Our Christmas Eve Baby

In the early hours of Dec. 24th I laid in bed timing some medium strength contractions. At 41 weeks + 1 day I was ready to be done being pregnant. They came every 10 minutes for a couple of hours, so I would doze in between and wake up during them. I tried getting up and going up and down the stairs a few times to see if I could make them stronger or closer together and they stayed the same. They went away about 5:30 AM and I went back to sleep. I slept until about 9 AM and woke up disappointed and feeling like this pregnancy was doomed to last forever. I always went into labor at night and delivered in the wee hours of the morning, and so, it being Christmas Eve day, my hopes of having a baby before Christmas felt completely gone. 

We continued with our plans for the day, dropping off the kids at Grandma Wendy’s for their Christmas Eve cousin party and taking time for a nice lunch with Shawn and baby Lettie. After that we finished up the last bit of shopping and errands we needed. During all of that contractions came on and off. I had never had this strong of contractions throughout the day, so I was curious to see what happened when I settled in at home. We got home around 2:30 and Jesse spent the afternoon bringing up all of the presents from the storage room and hiding them in our bedroom. I settled in on the bed and watched Netflix and timed contractions. At about 4:30 I texted Janae and told her how frustrated I was because they were 5-8 minutes apart and I felt like they weren’t doing anything. She assured me that they were. Alan and Rebecca picked up the kids from their party so Jesse could stay with me and we got ready for our Bethlehem dinner. I felt really bad that I couldn’t help Jesse with all the preparations for Christmas Eve, and I felt so guilty asking him for help but I was having pretty painful contractions by 6 pm when we started our dinner with the kids. I was a little bothered even, thinking that these contractions were hindering our Christmas Eve and I didn’t feel like I was even making any progress. I sat on my yoga ball and breathed through contractions while the kids ate cheese and dried fruit and Jesse read the Christmas story out of Luke 2. I could tell it was a very tender moment for him, but it was kind of a blur for me because the contractions were getting quite intense by that point. I cut the dinner short and told him I needed to retreat into my room and I really needed help to deal with these contractions. I felt so bad ditching out on the kids in the middle of Christmas Eve and taking dad with me, but I really couldn’t do anything else. Back in my bedroom I had a little breakdown, I told Jesse I didn’t think I was progressing very far and I thought he should just take me to the hospital. In my mind I thought I was maybe 3cm since my water hadn’t even broken yet, plus my contractions were very difficult to get through. I was so discouraged that this was taking so long and it was so hard. He said maybe let’s just call Janae and see where you’re at first. So he texted her and my mom and Amanda to help with the kids. Jesse started pushing on my knees and it felt 10x better and more bearable. Amanda arrived and helped the kids get ready for bed and turn on a movie. Janae got there around 7 and checked me around 7:15. She started laughing and announced I was a 7 with a very soft cervix. I just needed pressure from the baby’s head and I would be complete. I decided to have her break my water, hoping that would put an end to this forever pregnancy and labor. We got everything ready for the baby and filled the tub. My mom got there just as Janae broke my water around 7:40. After that stepped right into the tub to wait for my baby. Contractions took a minute to reestablish once my water was broken so it seemed like I sat there forever. After a few contractions in the tub I started pushing. I remember after the first few pushes I started getting really mad that I couldn’t feel her moving down into my bottom. I felt like my pushing was doing nothing. I felt like this was going to last forever. A few more contractions, a few more pushes and I was praying (and told everyone else to pray too) that she would move down. The urge to push was inescapably strong no matter what position I was in. Jesse had stepped into the tub to push on my knees but I desperately moved around trying to alleviate anything. I ended up on my knees semi squatting against the side of the tub. I was sobbing that I couldn’t do it, no matter how hard I pushed she wouldn’t come.  I had a ginormous push and felt the tremendous pressure of her head in my bottom. I couldn’t even talk to tell Janae she was crowning. I took a breath and gave way to the enormous burning push and birthed her head. I took another breath and the pressure from that push torpedoed her body out into the tub. I reached down and lifted my baby girl out of the water. Janae helped me untangle her cord and I hugged her to my chest and sobbed “thank you” to Heavenly Father over and over again. I knew no matter how many times I said it, it would never match my gratitude, my relief that it was over. 

 

I melted down the side of the tub in relief. In sheer joy that she was here. As I looked into her face I thought of the many evenings we had already spent in that tub together trying to make it through one more difficult day of the pregnancy. How fitting that we should end it there together in that tub, at 8:06 pm Christmas Eve. 

