Nathan James is here!

Nathan James was born this morning at 9:45am. He arrived weighing 7 pounds 10 ounces and is 21 inches long. 12 ounces and 2 inches bigger than Brian.

The story:
I was sitting on the floor at 7pm with Brian watching Wheel of Fortune last night. I thought I might be having labor contractions but I wasn't sure if they were real or Braxton hicks. Around 9pm I thought that maybe they were real so we got ready just in case. They didn't really hurt or anything so we went to bed about 9:30. I woke up a couple times during the night to go to the bathroom and I felt contractions but still wasn't timing them. By the time 4:30am rolled around I had had enough sleep and couldn't sleep anymore so I got up to see if I as still contracting. I loaded the dishwasher and did some household chores in case we went to the hospital. At 5:45 I called my mom to tell her I think i am in labor but not really sure. The contractions were about 5 minutes apart but didn't hurt at all. I knew that 5 minute contractions hurt a lot with Brian so I had my doubts. I called the doc to see what he thought and he said to come in and get checked out, which I knew he would say. 10 minutes after I hung up the phone the contractions hit! I woke dean up, and we loaded up the truck, and then got Brian ready.
We arrived at the hospital at 7am. It was the longest 40 minute truck ride and the bumpiest ever! Dean was speeding, and that wasn't helping me so I told him my contractions were still 3-5 minutes so he wouldn't speed, but really they were about 2 minutes apart. He dropped me off at the door and I went to Labor and Delivery while he parked. I got to the desk and said all in one breath "my name is Jaime DeVries, I'm 39w 2d, this is my second baby, first delivery was 6 hours, he's coming fast, you better be ready". The nurse rushed me into my room, and checked me. I was at 5cm at 7:20am. My water bag was bulging, and she said, "as soon as it breaks I'll dilate right away and he'll be here". My doctor was in surgery, and had two back to back. So I had my contractions, stood in the shower, did all that laboring stuff, and was checked again around 8 (which I checked 7cm). My breathing techniques to relax were really hard to do since it hurt so bad, but Dean kept reminding me to relax, and breathe in, and out. He was great! My mom showed up with Brian, he wasn't very comfortable seeing mommy in pain, and really didn't like it when the doctor came in. My mom took him out of the room so Dr. Lepore could do his thing. He finally came in at 9:30 between surgeries and checked me, and broke my water with his finger. It was a little murky but they weren't concerned. He said he would be back after the next c-section. I had one contraction and I yelled for him to come back because I had to push bad! He looked and got all his doctor stuff on and broke down the bed and I pushed a couple of times and out he came! I didn't have any tearing this time and I didn't poo on the table! Whoo hoo! They cleaned him up and gave him back to me. He had swallowed a lot of fluid since he came so fast so he wasn't screaming but raspy crying. They suctioned him with a tube, and said he checked out great! My mom came back in with Brian and he didn't really care about the new baby. They let him stay with us for about 45 minutes and then wanted to take him to the nursery to clear his lungs some more. I showered and then walked over to my recovery room where my family was waiting. Brian still doesn't really care about the baby. I'm sure that will change when he's home with mommy and daddy.

Update on Nathan

Sorry I haven't updated about my latest appointment. It was on Tuesday. Again he says, "Be ready for any day now." I'm tired of being ready for any day now. I've been ready for 2 weeks! I go back to see him on Tuesday again and hopefully we've made some sort of progress. I've been doing everything I can to get him out. We had chinese food one day, another day we had spicy spicy Mongolian, I've walked up and down the stairs (Brian is a pro now), and a ton of other things. I'm going to be walking the mall today with my mom, hopefully that gets thing going. I'm confident it will work. She's a much better person to walk the mall with than Dean. He hates the mall and walks to fast. So keep your fingers crossed that Baby Nathan will start his journey into the word today.

A Little Victory

We've been trying to teach Brian some sign language so h can communicate with us. We haven't been doing it as consistently as we should but one that we do the most is "more". Last nite Brian said "more" perfectly. He's kinda done it before but it didn't look anything like "more" but when he did it last nite I danced all around with him and we clapped and he won't stop doing it now! YAY! A little victory!

