It's A Boy!

This is my new cute little nephew, Benjamin Jesse Lewis, born on May 8, 2011 (yes, he was a late Mother's Day present for my sister-in-law).  Everyone is so excited to welcome Ben to the family!

I went over to visit my brother and his family on Sunday afternoon, only to discover that the baby was on its way, and I was the designated contraction timer.  None of us could remember if you were supposed to time the contractions from the beginning of the last one to the start of the current one, or from the end of the last one to the beginning of the current contraction.  Our first thought, consult the Internet.  Consult I did to find a search result for a site called Contraction Master: Your FREE, online contraction timing assistant!  This site was started by a husband and father who was frustrated with the typical pen and paper process of figuring out contraction times, durations, and frequencies.  Not only did this site answer our question (the answer is from the beginning of the past contraction to the start of the current contraction), it provided a much simpler and accurate way of keeping track of the information while being able to help out with other tasks that needed to be completed before the parents headed to the hospital.  Ben was born just a few hours later, and everything went well. 

When I was younger, you found out about a birth within your circle of family and friends through word of mouth, by talking in person or on the phone.  Then, people began utilizing the Internet, sending out e-mails to announce their child's birth.  Yesterday, my brother did call immediate family to announce the birth, but most communication was done through other streams of communication.  Before Jason and Heather even left for the hospital, they posted on their blog and sent out text messages to let everyone know that it was GO TIME.  At three in the morning, less than four hours after the birth of their newborn son, Jason texted and posted again with birth information, pictures, and how mommy and baby were doing.  

It is for events like this that I feel so blessed to have modern technology in my life.  Both positive and negative effects can result from technology, just like anything in life.  In this case, technology was wonderful, allowing family and friends to gather virtually together to celebrate a special event.