The Birth of Baby Blake

June 20, 2011. This has been the day that I had been looking forward to for the last 9 months. Yet I was still surprised that my due date actually became my delivery date as well, and our precious Blake David Decker was born! Here is his story:

It was last Monday and I had just a few things left to do around the house before my mom was to fly in late that night. I was just busy doing laundry and things when I noticed contractions starting around 9:45 that morning. I was on and off the phone with my mom and mentioned my contractions were getting a little closer but I was still talking through them fine and really wasn't in much pain. I was even able to capture these last minute belly pictures in between contractions too.

Finally though, around 11 am I called Luke at work and told him that he should probably come home just in case and that he should take me to my midwives first and they could tell me if I was ready enough to go to the hospital. By the time he got home and we were ready to leave it was 12:15 but then I realized that my midwives were closed from 12-1 for lunch, so we would need to wait. However, my contractions were starting to take my breath away and looking back we probably should have just tried going straight to the hospital, but I figured we still had time.
It did work out though because it gave our babysitter a little more time and then they were able to meet us at our house to watch Jacob just in time so that Luke and I could leave to go to my doctor at 1. I was just grateful that this part all worked out well since I had stressed about what to do if my mom wasn't there, but thank you to the Loughes!
Anyway, we get to my midwives right at 1, which is also connected to the hospital, and they get me in right away. Finally, the midwife who I had spoken to on the phone earlier, who didn't sound convinced that I was ready, she checked me and was shocked! "Holy cow, you're already between 7-8 cm! We need to get you up to the hospital right away before you have this baby in the elevator!"
Luke and I were actually pretty surprised too. He thought I'd only be a 3 since I had been handling the pain ok and I thought I'd be at a 4 since that is what I was when we got to the hospital when Jacob was born. Regardless, she got me a wheelchair and took me straight up to Labor and Delivery- thank goodness we still didn't need to drive to a hospital!
By the time I got robed down it was 1:30pm. I had told my midwife right away that I still wanted an epidural and was getting nervous about there still being enough time. She told me that since my water still hadn't broke that we could still do it. I did my best breathing through the contractions as they started to get more painful, but started to realize that time was slipping for my epidural, and even if they came soon I wasn't sure I'd be able to hold still enough for them to put the needle in. I still don't understand why anesthesiologists always take so long to get to women in labor!
So I started to panic. My midwife was nice enough to tell me that there was still time and she'd do her best to get the epidural quickly. Well, soon after that my water broke and so then I really started to panic. I knew it was going to be too late to get the epidural and that I'd have to go naturally and I was beyond scared. I never prepared to do a birth like this and I just knew I couldn't do it. And even then my midwife still said there could be time to get the epidural, as long as I didn't feel the need to push. And about five minutes later, I felt the need to push.
It pretty much went downhill from there. I went psycho-crazy and was pretty mean to all the nurses that suddenly rushed in and grabbed me from every side. Somewhere along the lines I even bit Luke's cheek. It was pretty traumatic.
I guess I was lucky in the sense though that it went very quickly and only needed to push for about 10 very long minutes and then he was born at 2:19pm, only 50 minutes after getting to the hospital. The hard part was over- and I was still alive! I could not believe I actually did it. The whole experience was unreal.
They weighed him in at 8 pounds, 9 ounces and 20.5 inches long. Definitely bigger than Jacob who was 7 pounds, 15 ounces. When they were cleaning him up, they asked me if he had a name and I realized that we still hadn't decided. Since Luke had a better look at him, I asked Luke what he thought the baby looked like and he surprised me by saying the name that had been my favorite so far- Blake. So before I knew it Luke was calling people with the news and so the name quickly became official before I had even realized that we had decided. But we each liked the name Blake enough that it was about the only name we'd compromise on, and we had already previously decided the middle name would be David after my dad.
So that's the story! Luke was really great through everything and I was just so glad that he was there and that everything worked out ok in the end, even if it was not the way that I had planned.






Luke got to feed him a bottle after his first feeding since his blood sugar was extremely low, but after the formula he was boosted back up to normal, so that was good.
Luke brought Jacob over later that night so that he could meet his new brother. Jacob had previously been really excited but was a little quiet when he came to the hospital. Jacob had been sick over the weekend before and his fever came back that day so unfortunately he was a little sick so we didn't want him around Blake too long. Jacob and Luke actually ended up being sick the rest of the week, so that was kind of a bummer, and we just had to be a little careful with them around Blake. Luckily though my mom came in that first night though so she was at least able to stay with me at the hospital until I was discharged Wednesday morning.
This picture is a little blurry, but I still thought it was sweet, and we did let Jacob try to hold him for a bit.

Blake in his outfit ready to go home!

Blake has been a great baby so far and it's taken time for it to even sink in that I now have another son to take care of! I've already accidentally called him Jacob several times. So it's all an adjustment and I'm still trying to get into the swing of things but I'm just happy that everything went well and that Blake is healthy. I really do feel blessed. I'll post more soon about how things are going at home, it's amazing how fast time is already flying and how busy I've been now that I have 2 kids! But we are thrilled to have this new baby in our lives and looking forward to the crazy adventure ahead!

