Simeon James

We are thrilled to announce the birth of our son, Simeon James Charlebois!

Simeon was born on May 7, 2015 at 5:54 pm. He weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs, 10 oz (my biggest baby yet!) and measured 21 1/2". 

We are so blessed and amazed by God's mercy and goodness toward us, that He would reward us with FIVE HEALTHY children. Really, when I think about it, it boggles my mind and brings me to my knees in tears of gratefulness. 

Simeon's name means, "hears and obeys" or "hears with acceptance." We came across it in our readings together and it stuck out to us as being very meaningful and prophetic for the phase of life we have been in as a family (especially during his pregnancy), as well as our heart cry for our future lives and our children's lives.  

We also joke that since Silas's name means "bear man from the woods" -- and that's what we got -- maybe Simeon will be a little easier to train up. 😉

Simeon's labor and delivery was a little wacky. We decided to induce because at my last doctor appointment I was already 4 cm dilated. The doctor was concerned that since I was strep B positive, the baby would come so fast that there would not be time for antibiotics. Plus I just wanted him in my arms! So we went ahead with the induction.

On Thursday, May 7, my doctor broke my water around 12:30 PM. We thought that would start things up on their own, but after an hour nothing had happened. So the nurse started a Pitocin drip. Literally within minutes, my body went from doing barely anything at all to major, intense contractions two minutes apart. It happened so fast, and I was very overwhelmed and in a lot of pain. After 20 minutes we turned the Pitocin drip off and called for the anesthesiologist to do an epidural. 

After about 20 minutes, the anesthesiologist arrived and began the epidural process. Everything was going well, except my right side was not taking to the epidural as well as my left. So they gave me an extra boost to cover the right side. Unfortunately, that extra boost was too much, and the epidural ended up taking two strongly in. I was now I'm all the way up to my armpits, and parts of my face were starting to go numb. Worst of all, my blood pressure dropped, which caused Simeon's heart rate to drop significantly. We turned off the epidural and twisted and turned me and all sorts of different positions to do our best to get his heart rate back up. Eventually he was fine, and I continued labor with the epidural off and fading away. 

The last of it wore off right as I was about to start pushing, so that part was pretty intense! But I didn't need to push long, and my big boy was born and in my arms for the first time.

We went home the next day, and my little dude has been nothing but a rockstar. He eats, sleeps, and poops like a champ. The kids all adore him, even Silas.

We thank God for this amazing blessing in our lives, and covet your prayers as we adjust to a family of seven!