Nana and Pops came for the boys as we headed to the hospital. This is a picture of me in between contractions.
Jamie, Julie, and Baby Joel.
The FIVE J's!!!
Proud Big Brother with newest "J."
Ready to go home!!!
Grandpa with Joel.
Jackson did not arrive on time and I was induced three days later. I am convinced that he was not ready and neither was my body. He did not come easily.
Jonathan came two and a half weeks early and came quickly. At the time, I was not sure I was in labor because it was definite pressure but not a lot of pain.
About a week and a half before Joel arrived, we made a trip to the hospital. I thought I was in labor. I was not. I was mortified - how does someone having their third child make that kind of mistake? I had the same pressure as with Jonathan so I thought I was in labor. Not so.
On Wednesday evening, 3 June 2009 around 6:30pm, I started having contractions. I wanted to make sure this was the real deal so we waited. I called the doctor and asked how long we should wait before coming. He said to check the contractions for an hour or two. Once I figured out that these contractions were the real deal, we started timing them. They were about seven minutes apart. Jamie threw the boys in the tub and hightailed it, thinking on comments from friends on facebook about how the third kid comes quickly.
Once Jamie had the boys in the tub, I hunched over my enormous stomach and hurriedly mopped the kitchen floor on my hands and knees. I had cleaned the house thoroughly, with the exception of my kitchen floor. I would feel better knowing that the house was "completely" clean.:) Since I was hunched over, I didn't know if the contractions were true to form. I figured I would be done soon enough and we would know. Jamie was timing them, so after I contracted, I would yell to him and he would check the timing device on his cell phone. After a while, I knew these were real - about three and a half minutes apart consistently. We called Jamie's parents - they were on their way. I had a hard time disguising the pain in front of the boys. Jackson was concerned. I told him that they hurt, but it was a "good hurt" and not to worry. Jack was fine with that explanation and was thrilled at the prospect of a night at Nana and Pops' house. Nana and Pops soon arrived, grabbed the boys, and then Jamie and I jumped in the car to go to the hospital.
Jamie is a relatively new facebooker. In mid-contraction in the car, Jamie took a picture of me and I burst into tears, pleading with him not to post it. I know he was fighting laughing in my face, but he promised not to show the world my contorted face. I was panicking because I feared not arriving at the hospital in time.
We checked in at the hospital around 8pm. I got hooked up to all the fluids. Most importantly, I needed an antibiotic in my system for four hours before the baby arrived. I had tested positive for Group B Strep so part of my panic was concern it would get here before I had the correct amount of antibiotic to protect the baby from contracting it from me.
The anesthesiologist came to give me my epidural. I told him that I had to have two with Jonathan because the first wore off. This time it took a while for the epidural to take and slowly began to wear off like last time. The doctor came back, asked me if I really felt pain or just pressure. I felt like an idiot, that maybe it wasn't true pain. I assured him that I did indeed feel pain, that I knew the difference between that and pressure. He gave me a second epidural (the first had already been boosted a couple of times to no avail), acting as if a were a wuss. The second one wore off as well. Around midnight of Thursday morning, I could feel the contractions all through my abdomen and back. I fought panic, wondering how far down it would continue to wear off before all numbness wore off.
Thankfully, Joel arrived at 12:42am on Thursday, 4 June 2009. I had antibiotics in my system for four hours and seven minutes so he was safe. Jamie told me we had another boy (I was convinced we were). We had a bet - I bet a boy and he bet a girl. I won cheesecake if I was right. Jamie brought me cheesecake from Brio's that night.:)
Once Joel emerged, they cleaned him up and our nurse assured us he looked fine. We looked at each other and burst into tears. After Jonathan, we knew that we were not immune from having another child with special needs. While we realized that committing to having another kid meant receiving who God gave us, we had really hoped that this one would arrive with less complications. We were so thankful and relieved that he appeared to be healthy. We had great care while we were at the hospital. The doctor who delivered Joel was the first Sunday School teacher we had as a married couple. He was very laid back and knew our history. Our nurses were WONDERFUL!!! Our stay at the hospital was like a vacation. We knew chaos would meet us at home.:)
We came home that Saturday and my parents arrived that afternoon. My dad left the next day. Mom stayed with us for a week and a half, filling in the gaps, doing laundry, fixing meals, entertaining the boys, cleaning, driving me around, going to the grocery, etc. She was wonderful! Thanks, Mom.
Jamie's mom, Betty, is now helping me out. She is entertaining Jackson and Jonathan for me and has already brought us two meals. Both she and my mom made it possible for me to be feeling good right now. I am experiencing very little fatigue thanks to them!
Jackson loves his new brother, although he had hoped for a sister.:) He loves to hold Joel, croons to him, and kisses him constantly. We compared baby pictures and with the exception of the nose, Joel appears to be a carbon copy of Jackson - Jack is so proud of this!
Jonathan seems to have understood far more than we gave him credit for. At first, Jonathan approached Joel and held his hand as if to smack Joel. Once we told him "no" very firmly, he put his hand away and proceeded as normal. He has seemed to understand that Joel is here to stay and is fine with it. I have been amazed.
Thank you for all your prayers. We feel so blessed and have been thankful for a pretty smooth transition. I thought I would never see my ankles again. They have returned along with my calves.:) Now, if my stomach would just shrink a little more quickly...:)
Julie:)