Big Baby To-Be

So the day seems like it's getting closer and closer for this baby to come. I'm technically 37.5 weeks right now, so I'm at least officially full term and that makes me feel better if this baby does decide to come early.
Yesterday though I went to the doctor for my normal weekly checkup. First they took my weight and told me that by their records I had officially gained 30 pounds-yay? Actually I thought I had already gained more than that so I wasn't too surprised. But it is weird for me to think that I only gained 20 pounds with Jacob and he was still 7 lbs 15 oz when he was born! Anyway, so then later she measured my belly and throughout my whole pregnancy I've always been measuring right on for the week I was in. So last week I was measuring 36 inches, right where I should be, then yesterday they said I jumped up to 39 inches. Ohh my!
So in one week this baby grew a loooot, which looking back makes sense. This past Sunday evening I was having so many contractions I started packing a bag thinking we might just need to go to the hospital that night. Luckily the contractions stopped when I fell asleep though, but the false labor has already started. And since then, this week I've felt extremely tired again and have been having a lot of pain high in my stomach. My doctor said the baby's pushing his butt up on me though so that explains the sharp pain I've been feeling every time I move, but she said the baby should be moving lower this week.
But since the baby is suddenly measuring at 39 I asked if that meant I could be having my baby next week and she wouldn't say, but she said all it means is I'm going to have a BIG baby and he'll probably be rivialing Jacob in size! So that kind of freaked me out a little haha. Big healthy babies are great, but realizing I could be ready to possibly have this baby next week made me think how soon that was and how I'm not really prepared! But at the same time it would be so great to be done with this pregnancy early.
For some reason though I just feel so much more nervous about everything the second time around, I always feel like I'm forgetting something. And the part that worries me the most about coming early is that my mom won't be here yet and I really don't know what my back up plan is for Jacob until it will be time. So even though several people now have offered to help watch Jacob when the time comes, it's still just a little stressful knowing that I'll need to quickly decide what to do when the time comes and it really does depend on what week, day, or time of day this baby decides to come.
Anyway, I guess I just needed to get this all out and sorted out in my mind, haha. Either way, this baby could be coming very soon, and he should be big and healthy! So for now, I'm just trying to relax and keep this baby in for at least another week, but for all I know he could be right on time, or even a little late like Jacob. I guess I'll just have to wait and see! In the meantime, I'll be thinking about a name...

Weekend with Erika and Tyler

So as much as I love living out in Denver, one thing that I wish the most was that I had family- any family!- that lived close. Sometimes it's really hard living away from my family, especially now that we're having more kids. So I was so excited that my sister Erika and her husband Tyler were going to be driving through Denver for the weekend. Of course it would have been more fun if they were actually moving here but they're actually moving to Maryland for awhile so that Tyler can go to school and Erika can look for a job now that she just graduated from ISU with her masters in psychology. It was so fun having them here even if it was just for a few days and I couldn't help but think how fun it would be if I could see them all the time! But I'll take what I can get and I enjoyed the time that they were here!

Tyler and Erika drove from Pocatello, ID and got into Denver late last Thursday night. So on Friday Luke still had to work, but the rest of us decided to go downtown too and just walk around 16th Street Mall. It actually turned out to be a beautiful day! So we did a little shopping and walked over to Luke's office. He was too busy to come down but they had a hotdog stand outside so we ate those outside, and it was a lot of fun!
That night we got some pizza and then went bowling. And yea, it's not easy to go bowling when you feel like you have a bowling ball in your belly!
Erika loves her little nephew and it was so nice to have them both around to help with him, and Jacob really warmed up to Tyler and Erika too.
Even though he wasn't up for many pictures, Jacob was actually behaving really well while we all bowled- usually he's running around and just trying to play the arcade games. But he watched and clapped for all of us and liked being in charge of the balls as they rolled in haha.

I was bowling horribly so I finally decided I may as well let Jacob take over my game. So we got the ramp out for him and he loved it! On his second turn he even got a strike too!

He didn't really know what was going on but I was glad that he was able to play with us and we all had a good time :)
On Saturday I had an activity for Activity Days and so while I was out in the morning Luke worked on the yard and smoked some ribs for lunch. We filled up on those and were so full for the rest of the day none of us even wanted dinner! I even liked them, they were very good ribs!
That afternoon we stopped by our friends graduation party, ate more food, and then later we took Jacob to the park. He had a blast running around on his own for awhile, and then Tyler and Erika took him on the swings too.


We talked Erika and Tyler into staying one extra day through Sunday, and we mostly just went to church and hung around the house and played a few games but it was fun to have some extra time to visit with them before they left early Monday morning.
I'm also now 36 weeks, so finally starting my 9th month- even though it somehow feels like I'm farther along. I look like I'm ready to pop!

