Oh, this baby.....

I just can't get enough of his cute squishy cheeks.  He is barely a week old now and already I feel like he is getting too big too fast. 

So for posterity's sake and memories sake I shall record the tale of his birth.  (Don't worry, I won't be too graphic, but for any of you who don't love stories of labor and delivery, just skip on down.  Kim, maybe you shouldn't read this :)

Well, as you can tell from previous posts, I was more than ready to deliver even though I had a few weeks to go.  Why?  Simply because I don't have 6-pound babies.  I have almost 9-pound babies.  Not so fun.  So at my 35 week check-up, I was at a 1 and at my 36 week check-up, I moved to a 2, and at 37 weeks I was barely a 3.  I had had a couple of days where I thought maybe I was going into labor as I started to have contractions, but sadly they always stopped.  However, my doctor had predicted that he would be coming that weekend.  Well the weekend came and went and still no baby.  I'm getting really frustrated and plain awnry (more than the usual) at this point.  I don't imagine I was too fun to be around. 

So I tried walking and walking and walking some more.  And then I tried a little bit more walking.  Oh yeah, and did I mention I tried walking?  Nothing.  So some friends and family members suggested that I try some castor oil.  And some other friends strongly suggested that I NOT try castor oil.  I'd say an equal amount swore that it worked and others swore that I'd be sick and miserable and in the bathroom all night and still pregnant.  What to do?  On Sat. night, I hummed and hawed over it, and just couldn't bring myself to do it.  I mean, I'm trying to get rid of my discomfort, not add to it, right?  Then Sunday morning, I woke up still pregnant and probably at my very grumpiest.  Everyone was getting ready for church and the thought of getting dressed, all fat and ugly was not appealing.  Then when I went to take a shower and there was no hot water, I pretty much fell apart and declared "I'm not going!!"  Needless to say, nobody begged me to come and everyone willingly left me behind :) 

Then, by Sunday night, I just didn't care anymore.  Could it possibly be that bad?  So I did it.  Except that I was kinda a wimp and I only did half the recommended dose (1oz instead of 2oz) mixed with orange juice.  It was NASTY!  It felt like I was drinking liquid Vaseline, with a hint of orange.  (Oh, I think I just gagged again.)  Then I went to bed.  I woke around 2 in the morning with some severe stomach cramps.  I'm thinking "Oh.My.Goodness.  What have I just done to myself?  This sucks!!"  Spent a little time in the bathroom, then went back to bed.  Then I woke up again at 3:30 in the morning, but with a different kind of cramping.  Could these possibly be labor pains, I'm wondering????????  So I get up and walk around the house a bit and sure enough they are coming and going about every 5 minutes or so.  But they're not too painful.  Shouldn't it hurt more if they're real labor pains?  And what happened to the part where I was supposed to be sick and in the bathroom ALL night long??  So I wait a little bit, thinking they're bound to stop on their own, as they had done the couple times before, but.....they don't! 

So finally around 6ish, I wake Casey and tell him I think I'm in labor and let's go to the hospital before the contractions stop.  I figure once I'm there, I will just refuse to leave.  Even if they tell me it's a false alarm, I just won't go home.  I simply won't do it.  Then I wake my parents (who came up a few days prior to this) and tell them "I'm gonna go have a baby now!"  Caiden hears me and says "What?! You're going to the hospital mom???  Now?  The baby is coming now?  Cool!!"

So we get there finally around 7ish, they check me and sure enough it is real labor and I'm at a 4.  (Castor oil rocks!  And I might add, it was rather ingenious of me to take only half the dose.  Ingenious.  Not weak.) So I ask the nurse what I have to be at in order to get an epidural.  She sweetly replies, "Just a 4."  Even though I'm not in too much pain, I quickly tell her I really, really want one of those.....right now.  (I'm not one of those women who need to prove how tough I am.  I figure I'm a woman, I can have babies, and it hurts.  Nuff said.  Let's just get on with the drugs already.  I call it being smart.)  So up comes Mr. Epidural Man (aka Ed) and I was a little nervous because I was really planning on Tim (the guy who did such an excellent job with Paige) but he proved to be just as good.  About 4 hours later, my doctor (Dr. Russell) informs me it is about time.  (She actually sped things up a bit with a little pitocin as she had somewhere she absolutely had to be at 1:00 and I was not open to another Dr. delivering my baby - just her.)  Then about 4 pushes later, my little (or not so little) baby Preston was here!!!!!  Weighing 8 pounds 8 ounces, 20 inches long (almost identical to Caiden who was 8 pounds 9 ounces, 20.5 inches long) except that Preston was almost 2 weeks early.  I think I would have had a 10lb baby if I had gone another 2 weeks.  Yikes!

They placed him on my chest (with my permission) right after he was born.  He was very purple and a bit slimy.  Kinda gross - but not when it's your own baby of course.  Immediately we knew he was over 8 pounds.

Caiden and Paige were so excited to see him....

Caiden got to listen to his heart beat....

We were shocked at how much hair he had and how dark too!  It might not seem like a lot but after 2 bald babies, one blonde and one red head, it was a bit surprising.

And from there, it's history.  Everything with me and the baby checked out great, and we both went home the next day.  Of course, once the epidural wore off I realized how sore I was (and how big he was) and had a little trouble walking for a couple of days.  But now, not even a week has past and I feel pretty darn good.  I have even squeezed into my jeans!  Yay!  (They're kinda tight and I usually only last in them for half a day before the sweats are back on, but still - it's something.)

And did I mention what a good baby he is?  The first 2 nights I had to wake him to feed him.  He would have slept all night had I not woken him.  I kept waking up thinking, shouldn't he be crying?  Isn't he hungry?  So I'd go check on him, and he'd be sound asleep.  Amazing baby he is.  Then on the third night, he proved to be entirely normal and I got up about 6 times with him that night :) But it's okay.  Now having gone through this 2 times before and knowing that yes, indeed, the day will come that I will sleep again, it's not as hard for me to get up in the night.  I remember with Caiden (and even Paige) thinking that I would never sleep again.  But I look back now and realize that is the shortest time, and even though I don't love being sleep deprived, I am trying to soak up every minute with him while he's this little.  Plus the fact that I was functioning on about 3 hours of interrupted sleep a night during the last month of pregnancy is also making this a lot easier for me :).  We've yet to have any uncontrollable crying spells.  In fact, he doesn't cry much at all.  Not even when he is hungry.  It's more of a grunt and groan and a big ole wide mouth searching for food.  It's too cute.  I so hope this all continues.......

Such a sleepy guy....

Here are some more pics of our precious little guy.  Caiden and Paige are completely in love with their little brother. 

Isn't he so cute?????  I just can't get enough of him!