Monday, February 25, 2013

Happy Birthday Matt!

February 13th, 2013 ~ 10:02pm
8 lbs and 20 inches   

     After contracting on and off regularly and irregularly for a week and a half, I was more than ready to have Matt any day.  Stephen and I arrived at the hospital as scheduled for my 39 week checkup.  I had previously spoken with my doctor about an induction around my 2/18 due date, and we had decided to talk about it at my appointment that day and schedule an induction when he was on call.  Knowing we had talked about doing an induction, our bags were packed in the car (just in case) which was a good thing since...  he sent us over to Labor & Delivery to have a baby!!!  I was checked into my room around 10:30am and was started on Pitocin by noon.  I responded well to pitocin with Emily so I had high hopes to respond well with Matt.   My progression was slow though and I started to think that Matt was actually going to be born on Valentine's day.  My awesome nurse had some tricks to help me progress faster and after she left her shift at 7pm, I was checked and had progressed quite fast from 5cm to 8cm in about 2 hours!  Another hour later and I was pushing!  Not only did my epidural work this time (Thank you!), but I only pushed for 40 minutes!
     Stephen Matthews Poole, III, arrived into this world at 10:02pm, sunny side up and crying.  He is the spitting image of his Daddy and I remember saying so the second I saw his beautiful face.  He is already following in his sister's footsteps and weighed in exactly at 8lbs and 20 inches.  It is hard to believe that both of my babies were the exact same size!  When does that EVER happen??  My recovery was so much easier this time around probably for multiple reasons (i.e. working epidural, shorter delivery, running after a 2 year old, etc), and as for the baby--  he is pretty much the complete opposite of his little sister.  He eats SO good, his bilirubin (jaundice) levels stayed low enough that he didn't need lights, he already sleeps 4 to 5 hour stretches at night, he only cries when he's hungry/needs changing/gets in his carseat, and he seems to just be a very laid back baby overall.   Maybe this is just the newborn stage still, but unless my memory fails me, Emily was sassy from day one!  It's a good thing he is easy going since he has Miss Sassy Pants as his big sister!   Here are some pictures below from the hospital.  Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to figure out how to balance our lives as a family of four!

All checked in and ready to have a baby!

Waiting for Matt...

Stephen Matthews Poole 1, 2, and 3
Stephen, Matt, and Steve

Tired and Worth it

One of his few awake moments at the hospital

Meeting Big Sister for the first time!

One of my favorites, and he has his new "bobby" (paci) that his big sister gave him.

Showing off her buttons

Matt and Emi

Going HOME!

Mommy and Matt

Precious baby boy

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Waiting on Baby

     I thought he was going to be here on Monday after contracting regularly starting around 3am, but my contractions stopped that evening never really progressing... same thing in the middle of the night on Wednesday, but they stopped again!  Now we are just playing the waiting game!  His room is finished (minus my glider chair which will not arrive until after he is here),  my bags are packed, the car seat base installed, I'm sleep deprived, and we are anxiously awaiting his appearance.  This will be my last posting before his arrival... :)  We spent the day today walking hills with my mom and celebrating my Dad's birthday with some home cooking!  Who knows, maybe that will do the trick and he can be born on his Grandpa's birthday tomorrow!  ;)  Pictures of the nursery below...  Please say a prayer for an easy, uncomplicated delivery and healthy mom and baby!

Awesome paintings above his crib from his Nini!
All of the animals and the Dog rocker are from Emily...
Emily went through her books and gave MANY of them to  "baby Matt".  It's a good things because her bookshelf is still FULL...  And the picture above the bookshelf is one I painted for Stephen in college!
Changing table with pin board and his letters I painted!
This is where the glider will go...
A FULL closet!  Clothes up to 12months (mainly thanks to my sweet nephew), and diapers for at LEAST 4 months!  Antique club hanging over the closet was from my Grandpa's collection.
Close up of his sports letters!