Aside from bringing home baby and having an easy and fast labor I've had a fun past week or so. Last Thursday my new friend Shirlaine threw a little party with other girls from church so I could meet some more people, how nice is that? She had super yummy munchies and we had a blast chatting while our horde of children ran around her house and backyard. (This ended up being a really great thing for us too because Ruth got a chance to get used to her house before "the night.")
Friday was another great day. Ruth and I spent a good amount of time outside playing on her car, picking dandelions and going on a short walk around our neighborhood. That evening we got to go to dinner with Jennefer and her fun family (she's basically the HR person for Brad's company). We had such a nice time chatting and eating. Jenn told me I should hurry up and have the baby so she could come see him before they had to go back home to Utah...hahaha...funny right?! Luckily, about 24 hours later I got a visit in the hospital from none other than Jennefer! I thought that was too funny for words.
After we got home from our evening's activities we headed out to the backyard. We had a fabulous time running around, playing with Ruth's giant pink ball and taking pictures. This one is about 7 hours before my water broke.
We put Ruth to bed and I laid down in bed to read while Brad did more home improvements. LUCKILY, on our way to bed Brad mentioned that we needed to put some plastic down under our sheets to protect our new bed if and when my water broke. (We were expecting my water to break to start labor because that's what happened with Ruth.) So we got some giant trash bags under my side of the bed and went to sleep around 11. Then at about 3 in the morning I woke up to what felt like someone throwing an enormous water-balloon on my lap. It was a very shocking way to be awoken. After sitting up and realizing that my water had broken I "ran" to the bathroom and rinsed off and put some clean sweats on, as well as the biggest pad you've ever seen. Again, luckily, I had pulled out all the things we would need for the hospital and for Ruth to spend the night at Shirlaine's that day. Why had the trash bags and the hospital bag stuff all gotten done literally hours before we needed them? I don't know but I'm SOOOO glad that they did. We got Ruth out of bed, grabbed our bags, dropped her off at Shirlaine's house, went to the hospital and got all settled, checked in, birth plan in place, monitors on, etc. by 4 am.
When we got there I was dilated to a 2. At about 5:30 I got in the shower for about 5 minutes until I couldn't stand how much the contractions had picked up. They checked again and I was a 4. The anesthesiologist came in and gave me the epidural. He was great. I responded very well to me when I told him I was having pain, he would make adjustments and I have recovered from that much better than I did from my first epidural with Ruth. This time around the epidural didn't slow my contractions down so no pitocin was needed; they checked me again in 2 hours, 7:30, and I was at a 6. By this time all the excitement had worn down and Brad and I were tired, and since I had that wonderful epidural in, we could both sleep. Just before 9 I woke up and was having lots of pressure. The nurse came in and said I was complete and ready to go, and the pressure was from the baby's head. I was so shocked that in just over an hours worth of sleep my body had worked so hard! I woke Brad up and said, "We're going to have a baby." He just sort of smiled and was like, yeah. And I said, "No, honey. We're having this baby in the next couple of minutes." His eyes shot open and he sat up, we were both surprised how quickly this had all happened. Dr. Crandall came in just after 9, we pushed 3 times and Will came sliding right out. 6 hours of labor brought us our darling little guy. This was such a great labor too. I had no complaints about our experience with Ruth, I really enjoyed it. But everything this time around was even better. The entire hospital staff was SOOO friendly, helpful and genuine. They didn't act like this was just their job but were truly caring and helpful. The labor process was comfortable and enjoyable and only having to push 3 times was marvelous.
The rest of the hospital stay was great. The hospital food was good, Will started nursing right away with a great latch, I had NO pain other than mild cramping in my uterus while Will nursed, and my bleeding had nearly stopped by the time we left Monday morning! Labor, delivery and recovery has been so much easier this time around! I still am needing to take it REALLY easy at home. My bleeding picked up because I was trying to get up and down too much to play with Ruth and go to the kitchen and what not. So today I've been letting everyone bring stuff to me in bed so I can get completely better.
In other extremely lucky news, Paula and Kristen and Nate were all in Salt Lake this weekend. So when we called and said we were having a baby, they said they could come up the 3 extra hours to hang out for the week and help us out! I was a little worried that it might be hectic with them and their two kids, but it has been such a blessing. Nate has been able to help Brad with some projects on the house. Joey, who is a year older than Ruth, has kept her entertained with fun new games to play (like running up and down the stairs barking like dogs among other things!) and Paula and Kristen have helped keep things clean, cooked food, run errands and taken me to Will's Dr. appointment. And now that my hormones are crashing and I tend to be an emotional wreck about everything (like last night when I didn't bring enough diapers into my bedroom to keep Will clean and had to cry about it) (or this morning when we prayed over the breakfast Kristen made for us and I bawled) it has been nice to have the extra help and not have to worry about anything but making sure Will isn't losing any more weight.
So, thank you Brad for keeping the blog up to date with our news. Thank you for being a wonderful daddy. I'm so glad Will looks like you, at least his nose and chin anyway.
Thank you Shirlaine for being so generous, after all I've known you for about 3 weeks. I can never repay your for being able and willing to take Ruth in the middle of the night and then again and again offering to help in whatever way you can.
Thank you Paula, Kristen and Nate for coming out here, rearranging your schedules and being willing to do all the things you're doing for us.
Thank you mom and dad for your support and encouragement. On Mother's Day you told me that these kids were lucky to have me as a mom and those words have kept ringing in my head, I'm trying to live up to them.
Thank you Tia for your frequent emails, especially right before Will came. That was much needed bolstering. I can't tell you how much your friendship means to me. I'm so glad we both decided to marry these wild Laws boys.
Thank you Jennefer for the wonderful gift, it was so generous and those clothes are just adorable! I hope you had fun shopping!
Thank you everyone else for your emails, comments, thoughts and prayers. I'm so happy to be a mom of two. I already know that it's not going to be easy, there will be many more tears from me and the kids but I really can't imagine going back now. Being a mom is so fulfilling and I am so happy I get to stay home and care for my babies.
I love you Ruth. You've become such a big girl. In the few short days that I was in the hospital you changed so much. I feel a little sad because you haven't wanted to sit in my lap and read books like we used to do every day for hours. I know that you are adjusting to Will and I can't wait to see you two play together. I can't believe that you are 18 months today. You still don't say many words although you're trying to say ball, breakfast, and thank-you. You don't walk anymore, everywhere you go you like to run. You're still figuring out what to do in our backyard but you love to be outside and ask to go on walks in your stroller everyday. Your newest thing is that you love balls, the big plastic ones that bounce well. Every time we go to the store you point and shout at the balls. I've given in twice now and gotten you a giant pink one and a smaller purple one. You love to watch me and daddy bounce them high or kick them up in the air. You also like to pick dandelions, but not when they are yellow, only after they've turned into puff balls. The other day you picked a big puffy one and stuck it in your mouth!
I love you Will. I am so thrilled that you are here with us now. You are such a handsome boy. I love to hold you and stare at your little face. You have your father's nose and your grandpa Lents' upper lip and great-grandpa Nelson's chin. You are a very calm baby. You really only cry during diaper changes. You are always very eager to eat and you are a very good eater. I am so excited to continue to watch you grow and develop and see your personality come out.
