Below I've written a novel that is mostly for me, so feel free to scroll down to the pictures of my cute baby! If you choose to keep reading, know that I am completely embarrassed by the plethora of pictures Brandon put on here of me - I'm sure most of you know how lovely you feel after going through labor! My poofy eyes beautifully offset my poofy lips! Uggg -- Anyway - as you saw we now have a beautiful baby boy that after much deliberation we decided to name Grady. I have loved the name Graham for so long, but this little guy just wasn't a Graham. I had a dream a few months ago that we had a little boy named Grady who we just called Gray - I had never heard the name before, so we figured it was probably meant to be, and it fits him perfect! Unlike Clara, this little guy came to us so fast! Saturday I felt pretty good and we did all sorts of stuff and went swimming all afternoon. At about 8 pm I started having pretty serious contractions, but knew that I wanted to labor at home as long as possible. I wanted do this un-medicated and was not about to sit around the hospital for a whole day with nurses making me feel like I wouldn't be able to do it! But - by 9:30 we figured we better call my parents to come stay with Clara. By 10:00 we figured we better call my doula who lives in W. Jordan, and by 11:00 we knew we better call a neighbor to sit with Clara and get to the hospital pretty fast! Everything was going so good - I sat in the tub for a while - had Brandon give my a wonderful foot massage - and was feeling so good! On the way to the hospital I started having contractions about every three minutes. I was in the back seat on my hands and knees and Brandon had never driven to the hospital where I was delivering before - long story short - it took us about 6 U turns and one call to find out where in the world the open door to the hospital was before we made it. It was just like the movies! I was in the back seat laughing (between contractions) and Brandon was a mad man. By the time we got to the hospital I was already dialated to a 7 1/2! I was so happy I just started bawling and hugging everyone! I was stuck at a 6 for over nine hours with Clara - so I was so excited! It only took about an hour and a half to get to a ten, and then my midwife broke my water - and Grady came about an hour later. Before I started to push - things went so good - contractions were really hard, but I felt like I got a huge rush of endorphins after each one. Pushing however did not go so good - It was really really really really hard - and I unfortunately did not handle it very quietly to say the least - but in an hour it was over and I didn't even have to be told that the beautiful baby they handed me was a boy - it was so weird, but I just knew! Birth is so amazing! And even though I was a baby about it, I was still so proud of myself, and so glad that I was able to have the experience that I felt would be best for both me and my baby. I had the most wonderful person and friend for my Doula who helped so so much! Christie - thank you thank you thank you! You were so calming and helpful for both of us! I know Brandon appreciated having you there just as much as I did. After I had Clara I felt like I might never walk again - this time was so so different. It was so great to be able to walk out of the delivery room and go see my baby right away. He had a rough first night where he wasn't breathing very good and was just really lethargic, it was so sad - we sat by him in the nursery till about 8 am and then he started doing really well and they let us take him to our room. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but so far he is such a good baby. He's even handled the attacks from his adoring sister who thinks we brought her home a new baby doll to play with. Here are some more pics of the last few days -
Isn't he so cute! By the way, for those who asked - I'm not sure what I was allergic to. My lips have blown up once again since then, and last night one of my toes blew up like a balloon! My hands have done it too - so weird! I got hives every night the last five months of my pregnancy too - My nurse said random things like this just happen to women after they have babies and their hormones are adjusting.
