Welcome Jacob Scott Buckingham!

Saturday October 27 we finally got to meet and welcome Baby Buck #4 to the family!

 5am we called to make sure there was a room available for induction.  All showered and ready to go...my last pregnant picture.
6:15 we checked into a room. 
7:15 started Pitocin
10:30 started the epidural - steady but relatively painless contractions
10:45 Dr. broke my water and measured me at 3-4cm (where I had been for 3 weeks)
11:00ish, after a handful of severely painful contractions (darn epidural was only working on the right side), I let Buck know that Baby Buck was on his way...NOW!  He tried and tried to push the nurse call button on the bed, but nobody came (come to find out, the bed wasn't plugged in).  I was not handling the pain well.  He ran out into the hall and snapped at the nurses because he couldn't come up with words.  Immediately everyone (seemed like 10 people) ran into our room.  Doctor Keith (who also delivered John) checked me and said, "He's got a cute head"...wait...WHAT?!
11:19 a few pushes later (and I don't use that term loosely), I was holding Jacob Scott Buckingham with tears in my eyes.

 8 lb. 9 oz., 20 in. of pure sweetness.  Welcome Baby Jake.

 There is something so truly special and deeper than words about holding my precious newborn for the first time.  Jake is one week old now, and I think I've been looking at him adoringly nearly every moment.  I just can't get enough of this tiny, soft, precious gift from God.

 Jake, like the other 3, was born with a newborn rash, but was none-the-less one of the most beautiful and precious things I've ever seen.

 Daddy likes him too...a lot.

 He did not enjoy his first bath.

 For the first time, they waited several hours to give him his first bath, so, for the first time I was able to stand nearby and watch.

He did enjoy getting his hair washed.
So, what's in a name?  We actually decided on his name 2 days before he was born.  A first for us, going into the hospital with a name already picked out, sort of felt weird.  We didn't tell anyone his name, though, until the kids had come to visit.  We wanted to tell them first.  We had liked the name Jacob since I was pregnant with Ellie and didn't know if she was a boy or a girl.  We mentioned the name to the kids several months ago.  First they said, "Like Jake and the Neverland Pirates!" (a Disney TV show).  That night, though, and several nights afterward, Eve prayed for Jake, the baby in Mama's tummy.  It was so sweet, the name kind of stuck in our minds.  My dad and grandfather were both named Albert Scott Madding (great grandfather, too, but I don't know much about him).  There's no way I can touch the surface of the significance of the name "Scott".  I didn't get to spend many years with my grandfather, but I know he was a loving family man, and a very decorated and honorable servant in the military.  He was in Merrill's Marauders, the commander of the first special forces unit, and involved in the CIA.  My dad, well, just about the best man I've ever known, in all aspects.  Like I said, there's more than I could ever write behind that name...truly an honor.  On a less significant note, one of the first things I noticed about Jake was his perfect little feet.  Daddy always talked about how beautiful his feet were (and how ugly mine and Mom's were...surely he was joking).  Jake didn't just get Daddy's name.  Apparently he also inherited his beautifully perfect feet. :)
I am so pleased to introduce Jacob Scott Buckingham to the world.  He is such a treasure and a blessing from God!