Welcome Broderick Keith!

Two weeks ago, our family was blessed with a beautiful baby boy. Brody was born Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 5:59 A.M. He was 19.5 inches long and weighed 7 pounds.

I thought that since 3 things had broken at the house that week that I would be good to go through the end of the week. Ben would make it home and then the baby would come and all would be well. Unfortunately, that's not how it worked out!

Here's the story of how everything went down!

Wednesday at work sort of had that feeling of finality. I met with the partner and HR director to outline my flex schedule upon return. During the day I was careful about moving as much documentation off my computer to a shared space. And when I left the office, I accidentally left the paper files I needed for the client I was scheduled to be at the next day. One office conversation probably did me in though, chatting with Robin, Angel, and Jaimi about pregnancy and labor and delivery. I was worried that this time would be different and that I wouldn't know what to do or what to expect, basically that everything wouldn't be according to my plan.

On Wednesday night, I headed to sleep at 11:00, having just watching my Wednesday night summer TV maraton! Just after midnight I woke up, thinking I had to use the ladies. As I threw my legs over my body to get out of bed, my hips popped (or so I thought). Then I noticed there was a lot ore fluid than I thought there should be. Hm, could this be it? I found my baby books and began to look up to see what could be happening. I decided that yes, this was it and started to look up what I needed to pack for the hospital. This was 3 weeks early! I was just at the doctor that day! Seriously!

So then the calls begin. First to my parents, to watch Cadence and get me to the hospital! Then to Ben, in Minnesota. Then again to Ben, who I didn't answer the first time because he thought it was his alarm going off. Luckily, when I called the second time, the thought it was a little too soon for the snooze and answered. I told him that the baby was coming, he needed to get home NOW! I was hoping that it would be just like when Cadence came, slow and delivery would be that afternoon. But with the water situation I knew it wasn't likely. Lastly I called my SIL Mandi, so glad she moved here! She was going to have to miss her 4th day at work to be my support person along with my mom!

We got to the hospital at just after 1. My water broke when I was in triage and I decided I was getting the epidural right way! By the time they did it I was already at a 5! My mom was sent back to the house to pick-up my security blanket (my laptop), a pillow, and the cell phone charger. In the meantime, Ben was making flight arrangements. He would leave at 6 on a flight that would land in Phoenix at 9:20. So until that time, I was to relax as much as possible to slow down the process. The nurse thought I would probably deliver around 6:30. Mom was sent home again to retrieve the video camera, clothes for the recovery room, and other things I thought I needed! If Ben wasn't going to be there, at least he could watch it later.

I was relaxing as best I could, but at 5 the nurse checked and I was at a 7. Then she rolled me over onto my right side. Then, despite the epidural, the contractions were coming on very strong. And so painful! So much different than the epidural with Cadence. I was on my right for about 3 more contractions before it was too much. The nurse then called the doctor and I was told to relax and wait for her to arrive! Little Brody really wanted to join the world, the pushing sensation was really strong. Finally, the doctor arrived and I pushed for about 15 minutes. Then, we was here. After just 5 hours in the hospital, I was handed my wonderful, healthy son.

We quickly took pictures and sent text messages to Ben. Unfortunately, he received the news of his son's birth in the Denver airport! He joined us by 10:30 and was there for Brody's first bath and with me most of the rest of the stay in the hospital.

All in all Brody's birth was a completely different experience than Cadence's. Both were perfect in there own way (with the exception of Ben being absent!).

Motherhood the second time around has not been as scary as I thought. It has been somewhat like riding a bike, you never really forget how. There have been a few new things to experience over the past two weeks, mostly related to having a son versus a daughter. It is remarkable to me how different he is than Cadence already. Or how Cadence grew up overnight in my eyes now that I have this tiny new baby. Cadence is adjusting okay. Her potty training tapered off a bit and she now carries her baby with her to school every day. But luckily she is young enough that she doesn't ask to hold Brody or feed him, etc.

Here are some precious pictures from his first day with us.

Aunt Mandi with baby Brody. I told Ben a few weeks prior that I felt a lot better with him being out of town knowing that his sister was there and could be with me at the hospital. She was a wonderful support person and I am excited to have her in town!

Ben meets his son.

Daddy and Son, my heart melts.

Grandma Karol came to visit!

Aunt Bobby came to visit too!

Cadence meets her baby brother.

Hm, I wonder how long til I can take him to a race?

We had a couple picnics with the family in the recovery room! Fun times!