My New Year's Present

Jess Crew Baldwin
Born December 31, 2009 10:01 am
8 lbs 0 oz, 19.5 inches
American Fork, UT

Our sweet baby was born December 31, 2009 at 10:01 am! We were so lucky to have him before the new year! I was really wanting to have him New Year's Eve because seriously what a cool birthday plus it's an extra child tax credit we weren't counting on...lol. Thanks to all those who put in their input on how to get him here...some worked, some didn't ;-) At 2am that morning I started feeling some light contractions [about 5 minutes apart] then they got stronger and moved to 3 minutes apart. I really couldn't believe how fast it was all going! I woke Jess and my mom up ASAP to leave for the hospital. On the way out my water broke...ok then I knew it was REALLY happening that day--I was going to have my baby!

When we got to Labor and Delivery I was in pain, but pain I could tolerate. No joke, in like 3 minutes the pain got 10x worse and I was dying! The nurse anesthetist was not in the hospital to give me my epidural so we had to wait for him to drive here! Talk about the LONGEST 20 minutes of my life. Boy did I completely underestimate the pain associated with a baby trying to get out! When we got to the hospital I was 4cm and 90% effaced. From a 4 I went to a 6 in one hour, and then to a 9 in 17 min. I didn't get the epidural until I was 9cm....holy crap...OUCH. BUT the silver lining is...the nurse finally got there, I got the epidural, and I was all good :-)

When it cam time to push I pushed for about 1.5 hours and 8 lbs later he was here! I really could not believe I had an 8 lb baby, especially since my sister and Jess's brother had a 6 lb baby--I guess genes are were not equally distributed in this situation. He was so big for me I big time tore [4th degree] and boy am I feeling it today.

For all those who haven't had babies and are going to be having babies soon: I hope this post didn't freak you out...it is wonderful to be a mother and to have such a sweet gift be apart of your life...definitely worth the pain and stress :-)

Jess did so well--I was so proud of him! Although he didn't cut the umbilical cord, he still was there right by me cheering me on! He is such a sweet dad. My mom was also there and is here with me for the rest of the week--thank goodness she knows what she's doing!

Now the task at hand is to 1. get used to the idea of having a baby 2. actually be able to sit down after the episiotomy 3. get these rocks for breasts off of my body!! (I am bottle feeding...OUCH).

Trying to get his first suckle...I was so paranoid the whole time that he wasn't eating enough but now he sucks down his formula!

Daddy and Crew. Jess is such a sweet Dad...got to change his first diaper in the hospital which I will put in writing that he SWORE he would never do. I was in the shower and I heard the baby screaming, so I yelled through the door and asked what was going on. Low and behold, he voluntarily changed his son's poopy diaper! What a sweet daddy!

Crew and Grammy Sparks.

He's Hungry!

When he came out he had to have a little bit of extra help to breathe and to get the amniotic fluid out of his belly.

Crew and his double Aunt Whitney.

One of my very favorite pictures. I love this little boy :-) I am so lucky!