Andrew James

I wanted to get this out of my head before I forget it altogether.  Andrew's arrival was only somewhat eventful because he came a little earlier than expected!

Rory was born at 39 weeks and 4 days, Andrew decided to up the ante and was born at 38 weeks and 4 days.  I had a repeat c-section scheduled for March 2nd but it wasn't going to happen.

The past month or so I had been dealing with the typical pregnancy insomnia.  I'd wake up around 2:30am every morning and lay there for a few hours before drifting back to sleep.  I had decided no more of that--I was just going to get up and do some laundry, read, or waddle around the house getting something done.

I'm certain Andrew's arrival starts on February 26th, which is my birthday.  I was hoping for a little birthday buddy...little did I know how close it would actually come.  We spent Thursday night with our Life Group from church--an amazing group of people we wouldn't trade for the world.  That night had been particularly funny and we all laughed until we cried.  I remember sitting there thinking, "It would be so funny if my water broke here at the kitchen table!"  After a solid hour of laughing, we left our group to go home...and I remember feeling a ton of pressure.

At 2:30 that morning I woke up, nothing new there.  I decided to grab a snack and catch up on a few shows I had dvr'd.  Josh had bought me chocolate chip bagels with cream cheese from Panera (my fav!!) for my birthday the day before.  Rory didn't eat all his so it seemed appropriate to polish off the rest.  Who would know? Ha!

At 3:30 I thought I should lay back down and as I was walking to put my dishes in the sink, I felt that rush...my water had broken.  My first thought was, "Shoot--I just ate a bagel!"  Rory came via c section and Andrew was scheduled to come that way, which means no eating or drinking at least 8 hours before hand.  I had no idea how this would influence the rest of my day!

We arrived at the hospital around 5:30 where the nurses confirmed my water had broken.  I explained that I had eaten a bagel before my water had broken--it went in my chart and every nurse thereafter, during shift changes explained to the next nurse, I had, indeed, eaten a bagel.  How embarrassing!  I felt the need to explain that I had eaten before my water had broke.

Huge thank you to Aunt Sue for coming to stay with Rory that morning and huge thanks to my parents who came up early to help out and watch Rory.

Due to the bagel...I had to wait 8 hours from the time I ate it so I wasn't scheduled to go to surgery until 10:00.  We had hours to kill...literally.  We watched the Today show in triage...and then we were moved to recovery because triage was getting full.  It was kind of a bummer because there are no TVs there.  Josh had packed the iPad so we pulled up Netflix and watched Ragamuffin.  (A great movie if you are a Rich Mullins fan.)

9:00am...The time was getting close, so Josh double checked the camera to make sure it was working--and it was until he checked it.  Our camera was great but it was old so during Josh's check one of the tiny little metal pins that attached to the flash card broke.  Ah!  We had an hour to go and if I thought Josh had time, I would have sent him to buy a camera.  We were so bummed--I say this only so you understand why our pictures are kind of stinky the first day.

Just a few minutes after 10:00am I was being wheeled into the OR.  It's such a weird feeling being so awake and alert, hearing all the noise and chatter, smelling disinfectant and cleanliness.  I was super nervous about the spinal--I didn't like the feeling (I can't imagine who would) but overall it went great and I can't complain.  At 10:43, Andrew James was born!  He weighed in at 7 pounds 6 ounces and 20.5 inches long.  (He actually didn't have a name until we were in recovery awhile!)  When I first saw him, I couldn't help but think he looked just like Rory.  It's amazing to have 2 little boys!

Yes, sadly, this is the best picture we have.

I think Rory was pretty in awe of all the goings and happenings at the hospital.  This was not long after we were settled in our room.  I actually, don't remember this at all.  I'm fairly certain I was given some pretty hefty painkillers, so the rest of the afternoon is quite a blur.

Enjoying a round or two of Go Fish while the babe sleeps.   

This is one of my favorite pictures--Andrew looks like a little Cabbage Patch doll to me.  So sweet.

Thus far, being a mom of 2 is about as challenging as I expected it to be.  I know once we get a good rhythm down and everyone starts sleeping more things will be smooth sailing.  Rory seems to enjoy Andrew...always makes sure he has a blanket or a pacifier and wants to help out by feeding or holding him.  By no means do I want to wish time away, but I am curious to see how the relationship between these two blossom.

Welcome to the family Andrew James!