It's a Boy!

Ashleigh's First time holding her little brother

Janice and baby Ethan (1 day old)

Mom and Dad looking a little ragged from a lack of sleep

Happy Family!

Ethan ready to go home from the hospital

After 9+ months of waiting, we welcomed little Ethan James into the world last Wednesday. What a wonderful miracle and example of God's awesome power. Birth makes you just stand back in awe at how this little guy can go from being completely dependent on me for everything (food, oxygen, circulation) to completely independent in a matter of seconds - breathing on his own, being able to nurse immediately, even producing waste. Knowing we as women were designed by God to give birth also allowed me to have a natural, drug-free birth and the natural endorphins and pain-killers work just as well, once you get past the hump, which was definitely not easy, but Rob was wonderful in helping me to breathe and focus during the strong contractions. The nurses also were great and gave us a lot of support and help with breathing during the final stages before pushing. I don't know if it's because it was my second child, or a natural birth, but pushing was easy and he was out after just two pushes - one for the head and one for the body. With Ashleigh, it took about 1 1/2 hours of pushing before she decided to make an appearance. Ethan was 9 pounds 8 oz, where Ashleigh was a little under 9, so I know it wasn't a weight difference, plus I was also three days late with Ethan and six days late with Ashleigh. Labor was longer with Ethan - about 8 1/2 hours vs just 3 1/2 with Ashleigh, so it goes to show you your labor with the second isn't necessarily faster than the first. We feel so blessed to have a healthy happy baby boy, especially after having so many ultrasounds and possible problems along the way. He's doing well, gaining weight already, and sleeping for 3 hour stretches through the night.

Waiting...

Ashleigh at 2 1/2 posing before church (5/13/07)

Ashleigh and me (at 36 weeks)

Ashleigh, Kenzie, and Hanna looking for eggs and feeding horses in the country (5/30)

Memorial Day at my sister's (37 weeks)

Ashleigh and me (at 38 weeks)

I'm sure many of you have been checking the website wondering whether I've had the baby yet. Well, we're still waiting with one week to go before the due date. The baby is due on Father's Day, which would be a great Father's Day gift! I've been pretty bad about updating the website, but will definitely post new baby pictures when he/she arrives.

I've been feeling well with minimal swelling, which is better than when I was pregnant with Ashleigh and had huge ankles. I feel like it could be any day now, especially as things are starting to progress and the baby is starting to make its way down to where it needs to go eventually. I'd like to have a natural birth without pain medications as we were designed to give birth, but we'll see how that goes. I've been reading up on natural childbirth and Rob and I have been practicing relaxation techniques and taking it much more seriously than we did with Ashleigh. Seems with her, I spent most of my time reading about pregnancy and just the time in our short childbirth class on the labor.