Iver John!

Two weeks and a day ago (May 9, 2012), we welcomed our beautiful, perfect, amazing little boy - Iver John. He arrived at 1:57 pm, weighing 8 pounds, 1.7 ounces and measuring 20.5". As you can tell from Piper's face in our first family picture, we couldn't have been happier to welcome him into our lives!

 

But to do his birth story justice, first I need to back up a couple of days ...

For the past couple of months, Piper has loved to match me when it comes to clothes, what we're eating, etc. So instead of a traditional 39 week pregnant picture, I cuddled up on the couch with what my husband called the smaller of the ninjas, which by the way, was the only completely matching outfit we could pull together. We do have matching Hanna Andersson jammies, but the tops are different so all black plus slippers was definitely the way to go. 

 

So the day that picture was taken, I had contractions all morning. They became consistent and stronger, so after Piper's swimming lessons, I finally called the doctor's office, where they sent me to the hospital. At this point, the contractions were every 5 minutes and we assumed it was go time. Woo hoo! So we get to the hospital and I'm still 4 cm dilated so they have me walk for 90 minutes to see if that gets things going further. For a while, the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and strong, but by the end of the 90 minutes, they were back to every 5 minutes. When the nurse checked me again, I was still 4 cm, so with the Snuggery being a super busy place, they sent me home. I was very disappointed, but I guess the silver lining is that we had one more good night's sleep and then had a great delivery the next day. It turns out, 8 babies were born at the Hospital that day, and Iver was only one of two the next day. They really were slammed.

So the next day I had my regularly scheduled doctor's appointment. The doc checked me and I was 4-5 cm and very "ready," so she asked if I would want to go to the hospital, have them break my water, and see what happened. Of course I was OK with that - it was what I absolutely wanted! So she stripped my membranes and we headed over to the hospital.

The midwife broke my water at 11:30 am, and then I was up and walking. The contractions came back immediately, and they quickly became very strong. I vacillated about whether or not to get an epidural for a while, and then it was like a switch flipped and all of a sudden the pain was super intense. I had such a good epidural experience with Piper that I decided to get another one, so the doc was called. That was just before 1. About 30 minutes later, I was super comfortable and 6 cm dilated. 30 minutes after that, I was fully dilated, pushed five times, and Iver was born at 1:57 pm. It was such an easy, amazing experience, that I couldn't believe how great I felt. I was rested, didn't throw up at all, and felt super energized. I'm so glad I made the choice to get an epidural because I really feel they allow my body to relax and dilate completely, VERY quickly. The same thing happened with Piper. If I remember correctly, I went from 6 to 10 cm with her 20 minutes after the epidural took effect. I know not everyone is for them, but I've had two great experiences and have absolutely no regrets.

After two nearly sleepless nights in the hospital, we came home! It was a beautiful day so Piper and Reid got to take Iver for his first walk around the neighborhood. Piper was very proud to push the stroller ...

 

Since then, we've had many ups and downs, particularly when it comes to the emotional health of our toddler. Luckily, the emotional roller coaster seems to be waning and she's adjusting to life as a Big Sister with a little brother who has peed on her, wakes her up at night with his crying, doesn't give her "baby hugs" on demand, and in general, doesn't give her a lot back when she puts in a ton. But she loves her little brother and someday hopefully they'll be great buddies.

And very quickly, Iver had his two week check up yesterday so we have some stats on the big guy, who is growing very quickly ...

Height: 22 inches - 89 percentile
Weight: 8 pounds, 7 ounces - 29 percentile (he was 7 pounds, 11 ounces when we were discharged)
Head circumference: 14.5 inches - 29 percentile

There's so much more to write, but that will have to wait until later. This took enough of my limited "free" time (when both kids are sleeping) and dinner has to be made!