Welcome baby Caia

Sweet baby Caia made her way into the world in the early morning hours of  Thursday, August 10.  Candice prepared so faithfully for this birth and it was obvious that her hard work was motivated by her deep love for her sweet baby girl. I'm overwhelmed with gratitude when my gift and passion of supporting mothers in birth helps to bless my family.  

60 things we love about Mom

Wow, it seems like yesterday we celebrated mom's 50th birthday. Those 10 years just flew by! My mom is one of the easiest people to plan a party for because she is so easy to please. Supply her with the people she loves most and some grand babies and she lights up like a Christmas tree :)  I love it that my family makes partying so fun and easy. 

Schooled

I came to the end of the summer with mixed emotions. Did I spend enough time with each kid? Did we do enough projects/cooking/fun outings? Did we really utilize this time as it whipped by in a hot gust of wind? But excitement, oh the excitement, as we check out Cooper's new school and the gluesticks and crayons hit the rack at wal-mart for 50 cents! 

Then, the last week of summer arrived, and my patience ran out. I don't care about the projects or outings. I'm done cleaning up snacks and games and wet towels for the billionth time. I don't care who hit who or if your Pokémon cards are missing. If I find them I will burn them! I remember texting Jesse on Tuesday of our last week of summer and telling him I tap out. Done. I'm not sure how we made it to Friday but we limped into the finish line like a car out of gas. But we made it! 

We wanted a good send off for the start of the school year, so after all summer of saving the kids saved $100 each of their chore money (our fake money system that promotes chores and limits screen time) to go see Newsies at Tuacahn!  My heart swelled as they sang the songs glanced at me to make sure I was watching during their favorite parts!

Jesse gave the kids beautiful teary eyed fathers blessings Sunday night. And we prayed for them together as we thought about the each precious child and the challenges and opportunities for growth each would face this year. 

As Monday arrived my desperation from the previous week turned into hopeful anticipation as we packed lunches and backpacks and one by one said goodbye.  Cooper caught the bus to 6th grade at Lava Ridge.


And I drove the other 3 to Arrowhead (to ride bikes everyday hereafter).

Leila starting 4th grade with Mrs. Fuchs




Marshall started 3rd grade with Mrs. Beraz



And Lillian began 1st with Mrs. Robinson 



My anticipation died as I drove away and came home to a (relatively) quiet house with Caleb and Eleanor. 

As much as they drive me crazy, I missed them, and I think that's a good thing :)

The weekend the world imploded.

 Ok, so the title may be a little dramatic.  But I really did feel like our world was falling apart and taking my brain with it.  Now, a month later, I can look back and think about maybe laughing.... someday.   I am still wincing from the memory of it.  It might take a while. 

Let me set the stage for you.  Caleb was 3 weeks old and was not sleeping well at all (that alone is enough to send any woman over the edge!).  We were packing up our house piece by piece during those 3 weeks to get ready for "the weekend". 

So, Friday morning, there I am getting ready (the best I can with a halfway packed up house) to go close on the paperwork for our home.  Trying my best not to be too emotional and start sobbing and saying goodbye to completely random parts of the house like the baseboards and the blinds.  Someone informs me that there is poop on the bathroom floor (oddly not that uncommon with our newly minted family of 5 children).  I strap on baby Caleb in his carrier so he won't be screaming while I attempt to clean the bathroom.  I send the kids out to the front yard to swing and leave the door open to listen for fighting. 

The poop it seems, must have been there for some time.  Like maybe days, or weeks. It won't scrub off!  I keep cleaning and thoughts go through my head of maybe leaving it since we'll be gone in a couple days anyway.... but that thought quickly leaves as I think of Karma and what might be waiting for us in our new house.  I think of how this morning has gone relatively smooth, which I am grateful for since it will be Leila's last day at afternoon Kindergarten and I want to walk out and lovingly send her off on the bus so she will remember me as a kind, thoughtful, attentive mother.  The kind that patiently cleans up poop and carefully places you on the bus on your last day of your old school. 

Almost done, just a few spots left, and then... SCREAMING!  Blood curdling massive screaming coming from the front yard.  I hear Leila and Marshall doing their best to guide a hysterical Lillian in to the house.  The first thing I see is blood.  Massive amounts.  Like tons.  Her mouth is full of it.  It's dripping from her mouth onto her blood-soaked shirt.  It's dripping from her shirt onto the freshly disinfected tile.  I don't even know where it's coming from!

