Our Little One's Story (and some pictures)

I enjoyed getting everyone's comments with their guesses. Everyone who didn't already know the weight were pretty off. Keep reading for the details...

On Friday September 10th I was having strong contractions throughout the day and by 3pm they seemed to be getting closer together. Scott had gone to work and I called my Mom and asked her to come at 3:30 as the contractions were becoming 7-10 minutes apart. I kept myself distracted by doing laundry, straightening the house, cleaning the kitchen, making Taco Salad, and then cleaning the kitchen again. All that in an hour. I called Scott at 5 and told him this was it and I needed him. By then the contractions were 5 minutes apart. Mom and I started to fill the birthing pool as I was planning a water birth. We let the midwives know what was happening and by 7:30/8:00, they were here. By that time I was finding some relaxation (but no relief) in the pool. To make a really long story/post, just long, I spent about 7 hours laboring in the pool. I did get out for a while and walk around, but then I was back in the water.

However, the water, although it felt nice, didn't seem to be helping move things along so I got out and didn't ever end up back in it. Saturday morning came in went and right about the 24 hour mark my Dad and siblings brought us over some dinner. My sister came over to me and asked me how I was doing and at that moment I said "I don't know why I ever wanted to have a baby!" Now, I can't even fathom how I could have said that (and that was not the first time I had voiced something similar) but that's the stage I was at. The contractions were still raging strong, but they didn't seem to be doing anything and it seemed like they were just going to go on forever.

Again, to keep this semi-long (instead of really long)... Around 9:30ish, my midwife told me she had a prescription for me that I was not going to like. She wanted me to put my shoes on and go stomp up and down our driveway for 30-45 minutes. Now up to this point any "walking" (if you could call it that) I did was very small steps as I was in so much pain and so uncomfortable. I asked her "can't I stomp around inside?" She told me that if we didn't really get things moving we were going to have to seriously consider going to the hospital. That thought scared me so much (I'm not afraid of doctors or hospitals, I just didn't want to have my baby in a hospital), that I immediately became a changed, determined woman. No more trying to make it through each contraction so I could rest for a few minutes, I was going to work as hard as I could to get this baby moving. So Mom, Scott and I went outside (after a prayer) and started STOMPING. Not only were we stomping, but we were praying and praising God and with every contraction, as I hung on my Mom, I prayed "Lord, move this baby dddoooowwwnnnnn." After a good 30-40 minutes of that we came back inside and I tried to rest between a couple contractions as I was way past tired and exhausted. During which time I was praying and asking God to just fill me with His strength to birth this baby. After about 20 minutes the midwives turned all the lights back on and said, "come on, you don't want to stop now." (The contractions were finally changing and things were moving.)

God gave me the strength I needed and the endurance to keep going and to make every contraction count. I don't remember when I started pushing other than that it felt like I was pushing for hours (although I wasn't really, at least not for more than 2), but at 4:46am (making it 37 hours of labor) on Sunday September 12th, my Little One was born. Throughout the entire pregnancy I kept thinking the baby was a girl, but trying not to focus on that in case it was a boy. Even Friday, the day I went into labor, I was convinced the baby was a girl, but when the baby was born and I saw that it was a boy I said "it's a boy! Oh, I love him, I love him!!!" Scott was thrilled to peices as he desperately (I hadn't realized just how desperately) wanted a first-born son.

Now remember, we still didn't have any boy names picked out. There were names I liked, names he liked, but not a single name we both liked! After he was born and I was sitting on the couch with him, Scott said, "you can name him" he was just so thrilled it was a boy. My first thought was "what?" and then I knew, "Andrew?" I asked. He said "yes!" I asked him "are you sure?" and he said, "yes, I like Andrew. How about Stephen for the middle name?" (After my Dad) and I said, "Perfect! Andrew Stephen, our little Andrew!!!" Just as I had hoped and prayed, God gave us the perfect name when he was born!

So Andrew Stephen was born on September 12th, and he weighed (are you ready???) 9 pounds and 10 ounces! He was also 21 3/8 inches long! He is the darlingest little boy and I love him to peices!!! I am so thankful for him and so thankful that God would choose to entrust him to our care. I know that he is just a gift for a time as faster than I know I'd like, he will grow into a man and have to go his own way (hopefully, prayerfully) following after God's Will. So I am trying to make the most of every moment I have with him now (hence why it has taken me a week to do this post) especially as I know he is constantly growing and every day brings little changes that I don't want to miss! Here is a picture of our little Andrew (or Andy, as Scott nicknamed him) in one of his favorite sleeping positions (doesn't it look like he's thinking, or something?).

And here is the first nice picture of Andrew and I!

This is one of my absolute favorite pictures so far. This was when Andrew was only a few hours old. Look at that happy, happy look on Scott's face!!! He is such a proud Daddy!

My Mom finished making me a sling (by Elizabeth Lee Designs) this week and so today I tried it out for the first time (I didn't go anywhere, I just tried it out). I love it and I love the brown material with little hearts all over it!!!

My Mom was invaluable to us over the past week and a half! She came on Friday and stayed all the way until Wednesday morning only going home once for 3 hours on Monday. She was so helpful with everything and we are so grateful to her! I am not allowed to leave the house for 2 weeks and must continue to take things slow and easy (which is harder than I thought!).

I must say, it is nice not being so pregnant anymore! I can now lay on my back for more than 2 minutes, and it doesn't hurt at all anymore! :) YAY!!!!! I have already lost 28 pounds and am beginning to wonder what non-maternity clothes I will be able to fit into soon. In the meantime however, my maternity clothes are nice and comfy and I think look nicer on me now than they did before! :)

Anyway, I could go on and on, but I will stop here for now and give all my readers a break! :)

NOTE: I started out this post typing one-handed while Andrew was nursing, and now this is where he is, sleeping peacefully on my lap! He is just so adorable!!!! :)