Our Owen

 September was an eventful month! I will always love summer, but having all my boys' birthday in September makes fall a season to look forward to! Here are some pictures from the last few weeks. Because I want the birth story for my records, I'll write it here. It might be a little long, so feel free to skip ahead and look at pictures(I know they are WAY more exciting anyways.) The first is a little "graphic," but it's the FIRST picture we have of Owen, and for that very reason I love it....

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Craig's 26th Birthday!(Yay!) For the evening, Craig and I treated ourselves to a night out(thanks Erin!) and went to a Rockies/Giants game. At the game, I lost my mucus plug which I know really doesn't mean much, but I was excited because I knew my body was getting ready to have a baby! But I didn't want to get too excited because I still had a good two weeks until my due date(September 29). We did a lot of walking to the stadium from the parking garage and back(not to mention all the STAIRS in that stinkin' garage.) For months I'd have cramps that were awfully annoying but not terribly painful, so I didn't think much of the cramps that I got after walking so much that night. We got back that evening around 9:45, and went straight to bed...my body ACHED! 

Here is a picture from the game.  Last picture of me pregnant.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

At 11:30 pm(Wednesday), I had my first noticeable contraction. I was so excited! They were about 10 minutes apart and really pretty consistent. They got closer and more painful, so I called the on-call nurse to see when I was supposed to go in. We had scheduled a C-Section for the 22nd, so I wasn't really expecting to go to the hospital until then. The nurse told me to go in. We called my aunt over(BLESS her!) so Eli could stay asleep, and then went over to the hospital. Once there, they checked me and I wasn't more than a 1, and checked the fluid levels then sent me home around 3 and we got home at 4. There is a lot more to that visit, but that's the short version. I was mad and in pain. The contractions continued aaaallllllllll day Thursday. I was so frustrated because I knew that my body was getting ready to have the baby, but also knew that the hospital wouldn't admit me because I was a little early(I was 37w, 5d) and wasn't really progressing. BUT I never progressed with Eli, so I knew that the only way that I would get admitted early was if my water broke. I went to my 8:50 doctors appointment and had them re-check me because i was still contracting and I knew something was up. aaaand NOTHING. So...I tried to keep my mind off of having a baby(which is really hard while being HUGE) I took a nap, ate, laundry, and went to the store with my Aunt and Cousin(Stacy and Erin) once Craig went to school for the night so I would be distracted from being so frustrated.

Friday, September 14, 2012, 

MY WATER BROKE at 12:30! I was SO happy, but SO tired because we didn't get much sleep the night before.We called Stacy in the middle of the night...again, and we were at the hospital around 2:00. I was feeling great! The contractions stopped by then, but I knew that I had a "free pass" to be admitted. It seemed a little backwards because just the night before I was in a ton more pain(yes, I have a low tolerance for pain) the night before, but because my water broke I would be admitted even though I wasn't in any pain. i started contractions again around 2:30, but was given medicine to make them stop/slow down, because I was scheduled for a c-section the next week and that was what we had decided to do. During my whole pregnancy the decision to have a repeat c-section or a VBAC was at the forefront of my mind. Whenever I would think or talk about having a VBAC, there was something about it that was unsettling(for the lack of a better way to explain it.), so we went ahead and scheduled the C-section. After scheduling it, I knew that this was the right decision for me, because it just felt...right. So... at 3:00am, the anesthesiologist came in and said that we were good to go at 4:30. I remember thinking "oh my goodness, we'll have a baby in less than 2 HOURS!" The hospital was really busy that night(15 babies were in the nursery with Owen!), so the time kept getting pushed back. After some prep, a spinal, AND an epidural, our sweet boy was born.

 6:53am:

While they were prepping, the doctors each made a guess on how big they thought he would be. And I quote, "Considering your due date, I'd say about 6lbs, but it looks like he's a little bigger so I'll say 7." As they were pulling him out I heard lots of comments like, "Oh my!" "Big boy! I think we were all a little off!" "Look at those cheeks!" 15 days early 8lbs, 4oz, 21inches... big boy, no wonder I had awful back pain!

I can't even describe the feelings that I felt hearing my boy cry and cry and CRY. He sounded so healthy! The moment I saw him, all I think was how much he looked like Eli. Wonder why? Take a look at these pictures(can you tell who is who?):
1.

2.3.4.

1. Owen, 2. Eli, 3. Owen, 4. Eli

Our first family picture:

Getting ready to leave the hospital:

First week home:

My mom was able to come out from Saturday, Sept. 15- Saturday Sept 22 and it was so nice to have her here! She made meals, cleaned, played with the boys, and let me have lots of rest!

 Seriously, I have the cutest mom!

First "bath"

I love this one because it is so Eli. haha

I'm outnumbered, but I couldn't imagine it any other way! I'm crazy about each of them.

Eli playing with his little brother:

First official bath:

We are SO smitten by him, and are so happy he's here safe!