I do my best to sop it off of her mouth and remover her shirt so it will stop dripping all over.  She's still hysterical.

 Leila and Marshall are sputtering things about her swinging too high, letting go, tipping off the swing and falling out.   I do my best with her screaming to peer into her mouth to see where she's bleeding from.  Teeth all accounted for, and then I see her tongue and a gaping hole still pulsing with blood.  I take a deep breath and start running her a bath.  She's covered in blood and I can't even touch her without it smearing on my clothes and Caleb still patiently strapped in his carrier. 

Jesse calls just as I am getting her in the tub and cheerfully says he'll be home in 4 seconds because he's coming around the corner.  A little relief, but still worried, I frantically give him the rundown. 

He takes the baby and puts Leila on the bus (so much for her calm morning for her last day of school!).  We both do what we can to calm Lils down.  Eventually it was reading her books while she was in the tub that did the trick.  She would barely talk, we can tell it hurts her even to push the drool out of her mouth.

I called my Dad who thankfully hadn't left for work yet and he agreed to help Jesse give her a Priesthood blessing.  When we get to his house he had changed into his white shirt and had his olive oil all ready.  This is why I love my Father.  He seems to have a special bond with Lillian and she too, is fond of him.  After the blessing, he offers her ice cream, and popsicles, but in the end it's a balloon that he fishes down from the ceiling that makes her smile.  Her smile made her wince :(

The rest seems like a blur, we head into the title company to sign for the house.  Something I was preparing for mentally and emotionally just flies by as my only concern is for Lillian. 

She whimpers here and there and even though we can't see the wound to tell how deep or wide it is we figure we can't go through the rest of the weekend with her in this much pain. 

Jesse drops me off at instacare so he can run his last minute errands before his last court of honor with his scouts.  The nurse took a little look at her mouth and told us we had to head over to the ER because it was too deep of a cut for them to handle.  With Jesse already gone, I gather her in my arms and walk across the parking lot to the ER. 

By the time the doctor could look at her she had fallen asleep on my chest, drooling blood onto my clothes.  Naptime, it seems, comes even at the ER.

 I kept it together as they told me they'd have to sedate her through an IV line, numb her tongue and then put a few stitches in the top to keep it closed.  They explained that she might not be herself as she came out of the sedation and she may hallucinate or not recognize us or know where she was.  As soon as the nurse left the room I lost it and wept a little with my sleeping Lilsy on my chest.  I wished to the high heavens that I could do this for her, and hoped that she would remember none of it.

Our loving family and friends had taken care of the other kids and made sure Cooper and Leila got safely off the bus.  That seems to be the re-occurring tender mercy through all of this, that we had so many people willing to step in and help.

We promised cooper a good-bye s'mores party for all his friends in the neighborhood, this was the only night it could happen.  So we just bit the bullet and did it. 

I am glad we did :)

 That night was rough with Lils.  She couldn't talk to tell us what she wanted so she ended up carrying 3 sippy cups around with her.  She was so thirsty but it hurt her so bad to swallow that she refused everything.  My heart broke for her when I had to force the tylenol and ibuprofen down.  That night she woke up at 3 AM and chugged a sippy full of juice.  I was very relieved.

 The next day, bright and early, was moving day.  With the help of ward members and family, we packed up everything but our mattresses.

When I finally got a look at the new place, I liked how big it was, but realized it needed to be painted.  Jesse assured me he could have it finished in a couple of days.  I knew we needed to, and I knew it would be worth it, but my heart sank as I tried to think of where we could sleep and how I could start the kids at their new school with all our stuff in boxes.

The calm in the eye of the storm was Sunday when we blessed little Caleb.  It was a great day :)  And again, family stepped in to have a luncheon for us that we could not do for ourselves.  We talked to Becca who graciously agreed to let us stay at her house for the next few days.

Lils was still not talking and if we kept up her tylenol she would barely eat soft foods like applesauce, but at least she was eating.

 Monday (labor day) we moved the last of everything out of our house and cleaned up.  We locked the doors and drove away.

Luckily, the Callahans showed up at our new house to help unpack the heavy stuff.

Tuesday, Jesse was up early and gone to work, but I managed to get my 5 children dressed and ready by 8:30 to go meet the new teachers at the new school.  Grandma Monique graciously watched the younger 3 so I could focus on the 2 that were actually going to school.  Here is a picture to document Leila's first day, which we celebrated by taking her to mcd's.   Sorry Coop, you got ousted.

