So much to be thankful for . . .

Wow, I can't believe over one month has already gone by since Joseph has been born! It seems like ages ago -- we can't even seem to remember what life was like before his arrival.

This past month has been full of many exciting new adventures. Adjusting to our new roles as parents and learning all about our little guy has been as exciting as it has been challenging, but we wouldn't trade it for the world. On our end, adapting to life with very little sleep has been interesting to say the least. Thankfully, we've had a great deal of help from friends, family and neighbors. As you can see from the pictures that we've been updating over the past month on our Flickr page, Joseph has had many visitors over the past month, and each of them graciously lent a helping hand. We'd like to give a special "shout out" to the Grandmas for all of their help as well as Joseph's aunts and uncles who have helped us in ways that we can't even count. Especially those who have travelled from afar -- Uncle Michael, Aunt Kelly and Aunt Sarah -- we are extremely grateful for help with some of those late night feedings with Joseph as well as helping us with our own feedings!

In terms of Joseph's past month, it seems that he has already changed in leaps and bounds! As the days go by, we've noticed how much more alert he's become as well how much longer he can hold up his head, and, best of all, how much more he's smiling. Although he has struggled during his early weeks with some gas issues, his smiles have recently become about more than just "passing wind". Usually it starts with him very studiously focusing in on our features and then he suddenly breaks into a big gummy grin. I can honestly say that there is nothing like it in this world -- it makes all of those sleepless nights entirely worth it!

So, in commemoration of this upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, we have so much to be thankful for . . . primarily, our good health, our family and friends and those little gummy smiles!




Happy Thanksgiving!

Joseph's Birth Story

Well, here it is almost one entire month after our little Joseph's birth and I've finally found a moment to sit down and write about his exciting arrival. Who knew that becoming parents would give us an entirely new appreciation of free time. Yeah right . . . what's that again?!? As I'm typing this, the little one is actually attempting to nap on my lap, so we'll see how long this lasts! Hopefully I'll be able to complete this story before he turns one year old!!

Anyways, as many of you know, I went into labor on the morning of my due date. Not bad for a first-timer! I labored throughout the day, but the contractions didn't really become regular until the later part of the afternoon. After calling my doctor's office, they told me to sit tight and labor a bit more at home before coming into the hospital. We waited it out and tried to distract ourselves with some Monday night football. Brad was even lucky enough to catch a quick nap! Now, before you say anything, I did tell him that it was perfectly okay for him to take a snooze. Little did I know that he would actually be able to sleep. I swear, my husband can sleep through anything! Regardless, it wasn't long that he was able to enjoy his peaceful slumber. Approximately 45 minutes had passed and my contractions were at least one minute long and averaging 2-3 minutes apart. Based on the increasing pain, I decided it was time to go. I alerted Brad and I swear that I have never seen him move so fast out of deep sleep as he lept into action. He ran upstairs to get our bags and we hustled out the door. He was so focused on making it in record time to the hospital I began to wonder if we were going to make it there in one piece! Of course, Brad came through and I was speedily and safely dropped off at Spectrum Hospital emergency.

When we arrived, I was wheeled up to triage and monitored for a while. Then I was shown to the birthing room which was a corner room with a beautiful view of the city. Unfortunately, I was in too much pain at this point to truly enjoy it, but I took comfort in the great treatment that I was receiving from the hospital staff as well as the wonderful support that my loving husband and coach was lending me. I didn't opt for pain relief right away -- rather I decided to give the whirlpool a whirl to see if it could help to alleviate my pain. It did for about a half an hour and then, as I got out of the tub, my water officially broke and . . . holy contractions! They aren't kidding when they say labor is hard work! A three minute contraction later and I was ready for them to bring on the epidural. After the lovely anesthesiologist administered the pain relief, I wanted to hug her and secretly thanked God for the individual who invented the epidural. Sweet relief! I didn't even feel the next contraction and was able to relax through the remainder of the night. Once 7:30 a.m. rolled around and the sun began to rise, it was about time for me to push. I was nervous, anxious, excited, along with about 1000 other emotions were racing through me, but I didn't care. Before long, I knew that I was going to be able to finally to meet my baby. Ten months of hard work was about to pay off and I was ready to do whatever was necessary to get down this final stretch.

Up to this point, the nurse kept saying how my labor was "textbook". Being the overachiever that I am, I felt so proud and thought maybe I'd even get a gold star when this was all said and done. Little did I know that when I began pushing was exactly when my labor became anything but textbook. During the 3 hour process, we discovered that our little one was tranverse (i.e., facing sideways) and my pubic bone was unusually low for the baby to travel through. Not impossible, but the doctor said that it would present some unique challenges.

I pushed "perfectly" as the nurse described and she gave me a true glimmer of hope at the two hour mark when the big light lowered down from the ceiling and she told me that this was the beginning of the end. Before I would know it, she reassured me, I'd be holding my baby. A few more pushes later, the doctor walked in and completely deflated all of my hopes when he informed us that the baby hadn't made any progress in a while because he was stuck. Let me tell you, after 40 weeks of waiting and close to 3 hours of pushing, that's the last thing you want to hear! Regardless, I was willing to do anything to deliver a healthy baby, so I informed the doctor that I could push for 3 more hours if he needed me to. One look in his eyes and I knew that was not going to be an option.

After a few minutes of considering a forceps delivery, he decided that the baby was not in the correct position to do so safely. The decision had been made for me . . . we had no choice but to deliver by a Caesarean secion. As upset as I was, the doctor and nurses were very reassuring as what seemed like half of the hospital staff frantically rushed around to get me into emergency surgery. Before I even knew what was happening, I was wheeled into the O.R. and they began working on me. Thankfully once I saw Brad's face -- or at least the small part of his face that wasn't covered by medical gear -- I felt like everything was going to be okay. I tried to stay focused on the fact that I would soon be able to meet our little one.

I said a prayer of thanks, once again, for the wonder of the epidural as they worked away at me. I didn't feel any pain, but there was quite a bit of pressure from all of the tugging that ensued from trying to get him out. I could feel the entire table shaking because his head had gotten stuck, but I finally felt a great release from the pressure and heard a good, solid cry. Misty-eyed, Brad finally was able to get out the words that I'd been waiting to hear, "It's a boy". At the same time, I heard various murmers through the O.R. proclaiming what a big boy he was and how surprised they were at his size. The doctors and nurses that had worked so closely with me throughout this process had predicted that the baby would be somewhere between 7 and 8 lbs. However, one look over at the warming table that they had placed him in and it was confirmed . . . he was indeed one Big Boy!! While trying to take in all of his features, I absolutely could not get over the size of his hands and feet (see below for the true to size image of his footprints)! Brad immediately kicked into father mode and held his son's hand and got many great photos of his first moments of life. It was truly a magical moment! Once they were finished checking him out to ensure that he was healthy, they were finally able to bring him over to me and rest him on my chest. That first thought that I had was similar to the one I feel every time I look into his little face . . . Thank God for this miracle and for allowing us this little piece of heaven. Happy Birthday, Joseph Bradley Hunter!