The story of Josiah...

Today is the day that Josiah was due -- so we thought it would be fun to share a little more about the night he arrived (which was one week ago).

Background: Roman was born eight days past his due date, and we were induced at that point... so the idea of a baby coming on his own was something foreign to us, but we were doing our best to be prepared!

We had three people "on-call" that could come to our house at any time to stay with Roman, in the case that we would need to rush off to the hospital. (good thing, right?!) So here is a re-cap of last Tuesday:

4:30pm - I left work feeling fine, just a little bit of stomach stuff (wasn't recognizing this as Josiah yet). I told Darlene that I had a short list of questions for my dr. appt that next morning - things I definitely wanted to talk through before this baby arrived. (ha!)

5:15pm - picked roman up from Leslie's house. Still feeling random weird stomach stuff but nothing consistent or painful. Even thought about going to HyVee but decided to just head home. Jake was going to be in Ames that night helping Jess and Will move to their new place, so it would just be me and Roman - we could find some leftovers for supper.

6:30pm - Had leftovers with Roman. Was starting to feel more consistent stomach stuff but nothing worth timing yet. Jake was randomly texting to see how I was doing - "fine" and "good" were my answers. Stomach cramping was moving along but I hadn't timed anything yet at this point. Sat down with Roman to watch a Veggie Tales movie - parenting at it's best, I know. :}

8:05pm - Got Roman to bed. Only read one book with him; he didn't seem to mind. I was starting to be distracted by these stomach cramps. Because of my belly, I haven't been able to lay Roman down in his bed as nicely as I'd like -- and with this added "piece of pregnancy fun", I felt like I kind of threw him over the edge of the crib. He didn't seem to notice/mind... thanks, buddy. :}

8:15pm - Relaxed in a hot bath. Called Trav. Told him I thought we might have a baby in the next few days.

8:45pm - Timed some of these stomach cramps (aka contractions) - they were about 5 mins apart and 30-45 seconds long. Not long/close enough according to the 5-1-1 rule so I thought I'd just keep monitoring. Called Jake to see when he might be coming home. He said he'd bail on the last load and would head home after they got his car unloaded.

9:15pm - I called Dr. Tran and gave her my stats - contractions were about 4 mins apart and 45-55 seconds long. She said to give it another 30 minutes and then call her if they kept up. I called Jake to see when he would be arriving - they had just unloaded the car, so it would be about 35-40 minutes. I told him that we would leave as soon as he got home... I then called Joni to see if she could come over to the house to stay with Roman. She showed up within 5 minutes wearing her PJs, carrying her pillow, ready for the night. She immediately started coaching me on breathing - which I had completely forgotten about. Joni offered to download a "labor app" on her iPhone, but I think once she realized how intense/close the contractions were getting, she opted to skip the app. The next 40 minutes are a blur - me talking to Joni in between breathing/pacing in the kitchen, trying to think of random last-minute things that we hadn't put in our hospital bag yet, calling Dr. Tran back, trying not to watch the clock...

9:55pm - In between contractions, sat down to go to the bathroom and my water broke. Knew things were moving quicker than I realized - started to feel like I needed to push but knew I shouldn't. Joni agreed with me - no pushing! I was definitely feeling the contractions at this point. Joni and I walked downstairs to the kitchen and she suggested that we be waiting outside for Jake -- hearing her say that confirmed my thinking that this baby might be coming very soon!

10:00pm - Jake walked in the door. When Joni talked to Jake on the phone a little earlier, he mentioned wanting 2 minutes when he got home -- I knew this would be for a super-fast shower (because boys are able to take a shower/get ready in 2 minutes.) Jake saw me and Joni and didn't even ASK about the 2 minutes he was wanting - Joni showed him the bags and we headed toward the garage. Joni says that Jake looked like a tornado as he moved through the house/kitchen grabbing the bags and then car keys. I don't remember any of that - I was focused on getting to the car. Contractions were very close and I was still wanting to but didn't... push.

10:03pm - On the road to Methodist Hospital, normally a 22-minute drive according to mapquest. As we drove down Delaware Ave (still in Ankeny), we hit green lights until a major intersection. Waiting for that light to turn green felt like an eternity - probably 10 seconds in reality. Jake asked what I needed - I said 'just pray'. so he did, the entire way there. Once we were on the interstate, Jake kept his foot on the gas. Between ankeny and the MLK exit, we passed five cops who had people pulled over on the side of the road - a blessing for us, because we would have definitely been pulled over had the cops still been out on the road.

10:19pm - Pulled into Methodist hospital, Powell Center, blue awning. Jake ran in to get a wheelchair for me. The doors were locked because it was after 10; there were three people standing (inside) in the lobby, so Jake made some motion towards the car as I opened the door and sort of waved at the people... they go the idea and quickly opened the door for him. He wheeled me into the elevator and we went up to 6th floor.

10:23pm - Wheeled up to the nurses desk and told them who I was - they were expecting me. I confirmed my birthdate and SSN. The nurses started to discuss which room they thought I should be in. I piped in that I thought that the baby might be coming... right now. Nurse Laurel then lead us to Room 608. She quickly helped me into a gown and had me sit on the bed to see how things were progressing.

10:27pm - I asked for an epidural. She said 'no, sorry, no epidural for you. But you can push.' I questioned what she said - and she said 'yes, go ahead and push.' So i grabbed jake's hand and pushed once - then once more - and Josiah made his grand appearance at 10:28pm! At that point, I realized that there were five other nurses/people rushing in and out of the room - I think that it surprised everyone and was probably a little bit exciting!

10:30pm - Dr. Tran came into the room and found out that she missed it. She and the nurses agreed that next time, we should call an ambulance, if possible.

Jake and I finally tried to sleep around 1:30am (Wednesday morning). I'm pretty sure that I was still talking/chattering when Jake dozed off. I don't think I came down from the adrenaline rush until sometime on Wednesday afternoon.

So we're now at home, adjusting to life with two boys. Jake has been off work and heads back on Wednesday, so it's been a fun past week, even though we've been low on sleep and trying to figure things out. We haven't really taken many pictures but will do that and post more soon! Thanks for all of the prayers and well wishes - look forward to posting fun new things with our boys!