Bill and Miss (plus two)

Our family increased by one early Sunday, September 20, 2009.  Braden Noah was born at 4:23am weighing in at 8 lbs 13 ounces and measuring 21 inches long.  He came into the world with a nice healthy cry.

So here's the whole story...
I started having some mild contractions Friday evening.  They were about 10 minutes apart and so mild that I was not in any pain.  They contractions lasted for about 3 hours and then suddenly stopped early Saturday morning.  We knew that something was going to happen and fairly soon.  Saturday we went about our morning and took Jacob to a birthday party for one of his friends.  I was feeling pretty good in the morning.  When we came home I took a nap with Jacob but woke up at about 3 in the afternoon with some more mild contractions, but they were a little stronger than the ones Friday night.  They were about 20 minutes apart and by 5pm, they were about 15 minutes apart and getting stronger with each one.  We decided to call my mom, just in case we needed to leave for the hospital soon.  My mom and Bill kept track of the timing between the contractions and as they were getting closer together I could tell that each of them were getting more and more anxious.  Surprisingly, I was pretty calm (except when a contraction hit).  I was almost in disbelief that this was actually happening, finally.  When my contractions were about 8 minutes apart both Bill and my mom wanted us to go to the hospital.  I told them that we had to wait until they were 5 minutes apart.  Finally at about 10:30pm we decided to head to the hospital.  We got all our stuff together (it was basically ready to go anyway) and got in the car to leave at 11:00pm.  By this point my contractions were STRONG and about 4 minutes apart.  The car ride to the hospital was rough for me.  I felt each bump in the road and it was not feeling good. In between each contraction Bill and I were trying to think of names for our little guy and we could come up with any in the car ride there.  Fortunately, we got to the hospital quickly, luckily it was late at night and we didn't have to deal with traffic.  We arrived at the hospital at approximately 11:30pm and when the nurse checked me I was 4-5 cm.  They admitted me and I immediately asked for an epidural.  The Anestesiologist came in at about 12:30 or so and with a little difficulty I finally got my epidural. The nurse checked me again right after the epidural and I was 8 cm at that point.  My doctor was called and we were waiting for him before they broke my water.   I was feeling pretty good for a little bit, but then I started to feel a lot of pressure.  I wasn't necessarily feeling the contractions, but the pressure was pretty much unbearable.  I felt like a bit of a wimp since I had the epidural, but I couldn't help but moan through each contraction with all the pressure I felt.  My doctor finally arrived, broke my water and I was still feeling a lot of pressure.  I tried pushing a couple of times but Braden was still high up in the birth canal.  The pushes weren't realy doing anything and I was still feeling the terrible pressure.  Finally my doctor asked for the anestesiologist to come in and give me some more drugs :) I was feeling NOTHING, literally, after the second dose of drugs.  It was the strangest feeling.  The nurses let us rest for about half an hour to all my cervix to dialate the last 1/2 cm.  Bill was able to get some shut eye too, but unfortunately it wasn't enough for either of us.  At about 3:30 in the morning the nurse came in and said it was time to push.  Braden was still a little high up and he was facing sideways instead of facing down.  With a lot of struggle on all our parts I was finally able to push him down.  His heartrate dropped with each contraction so I had to wear an oxygen mask.  Bill and I both independently had a feeling that my doctor was getting a little frustrated that Braden was not dropping or turning like he wanted him to.  I could tell that my doctor was getting a little anxious almost as if he didn't think Braden was going to come out naturally.  Finally though his little head was popping out.  When Braden's head finally popped out and I heard the cry, I immediately looked to Bill.  Bill had this wierd look on his face.  Later I found out that when Braden came out he needed a lot of help from my doctor and Bill said it was the strangest thing to watch our doctor turn Braden's head in such a wierd manner, it almost scared him.  But as soon as his whole body came out the look on Bill's face was much better and Braden's cry was the best sound to hear.  At 4:23am our second little boy was finally here! I was able to hold my baby immediately.  After a few minutes, they took him from me to get him cleaned up.  Bill was right there with him and told me that he looked just like Jacob when he was a newborn.  These brothers could have been twins!  Because it was so early in the morning it was only Bill and I in the room.  Unlike Jacob's birth when our entire families were there soon after his birth, Bill and I were able to have a lot of alone time with Braden which was so nice.  During the first hour of Braden's life on earth Bill and I spent trying to name him.  At about 6:00am we finally decided on Braden Noah.  There is really no reason for the name, but we did want one of his names to be a biblical name, hence, Noah.

At about 7am we were moved out of the labor and delivery room.  I was able to feed Braden and he seemed to be doing very well feeding.  Bill and I had another couple of hours alone with Braden and then big brother Jacob arrived at about 9am.  He came into the room and immediately asked where his baby brother was.  He climbed onto the bed with me and smiled at Braden. He gave him a big kiss on his forehead and could not stop laughing and smiling at his little brother.  He said "baby brother is silly" which is a favorite saying of his lately, everything is silly.  Of course the second I saw my "baby Jacob" I started to tear up and then when I saw him interacting with his little brother I started crying.  I realized that my family was complete and that our little boys were going to be great buddies!  Nani and Papa came in about 10 minutes later and met their second grandchild.  The boys exchanged gifts for eachother.  Jacob picked out a stuffed Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh and a Mickey onesie for his little brother and Braden got a lot of toys for Jacob like coloring books, games and dinosaurs for his big brother.  Once Jacob opened his gift from Braden he was busy in the room playing.  The rest of the day we spent staring at Braden and had some visitors.  The Gunnins, Grandma and Grandpa, Val, Danielle and Scotty, and Erin and Randy.  We were happy for our friends and family to meet our new addition. As the long day came to an end, both Bill and I were exhausted.  We had basically been up since Saturday morning since we got no sleep Saturday night.  We tried to get some rest, as best you can in a hospital room.  Monday Braden got circumsized and then we were released from the hospital at about 3 in the afternoon.  It was so nice to be able to take our baby home. 

Since then we've had lots of fun with Braden and we'll post more later, but until next time...mommy and daddy love our two boys!

Tonight when Jacob was giving his baby brother a kiss and saying good night to him he proceed to tell me that he was going to see his baby brother pretty soon.  I told him, yes, that he would be able to hold his baby brother and kiss him very soon.  His face lit up and then he said, "and I say prayers with him?" Oh I just wanted to cry, what a precious little comment.  I told him "Yes, you can say prayers with him...that would be very nice and baby brother will like that a lot."  Then he said "and I take off his shoes?"  Yes, Jacob you will take off his shoes too.  That will be very helpful to mommy.  He then proceeded to tell me a list of things he was going to do with baby brother like, show him how to play games, kiss him and play choo choos with him. He also told his baby brother that he had to be quiet while Jacob said his prayers.  Haha, I guess that's a foreshadowing of what's to come.  I'm sure at some point in the near future baby brother will be crying while Jacob is trying to say his prayers.

I love how Jacob is so loving of his baby brother right now (ha, while he's still in the womb).  I pray that he is as loving and gentle with him when he arrives in the world in a few short weeks.  It is so cute when Jacob kisses my belly every night and says good night to his baby brother.  He likes to put his hand on my belly and even if the baby isn't moving, Jacob says he's moving and starts laughing and says "baby brother funny".  I'm not too sure what is so funny about it, but Jacob seems to like it and who knows maybe they are already bonding and making jokes with eachother. 

so until next time...mommy and daddy love you!