the Long story

Get ready for the barrage of pics!

My apologies for taking so long to get this out. I've been a little... overwhelmed the last few days/weeks. Some of these pictures are already posted on Facebook, but I figured I'd put 'em here as well to include the narration.

Here goes!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

3:30am

After getting pretty much no sleep, we got up early to make it to the hospital by 4:15am for the scheduled induction.

I wanted to look pretty. :)

It took a while to get things going -- always does -- but I am grateful that they started out with the epidural. After having contractions for 3 weeks and starting out at a 4 before being induced, we were all pretty sure things were going to happen fast...

And they did!

15 mins after the doc broke my water the baby literally shot out like a rocket. My first attempt at a push was interrupted by the doctor yelling, "Wait! Stop! Stop!"

Official labor time: 1 hr 12 mins.

I was so happy to have Mark there with me. He was happy too, except when he had to jump back in order not to get sprayed by the gush of waters. Ew! (Sorry if that's TMI - this is for journalling purposes, afterall.)

He cut the cord like a seasoned pro and then we all waited for the cries...

and waited...

and started asking the little guy if he was going to do anything besides lay there and blink at us.

Unfortunately, a super fast delivery isn't necessarily good for the baby. He had been riding so high on top of all the water that he didn't spend enough time squeezing through the birth canal. As it turns out, it actually serves a purpose for women to labor that way. As the baby squeezes through, it also squeezes out the water in the baby's lungs and prepares the kid to take a great big breath to cough/cry the rest out. Again, sorry for TMI, and again, journalling purposes.

Apparently he didn't get enough squeezing.

It actually looks a lot worse than it was. But it still was really hard to watch my prize roll out the door and not be able to hold him.

He was in the NICU from Wednesday - Sunday. The biggest concerns were his breathing (due to the water in his lungs) and getting him to eat well and eat enough to be safe under my care at home. (It sounds bad wording it that way, but that's how it felt, too.)

It was really hard to not be able to pick him up until he was well enough to have the tubes and cords off.

Hallelujah when they did!

The night nurses in the NICU were pretty hysterical. They used every opportunity they could find to doll up the beds with fun colored blankets (all coordinated, of course) and fun decorations. They were really fun and made my time in there a lot easier.

One night I went in and found him all dressed up. The nurses said, "We figured he'd sleep better if he was warmer and cozier."

I just laughed.

Back at the ranch...

While all that craziness was going on, Mark was having an adventure of his own. For a couple years now we've been planning to put an extension on the kitchen (to give our tiny pantry and laundry room some breathing space). It required space from our garage, which was already packed. So that required a shed to store stuff in.

You see why this started a couple years ago.

And naturally, since there was a new baby coming home, now was the time to finish!

The cement truck showed up Saturday morning and with the help of my dad and Nick (Thiele), Mark and the guys poured the concrete for the extension and the shed.

And of course, after a week of nice weather with temperatures in the 70s, Saturday was FREEZING cold and threatened rain all day! Thank you, Texas weather.

Thankfully it all worked out. That night I spent "rooming in" with the little guy in preparation of taking him home the next day. It was the first time Grandpa Gary, Grandma M'Jean and Aunt Lexye got to come see him.

What a cutie!

Note the hat - isn't it awesome?! My grandmother, "Gommy the Great" as my kids call her, made it and sent it down with my parents. I love it! So dang cute.

Sunday morning came and I was indeed able to take him home. GLORY BE!

The next hurdle was getting him a name...

church started at 1pm and Nick & Lex were leaving home right after, my dad going home the next day. So any chance of having them there to help bless him would require doing the blessing that day.

I figured someone was going to have to concede if the kid was ever going to get a name, and chances were very high that Mark wouldn't be up to conceding any time soon. I sorta came to terms with that fact the night before, but wasn't quite ready to say anything. It's not that I don't like the name Jacob. I do. I love it. It just happens to be the #1 most used boy name each year for the past hundred years or so. I guess a lot of people like it, too!

So Sunday morning, as I sat pondering this, Hyrum started walking around the house saying, "Ja-cob, Ja-cob."

That clinched it.

The deal was sealed and he was blessed Jacob Allen Viehweg that afternoon by his dad, uncle, grandpa, and another guy we consider to be part of the family (Mom & Dad, you didn't know you had another son, haha).

Isn't he handsome? (That's rhetorical of course.)

So now we have him home.

It's been 4 weeks and this little guy is an absolute delight.

We love him so much!

Welcome to the world, Jacob!