in the land of nod

from people magazine to parenting magazine. from sleeping in to early rising. from designer purse to diaper bag. from spare free time to absolutely no time.

in the last 5 weeks, life has drastically changed but in the most wonderful way! i have been meaning to update with words rather than pictures for quite sometime. however this is what my life has come to as of lately...a bunch of failed intentions. i wake up every morning with a run down of what i need to accomplish for the day, but for those who have kids, you know that your day never goes as planned! I mean did you really plan to be sprayed all down your shirt during a diaper changing session while running errands, or to leave the house only to realize you left your wallet on the counter, or as soon as you think you've done all the laundry you could possibly do for one day, you end up with more? aside from readjusting to a completely new lifestyle, waking up to brayden's precious smiling little face and coos every morning make the millions of times i have been peed on all worth it!

from day one, i don't think i could have ask for a more wonderful baby! he's so sweet, he even decided to announce he was coming while i was at the doctor's office when my water broke. it's funny how things work. as many of you know, i went almost 2 weeks thinking "today is the day." after many days of nothing, i began praying for the big sign....that my water would break so i would just know! i kept telling jared, 'you just watch, as soon as my mom and sister get into town, i will go into labor." sure enough, my mom arrived wednesday night and that night i began feeling really crampy'. i suppose it was a mother's intuition that set in because thursday before leaving for our weekly check-up, i packed the car with everything from the car seat to the video camera.

after being called back at 2:15pm, just as i was about to step on the dreadful scale, i paused.

me- "ummm, excuse me, i think my water just broke"
nurse & jared - "are you sure?"
me - "well, i just went to the restroom so i'm pretty sure i didn't just pee my pants"
nurse - "umm ok well lets go back to the room"

walking back to the room

me- "yep, pretty sure my water just broke otherwise i just peed my pants 4 times."

after that, we were on our way to meeting brayden in just a mater of hours. my contractions didn't really begin until 6pm. when they decided to finally arrive, they arrived with a mad vengeance! after an hour of the most excruciating pain i have ever felt in my life and ripping out my IV (trying to cope with the pain, i guess i was flailing my arms around, who knows), i demanded the epidural. i wasn't that woman who wanted to be the hero and go "a la natural." i mean really, it's not like any one was going to be giving me an award of accomplishment because i suffered through pain that can not even be described. all i have to say is that epidural was the most wonderful thing i have ever decided to do! once the drugs were in, i was one happy camper. I took a nap and even watched grey's anatomy. At 11:45pm they came in to check if i was dilated and sure enough it was time! with the action the nurses began taking, it was like a full on production was taking place. nurses came in from all directions! Dr. Graham arrived at 12:20. with my entourage of 8 nurses and Dr. Graham, after 20 minutes of pushing and laughing in between (the most difficult part was having to hold my breath!) i was holding my little boy. it truly was the most amazing moment. As they placed him in my arms, tears began streaming down mine and jared's face. brayden ended up being bigger than we expected, a whopping 8 pounds, 8 ounces and 20 3/4 inches.

Coming home was a breath of fresh air but taking a step into the unknown as my entourage of nurses was not available with the push of a button. We had a few sleepless nights, and diaper changes where a bit traumatic.

we survived.

moving 5 weeks ahead, yesterday was brayden's 1 month check up and he is now 10 lbs. 6 oz. and 22 in. last night he slept 8 hrs. straight. i'm guessing that is why i actually have the energy to sit down and update. brayden is already lifting his head and holding it up, making eye contact, sucking his thumb/fist, and learning to smile. he loves baby einstien and music! it's exciting to see his little personality starting to come alive!

and so i digress......with him still napping, if i wish to get things accomplished, i better get to work!