The story of Miles...

(Three weeks+ late....)

October 28th. 

39 weeks and 1 day pregnant with little man. Still haven't agreed on a name. Three in the running. Nervous we won't be able to agree! 

4:45 am - alarm goes off (as usual). Ben walked the dog. Cold and dark. She was more than slightly confused especially seeing my mom asleep on the chaise in the living room. 

5:30 am - Lunch and breakfast made. Phone rings. 203 area code. Hospital says "sorry about that 6:00 check-in... we have some back ups from last night, come on in at 11." Sorry, Mom. You could've slept in your own bed!  ...and I could've eaten something last night.

Regular relaxed morning routine with Oliver. 

8:30 am - phone rings again. Same number. It's my doctor. "Come on in when you can." Ummmm. Okay. I'll be there at 10? 

9:45 am - making our way over to the hospital, bags ready, cell phones charged, hair straightened. (Yes, I did. No apologies. Not one.)

The nurses are amazing. The anesthesiologist is fantastic and explains the spinal vs. epidural. I'm wheeled down to surgery and learn very quickly to avoid turning my head to the right - reflections in the glass cabinets are unnecessary to be seen. Get a little lightheaded, tiny bit sick. 

11:28 am - "Here he comes...."  "Wow! He's got so much hair!" ...and they put him in the warmer (photo below). What do B+I say to each other? "Holy $h*t, it looks exactly like Oliver."  ...and then ::somehow:: we agreed on his name. 

7lbs even. (Although the pediatrician claims he was 6lbs 15.8oz - I'm going with 7). 20.5" long. Miles Alexander. Welcome to the world!

Sometime shortly after 11:28am (whilst feeling some movement below the curtain) (stop reading here if deliveries make you queasy) my OB says "alright! I'm putting your uterus back in now." I could've done without hearing that, but thank you for the update. 

First shot!

Noonish - in recovery. With Miles and Ben. (What? In NC I was alone. Solo.) M latched on (woah! bravo! kicking your big brother's butt already!) and we enjoyed some cell-phone free bonding time while nurses monitored my slowly recovering heart rate. (Apparently 60/25 isn't good?)

Love.

The hospital was awesome. The nurses were incredibly nice, comforting, helpful, and understanding. This C-section was a completely (COMPLETELY) different experience than the last one. I was up walking to the bathroom after 14 hours vs. bedridden for three days. Not to mention the food was pretty delicious - chicken pot pies, tomato soup, pancakes, and the famous lobster or filet dinner (I had salmon. It was banging). Miles stayed in the nursery overnight for 3 hours at a time because B was at home with O, and they brought him to me when he needed to feed. (TMI - sorry dad - I had to pump 6oz at the hospital because I was drowning the poor kid. I guess second time around is easier? and more plentiful? sheesh.) 

I got some GREAT advice from friends around here with regards to the much anticipated meeting. We'd obviously been talking about baby brother for weeks, but we not so sure if Oliver knew what was about to happen to him. When Ben picked Oliver up from daycare and brought him over, Miles was in the nursery. He came and said hi to me, I told him I had a boo boo on my tummy and to be careful. He really just wanted to sit in the bed with me. He and Ben walked down to the nursery to get Miles, and Oliver was so excited to see him that he even pushed the layette back to my room. (Only narrowly avoiding a collision with the wall). We, then, gave Oliver the present Miles had brought? bought? him. An extra large Caterpillar dump truck. Baby brother has fantastic taste and it looks JUST like the one we saw at Target last week! Hmmmm.... 

Proud (?) big brother. 

I love this photo more than any other one we took those three days in the hospital. Especially because when Oliver sees it he says "Miles is crying because he has to go to the doctor." Yes, buddy, that's EXACTLY why he's crying. 

...and so begins life with my two boys.