4 Weeks Old

Justin is four weeks old today! It feels like he's been here forever though-my past life (before him) is just a vague memory-of sleep, of time, of happy child, of easier errand running, did I mention sleep? Anyway, he is so cute! He's a well-mannered baby. Not colicky or anything. He does have serious gas issues though and it pains him and keeps him up but I think it's getting better. He still sleeps quite a bit during the day (more than L did at this age) but he still eats every 2 hours!! It's totally draining-at night too. I have absolutely no time ever to do anything, but in this brief blogging moment, I thought I'd share a brief birth story of the day 4 weeks ago...

It was my due date (5/19) and I was sure he was going to come the week earlier so I was way bummed and convinced my BH contractions were never going to amount to real labor! I'd been to the dr and was 3 cm and 70% effaced. We'd planned an induction for the following week. My mom was in town. We decided to watch the season finale of 24 on the computer together around 8pm. During it, I was having regular contractions (nothing new) but by the end of the 2 hour show they were definitely stronger than ever and every 7-10 minutes so I thought it was probably real b/c of the strength but didn't dare say that out loud :-) I tried to go to sleep and dozed in between contractions until they were too strong. J and I had a show on the laptop on our bed. I stayed lying down for as long as possible b/c it was nighttime and my biggest mistake with Lindsey's labor was wearing myself out too early. Soon they were coming every 5 minutes and I was trying different positions (standing with J, etc...). I was kind of uncomfy but determined to stay home as long as possible in order to achieve my natural birthing desires :-) I finally decided to take a bath and J convinced my to call my midwife around 3am. My contractions had been 3-5 min for over an hour. (Oh, btw, they'd been 60-90 seconds long since they started during 24!!) She said I could stay home for maybe another 1/2 hour but then call her again. I hung up, got up out of the tub, and almost instantly they were coming every 2-3 minutes lasting over a minute each. They got WAY intense!!! Still, I didn't want to get to the hospital early like I did with L (that was depressing) but J convinced me it was time for the hospital around 4 or 4:30am. They were so intense now I couldn't do anything during them. It was a beautiful night outside. The hospital is only 10 minutes away. We got there, and they were checking us in and kept trying to talk to me but I couldn't talk during my contractions. They seemed a little impatient with me. I told Jared I changed my mind and wanted an epidural :-) seriously, I wanted one! The nurse checked me and I was 8 cm!! That made me really happy! she said there *might not be time for an epidural (meaning, she knew there probably wouldn't be unless my labor totally stopped) but didn't say it like that and so just saying there might be a chance for one kept me a little happier :-) After she checked me and realized I was so far along, all these nurses showed up and it got a little crazy. Long story short, transition was REALLY intense-exactly like we'd read about it, and I thought I couldn't do it, but your body just keeps going. They lost Justin's heartbeat and were moving me around a lot and it was a little scary, but they found it again then gave me a shot to slow down my contractions to about every 4 minutes b/c he was stressed a little. No more *gory details--I started pushing and it took about 1/2 hour and he came out great at 5:25am on May 20th. It was the MOST amazing thing I've ever done! I still can't believe I did it-I'm so proud of myself b/c I wanted to do it natural and I did! And Jared was an amazing labor coach!!! And little Justin made his premiere-and I couldn't love him more! Recovery has been WAY easier than with Lindsey and a labor of 9 hours was WAY short compared to Lindsey's 38!! so, back to life. Life with two kiddos is way fun and I love them so much, but I'm also so tired it's almost painful! here's the cutie...and a pic from his blessing last week. (more of those to come later)

(boy, even my way shortened birth story is long. :-)