A Bunch of Baby

It has been nearly a month since I last posted. The entire month of June has gone by and I haven't written about how incredibly life has changed in the last few weeks. On May 30th, we closed on our own home! It was exciting for so many reasons, one of the main ones being that I made it to closing still pregnant! But then I went into labor at 1:15 in the morning on June 1st. We spent a few hours at the hospital in the middle of the night, but I was only dilated to a 1+ the entire time, so they gave me a shot of morphine and sent me home. I napped on and off (it's hard to nap with those pesky contractions happening every few minutes) for a couple hours at home, took a hot bath to ease the contractions, and then eventually succumbed to the intense pain of active labor, fully aware that the morphine had completely worn off. I screamed through the contractions while my dear husband took a shower (it was very important to him that he shave before we went to the hospital--he didn't want to scratch the baby's face...) and my sister tried to reassure my mom (on the phone) that we were about to go back to the hospital. She was rather concerned when Brittany said my contractions were a minute and a half apart. I got the distinct impression that she didn't think Travis's shower was all that important right then. Hah. We made our way back to the hospital hoping that I had made some progress. I was beyond nervous that I had made no progress, and knew for certain that if the pain I was feeling wasn't active labor, I would never make it through the day. Thankfully though, they checked me immediately and found that I was now dilated to a four. As I was getting my stuff together, the nurse popped her head in and asked if I wanted an epidural. My response? YES, PLEASE RIGHT NOW THANKS.

:) I had to wait another hour or so before they gave me the epidural (I was very impatient--it felt like a lot longer than an hour!), but once it kicked in, everything was wonderful. I know there are some women that love natural labor and find it empowering and that's wonderful--for them. ;) But for me, that epidural was bliss. I dozed for an hour or so and relaxed for the afternoon. I was admitted at 12:45 and when the doctor came to check me at 3:45 or so, I was already dilated to a nine plus. I had read that an epidural could slow labor down, but it made me feel so relaxed and wonderful that it caused no problems in that department. I started pushing (completely painlessly, I might add) at 4:20 or so, and my beautiful baby boy was born at 5:08. Logan Stephen. And my life hasn't been the same since.

My wonderful husband spent the next week and a half getting our new home ready for move-in (with a ton of help from my sisters!), and my mom arrived on the 6th and helped us pack up our old house, clean, and helped me survive my first weeks of motherhood. It's been crazy and exhausting and wonderful all at the same time.

And, of course, I've learned some very valuable lessons in the last three weeks. :)

• Baby boys have a knack for peeing out of their diapers. I'm not sure how it happens, but we've had multiple wet onesies, wet mommy, wet aunts, yet somehow dry diapers...
• Travis (and supposedly most men) can somehow sleep through baby cries. Wailing even. Thankfully, ever since Logan figured out how to breastfeed better, he hasn't wailed a whole lot. But those first few nights? Lots of wailing.
• I would not have survived thus far if my mom and sisters weren't here. I honestly don't know what we would have done. I've already told them that they're going to have to move back in for every subsequent child I might have.
• Breastfeeding is not just mildly painful. It can be excruciatingly painful. Definitely the worst/hardest/most painful part of my postpartum life. 
• You can never have too many burp cloths.
• I often use two clean diapers at diaper changes because Logan decides to poop in his freshly clean diaper before I even close it all the way. But so far he waits till the new diaper is at least under him, so I'll just be grateful for that. 
• The Ergobaby carrier is truly wonderful--I only just used it yesterday, but it was lovely. 
• Poop explosions happen. They're unpleasant. 
• Logan wants to be held all the time. Literally all. the. time.
• Pretzel rolls are amazing. 
• I really truly wholeheartedly love my sweet baby boy. :)