Welcome Jeffrey!

Baby Jeff made his big debut on January 8th, 2012 at 11:16 am. He was 6 pounds 12 ounces and 19 inches long. 

(And completely adorable and perfect in every way, if I do say so myself)

Here are the details of his arrival.  We were called at 1 am to come in to start the induction. So we hurried our little buns to Labor and Delivery. 

By the time we got there and checked in and hooked up to the med's it was 2 am.  Tom immediately went to sleep on the couch and I started waiting.  I was pretty calm (surprisingly) and things moved along! I got a little sleep here and there but it was pretty hard because of contractions and anxiety.  Tom and I didn't realize how much anxiety we help onto from Marilyn's delivery.  She had so many complications and we didn't know how to sort out what was part of laboring and delivering a baby and what was specific to Marilyn's birth.  Everything was progressing normally (or so the nurses were telling us).  They checked me at 5 and said they wanted to break my water but for my comfort didn't want to until I had my epidural (I made it VERY clear I would have an epidural) because my cervix was SO SO high. Obviously, I said "Send the anesthesiologist down immediately" because I have no need for horrific pain for no reason.  So everything went great with my pain med's so they broke my water and we were on our way!

(Notice the amazing water bottle?? I looked forward to getting that bottle again! Its like an amazing reward for giving birth...weird or amazing?) I am totally serious, the moment they brought it in, I was ready to start laboring. 

My nurse was the same nurse that helped us with Marilyn.  She remembered us instantly, funny right? She was great! I got checked at about 10:30 and I was dilated to a 7.  Tom left to grab some breakfast and the doctor told me he was going to run an errand.  I was fine alone, I figured we had at least 2

hours or so before anything happened.  Tom got back in 20 minutes and its a good thing he did! The nurse came in 10 minutes later and said "Are you ready to have a baby??" I thought "Sure, in another 4 hours or so".  I had to push for Marilyn for 4 and a half hours so I had no idea that wasn't normal.  All of the sudden everyone was in a hurry, there were more nurses and people around.  In came the little bassinet for the baby, I started hysterically crying.  I couldn't believe it was time! We were doing it! I was scared that it would turn out like Marilyn's delivery and the baby would be whisked away to NICU and we wouldn't see him right away. 

The nurse wanted me to do a practice push as the doctor was getting ready, but I started to push and she said "STOP! This baby is coming now, I will go grab the doctor." I couldn't believe it! She told me not to laugh or the baby would fall out.  I thought it was so weird.  But here we were.  The doctor came in, I pushed 3 times and there he was.  Perfect and so so so small. 

I couldn't believe he was ours! He was so small and so quiet and perfect! We felt so blessed and grateful that he was in our family and we felt such a great responsibility.  It is our job to give this little baby a good life and teach him to be a good person.  The moment we saw his little face we knew it was going to be worth every second of work.  We loved him the first moment we saw him. 

Shortly after we got moved to recovery Marilyn and my mom came to meet the baby.  Marilyn LOVED him so much from the second she came in the room.  She wanted to see every part of him, his fingers and toes and his nose and his hair.  She said "Hi Baby Jeff, I waited for you" and "I do love you Baby Jeff, I do love you".  I was so relieved when she reacted so well to the baby.  She couldn't get enough of him. 

My friend who lives down the street (shout out to Brittney Fairborn, who had a rockstar natural labor and delivery) had her darling baby girl 24 hours before me. Jeffrey and Adiana met in the hospital, they will obviously were instant best friends. It was fun to have a friendly face in the hospital. 

We were pretty lucky that Man Jeff (my brother) happened to be driving back up to Salt Lake City and the timing worked out perfectly for him to come and meet Baby Jeff.  They share a special connection considering they are both named Jeffrey Peter.  I am SO SO SO happy Man Jeff got to come and meet his new nephew...it was a special moment for sure. 

 I look pretty horrific in this picture but here is a shout out to my AMAZING hospital jammies...they are pretty amazing right?!

This is Jeff's little outfit he came home in.  It was so adorable to see him in real clothes, it almost made him a real baby.  We were so excited to take him home.  You can also see his little dimple on his cheek, I love him.