As I sit here and type this post, my beautiful son is all bundled up, peacefully sleeping right next to me and I just can’t help but glance at him every other second and smile. I always wondered, especially after Bella became part of our family, how it’s possible to love with that same love another child. Since my first glance at my baby boy, I understood that mother’s loves is unchangeable, no matter how many children she has. I am trying to put all this on paper before I forget any of the details of the very special day, January 16, 2012.
The last few weeks have been about anticipation, every Dr.’s appointment was just another reminder that Joshua is coming and he is coming soon. We were excited every single day after finding out that I was 2cm dilated. The Dr. assured us that this baby was very ready to come and therefore we needed to be prepared any moment of the day. Day after day, miles after miles walked, Joshua seemed to be content and did not want to come. Our last Dr.’s appointment was Thursday, January 12, where the Dr. said that we were now at 4cm and he was really coming. The Dr. said if the baby does not come over the weekend, he would call first thing in Monday. We left even more excited , anticipating active labor or water breaking but nothing happened. We walked as a family every single day, at least 3 miles a day thinking that would help to speed things up as I was getting very uncomfortable and Joshua kept jamming his feet under my ribs that felt very bruised. I was ready to be done with my pregnancy every day, but God had another plan. Monday rolled around fast enough and my phone rang at 8A.M. with Dr. on the other line saying: “Girl, I am getting worried, I don’t want you to have this baby at home.” I laughed and told him that it was my exact thought and fear, so he said to come on Wednesday and have my water broken at 5:30A.M. I hung up the phone excited and scared at the same time, because I was terrified of induced labor this time around, even though it was short with Bella, we never read up on Pitocin but our baby girl’s heart dropped as soon as they injected me. This time around we were praying that none of that would be necessary and that my body would do what it should as long as we are patient. That same Monday afternoon, at exactly 3:06 P.M. I had my first of the many most painful contractions. I thought, it’s probably another false alarm, nothing to worry about, until the next one came 3 minutes later and the next in 2 minutes and probably at my 5th one, I had tears running down my face. Barry realized it was no joke this time and called my parents to drive straight to the hospital to pick up Bella as I was going into labor at extremely fast pace. Our sweet daughter was taking her nap at the time, but we had no other choice but to wake her. She woke up very happy to our surprise, which was an absolute blessing, she giggled all the way to the hospital, only asked in between: “Mama, what are you doing?” while I could barely breathe through my contractions…oh good times Barry did a great job driving that day, he got us there in 13 minutes. We got there at exactly 3:46 P.M. and he ran to get a wheelchair which I thought was unnecessary, while I was fighting contraction after contraction in the car. Of course I declined the chair and decided to walk, which was not a good idea as I got stuck fighting another one on the way to the door. The nurse came out to get me and have me sign some paperwork; I just stood there balling not being able to even sign my name. The next person I saw was the nurse that coached me through Bella’s delivery and I absolutely loved her. This time around, we were blessed once again with her being in charge nurse again and we got the exact same room that we had Bella in, it was definitely a “déjà vu” moment except for things were moving along much faster. They checked me and I was between 7-8cm dilated, which meant this baby boy was coming very soon! They called my Dr. right away and he showed up just within minutes asking me: “Helen, do you feel like pushing?” I looked at him like, “are you serious, I just got here.” So, my response was: “I will feel like pushing when you tell me to, because I want this baby out as soon as possible.” He pulled up a chair and said I will wait a few minutes and it was literally just a few minutes when my contractions got even more painful and indeed I was ready to push. I pushed only four times and there he was, my handsome prince, at 4:36P.M. He stole my heart, just like my precious daughter did the first time I laid my eyes on her. He was absolutely perfect. He came out with his eyes wide open, as beautiful as a baby can be. Things could not have gone better, my mom got to be there, Bella was with my dad in the family waiting room playing. Joshua was born fast enough for everyone to still be at the hospital and meet the little guy right after birth. We were both curious how Bella was going to react to her new baby brother as we have been talking about him for so long and all she could see was my belly. She did say she loves him and wanted to give him kisses on my belly. Since I missed the first meeting and Barry took Joshua to meet Bella, he said he brought her over to her and said: “Bella, this is Joshua, your baby brother”. He said, she was silent and kept looking at him and then got really excited and wanted to touch him and kiss him. Then he brought her over to see me and she pointed at my belly and asked: “Joshua”? and Barry told her, that Joshua was no longer in mommy’s belly but was right in his arms. She started jumping around again with excitement. She has loved having him around ever since. She gives him kisses and hugs every day, wants to hold him any chance she gets and is always overly excited when he is awake, since it doesn’t happen very often in their newborn stages.
I was moved into a postpartum room, which as funny as it sounds was the same exact room, which I was moved to after having Bella. Keep in mind; this birthing center has over 24 rooms, so I would say pretty crazy that we ended up in same rooms. The stay was absolutely great, we loved our nurses and the care we got, it couldn’t have been a better experience. AND we got checked out in less than 24 hours of our stay, which was a dream come true. I am a huge home buddy, so I couldn’t wait to be at home, cuddling with my two babies. That is how Mr. Joshua came into this crazy sinful world, and we are praying that we raise him to be a man of God. We love you our Joshua boy with all of our hearts!