Another beautiful day!

It was another gorgeous day here in VA. A warm 70+ degrees! So as usual off to the park we went! I think they need to build one closer to our house. We went to a new one today. It had a lot of the same things but this one has a little yellow thing to ride on that he really liked. I also got a picture that I really like a lot of Brian holding daddy's hand.




After we went to the park we stopped at the pet store to look at the birds and the cats. Brian's new favorite thing is bird watching. We bought a bird feeder and he loves to stand on the couch and look at the birds. Now when he hears a bird chirp, he stops what he is doing to find the bird. Very cute! So we went to look at the birds. Daddy wants to get an African Gray parrot but Mommy doesn't want to clean up after it. So we will see about that one! Here is a video of Brian bird watching a couple of days ago.

Brian's first buzz cut!

Brian's hair was starting to look like he was growing a mullet again so instead of paying 13 dollars to get it trimmed we buzzed it ourselves! I tried to tell Dean it was going to be very short but he insisted it wouldn't be. I trusted him since he's had his hair buzzed a few more times than I have. Boy was he wrong and I right! I started cutting it and it was to traumatic when I saw his hair fall on the floor so Dean had to take over. My little guy looked like a sick cancer patient. I'm hoping once it grows out some it will look better. His hair grows so fast I'm not to worried. But here are some pictures of it!

Half buzzed head

Squirmy wormy

Ahhh his hair!

Update on Nathan

He's still inside, but probably not for long! I am dilated to 2cm now, losing some of the mucous plug, and I have lost some of my amniotic fluid. He is also at a -1 station, which is really low in the pelvic cavity. The doctor said it's very possible I could go into labor this week or it could be next week. He's not sure obviously since every one is different. We made an appointment for next week but he didn't really sound like he would see me then. I'm ready for him now. I feel like I've been pregnant for years now. I guess we will just wait and see. I talked with Claudia, our birth instructor whose been delivering babies forever, she seems to think it might be this week. Dean is hoping that we can at least get our bedroom furniture delivered and set up next Monday or Tuesday before I go into labor. We'll see. His birthday is Monday and doens't want to share a birthday, which I understand. We are shooting for the 20th. That seems so far away, but it really isn't. Wish us luck for the next couple of weeks!

furniture and hospitals

We bought some really awesome furniture this week! We are so excited for it to come! Hopefully next week. We bought a brand new bedroom set complete with queen size bed, dresser/mirror, chest, and a memory foam mattress! It is all handcrafted and had carved and is gorgeous! It's a one of a kind piece, only 5 were ever made. I love it so much so I took my mom to the furniture store where we bought it and had to show it off! As soon as we got there my mom had to use the bathroom and long story short, got her finger caught in the door and it cut the tip of her finger off! Really gross! The people at the store were very nice and even drove my mom to the hospital while i followed with the car and brian. Luckily Obici hospital was close by. I called dean on my way there just to let him know what was happening since i didn't know how long we would be at the hospital. They took some X-rays and temporarily closed it up. Dean met me up there and kinda helped keep Brian calm since he was tired of being in his stroller at that point. After they closed it up she was discharged.
She still never got to see the furniture we bought, so I guess she'll have to wait until it gets here now. Me and Dean went back to the store to let them know how things were going and to take pictures of our bedroom furniture. I can't wait to post the pictures of our furniture after we get it all set up and decorated! Stay tuned!

Play in the park

It was such a nice day today that we went to the park and played. Brian had fun as usual. Here are some pictures!

3 weeks and 5 days and counting!

Well our due date is right around the corner. We had another visit with the doctor today. I am 1cm dilated, softened, and he has dropped down into a head first position. Hopefully it won't b much longer. Even tho we are making progress he doesn't know if I will go into labor early or not. He thinks I probably won't make it to March 1st but close. He's not worried and we go back next week! I'm very excited to get this little guy out and to meet him!