Welcome, Baby Boy!

So much has happened since last March, when I last updated! We left Issaquah and the greater Seattle area to head to Philadelphia, on the opposite coast. Between the moves, we had a busy summer too. Paul was all over Japan for the Wharton-Lauder Summer Immersion program. And I was pregnant and able to visit family in Utah and Kansas for a few weeks.

We love life here in Philadelphia. Paul's had a great experience at Wharton (University of Pennsylvania's MBA progam) so far. This past fall I was able to do some teaching- a joy school for a few cute toddlers and subbing at a local Montessori school.

However, the biggest change came in November when our sweet boy joined our family! He is already 2 months old, so it's time I recorded his birth story! Quickly...while he is still napping...hurry hurry!

Our baby boy was due to arrive on Monday November 16th, but I had heard that first babies often arrive late. I was still somehow sleeping pretty well and not TOO terribly uncomfortable so I just wanted him to take his time. It would be so much harder to take care of him after he came out and I was a little nervous!
My doctor, dad, and others guessed he would come mid-week, likely Thursday. I had no idea. My mom was already in town, and my dad was set to arrive Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday night we all went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner (Paul and my parents).

the last restaurant I will ever go to/ last meal I will eat sitting down in peace ;)

whoa baby! so prego!

We ordered their Spicy Chipotle Chicken Pasta in case that would help the babe come on out. Well..it worked! We were all up late talking and prepping for the logistics of the big arrival and finally got ready for bed sometime around 1 am. I was still wide awake when I felt the first contraction around 1:41 am. It just felt like a cramp so I was hesitant...but when the pain kept coming every 15 minutes or so I became more confident that this was early labor.

I was way too excited and distracted to sleep, so Paul and I just timed the contractions and finally woke my parents up around 5 am. At that point I had a muffin but had no appetite for anything else. In hindsight that was a horrible decision because 21 hours of labor with only liquids and a bran muffin was insane. But I digress.

I remember from 8-9 am taking 7 minute naps between contractions (which is funny looking back). Right around lunchtime the contractions were 5 minutes apart so we headed to the hospital. I was so worried my water would break while we were in the Uber! (kind of like a taxi). We often walked to the hospital for classes and such (25 min walk) but while in labor chose against that option. Luckily our uber driver was so chill and explained he had 5 kids of his own and this was no big deal. Ha ha.

When we arrived at the hospital they hooked me up to a few monitors where Paul and I waited to see if I was in "enough labor" to stick around. It was a shared room and our suitemate had on Jerry Springer on full volume..so thank goodness I was having regular contractions and already dilated to a 4! See ya later Jerry, I am admitted for real!

Here is the private room where I labored/delivered with my fabulous support team: Paul & Mom & Dad! I also had an amazing nurse that I loved with a Romanian accent. I can't remember her name. She was adorable.

I can tell these pictures were taken post-epidural because I am calm and not super annoyed with life!

I was at the hospital from lunchtime-late afternoon laboring and progressing naturally and finally the kind older Italian gentleman brings the blessed epidural. XOXO I think I was around 6 cm dilated at this point but that could also be totally made up.. I was really sleep deprived (and still am to be completely honest.) Once I got the epidural I actually napped for a few hours! It was amazing.

Side note: I delivered at Pennsylvania Hospital. It's gorgeous, and is the very first hospital in America.


Around 9 pm they decided to give some Pitocin to augment, or get this show on the road. I wasn't crazy about the idea but I trusted the hospital staff. Here I am dilated to 9 cm, so CLOSE!

At 10:20 pm I got the OK to start pushing. I couldn't feel much and was SO weak from only eating that one silly muffin in the past 24 hours. Also I had really mixed up expectations about what it meant to "push." Movies show like...3 significant pushes and a baby pops out. Apparently the average length of time for a first mom is 3 HOURS of pushing. How did I not know this?? So....I wasn't in pain but just had zero energy and felt nauseous the whole time! Towards the end, a new nurse started her shift and kicked my butt in gear with smiling threats of C-Section. I got the message and at 11:51 pm our sweet baby boy was born!!

It was so surreal! And then I vomited all of the ginger ale and Paul grabbed a bucket just in time (thanks hubs). When I heard his first cries I was so relieved. It sounded like heaven because it meant he was here and healthy!

I have never seen anything like the way Parker looked at his dad for the first time: wide-eyed and awestruck. It melted my heart and made me so grateful for Paul.

 And just like that, we became a family of three!

We have received so much love and support from all of our family and friends and feel so grateful. There were baby showers, a gift card shower, phone calls, text messages, meals, and baby clothes and so much more. We couldn't have gotten through this crazy, exhausting, amazing transition to parenthood without all of the love and service. THANK YOU THANK YOU!