for an epidural. The contractions came fast and hard. I got the epidural and it was the best thing I could have done. Then my water broke, it was funny because I thought that it was just a contraction and that I was peeing.

My nurse, Rhonda, came over and checked and said that my water had broken, I was laughing so hard it hurt. I had my coach Suzanne, my mom and Jeff there (just in case Jeff didn't make it in time for the birth). Boy did I need both of them. Time passed and it wasn't going well. I wasn't dilating further than 9 centimeters and Noah and I had started getting a fever. Needless to say we had to go for a Cesarean. I was crying so hard because I wanted to experience the birth naturally.

It was 2:15 p.m. on the 7 of August and we were getting prepared for the C-section. I didn't have many nurses that I liked and the one I did was off duty the night before at 3 a.m. She wasn't due to come in until 5 p.m., and lo and behold she was there at 3:10 p.m. I didn't know this until I was on the prep table, Jeff wasn't there yet and I was scared until she came in. She came in and took my hand and said, Hi Shantelle, it's Rhonda, I called in to see how you were doing with the baby and they told me you were getting a C-section, so I came in. I told her that she was my Guardian Angel, and that I was so glad she was there for me. Jeff came in about minutes before they were ready to take my son out of me, and he didn't know what we were having, I did. Jeff saw him being born, and said that it was the most gross but yet beautiful thing he ever saw. He was so dumbfounded that he didn't know what to do when they asked him if he wanted to cut the cord. When Noah came out, Jeff was the proudest new father I have seen in my life, I had never seen that look on him ever. Jeff cut the cord and came back and said, Shantelle, it's a boy. He had now entered fatherhood, as I motherhood.

I was being stitched up and Jeff went and told my anxiously awaiting coach and mother. My mom had come in from Vancouver on Noah's due date, and stayed for two months after to help me with him since Jeff had to go back to Ontario. I had a lot of blood loss so I was stuck in the hospital with our new baby and Jeff for the remainder of his stay in our home town. We had one day and night together as a family at home. When we brought Noah home it was weird, after months of preparing his little room and getting everything washed, it was time.

Can you believe that up until he was 7 and a quarter months old he was wearing the outfit that we brought him home in. He has grown and gained weight, but the outfit we brought him home in was like a long T-shirt almost like a dress with a hood and bears all over it. We set him down on the coffee table and took a picture while he was sleeping. And there starts our little family. Noah now has three teeth and is pulling himself up onto things and trying so hard to crawl, and is the cutest thing ever. Thank you for letting me tell my story, and I will keep you updated on all the details.