Jacob Stanton is born!

We welcomed Jacob Stanton into the world at 2:06 pm on Sunday, May 2, 2010. Another Sunday baby that started out very similar to the one born nearly a year and a half ago, but he had his own surprises. :)

So here's the story, if you want to skip ahead, the adorable photos are below. Don't worry, I won't be offended if you skip over my writing. In the past few days I have found my calling and it is producing adorable babies (not writing).

I woke up to use the bathroom at about 3 AM. I quickly stumbled to the bathroom as I felt a gush of "water" coming out. Just as with Chaselyn there I was in the middle of the night with my water breaking. The difference - I was actually having some minor, irregular contractions and Stanton was somewhat responsive. We called the grandparents immediately and they decided to jump in their respective cars to get here as soon as possible. Stanton and I said a few prayers and tried to go back to sleep. We got up around 7:15, called our friend Laura to arrange care for Chaselyn. She told us that she and Austin had just been discussing us previously that morning and how she was "on call" for whenever we needed. We actually put the whole life group on call. We got Chaselyn up and ready for church and an afternoon with Laura. We sent them off Chaselyn crying in the backseat and I tearily went back into the house thinking of how much I was totally messing with the kid I already had. (We later found out that Chaselyn was not eternally scarred from the experience, but in fact she behaves better for Laura than she often does for us.) But then again, it was a little too late to be having doubts now.

Stanton and I got our things ready sent out mass texts and were on our way. We made it to the hospital around 9:10 and were set up in the room by 9:45. I was between 2-3 cm dilated when I was first checked and was started on pitocin to help progress. Stanton and I were alone until around 11ish when all the grandparents showed up. They all made it in plenty of time, a little tired, but super pumped by adrenaline. MaryAnn stopped by around noon with family in tow, but unfortunately Caroline wasn't allowed to come back. But we got a sweet momento note that will stay in Jacob's baby book. The Cox's were only able to stay for short while and by 12:30 they were gone and Stanton and his parents were gone to lunch. By this point I was feeling the contractions and beginning to have to concentrate through them, but feeling fine enough to talk about Arkansas baseball and anything with my parents. Things were going fine. And then the contractions started increasing in intensity and decreasing in rest time inbetween. I was breathing through them and then breathing and clinching the rail and then telling my dad to call and get Stanton back in the room. By 1:15 Stanton was back and before too long I was requesting that the room be cleared except for my mom and Stanton. Then in a matter of minutes I went from having Stanton ask for some drugs to panicking because I couldn't make it. Before the drugs got there I sent Stanton out again to tell them to come check me because I felt like pushing. By the time the nurse came in she said she would give me the drugs first (hooray for quick acting IV medication). Then she checked me and said I was over 9.5 cm dilated. I told her I needed to push and she told me not to until Dr. Wang came in. (Note to any nurses or ob/gyn's if your patient says "I need to push" don't just say "Don't push" give her some idea as to how to prevent the body's natural response.) Dr. Wang showed up shortly and so did Jacob. The whole thing went by so fast. I feel like the time between getting the drugs in my system and Jacob's birth was approximately 10 minutes. I don't really know, but it was fast and furious. My mom and Stanton did an excellent tag team job of keeping me focused. I really did freak out. Mainly because in my brain labor would last a while and I couldn't sustain the pain for that long. Had I known he was coming so quickly, I think I would have handled it better.

Jacob came at 2:06 happy and healthy. One little cry to let us know he was ok and he was perfect! Because I had gotten the drugs shortly before, I was still very loopy. I had to focus to stay awake and to take it all in. Stanton was super happy that my mom was there not only because she was able to help me calm down, but also because she was smart enough to grab the camera and start snapping photos. So this time, we got pictures of Stanton holding Jacob for the first time. (We also discovered a glitch in the hospital technology in which the operating lights are focused using a flashing blue wand which is apparently very similar to the light produced by a camera flash.)

Recovery for me has been a little worse, apparently Jacob's rapid entry into the world will leave me with quite a scar. But it's so totally worth it.

Jacob is so different from Chaselyn in size and looks. He came in at 7 lbs. 1 oz. with lots of dark brown hair and dark eyes. They say that he is the same length that Chaselyn was when she was born and the same headsize. But, we have our doubts. He just seems so much littler.

Big Sister is doing as well as can be expected. She's been off her schedule and so she's been a little rambunctious. But she touches Jacob sweetly and softly. She has shown some signs of jealousy when Jacob is being held, but for now there's enough hands on deck to distract her or hold her.

So all is well here. We're taking the gang home tomorrow. We'll see how things go from there.