Blessed. with. Boys.: Welcome, Baby Graham ♥

He's here :)

A Birthday Story:

On Saturday, August 20th, I went for a walk with Mom in the morning, and after I got home, I noticed some contractions. I have been walking a lot lately and it really wasn't unusual for it to cause some contractions, so I didn't think too much of it. Around noon I was still feeling them, so I went on about my day as usual - I even went to the store for a few things - but started to kind of keep track of them. By dinner, they still didn't feel too strong, but were averaging about 5-6 minutes apart. I took a shower and laid down a bit to see if it would effect them at all, and there was really no change.

We started making plans to take the boys over to Grandma and Grandpa's for the night just in case it did turn into real labor, so we wouldn't have to wake anyone up in the middle of the night.But honestly, neither one of us was really convinced it was real yet. (With Bridger labor was off and on for almost 3 days, so we just kept figuring it would kind of fizzle out.) But just in case, around 7:45, Jared took Holden out to put a few things in the car and I laid down on the couch.

All of a sudden, just as Jared was coming back inside: Pop! GUSH. My water had definitely broken. (And Jared grabbed a towel just in time!)

So, ok then.... It was the real thing after all!

Anyway, pretty much right away, my contractions were stronger. So he finished loading the car and we were off to Grandma and Grandpa's. After the boys were all settled, we got to the hospital and all checked in around 9pm or so. I was checked and was "a good 4cm" dilated.

Mom came over so both she and Jared were there to help. I worked through contractions for probably a little over an hour and a half and then told someone to get the nurse because my body was starting to push. The doctor came in, I had a few more contractions, and Graham Arnold was born at 11:05pm. He weighed 7.0 pounds and was 19 inches long. And he was just absolutely perfect and pink.

The whole thing was just so smooth and quick. I still can hardly believe it's over and he's here already. This was my second natural VBAC, and I thought Bridger's birth went really perfect just how I envisioned it. I honestly never thought we would get so lucky to have another birth experience that was as good as his. And now... it just amazes me how blessed I am. I feel like Graham's labor and birth really could not have gone any better. It was incredible and I feel very lucky to have had the experiences I did.

And now we're all home and (a little tired, but) doing really good. Just learning to be a family of five ♥