I know this is a bit late in coming and I apologize for that! Who knew that having a baby would be soo time consuming!?! :) I honestly spend lots of time just looking at him! It is hard to believe that he is already a week old!! It has been the most wonderful and interesting week ever! I know many of you have asked about the story of his birth so here is how it all happened:

It all started on Thursday, August 26, at about 2:00 am when I woke up with the start of contractions. I wasn't sure they were real contractions at first but after realizing that they were consistent and were not going away I figured it must be the real thing! I labored at home through the night and tried my best to sleep between contractions and just rest. We had an already scheduled doctors appointment at 11:45 so we called and were told to go into the office to be checked out. I was nervous that they would tell me that it wasn't true labor and would send me home! We were prepared for me to have not made much progress with dilation but were thrilled when they checked me and I was already 5 cm! We were then instructed to head straight to the hospital. Thankfully I have a very prepared husband and so we already had the car packed and made our way directly there. At this point the contractions were bearable and far enough apart to give me a rest between so I was still convinced of my ability to have a natural labor. It was a surreal experience arriving at the hospital and having the guy at the emergency room ask what we were there for and responding, "I am in labor!". It was fun! :) After being admitted they broke my water. It was at that point that the contractions changed to being much closer together and much more intense! I had envisioned myself being able to move around freely and trying out lots of different relaxation positions. However, every move I made brought on another contraction and put me into intense pain! It was unlike anything I had ever experienced! Curt was truly the best partner/coach ever and was soo incredibly patient and supportive. I labored naturally through the contractions for a few hours but started to get nauseous and light headed. It became much more than I could handle! At about 4:00 pm I finally gave up my visions of a natural birth and asked for an epidural. My sister, Gretchen, had arrived a while earlier and was helping Curt coach me through the labor. They both were very supportive of the decision and told me later that watching me try to endure the contractions was one of the hardest things they have ever had to do! They thankfully arrived very quickly with the epidural as I kept saying, "Please hurry!". It was like juice from heaven! :) I felt almost instant relief and was able to relax through the next hours of labor. We had all thought that labor would progress fairly quickly considering I was admitted at 5 cm but things just slowed way down. My doctor had originally planned to deliver Ethan but things were not moving along as quickly as we hoped and so she had to leave before he was born. Finally at about 10:30 pm I was fully dilated and ready to push. We had previously realized that Ethan was positioned face up, instead of face down as is preferred. My wonderful nurse had tried to move him with various positions but he stubbornly stayed in the same position. They started me pushing with him in that position, knowing that it is the hardest way to vaginally deliver a baby. By that point I was soo thankful that I had chosen to have the epidural! I pushed for a total of 2 1/2 hours before realizing that things were not going as we hoped. I ended up with a great doctor who calmly monitored Ethan and kept Curt and I well informed of what was going on. They realized that Ethan was making NO progress towards entering the world! He was simply rocking back and forth without moving forward and only the top of his head was poking out. They also realized that every time I pushed his heart rate was dropping significantly and it was taking it longer and longer for his heart rate to come back up after contractions. They figured that not only was he tired (it was a LONG day so far of labor) but it was likely that the umbilical cord was being squished. As a result of these things, the doctor strongly advised us to consider a c-section. We were totally open to that as our end goal was a healthy baby. I was also beyond exhausted and sick of pushing at that point and so agreed to the c-section. They prepped me and we moved toward finally seeing Ethan. He finally made his arrival at 2:31 am on Friday, August 27. We were soo relieved to have him arrive healthy and safe! He weighed exactly 7 pounds and was 20 inches long. The big question had always been the color of his hair and if he would have red hair like Curt but we were all surprised to see him with a full head of black hair! We are not entirely sure where it came from and so are curious to see what color he ends with. Ethan had a bit of a rough time adjusting to the real world but thankfully finally settled down for his first night of sleep. We spent a couple of days in the hospital recovering and trying to adjust to life with a baby. We were thrilled and scared to come home from the hospital on Monday and have been adjusting to life with a baby since then. Ethan is truly a VERY good baby. He eats well and is already back to his birth weight. He sleeps well and is up on a pretty good schedule at night. I am learning to sleep better at night when he is sleeping without waking up on a regular basis to make sure he is breathing! :) We truly love our little man!

I must also give a shout out here to our wonderful families! My sister, Gretchen, was there through most of labor and was a fantastic support. Our parents were also there for some of labor. My mom and Curt's parents and sister were at the hospital through all of my pushing and the c-section. My poor father-in-law slept on a chair in the hallway while I pushed! They waited for HOURS to meet baby Ethan and finally got the chance to see him at about 6am on Friday morning. They are the best! :)

There are pictures documenting all of this on my Facebook so feel free to check those out. I am feeling great and recovering well from my c-section. It is hard to remember that I had major surgery and to take it easy but I am doing my best to relax. My family is also making that easy as they have been cleaning our apartment and doing my laundry. We truly feel blessed by God! He is, in my biased opinion, the cutest baby ever!! :)