Labor Story & 1 Week Old

So here it is...

Friday, August 28th-began having contractions all day. stayed up through the night counting them as they got closer & closer. but then they went away. ugh

Saturday, August 29th-started having sporadic contractions throughout the day...nothing consistent. Then they began to get stronger & closer together. We began counting them and by 11:30 pm they were 2 to 3 minutes apart.

39 weeks & 5 days on our way to the hospital

having a contraction in this one...

Sunday, August 30th- Arrived at the hospital at 12:05ish. We checked in got all settled just to hear the nurse tell me that she didn't think i was in "active labor" just yet. WHAT?? But my contractions are 2 to 3 minutes apart. So they decided to keep me & monitor my contractions to see if they would pick up. Slept a bit...needing to rest up if this is for sure labor. At 5:45am the nurse came in to check me & i had dilated more!!! I was in labor...whoo & they weren't going to send us home! We were going to have a baby today :). So we waited a couple more hours till the doctor got there and we came to the conclusion to break my water. Since i was going all natural they wanted to make sure i was ok with breaking my water since it didn't happen "naturally". Heck if that is the only thing that didn't happen naturally then i am ok with it! The doctor came in, said a prayer for us, then broke my water. This is when it felt surreal. We were DEFINITELY going to have a baby today.

Active labor began at 8:15am & Eli was born at 2:34pm. I have never experienced the kind of pain from labor pains in my whole entire life. At 5 1/2 cm i wanted to give up, BUT my wonderful hubby was there to encourage me!! When i got to 7 cm i could barely stand the pain. Praise the Lord that from 7 to 10cm was only about 40 mins. I pushed for 25 minutes. Even though the pain was so great, i would do it all over again in a heart beat because of the precious gift at the end :) If the Lord blesses us with more children, i will do the same. I do need to interject that i could NOT have done it without the help & encouragement of first my husband who cheered me through every contraction i had, and a helpful and supportive nurse who knew how bad i wanted this! Oh & Daniel did get to cut the cord.

The emotions I felt when i saw my precious baby boy for the first time are indescribable. I was relieved that it was all over and for the most part the pain was gone. As the doctor brought him close, i couldn't believe my eyes that this little guy had been living inside of me for the past nine months & now i finally get to meet him. He was/is just BEAUTIFUL (ok i'm a little bias). Right after he was born, the doctor said a prayer for our family. Daniel & I were all smiles. We couldn't stop starring at him...and we still can't!

Eli is 1 week today! WOW how time has already flown by. Daniel, Eli & I have had a wonderful week that i know we will look back on and cherish. Like...all the times we have gotten peed on, the projectile poop, spit up, waking up in the middle of the night to feed, singing to him, "bumping fists" (as daniel likes to do with him), walks at the park, and the small things...those precious moment of just the three of us...a family :). I feel so blessed to have 2 wonderful boys. I can't wait to see what is ahead (but i don't want it to go by too fast! I want to enjoy every moment!!) Thank you Lord for a wonderful week!!!

Here is Eli at 1 week. (I hope to take a pic every week for the first months & then monthly in his chair to see how he has grown.)

this picture below is priceless. we were trying to take his pic and well this is what we got! I thought daniel & i both were going to pee in our pants. Our tummies definitely hurt after this from all the laughter.

Well i have to go...the little man is calling :)
Mae