Welcoming Bennett

So here we are...a few days in and completely exhausted but happy. Bennett and Marie are getting along beautifully.  He tolerates her kisses and constant holding, and she tolerates his poopie diapers and our lack of schedule right now.  Charlie has officially welcomed him by slobbering him with kisses and officially smelling every part of him followed by falling asleep on his blanket.

All this started on Tuesday, June 19th. We had officially made it through Liz & Andrew's wedding with no baby so I was ready to get things moving.  Marie and I had a busy day of library time, lunch, and shopping.  Andy was at his first day of residency orientation.  I noticed I was having some contractions but they were not very strong and seemed irregular. I continued on with my day ignoring the increase in strenth and closeness...this couldn't really be happening right?  Finally around 1:00 I texted Andy that things seemed to be progressing.  I quickly finished my shopping at Target..stopping to rest with each contraction and made it home. By the time Andy got home at 2:45, my contractions were about 9 minutes apart and starting to require some breathing exercises.  He quickly took Marie swimming (something he had promised her earlier in the day), did 3 loads of laundry, and mowed the lawn.   We called our parents and said to be on alert as things seemed to be happening.

 

By the time Andy got back from swimming, contractions were down to 7 minutes.  We quickly ate supper, got Marie in the tub, and called my mom to come that night.  An hour later they were 4 minutes apart and we called my mom to come now!  We had to take Marie with us to the hospital which concerned me, but she handled it so well.  She was so excited that this was happening and asked tons of questions.  I did my best to not show her that I was in any sort of pain even though the contractions were monsterous by this point. My mom made it to Sioux City in record time, Andy brought Marie home, and labor continued on.

Bennett Andrew was born at 3:16 a.m.  He cried for just a bit and then was calm - taking in his surroundings. He was so bright eyed and hungry right away.

I had a bit of trouble following the delivery due to some blood clots.  It was difficult to get my bleeding stopped but thankfully it all turned out ok after a few painful and scary hours. I have never been so thankful to have Andy's calm demeanor there with me. Even though he was nervous too, he spent all his energy making sure I understood what was going on. 

We spent the day on Wednesday with Grammy & Papa, Grandma Nel, and Marie. Everyone taking turns holding Bennett and oohing and aahing over how attentive Marie was to him.  When she walked in the room she went straight to her baby brother, kissed him, and asked to hold him.

Life is certainly busy right now but we really are adjusting well.  It's a lot to get used to on top of Andy's new job, our new house, new town, etc.  But, we are getting there one day at a time.  Thankfully Bennett is such a low key and relaxed little guy. He loves being held by Marie and is doing so well at eating and sleeping.