Elijah Case has arrived! To make a long story short, he was born at 4:01 am on Sunday, May 27, 2007. Weight 9lb 10oz, 20 3/4 in long.
Now for the long story, if you’re interested…
My due date was June 2. Friday was my last day of work. Phil’s parents were arriving Saturday afternoon. On Saturday morning, I started freaking out because I thought (for some reason) that my water had broken. We arranged for the neighbors to take Simon for a few hours and went to the hospital. False alarm. It was not my water after all, but they checked me and I was at 3cm dilated. We went home, of course I was a little embarrassed, but at least I knew I was close.
Saturday afternoon, Phil’s parents arrived and we had a normal day…that evening I started having some contractions but nothing too terrible. I went to bed around 10pm and hoped to make it through the night. No such luck.
At about 100am or so, I started having more contractions, enough to wake me up. Phil had not come to bed yet but as soon as he did I told him we might have to go back to the hospital. I tried to tough them out a little longer, but the contractions were getting more regular and more painful. At 230am, we decided to get up and moving. I think Phil was worried that he might have to try to carry me down the stairs if I got much worse, and then we’d both be in the hospital. We made it downstairs, he tried to get me to wait to "time a few contractions", but on my second one, my water broke. So we were off. We arrived to the hospital about 305, I was 5cm then, and in no time they checked me again and I was 9cm. Which, unfortunately for me, meant no drugs. The nurses wouldn’t let me push until my doctor arrived, which he did at about 345, and Elijah came into the world at 401. So it was a quick labor. BUT, he weighed over 9.5 pounds, and I am still hurting! Neither Phil nor I were big babies and no one in our immediate families has had big babies, so who knows where this kid came from. Phil thinks it’s the delta food.
Anyway, Eli is a chunkster. He has huge chubby cheeks and roly little thighs. Simon was such a string bean when he was born, and Eli is not so much. But he is an absolute sweetheart. We came home on Tuesday and he has been a very good baby. He’s nursing like a champ and only gets fussy when he’s hungry or having his diaper changed.
Simon is doing a great job as a big brother. He is having a blast right now because Phil’s parents are still in town, and he’s been helping daddy and papa do stuff around the house. And he loves his new brother. He likes to help and give him kisses and show him his toys. Sometimes he’s a little over-helpful, but it’s still very sweet. See?
So that’s the story. Congrats if you made it this far! There will be tons more pictures to come, I’m sure. Thanks for looking!