And even though we couldn't quite capture a picture, Jacob loves to rub my belly and talk about his baby brother and give him kisses.
This picture would be so much cuter if Jacob wasn't being grumpy about having to take a picture!

Jacob really misses Erika and Tyler and keeps talking about them and the fun weekend that we had. We're glad that they have now made it to Maryland safely and that they were able to dodge all the huge storms and tornadoes along the midwest, they got lucky they didn't have any car trouble this trip, unlike at Christmas.
Anyway, now we're looking forward to when my mom comes out in 3 1/2 weeks- I love having family around to visit and help out! I wish I could see more of my family sooner but I'm so happy to have my mom come out and help with this new baby that should be coming very soon!

Utah Weekend

This past weekend we decided to go to Utah to visit Luke's family since we hadn't seen them in awhile and wanted Jacob to spend some time with his cousins. I was a little worried about the drive, not so much about keeping Jacob entertained for 8 hours, but for me too since I was 8.5 months pregnant. But luckily everything went very smoothly and we had a fun weekend.

Luke got off work a little earlier on Thursday and we took off around 3:30 and made it into Rifle by 7. Jacob did great on the drive and kept himself occupied with toys.

It was nice to split up the drive there in two days, it gave us some time to relax. After we got dinner, we went to our hotel and took Jacob swimming- he loved it! I'm pretty sure it was the highlight of his weekend and is still asking us when he can go swimming again.
The next morning Luke worked out at the gym, took Jacob swimming one last time, and then we had breakfast at the hotel. The hotel felt pretty empty too since we were the only ones at the pool and at breakfast, but that was actually kind of nice. While I finished packing our bags Luke took Jacob to the playground outside and then we were back on the road by 10.

We got to Luke's sister's house Friday afternoon and stayed until Sunday morning. Luke's parents flew in Friday night and we were able to visit with Luke's other sister who lives out there as well, so it was nice to see everyone even though it was a quick weekend. We mostly just hung around Luke's sister's house so I didn't take many pictures, but I got a couple of Jacob with his cousins.
Owen, Andrew, Christian, and Jacob
Jacob loved playing with their toys and cars, and watching Cars- even on vacation he couldn't miss a day of watching his favorite movie!
Jacob did really great on the drive back too - sleeping, watching his movie, and playing quietly- until the last 30 minutes, but that's practically to be expected. Actually, Jacob always does much better than I expect at things like this- sleeping away from home was another one of those things that I worried about since Jacob is in a bed now, but again he impressed me and did great. It's weird thinking that when we make the trip out again in a few months we'll have another baby with us- hopefully everything will go as smoothly then too!

Mother's Day

The whole weekend was just beautiful! It was in the 80's each day, so on Friday I took Jacob to the zoo. I figured it would be the last time we'd go together before the baby was born.

Jacob did a really good job and we saw all his favorite spots and saw some new things too- this was the first time we wandered over to the little aquarium and Jacob loved seeing all the cool fish!

By the end though we were both worn out!
Also, just on a sidenote- Jacob's latest obsession is the movie Cars. I found him some Cars pajamas the other day and as soon as he put them on he insisted that he needed to watch the movie. So I set up his little DVD player, and look how excited he gets! It's probably bad though that he now literally watches this movie every day! Luke's looking forward to taking Jacob to his first movie in the theater in June- Cars 2!

Anyway, on Saturday Luke and I got a babysitter and went on a real date- movie and dinner! And Luke and I basically never go to the movies so it was a fun for us! It felt good to get a nice date in before the baby comes though. We went downtown and saw Water for Elephants and then went to Maggiano's for dinner, and again it was just a beautiful evening to be walking around outside.
Luke got me some pretty Mother's Day roses and on Sunday he made a pancake breakfast, dinner, and cleaned up too- thank you!
And here's Jacob waking up from his nap on Mother's Day- of course he woke up as soon as I was trying to take a picture of him sleeping, haha. One week after he started sleeping in his bed at night, he transitioned to taking naps in his bed too. He's done a great job and stays in bed the whole time, but he's back to only taking 1 1/2 hour naps, which is still good, but overall he's getting less sleep since he typically wakes up at 7:15am now. I'm getting used to that small change though and Jacob is completely transitioned and doing great- yay Jacob!
And here's my sweet boy on Mother's Day. And he made me a cute Mother's Day necklace in nursery too :)

Me and Jacob on Mother's Day And what says Mother's Day more than a big pregnany lady? Me at 34 weeks!

I'm getting more and more anxious for this baby to come, mostly just because I'm done being pregnant haha. At the same time though my biggest worry though is that this baby will come early, so I guess I still have mixed feelings. And I don't feel very mentally prepared yet to have another baby in the house, and we are still no closer to deciding on a name either. But I am very excited to meet this little boy and be the mommy of two! I feel very very lucky to be a stay at home mom and I recognize that I'm very blessed. So this Mother's Day was nice to feel even extra spoiled and appreciated, and I wouldn't trade being a mom for anything!