We are feeling so blessed to have expanded our family with the addition of Colby Mark! But before I show photos from the hospital- this is the last belly pic I had Jerod take when I was almost 40 weeks, I actually think it was the Tuesday before we had him. I am amazed at how differently I carried each kiddo. With Cailyn it looked like I had a beach ball under my shirt, and everything was swollen from my face to my feet. With Colby, you really couldn't tell I was pregnant until you saw me from the side or the front, which I'm thankful for. I still gained just as much weight- it was just all right there at my belly!
Colby started his transition to the outside on Sunday, October 6. I just felt different that day- really uncomfortable, and I must have had a feeling that he was on his way out because I didn't stop moving all day. I went grocery shopping, cleaned the house, changed the sheets on the beds, finished packing my hospital bag, and just generally kept busy. I was Facetime-ing with my parents around 4/5:00 when I started feeling contractions, but they were pretty far apart and so I just thought they were false. As I sat down to work on lesson plans for the week, I noticed them becoming more intense and told Jerod to start timing them. They quickly went from 20 minutes apart to 7 minutes apart within. We called our friend, Leah, to hang out at the house with Cailyn until our parents could get there. By the time she got there and we got out the door, the contractions were only 3 minutes apart- yeah, we weren't really planning on cutting it quite so close! We got to the hospital and checked in by about 10, my water still hadn't broke, so we gave the okay for the doctor to take care of that and not too long after that, maybe about 30 minutes, they had me start pushing, but the doctor wasn't dressed for the delivery,
so then I was being told to STOP pushing- umm, WHAT?! In case they
didn't know, your body just kind of takes control during the birthing
process, stopping was not an option! The little guy was literally born after probably about 5 minutes!
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| Colby fresh from the oven at 11:39pm, 9lb 5oz, 21 inches long |
It really is crazy how truly different two children can be. When
Cailyn was born, she came out kicking and screaming, 11 days late, and
the only thing that kept her quiet was food or a pacifier!
Colby came out crying, obviously, but after his first feeding was basically asleep for his first 24 hours, and after that only woke up to eat and then go right back to sleep. He doesn't really like pacifiers, and he'll basically sleep in any position; on his tummy, on his back, in your arms, on your chest, and even propped up on a Boppy pillow during a little photo shoot by mommy. He's incredibly laid back, to say the least! :)
Cailyn is adjusting as well as any two year old, I suppose. I'm sure she had no idea what it meant that "Mommy had a baby in her tummy." Nevertheless, she was interested in him and wanted to hold him every 5 minutes (just for about 20 seconds, and then she was quickly over it until her next request). Since coming home, she has very much tested every ounce of our patience, and we try to remember all the changes she's gone through in the past couple weeks, and then try to extend what patience we have left. She's pretty good about Colby, it's other things she's a stinker about- not listening and talking rudely to us, and hitting-ugh.
Both Jerod and I's parents came up to tag team Cailyn and meet their new grandson. It was a very different visitor experience than with Cailyn, when my whole family, plus Jerod's parents, plus some friends came by the hospital to visit. This time was much quieter, which was preferred- not that we didn't want visitors, just that I forgot how beat you are after giving birth!
Since we delivered late Sunday night, we only had to stay in the hospital until Tuesday. That was okay with us, we wanted to be home sooner rather than later. My plan is to save this "New Arrival" outfit for use with any future children, so that we have a comparative picture of all our kids at 2 days old. Somewhere around here we have Cailyn's photos from birth, and Colby looks a lot like she did!
Now, we're just at home, Jerod has gone back to work, and I am realizing that two is SO much different than one. Cailyn gets to spend a couple mornings at daycare during the week. I love having her at home, but I have to run errands at times, too, and she's at the "gimme, gimme" stage- which I'm sure will last until she's about 22 and makes her own money to buy things with. She loves the friends she has at daycare, so it's a win-win for us both! We have also had awesome friends who have helped out by bringing over dinner or dessert, or both! We are incredibly lucky to have such great people in our lives.
I apologize for not posting sooner, I totally underestimated how busy you get with two kids instead of just the one! I'll try to stay with it a little more and post some birth announcement photos soon. :)
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