Introducing Collin Noah

I did it! Yesterday (Friday, April 10th...I wrote this out a couple days ago!)) was the big day to finally welcome the newest addition to our family. We had Collin Noah at 8:07 p.m. last night, April 10, 2009. He weighed 9 lbs. 15 oz. and is 20 inches long. BIG BABY! I don't know how I carried that around?! It was pretty uncomfortable at the end, that's for sure. Well, it all started around 7 a.m. I started having contractions, but I wasn't timing them because they were kinda sporadic and I've had so many lately, I didn't really think anything of it. I had a doctors appointment that morning at 9:45, so I got myself and the kids ready. I planned on bringing Parker,and Sam was going to her friend, Megan's, house to play. I made it to the doc's and was still having contractions. The doctor checked me and I was dilated to a 4-5. She was pretty shocked and had me get hooked up to monitor my contractions. After about 20 minutes of that she told me I needed to get to the hospital! She said, very excitedly, "you're having a baby!" Yikes! I still had almost 2 weeks until my due date and wasn't really prepared. Although, I was hoping for this. I was getting induced Wednesday anyways, so it worked out great. I just wasn't mentally ready, I guess. It got kinda complicated after that because I had Parker, Jeremy was at home working, and Sam was at her friend's house. I was instructed not to drive, so I wasn't sure what to do. I called Jer and he ended up picking up Samantha, while Parker and I sat in the van in the parking lot of my doctor and waited. He met up with us and we left his truck in the parking lot. We then loaded the kids up and headed to Aunt Emily's house. She lives pretty close to my doctor's office, so that worked best. Thanks Em! After dropping them off, Jeremy and I finally were on our way to the hospital. Grandma Klein later made it to Jake and Emily's to pick up the kids and take them back to our place. What an ordeal! We finally got to the hospital around noon. After getting settled they wanted to start an IV. I really wanted an epidural, so this was a must. Well, dumb me hadn't drank hardly anything that morning, so my veins were really hard to get to. It took them 7 tries to finally get it in! It hurt so bad. They didn't just poke and come out each time either. They poked and then dug around to find the vein. Not pleasant! Finally they got it and right after that I got my epidural. That was NOTHING compared to the IV. You'd think the IV was the easy part. Not so. After getting relaxed I started getting nauseous. I've never thrown up during labor, so I was surprised. I never thought, being pain free, that I'd get sick. I ended up vomiting 4 times total, one being while I was pushing. Crazy. The craziest thing though, was the fact that after I got my epidural, my contractions pretty much stopped. I was so frustrated. They started me on pitocin, which helped, but it still took way longer than we all anticipated. Breaking my water helped, but it still took me hours to get fully dilated. So, after a long 7 .5 hours, it was finally time to push! I started pushing at 7:30 and by 8:07 he was born. Not too bad! Things went really well and I only had to get a couple stitches. With a boy that size, I expected a lot worse. He's healthy and looks great! He's got brown hair, which I was hoping for! He's so chubby! He really doesn't feel like a newborn.The nurses couldn't even put him in the newborn diapers they had ready for him. He's already in 1's. Jeremy was exactly the same weight at birth, which is kinda neat. I guess having a really big baby was bound to happen for us. I've been trying to nurse, which is going well but it's not enough. I've had to supplement with formula as well. Just too big of a kid! Overall, things are going well and I'm very happy! Now I get to go home tonight and be around for Easter. I'm so excited to see our 3 kids together. It will be fun and exciting to watch how they interact. And Jeremy gets to have 6 weeks off to be around and help me get adjusted to 3 kids at home. I sure am lucky! Update: Thing are still going well. Collin has been a fantastic baby! He sleeps well and definatley eats well. The kids love to hold him and feed him and hug him. They are a big help! I took him into the doctors today and he's doing great. Nothing to worry about. We did have a wonderful Easter with family. Collin slept through the whole thing :) Thanks to everyone for your emails and nice messages! What great support! More pictures to come...so much to do, so little time!