 It was an especially rainy day and I didn't think much of it until I stopped off at the new house to grab another change of clothes for myself and the kids.  All our stuff, which was sitting in the carport behind the house, was standing in about 3 inches of water.   I would have taken a picture but I was, you know, freaking out, crying, trying not to lose it completely.  I called Jesse who dropped everything and came to move all the boxes out of the water and hang up wet things to dry.  I guess the silver lining in this situation was that there was nothing irreplaceable that was permanently damaged.

Now we come to Wednesday.  My favorite.  It was the first night we slept in our new house.  Our bed was heavenly.

I woke up to this:

The next week was still extremely stressful amidst spurts of frantically looking for necessities in wet or soggy boxes, but that weekend tops it all. 

I will never forget the roller coaster of emotions packed into those few days, but I will also never forget the relief that flooded over me every time someone stepped in to fill a need.  I know that was my Heaveny Father working through many willing hands. 

Caleb's Journey Earthside

I've been putting off writing this story for fear that the actual writing and recording of the event closes the chapter of it.  We move on, it's gone, life continues as usual.  The awesome power of the experience dissipates and finally dissolves into what is reality and normal life.  It has taken me many deep breaths, meditative moments, and sniff's of my baby's neck to reassure me that I will keep the glow, the memory, the sweetness of this experience well after the chapter is closed and we have moved on.

I could go into the weeks before my due date when I was wishing and hoping that any second I would go into labor and therefore I wouldn't have to make dinner, AND I could go on about my due date, July 24th, a state-wide holiday, that kept me on my feet but produced no baby.  I could also expand upon each of the 12 emotionally taxing days I went beyond my due date, but none of that is as interesting, or as fun as the actual event.

 I will spare you.


I suppose I should begin with the prophecy.  Our little Marshall has been particularly attached to this little person in my belly ever since he knew I was growing one.  He was particularly attached to Lils as well but he has kept an especially close watch on this one, making sure it's always warm enough (by carefully spreading his own blanky across my belly) and that it always had enough oxygen (by blowing puffs of air onto my belly to help the baby breath).  Marshall prayed every night for "da new baby" and we all hoped it would come any day.

Marshall woke up the Saturday before Caleb was born and bounced onto my bed to wake me up.  He told me that he had a dream and that the baby would come on Monday.  I laughed at the time and silently hoped that he was wrong, after all, it was Saturday and every hour I went overdue was emotionally taxing.  I couldn't picture myself holding out till Monday!  Sunday morning came and again Marshall bounded into my room to say good morning and snuggle my gigantic belly.  "I love da new baby mom, it's so so so cute!"  he was saying.  I told him he should tell the new baby to come out now!  He looked at me like I was so incredibly silly.  "Mom, da new baby is coming on MONDAY!"

 Monday morning at 3 am I woke to some painful contractions that lasted about 40 seconds and varied between 2-4 minutes apart.  I waited until I had a few in a row and then I texted Jesse to see how close he was (yes, he was already up and about at work at 3 am!).  He happened to be in the backyard working and was able to come right in and shower. We knew it would be a while so we settled in on the couch to watch an episode of Monk.  Jesse was magnificent during contractions helping me remember to breath deeply and rubbing my back, but I felt bad for him during the 5 minutes between contractions as he dozed off.

We took a walk in the dark morning hours around the block in our neighborhood and I could feel the contractions getting stronger and closer together.  The hard part about labor is that you have no idea how long it will last.  I mean I HOPED it would be like Lillian's labor that was a quick 5 hours but with Lillian my water had broken and that had helped to speed things up.  I was mentally preparing for up to 8 hours or longer, just in case.  So when things started getting more serious with that walk I went into "conserve energy" mode and got into a warm bath.  The water felt amazing and after a few minutes the intensity of the contractions had decreased and I was easily dozing in between them. I relaxed so much that I figured if I was going to sleep I might as well sleep in my bed.

I can't explain why this happens but my bed was just not as comfortable as I remembered.  I could not lay still and relax.  I had to get back up and I needed another walk.  This was around 6 am and I started feeling like I needed some more emotional reinforcement and told Jesse he better text Annie and my Mom.   We were stepping outside for our walk when Annie showed up just in time to capture these beauties:

This walk was definitely harder than the first one.  Well for one, now that it was light I was terrified my neighbors would see me, but for two, labor was getting very serious and I needed way more focus and concentration to stay on top of each contraction.

And I think I peed a little at one point.

 Don't tell my neighbors.

