Amanda was being induced at 5am yesterday, and I had grand intentions of getting up at 6am, showering and getting ready, and then going back to sleep with my clothes on, to wait for Dana's call to come down to the hospital. We are only 10 minutes away. Amanda was clear that she wanted us there when he was born, but I wasn't sure what that meant, and I didn't really get any instruction from Dana on Sunday night.
I slept fine, but then, I rarely have trouble sleeping. Dana texted me at 5 and said they were on their way to the hopsital. I fell back asleep. She texted me at 6, and said they had just given her the pitocin. So I told her I was going to get up and get ready and go back to bed with my clothes on, and in her own words, she told me I was crazy, to go back to sleep, and that we wouldn't be going down there til at least noon. She would text me with only important updates. So I guess my plan was a foolish one. :) I lightly dozed for several more hours, getting the occasional text message from her about Amanda's progress.
By mid-morning, we were up, showered, and ready to go! We loitered around the Hodges for a while. We felt pretty awesome in our Ezekiel shirts. I was feeling a little nervous, but mostly excited. I had realized earlier that we had left Amanda's card at home, so we went down to HEB to buy a card, then we decided we were hungry, so we settled on Cheeburger Cheeburger for lunch. I read on their menu that we should expect it to take at least 15 minutes for them to prepare our burgers, and I got nervous that we were going to have to dine and dash, but it was all fine. We decided we wanted to take her flowers, so we went back to HEB to pick out some flowers.
When we got back to the Hodges, Nathanael decided to try to put the car seat in. About that time, Dana texted us and told us to come on down to the hospital. So we hopped in the car, drove down the street, came back because we needed a cell phone charger, and were not far from the Hodges when Amanda texted and said He's here, and he's perfect! It was super fast! Certainly faster than anybody expected. Dana met us at the elevator when we got up to the 7th floor, and she was just gushing about how beautiful he is, and how much hair he has, and how quickly he came, and how great Amanda was doing. I was jumping up and down with excitement now. We waited a little while while they were caring for Amanda, then Dana came out and got us to go back to her room to meet him. This is when I got really nervous! For full coverage of our first meeting with Ezekiel, visit http://www.vimeo.com/8196103. Password is EPM. Alert: It is a 14 minute long video.
It was exciting and exhilerating meeting him for the first time, and it wasn't as stressful as I thought it would be, with Amanda in the room. But like my wedding day, it is kind of blur. So I'm glad that we have video. I didn't cry as much as I thought I would, I laughed more. There is just so much going on in a moment like that, it's hard to process it all.
Shortly after I unwrapped him and checked all of him out, which made him scream because my hands were cold, the nurse banded me and took me to the nursery, where I spent the next hour and a half watching the nurse, check him out, give him shots, etc. I fed him his first bottle, bathed him, and burped him. It was so fun! He loved to eat, and loved laying under the warmer.
Nathanael was watching us from outside the window.
We went back to Amanda's room after he was all clean and dressed, and Dana, Amanda, Nathanael and I oohed and ahhed over the baby for the next several hours, and Nathanael fed him his second bottle.
Dana, Nathanael, and I went out to dinner at Chilis around 7. When I was in the car, I felt my body start to relax, I didn't realize how tense I was until I was able to get away for a moment.
We dropped Dana off at the hospital, she was going to stay the night with Amanda. On our way back to the Hodges, she called us and told us we needed to go back and look over some paperwork that Amanda had, so we went back. I was happy to get to see him again.
Amanda has been so gracious and thoughtful. She didn't have to let us come see him so early, or let us spend as much time with him today as she did. I am so thankful for her kindness. She seems to be doing so well, and Dana says she is so much better than she was last time. Her labor was easier, and she is much less guarded emotionally. Dana says she feels comfortable with us. I'm so thankful that everything has gone as smoothly as it has. And I am also so thankful that Ezekiel was born so healthy and perfect. Praise God for that. I know that lots of babies aren't. Today, I have millions of things to be thankful for.
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