And Baby Makes Six?

Well, it's been almost 3 weeks since the newest Christensen arrived, and I'm barely starting to feel like myself, but I thought I would try to post an update for everyone. Forgive me if this is old news, and feel free to skip it.

Just like when Kelcey was born, this baby didn't seem to feel the need to come on his due date or even later, so our Doctor scheduled me for an induction the week after, on Monday the 23rd. My mom came on late on the 19th, so we had a weekend of hanging out, hoping that contractions would start, or something, but. . .nada. I had a great time with my mom, but I was hoping that we would have been in the hospital. C'est la vie.

Anyway, the hospital was supposed to call us Monday morning between 5:30 and 8:30, and, of course, they didn't call until 8:15. I was seriously freaking out, afraid that we weren't going to be able to have the baby, but thankfully everything worked out as planned. Jeff and I went to the birth center, and, after a short wait, we were shown into our labor room. The doctor on call was Doctor Henderson, which I was glad about, because he's a wonderful doctor, very practical and down to earth, and he's also a member of the Church. He was even a bishop of the Raleigh 2nd ward several years ago, and his wife is currently the Stake Relief Society president. Interestingly enough, Sister Henderson spoke in our ward's Sacrament Meeting the day before we went to the hospital, so we were chatting about that while the nurse was getting my IV in, etc.

They gave me pitocin right away, and then, after awhile, when the contractions started to get worse, Doctor Henderson gave me the epidural. Getting the epidural is awful, and really painful, but once it's in there, it is so much better, that any pain is completely worth it. I think that a few minutes of fairly intense pain is definitely better than hours of really intense pain. I swear, I would do commercials for epidurals, if they would let me.

Anyway, I had finally progressed enough for them to break my water around 1:00 pm. That's always the thing that really gets me going, and so I was at a "10" and ready to push at just after 2:30.

The thing that I especially love about epidurals is that I can feel the pressure without feeling the pain so I know when it's "time". Just as the nurse was telling me that I should let her know when I started to feel the pressure down in my bum, instead of in my belly, I had this really big contraction with tons of pressure that all felt just "down", you know? The nurse checked, and yup, the baby's head had moved down with that contraction, and it was time to push.

Doctor Henderson came in, the nurse did the cool "transformer" move with the bed, and we were ready to go. I pushed with 2 contractions, and Benjamin Bryan Christensen was born at 2:39 PM, on February 23rd. Yeah, I know, my labor is ridiculously easy and short. "Don't hate me because it's easy." :o) Labor, at least with an epidural, is actually my favorite part of the whole pregnancy.
Benjamin was absolutely beautiful, and we had a wonderful time holding him while Doctor Henderson stitched me up, etc. His Apgar was an 8/9, and once they weighed him we got a huge surprise (pun intended): he was 9 lbs, 3 oz! Jarom had been 7-9, Taran was 8-1, and Kelcey was 8-3, so we figured that he would be bigger, but I didn't think he'd be a whole pound more! I guess that having him marinating for that extra week really made a difference.

I don't have any complaints, because my labor wasn't any harder (obviously), and I couldn't tell any difference when it was time to push, as compared with our other kids, and he is so much more alert and ready to go. He was holding his head up by himself almost from the first hour, he nursed like a champ from the get-go, and he is just awesome!!

My mom stayed for a week after we got home from the hospital, and was our total guardian angel. Jeff had a conference in Winston-Salam and was gone for the two days right after I got home from the hospital, and my mom took care of everything: getting the kids ready, doing carpool, making dinner, and she even did all of our laundry the Saturday before she left. Mom, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!! I literally could not have survived without her, especially because I was going through the "baby blues" during that first week. You know, crying at the drop of a hat, having roller coaster emotions, feeling trapped and desperate one moment and perfectly fine the next, not to mention the "crazy thoughts."

For example, I had to go to the bank one morning and I left Benjamin at home with my mom since it was such a quick trip. I had to go inside and it was very crowded. So as I'm standing in line I have this horrible vision of someone taking the bank hostage while they rob it, and I start having a total panic attack, tearing up and breathing hard, worried that if that happened that I wouldn't be able to get home in time to feed Benjamin, and what if I never made it home at all, and what if I got in an accident on the way home, and what if. . . !!!!

I've gotten back to my normal hormonal and emotional self (well, mostly. . . I still cry at stupid commercials), thank goodness. I still don't understand what the purpose is behind giving new mothers a hormonal cocktail that could knock out an Rhino, but I'm sure Heavenly Father has a good reason. I'd just like to know what it is. :o)

Now that it's been almost 3 weeks, I can't believe how wonderful he is. He has fussy times, of course, but he's sleeping pretty much all night with only one feeding around 4:00, and he's starting to really enjoy his swing and bouncy seat, so that I'm on my way to being able to actually do things when I need to, like get my other kids ready for school, or the dishes, or whatever.

Jeff has been so great, and has really stepped up helping around the house. He has made some real sacrifices to be able to help me in the mornings, and putting the kids to bed, etc. Jeff has so much going on with work and his calling, but somehow he's found the time to be there when I really need him. Man, how lucky am I!?!

Well, I hope that this has answered all your burning questions, and that I didn't gross anyone out. :o) I wanted to share our story with all of you, and tell you how much I've appreciated the sweet things that you have done and said. Thank you for everything. And now, I need to go take a shower before little hoosie wakes up. :o)