Our New Little Addition

Can I just say, I am absolutely loving being a mommy!? And especially to this little guy. He is so stinkin precious, and I really can't get enough of him! He is such a good little baby! All he requests is that I keep his tank full and his diaper empty, and then . . . life is bueno! 

Labor story: for anyone who is interested. 

I woke up Saturday morning with a super tight painful back and kinda knew that something was up. By noon I started having slight contractions and let Matthew know that things were feeling a little different. I slipped into the pool and floated/paddled around for about an hour and a half. Came inside and showered and lied down for another hour and a half or so, drifting in and out of sleep. By the time I woke up fully they were getting a lot stronger, so I went upstairs and ate a bit, knowing I was going to need as much energy as possible. Matt at this point went and mowed 3 lawns and was gone until about 8:30. When he got home, we went to the grocery store to pick up some rice for me to make a heat compress rice bag to put on my back. While we were waling around the store, I would have to hold onto the cart pretty tightly and just walk and breath through contractions. We finally made it to check out and I was pretty uncomfortable. We got back to the car and Matt stopped at the gas station and filled it up, really, I don't think he thought much of it at this point. I never really lead on how bad my contractions really were. I ended up jumping into the tub to try and alleviate some of the intensity of the contractions when we got home. I was realizing that my contractions were getting pretty close together, but I never timed them and didn't possibly think they could be lasting more than 30 seconds. Matthew had gone downstairs to shower while I was in the tub, and when he started timing my contractions. They were lasting anywhere from 60-80 seconds about 3 minutes apart. So, I got out of the tub, went downstairs and we called the midwife at 10:45 to let her know what was going on. She told us to meet her at the birth center in an hour. The next half hour went really quick, we finished up gathering some last minute details, my stomach decided to empty all of its contents, Matt loaded up the car, went and then told my mom we were leaving (she was completely shocked, she had no idea I had been in labor all day. side story: she had asked me around 6 if I was available to help her come fix the computer, so I grabbed my aerobics ball and bounced through contractions while looking over her shoulder to help her reprogram the computer, she had no idea I was laboring.) So, we got out of the house at around 11:30 and drove that dreaded half hour drive . . . Yucky yucky! I had to sing through the contractions at this point, they were getting so intense. Matthew stayed so calm the whole time (from what I could tell) and he got us there by midnight. 

We were finally there, and I had another contraction right as we walked into the door. Someone came and squoze my hips and I was able to sway a little, so much better than sitting in a car!!! So, then they checked to see how far along I was. Oh, no big deal . . . just 9 cm dilated!! I was so relieved that we had made it to the center and that I was so close! After a couple more contractions, I made it upstairs to the birthing suite. I spent another hour in the tub, where my water broke at 1:30. Matthew was so good, just holding me and comforting me as much as possible. I threw up on him at one point, and he didn't even make a fuss about it. We ended up getting out of the tub and moving into the birthing suite. I knelt on the bed while holding a birthing ball and feeling so much pressure! I kept moving away from bringing the baby down and wasn't making to much head way (pun intended). So they went and grabbed a sheet that they rolled up into a rope form, had me lie down on the bed and pull tug-of-war style on the sheet as I pushed through contractions. His head came down quickly and one of the midwives asked me if I wanted to feel his head, I informed her quite emphatically "I can feel it!" Matt told me he had a lot of hair. A couple more pushes, and my little one was placed onto my stomach. What a relief!! I have no idea what time he was born. I think Matt has a paper somewhere with the exact time, but it was around 2:30 AM on Sunday morning, August 11, 2013. One day before his due date.

He was covered in vernix (cheesy white coating) and lanugo (peach fuzz). And they told me that he was actually 38 weeks and 4 days, where they pulled that number from is beyond me. He was a big boy though. 

Taric Eli Palmer
August 11, 2013

8 pounds 12 ounces

22 inches long

ten long fingers and ten long toes

He stayed on my stomach for about 20 minutes until Matthew could cut the cord. I was so tired and so relieved. He looked absolutely perfect!! And he just keeps getting cuter everyday! 

He eats so well and sleeps like crazy. His little cheeks are starting to get chunky and he is such a gentle and content baby. He loves snuggling and just checking out the world around him. And I couldn't be more in love! I love watching Matthew be a daddy! He is so sweet and careful with him. I absolutely am loving being a mommy and am so grateful for both of my boys and for how much they mean to me!

 

The face we get every time he wakes up . . . with an eye roll and it closes again. 

Hungry little man, he's even so cute when he's angry!