Introducing...

my one-week old! :)

I had "Zane" last Thursday, the 12th... we scheduled the induction. At that point I was 38.5 wks along, but he was measuring well via the ultrasounds we had.
The day was a long one! We checked in the hospital at 8:15a, answered all five hundred questions, and eventually started pitocin at 9:45a. I sloooowly progressed from a 1.5 at the start to only 2 cms by 3p when they broke my water (& gave me my epidural)!
UGH - I was sooo disappointed to hear I wasn't further along. Enter the major discouragement zone. At that point, the tv was no longer entertaining and the texts & tweets from our friends asking for an update no longer sweet. I couldn't fall asleep, despite the epidural that was finally beginning to work it's magic, so I just waited. I felt so anxious, so ready, so excited. I wanted so badly to be holding my baby in my arms at that point.
From then, I moved to an "almost-5" (nurse being nice? "almost-5 cms" sounding better than "4cms"!) at 5:30p. I said to the nurse, after she reminded me that the last five could move as slow as 1 cm per hour (!), "What happened to third babies coming faster?!" Well, God must have given him a nudge to move along because two hours later I was a 10! He still wasn't dropped very far, so I sat up in bed (to let gravity help) until I started pushing at 8:15p. At 9pm, he was out! SHEW! His little head was slightly cocked which made it a bit harder to bring him through the birth canal. He was 8 lbs 7.8 ozs and 22 inches long! :) So much for being an "early," small baby, lol. At 11 days early, he weighed almost as much as his sister who was 8lbs 12ozs at 10 days late. :) Maybe my gestational diabetes had something to do with it, or his daddy, who was a big baby as well.

I can't even begin to describe the feelings when I saw him and when I heard that little cry. Emotionally overwhelming. A miracle before my eyes. My daughter is also a miracle, as I believe all life is, however something about replacing the sorrowful memories of my still-born Nathan with a wiggling, crying newborn made the miracle a bit more miraculous, if that makes sense. It had been hard to enter the labor/delivery room and know the last time there was under sad circumstances. The hardest thing for me was to see the baby warmer. I could picture my sweet Nathan still there, no amount of warmth able to bring him back to life.
They laid Zane on my chest and I sobbed. A few minutes later I was on the phone with my daughter, telling her that mommy was ok and that her baby brother had finally been born. What a tender moment.
We are doing well, settling into life with a newborn. He's nursing wonderfully. He had his first check up and weighed in at one ounce more than when he left the hospital, so the pediatrician is pleased w/ his eating. He's sleeping well, waking every 3hrs. for nursing.
Big sister is in love - wants to do everything with him - which is kind of overwhelming, but I know things will settle down.
I appreciate all of your prayers, your continued reading of my blog, and your support. God is so good. He carries us through the times of our weakness and is so gracious to give us times of joy.