Home Sweet Home

We are home now with the baby. I had him on Thursday (8/9) and we named him Jude Markham Walker (Markham after my ancestor Stephen Markham). I took notes during and after the delivery process so I wouldn't forget all the details like I did with my other babies so here are some of those and a ton of pictures for my mom who doesn't get to meet him until next weekend. I was induced at 8:30 am on Thursday, August 9. We started off with a bang when they put my IV in because they got a really good vein and blood literally gushed all over my arm and the floor before they could get the vials they needed for testing and plug it up. We played the waiting game for a few hours as contractions got harder. I got an epidural around 10:30 but things were still going pretty slowly. The doctor broke my water at one when I was at a 5 and 70% effaced. I was only at a 6 and 80% around 3 pm so the nurse had me lay on my side and put a giant peanut shaped ball between my legs to help him move down. It must have done it's job, because I was at a 9 at 4:40 and started shaking really hard with the contractions (I did that with the other two as well so I knew it was close). I felt the urge to push soon after so the Doctor came in. He realized the head was facing the wrong direction which was probably what caused me to progress so slowly so he reached his hand in, grabbed Jude's head, and turned him to face the right way. I pushed about 6-8 times and he was out by 4:56! He was 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 20.3 inches long. He is perfect! He cried a little and then stuck his thumb in his mouth and calmed himself down and started looking around. He took to nursing instantly and was awake and looking around most of the first evening and night. He was already lifting up and turning his head to see things. After the delivery, they had a hard time stopping my bleeding and I lost a lot of blood which was a bit scary (and my old episiotomy scars ripped open so I had to be sewn up) but once that was figured out it was fine. Grandma Sassy brought Logan and Brin to meet him that first night and they were so excited! Jude didn't want to sleep much the first night and cried every time I tried to lay him down so I had a sleepless first night. I enjoyed the one on one cuddle time it gave me to nurse and bond with him all night though. We had a lazy Friday with visitors and lots of laying around and resting. We came home Friday night but the kids stayed at the Walker's an extra day to let us have time to settle in. It turned out to be very good they did that because Jude didn't let me sleep much again so it was nice to be able to sleep in a bit before the big kids came home. This recovery was a lot harder than I expected and I spent most of my time from Saturday to Wednesday in bed due to engorgement, stitches healing, after pains, and exhaustion from all the blood I lost. It was not fun but I'm feeling so much better today! Now that my milk is in I've been able to get on a better schedule with Jude so that we're both getting a lot more sleep. Thank you to everyone who helped us out with meals and helping with the big kids! It made it so much easier knowing that things were getting done and I could just rest and recover. So far, Jude is a very content baby. He is a little piggy and nurses for about an hour every 2-3 hours so I'm guessing he'll chunk up quickly. The only time he really cries is when he gets his diaper changed :) We thought he looked more like Brin at the hospital but he's starting to look more like Logan everyday. He even has the cute little dimples in his cheeks that Logan has! The big kids are good helpers and are constantly asking if they can hold him. We are so blessed!