1 Week Old

"Sometimes," said Pooh, "the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."

Jacob Edward was born on Wednesday, August 19th at 1:34 pm. He weighed 8lbs 3oz and was 21 inches long.
Tom and I went to the hospital at 7:30 am Wednesday. We got settled then the doctor broke my water and the nurse started the pitocin. Once the contractions got going and I got more uncomfortable, I got an epidural. I like to enjoy my children's birth. Unfortunately, it only fully worked on my left side. I could still feel the contractions on my right side. It wasn't too bad, so I decided to wait it out and see if it got better. I had a button to push to get some extra medicine if I needed it and it took the "edge" off for awhile. Around 12:30 they checked me and I was about 4 1/2 cm. We felt safe to let Tom go get some lunch at the cafe. At 1:00 the nurse checked me again and I was 6 1/2 cm. Tom came back in and we let him know. About 10 minutes later I told the nurse that I was in a lot of pain. I wanted the Anesthesiologist to come and fix my epidural. The nurse said that she would call him back, but first wanted to check me again. Baby was right there - I was 10 cm and ready to push. But my doctor was at his office, not the hospital. The nurse called him and for about 25 minutes I had to breathe through the contractions. I must say that I think I handled the contractions very well. It really did help to stay calm, focus on my breathing, and remind myself that each contraction meant I was about to meet our newest son or daughter. That is what really got me through the pain. When my doctor got there and got set up, it was one push and the head was out. One more and the shoulders were out. The next thing I heard was Tom telling me we had a little boy. And little Jacob came out crying. Beautiful baby boy! I held him for a moment then they took him to check him out and weigh him. His Apgar scores were 9 and 9. When they handed him back to me he nursed right away. Amazing that they know what they need right after being born.
Later that evening, Tom went home then brought back my mother and all of Jacob's siblings. They didn't get to spend a lot of time because visiting hours were almost over. They were running late because there had been a tornado warning. When I had called to see why they weren't at the hospital yet, Tommy answered his phone from our basement. But everyone did get to come and meet Jacob. Our other children were very excited to meet him - except Sarah. She was happy to see mommy, but not so sure about the new baby. Rachel told me I did a great job - Jacob was so cute. They all took turns holding Jacob and getting their pictures taken.
Tom went to church with our oldest 2 on Sunday. Tom saw a couple we know from our Couple's Bible Study. They were also expecting a baby. Turns out, they had a son on August 19th too. Same hospital and were in the recovery room next door to ours. Too bad we didn't realize that while we were there.
And yes, our son's name is the 2 main characters from Twilight. I am a Twilight fan - read all 4 books, but that isn't who he's named after. Jacob is a great biblical name that's been on our list. We have 2 daughters named from the same biblical story. And Edward is my daddy's name. Jacob is named after my father and has the same birthday as Tom's father. That's fair :o)
Plus, got to love Jacob's initials. "JES" then you just add our family or "US". Remember December 8th? Ties in nicely with the story of Mary finding out she'll have a son named Jesus on the same day that I found out I was pregnant. And my "Bench Dream" - I do have a boy. We'll have to wait and see if he looks like the little boy in my dream as he grows.
Jacob is 1 week old today and is a wonderful baby. He sleeps in a cradle next to my side of the bed. He wakes up, eats, goes back to sleep. Only cries when he needs something. Gets lots of attention. Even Sarah held him today. She cried when I had to take him from her to feed him. She loves him - we all love him. Tom cleaned out the basement and we found lots of boy toys and some clothes. I'm excited to have a little baby boy again. I am a bit emotional right now. I cry a lot, but they're happy tears. We may not have planned a 7th child, but I am so thankful that God did. I am so in love with this little boy. He is going to get so much love and care!
A little bit of funny: Sarah points to me when I nurse Jacob and says "Jacob's Juicy?"