This pregnancy was particularly difficult because, well, I had three other kids this time. And my body hadn't had too much time to recover since when I had Eli, so I was having joint pains and muscle aches all over the body, much earlier in the pregnancy than any other times.
I was wishing for a girl so that Ellie could have a sister to play with, but I knew it was going to be a boy because of the severity of the nausea (much worse with boys - with four pregnancies, you have a big enough sample to compare. lol). Up until the ultrasound, however, I secretly hoped for a girl (so did the kids). When we found out for sure that it was a boy, Ellie bawled the first time and got teary eyed every time we mentioned it for the next month. Eventually, she warmed up to the idea of having another baby boy....
Even though the pregnancy was difficult, it made it a lot easier to have Yearim and Joe's mom stay with us. I got to rest extra while the kids played over at the Neff's house with William, Alden's best friend.
Towards the end of the pregnancy, life got more complicated and stressful because Joe was applying to jobs. The uncertainty of where we were going to be and when we'd move was very difficult, and we had to think of contingency plans with many back up plans.
The due date was January 3rd, but we knew that the baby would come early because my other deliveries had been early as well. All of them had come either on time or early, always on the day that I had my doctor scrape the membrane to get the labor going. My parents were coming in town for Christmas, and we were hoping to have the baby on the 20th of December on a Friday so that we could be at the hospital over the weekend when we'd have more help with other children.
Joe applied to a position at Amazon earlier that week, and the interview was scheduled on the same day that we were planning to have the baby! I had a doctor's appointment at 8:30 in the morning, and the interview was set for 11:00. Joe got the morning off work, and we headed to the doctor's office after dropping off the kids at Yeagi's house. We were hoping to have the baby that night, especially since my favorite doctor, Dr. Jacob, was going to be on-call that night. The appointment went smoothly, and we went back home to do some interview prep.
I left the house 10 minutes before 11:00 to give Joe the house to himself and went shopping. Joe made me promise to pull over and call him immediately if I started going into labor. I was secretly planning on holding on until noon when the interview would be over, and I probably would have tried to if I had gone into labor early. Fortunately, there were no contractions and the interview went well. Yeagi dropped the kids off at our house, and Joe went back to work after lunch.
I realized that I hadn't finished wrapping the presents for Christmas yet and was wrapping up the last two when the first contraction came. I had had Braxton-Hicks before, so I continued wrapping presents until I had another contraction. Joe wasn't able to focus on work either and texted me at the same moment, "Any news?" I told him that I had had a contraction but to wait until I could time the next one. He called me immediately and asked if he should come home. (My shortest labor was 2 hours, and he was very nervous we wouldn't make it to the hospital.) I told him to continue to work as I finished wrapping the presents. Then 4 minutes later, I had another contraction. I texted Joe, "4 minutes," and he replied, "I'm coming home."
By the time we left the house, I was fully in labor and the contractions were about 4-5 minutes apart. Joe got to speed down to Provo on I-15, carefully watching for highway patrol. He was hoping he'd get pulled over so he could get police escort to the hospital (didn't happen).
Being in labor isn't too bad really between the contractions, so we strolled into Labor & Delivery. There was a first time mom with a very nervous looking dad, so we even let them go ahead with registration while we joked about it being the fourth time.
Once I got settled in bed and had epidural, it was a breeze. I just sat in bed, talking to Joe and my sisters. Within two hours, I was at 9 cm and ready to go. It was 5:15, and I knew that Dr. Jacob would be coming in at 6pm so I asked if we could just wait to deliver the baby. Shortly after 6pm, Dr. Jacob was there. By then, James was so ready to come out, I only had to push once (more like half). He had a full head of hair and was so adorable. :)
He was 6 lbs 8 oz, and 19 inches, a full pound less than all the other kids. His head was so small (compared to other kids whose head circumference is on the 90th percentile), he looked strange!
He's been a good baby so far, with minimal puking and only occasionally blowing out of his diapers. He's generally happy as long as he is being held (this is where the swing comes in very handy). He eats well and is sleeping longer and longer between feedings. He's gone through a lot with three older siblings and having to move (needless to say, he doesn't get picked up right away when he cries). And since he was born so close to our other baby, Eli, he often gets called Eli... (Oops, sorry..) But even after four kids, we can't stop saying, "He's so CUTE!" (yes, even when he is crying at the top of his lungs because he is covered in poop.)
1 comment:
They just keep getting cuter!! I really miss all of you!!! Lots of love, Imo
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