See how supportive Jesse is?!  I mean literally he was supporting my body weight.  That couldn't have been very comfortable, but he stopped and sat like that during most of my contractions on that walk. 

By the time we got back to the house, Sara had shown up and soon after that Candice was there and Deb (our photographer and wonderful friend) was not far after (which is why all the pictures from this point are AMAZING!!). 

Candice timed contractions, Jesse provided pain relief, and Annie soothed away my mental anxieties.


 Janae arrived around 7 and I was sure glad to see her.  I was feeling like things were getting pretty intense and I was ready to see if anything was happening and if I was close or if I still had awhile to go.












I was trying to keep in mind that I had really only been in labor for 4 hours, and I really could be just beginning.  Also, for every one of my births I have gotten to the hospital at either 1 or 3 cm and have been in equally as much pain as I was at this point.  Upon doing a cervical check I was prepared to hear either 3 or 4 cm, even though I was hoping for more.










So when Janae said 6 cm, I was like,

HIGH FIVE JESSE!!




































For the most part, even though the contractions were pretty serious, the in between parts were pretty chill.  By this time the kids had woken up and had come in to check on me one by one.  It didn't feel weird or bothersome to have them there.  They could tell I was in pain and became very quiet and even comforting at this time.

Marshall would stroke my hair, Lilsy would pat my back, and all of them made some comment about being excited to see the new baby.  Even my big boy Cooper became very sweet and leaned down head to head with me to talk to me and make sure I was ok.  I told him my belly was hurting a little but I was happy that the new baby would be here soon.  Leila was mostly excited to have all the people in her house when she woke up. 

Even though I was at a 6 cm I still assumed that labor could last for hours longer.  No one could have told me at 7 am that I would be holding my baby a little over an hour later.

The contractions were about 2 minutes apart at that point and about a minute long.  They hurt, that's for sure, but it wasn't the pain that was amazing to me, it was just the shear pressure of them.  The intensity of the squeezing was surprising to me.

I mentioned to Janae when she arrived that it felt better to bear down during contractions and I had actually been doing that since our little walk earlier.  Not full-on pushing but just grunting a little and letting the pressure push downward as it seemed to want to.  I was afraid (from my hospital trained mind) that she would tell me to avoid doing that until I had reached 10 cm and to just try and breath through them and completely relax.  Home birth, it turns out, is nothing like hospital birth (duh).  She told me to go ahead and do what my body was telling me. So I did.
























At Lillian's birth I had found one position that relieved most of the pain and I didn't want to deviate from that position at all.  Getting up and moving around took great mental preparation and even then I wanted to go immediately back to that one position as soon as possible.

I kept waiting to find that one position during this labor, and it never came.  Since I never found one position more comfortable than the next I did almost every contraction differently, and I kept assuming that I must not be that close to the end because I hadn't found that one spot to get my groove on and just stay in my "labor land" bubble.

 In fact, I thought I still had hours to go because even though the contractions were intense and painful, I had moments in between to be normal and laugh and talk with everyone there.

 Can I just say I have the most amazing and supportive family/birth team?   
























So about 8:00 AM I was starting to get a little agitated (so they tell me, I felt fine).  Like when the kids were watching their movie in the living room I could hear it and called out to them to turn it down.  I remember Trisha looking at Janae and Jesse and saying something about me going through transition.

 I remember thinking they were nuts because these contractions were nowhere near what I thought they should be for me to be nearing the end.

Janae had already begun setting up a birthing area on one side of my room and with these changes in my attitude she quickly set about finishing that up.

I do remember feeling like I needed to do something else to cope with the intensity I was feeling.  I asked if it would be ok if I got in the tub.  Janae said go ahead.








So we did a few like this while the tub was filling up:

Can I just say that the warm water felt even better than an epidural?!  I could literally feel every muscle in my body relaxing and the contractions just kind of went through my body and melted away.

After a few contractions in the tub the urge to push was especially strong so Janae suggested we check the cervix to see what it was doing, to see if pushing was a great option right then.

8 centimeters!!

I was so happy!

 Little Cooper came in to encourage me and to see how things were going.  If I could have seen the future I would have told Cooper to wait about 10 minutes and he would be meeting his brother.

Janae also warned me that the baby's head was pressing hard on that last lip of cervix so it might just feel like one long contraction from there on out.

I believed her, but in my mind I was thinking, yeah, one long contraction until the real contractions hit.

But no, she was right.  I was silly.

It was just one long contraction, I felt like it was an out of body experience at that point.  I felt like a caged animal.  I wanted to get up, out of the tub and leave everyone and just walk out.  I wanted to leave my belly and all it's contractions behind.

