That was the first time I got to address you by name in this blog- what fun! So, you were born on Monday and today is Friday, and thus it's time to get your birth story written down before it is lost in a fog of sleep deprivation.
You were a week past due on Monday, with the threat of an artificial induction coming on Thursday, so your Mommy went into aggressive maneuvers. She had her membranes swept on Monday morning, which is all we need to say about that, and then had a pregnancy-inducing massage at lunchtime. One or both of those two things worked, and by the time I got home from an appointment it was almost go time. We went over to the farm to visit your big brother Sammy for a minute, driving the car with the infant carseat in the back. We went for a little walk in the snow, and planned to bring Sammy back home around 5:00. Since we didn't have Sammy's carseat, your Gransmother Ceci drove Sammy back in her car. We were going over the road to our house when your Mommy said "Why are there so many bumps in the road?"- a road she had driven hundreds of times already this winter. I drove into the garage as gently as possible, and when your Mommy walked over the doorstep out of the garage I saw her take off like a shot for the house. She probably had not moved that quickly in six months! It turns out her water broke taking that step through the door, and you were truly on your way.
We were very lucky that your big brother Sammy had gotten a ride home, since we could take off for the hospital right away. We had been warned that the birth of a second child happens much quicker than a first, and that turned out to be really true. We got to the hospital around 5:30, and you were born at 9:10! A big contrast to your big brother, who Mommy labored with for 21 hours. The bad part was that is was so fast she didn't get to really use her Hypnobirthing techniques, and wasn't in the same kind of zone. She felt the whole process a lot more intensely this time around. She labored in the birthing tub, on a birthing stool, and finally on the bed. Despite not being in the Hypnobirthing trance, there was not any yelling or screaming, just quiet concentration most of the time. Although at one point she did ask Molly the midwife to use the vacuum to pull you out, but was told "Nope, you are going to do this yourself." So, no drugs, no tools, just good old-fashioned pushing, and you were born! You came out blue and with the longest umbilical cord Midwife Molly has ever seen, but in a moment you were yelling and awake, with a head of dark hair and bloodshot eyes from all that pushing. In other words, a good looking kid!
You had your first visitors an hour later, when both sets of grandparents came to visit (quickly). After that we were moved to a different room and a couple days of rest and recovery began, which for me meant eating bottomless pudding cups and filling endless cups of juice for Mommy. Everyone at the hospital were great, especially our nurse Becky who was with us through the whole birth process. You had more visitors over the next couple of days, and lots of rest, until it was time to take you home. The carseat we had brought for you was too loose, but luckily we had a spare one at home which I retrieved and brought back to the hospital. And with that, you were home, your brother was home, and we were a family of four for the first time!
