Baby!

We have our new little boy! Little Hobbes was born on January 15, 2011 at 2:58 a.m. He was 6 lbs. 14 oz., 20 inches long. He is awesome! So sweet and precious, and I'm completely in love with him. For those of you who don't already know it, the birth story goes like this:

My water broke around 7:15 on Friday night. We took Gunner to a friend's house to sleep while we headed to the hospital. I was started on pitocin after a couple hours because I wasn't having contractions and wasn't progressing. Once the pitocin was in my system, things really seemed to happen fast. I was given some pain medication at some point when I thought I couldn't stand the pain anymore, and it worked so fast and was so nice and strong that I had one little moment of insanity when I thought I could go through the whole process without an epidural. And then the Stadol wore off and I begged the people for the epidural, which I didn't receive until I was dilated to an eight. I had one nerve line in my belly that didn't take to the epidural so I had one spot of really focused and intense pain. But I was able to feel all I needed to feel in order to push (which wasn't the case with my super strong epidural when I had Gunner). My nurse was amazing and super helpful. Spiff was the perfect coach. The OB intern, resident and attending were all attentive and supportive as I pushed for about 20 minutes until the little guy popped right out.

The whole labor and delivery process was so different this time than with Gunner. Gunner's birth was sort of strange, with the hospital being so busy that the nurses couldn't pay any attention to us, and with my epidural being so strong that I couldn't feel anything, turning the situation into something emergent that probably didn't have to be. This time, my labor was shorter and more focused. Spiff and I both felt like we were in good communication with the nursing staff and the doctors. Hobbes's birth was calm and really special, and I was allowed the time and attention directly afterward in order to bond with my sweet new baby.

I am feeling very grateful right now. I loved my labor and delivery nurse so much that I wanted to take her home with me. I had two incredible mother/baby nurses that took really good care of Hobbes and me for two days. Spiff was the perfect coach and is a wonderful daddy to our two little boys. Hobbes is healthy, he's sleeping well, and he has already gained 11 oz. over his birth weight! My parents are here helping us with the transition to a four-member family. I also feel overwhelming gratitude for our friends who took care of Gunner while we were in the hospital and for my friends who visited me while I was there. So thank you to everyone who made our birth experience so wonderful this time around. We couldn't have done it without you!