 I could vaguely hear Janae and Jesse talking me through the contractions and using warm water to relax my muscles.  It felt like everything was in the way, the tub, the water, my belly, my legs.  I couldn't find a position that alleviated anything.

I remember Janae stepping out to find her gloves and Trisha came in to add some words of encouragement.  That lady is incredible.  I was so comforted by having her there.
























Janae came back with gloves and a hot towel to place on my perineum, which I appreciated, but I was confused.  I didn't think I needed it yet, I was thinking you don't really need your perineum stretched until the baby was close to crowning, and to my knowledge I was still at 8 cm (even though I was pushing somewhat through every contraction.).

So she really knows her stuff.  Because it was almost like BAM!  I felt a twist and kind of a "thunk" in my pelvic region (I think it was the baby making a turn into the birth canal) and then I just had to push.  People were talking and rushing around but all my body could do was just sit there and push.

Janae spoke very clearly and told me that I could stay in the tub if I wanted, but if I did the baby would be born in the tub.  She told me I could get up and step out any time I wanted if I wanted the baby to be born outside the tub.  I remember considering very seriously trying to make my legs work to lift my body out of the tub and it seemed way too overwhelming.  There was just no way I was going anywhere.

I stayed.  I clung to the side of the tub and just pushed.  I remember feeling the burning, the "ring of fire" and thinking how odd it was that I felt like the baby was crowning.  The baby could not possibly be crowning because I was only at 8 cm!  I kept pushing.  Janae said that the head was almost out.  I kept pushing.  Jesse said "The head is out!"

I thought it was odd that I had to keep pushing at this point.  With Lillian, I pushed out her head and the rest of her sort of slipped out after.  I was expecting immediate relief after the head came, but there was none, only burning, so I just kept pushing.  I pushed out that little body inch by inch until with a gush I finally felt relief!  I quickly flipped around to see my new baby and the first glimpse I got was of Jesse laughing, holding our BOY who was crying and sending a stream of pee out into the air for all the world to see.

8:22 AM

I cannot think of the right words to convey what I felt in that moment, shock because I was finished, relief that it was over, disbelief that I had just had a boy, in the tub, at home, that Jesse just caught our son, A SON!  A BOY! A BABY BOY!  OVER!  DONE!  I DID IT!!!!














































 I grabbed that warm wiggly body and just held him and listened to his delicious cries.  The love, the joy, the disbelief I felt is completely indescribable.

The kids heard the news that the baby was out and came in right away to see. 

 I stepped out onto a little drop cloth area Janae had laid out and was able to just sit and hold the baby and drink my orange juice.  Still had to deliver the placenta but everyone knows that compared to a baby the placenta is nothing :)

 The baby was pinking up wonderfully and beginning to breath normally.  The cord was clamped and cut.  I handed him over to Jesse to introduce to the kids so I could get cleaned up and into bed.
  It is always an unnaturally odd feeling, the first separation after 9 months.  I must say that handing him to his father only felt kind of like a half separation, almost like I wasn't even handing him off at all, just changing carriers.

Proper introductions:

 It was at this point Jesse asked the kids what we should name him, and Marshall piped up immediately: "Let's call him NOAH!"

 We could not deny our little prophet the right to help name his brother, so Noah, a name we had not considered before, was slipped in as a middle name for little Caleb.

We spent the next few hours, heck, we spent the next few DAYS just like this:

 Grandma had to check him out too, and make sure he was swaddled properly:

Weighed in at 8 lbs. 10 oz.  (exactly the same weight as his brother Marshall!)

He was examined thoroughly 

At the ripe old age of 20 minutes he had visitors:

 Didn't love being unwrapped, but didn't mind the bath,

 Lillian had been practicing with me for weeks putting diapers on her dollies to get ready for the new baby.  I thought it would only be fair for her to help put on his first diaper.  She had been hovering around him since he was born and when it was time for the diaper I couldn't see her anywhere.  When I called for her to come help put the diaper on her brother she came clip-clopping out of my closet with my high-heels on.  When she heard it was diaper time she quickly ditched the heels and hopped up on the bed to help.

We did it :)

 So that is the story of the few hours it took (well let's be honest, it really took 41 weeks + 5 days) to bring little Caleb here.  It was an incredible experience for our family.  I know they may not remember it, but I hope the wonder and awe and the feeling of reverence of life that they experienced will somehow be embedded in them as it was in me.