Were home and more pictures!

We got home last night at about 5:00. I'm so glad to have that all done with. The hospital staff was really nice and respected our decision to keep to baby with us at all times. I was impressed. The pictures Patrick posted were the first baby pictures. They're cute but his face was swollen and he so much more adorable now so I wanted to post some one day old pictures.

First I wanted to go talk about the experience leading up to his birth. I started labor (on my own) on Wednesday night. I felt really weird and told Patrick that I thought I was in labor. My gut feeling said not to do my Heparin shot on Wednesday night which ended up being the best decision. I did doubt a little that I was in labor because he wasn't due for 16 days and our babies have always been late. After having contractions all night every 30 min. I called the midwife around 11:00 on Thursday morning and asked her if I should do my morning shot or come in and see what's going on. She told me to come in. After checking and finding out that I was dilating she talked to the doctor. I was told to get into the hospital within an hour or two so they could try and turn the baby (he was still sitting breech). They wanted to try and turn him before the water broke or before I was too far along and it was too late. For them to turn him I had to be off Heparin for 24 hours. Whew.. good thing I listened to the spirit and didn't do the last two shots. They actually didn't try to turn the baby until about 5:00. We had to wait for the blood tests to make sure that my bleed time and platelets were at normal range. One of the blood tests had to be redone because they didn't take enough blood the first time. So after another blood draw and another hour wait everything came back normal and they were ready. I was so frightened. After the doctor did the ultrasound he wasn't very optimistic that the baby would turn. He couldn't see a lot of fluid and the baby looked like he had been sitting breech for a long time. I tried to do the inversion (baby turning) without an epidural but it was awful so they stopped and did the epidural. The whole C section crew came in and were ready to haul me away if things didn't go well. Thanks to many prayers the baby turned with little effort. It took the doctor about 10 seconds. I broke out bawling and every thought I was hurt. I was just so relieved and happy. The doctor broke my water and got the baby's head down into the birth canal so he couldn't move back to the breech position again. He then turned me over to the midwives and things went pretty normal from there. I can tell you that I remember few times in my life when I have been so relieved. It seemed like everything else has gone wrong and I just want to have a normal birth. My mother, sister, husband, and daughter were all with me. Matthew brought the boys later when we were closer to the birth. It was awesome. I love having the whole family there. It's such a spiritual experience. My body took a break for a few hours and then within 5 min. he was born. He came out crying. I was so glad to hear those little healthy lungs work. He's been perfect ever since. He stayed wide awake for about 3-4 hours after birth and was very content. He hasn't cried at all since birth. He is so sweet and calm. He was happy through all his check ups and siblings holding him. We love this little guy and are so thankful he's here with us. Here are some cute pictures of our little peanut. They don't show how tiny he is. None of his clothes fit. Usually the new born clothes are too small for our babies.

Thanks to all those who have helped, prayed for us, cleaned our house, brought food, helped with our animals, etc. I'm overwhelmed by the outpouring of love that everyone has given to us. I could not have done it without you all. I felt your strength when I had nothing left to give.

Ready to go home from the hospital!

One last picture before we leave.

One day old!

Did I say how much we love this little one?

Look at those adorable little feet.

I laid this little guy on his back and he turned on his tummy three different times.

He smiles all the time. I'm not sure that he knows what he's doing but it's cute.
Today he looked right at me and gave me a big smile.

Here mom and baby are relaxing. He scratched his little cheek. What a cutie!!