I know, I know...I am LONG overdue for a family update! If it makes you feel any better Garrett is two weeks old and I still haven't written ONE thing in his baby book! No worries, my Mom said that is bound to happen so I'm going to make a special effort to take pictures of him because a picture is worth a thousand words...right =)

We are all starting to settle into whatever "routine" and I use that word loosely we are going to be in for the time being. Garrett is eating well and gaining weight (he is back to his honking birth weight at 2 weeks old) and Madison is off from Christmas break and back to school (good for me, not so good for Aunt Val)! Garrett eats every 2-3 hours on a good day and more often if he decided to spit up all of his meal =)

For those of you who have NOT heard about my labor and delivery experience it is best told face to face but I will try to do it some justice here on our blog:

On 12/22/08 I went to see my Midwife for my 40 week appointment (there has been some disagreement on when exactly my due date was but I stand by the 22nd - medical professionals swear it was the 23rd). Annie did an internal check and said I was dilated a good 4cm and I had a bulging bag of water...this didn't mean anything to me since I was STILL pregnant!! My brother Justin was home on leave and was taking everyone out for dinner that night - no way I was missing out on a meal HE was paying for so Matt, Madison and I made our way to North Peak that night and enjoyed dinner with a whole mess of people! I went to bed that night, just like any other convinced I would be pregnant forever!

I woke at 3am for what I thought was a regular bathroom break but half way to the bathroom realized I needed to turn around and make a phone call to the hospital. After having the on-call Doctor paged I woke Matt up (he was sleeping in the guest bedroom - something about his pregnant wife snoring??) told him he needed to call his Dad and get ready to go. I hopped in the shower thinking the water would help relax me a little - all good things must come to an end and the shower was great until I had to get out and try to get dressed! Not an easy thing to do with contractions every 5-10 minutes! So I finally managed to get dressed, Grandpa Lee arrived to stay with Madison and we were off to the hospital! Matt raced through Traverse City and I had to tell him more than once to slow down because I was in no mood to talk with the police =) I made it to the ER and then into a triage room in maternity - they have to evaluate you and make sure you are in labor! Turns out I had sleep my way to 8cm dilated and was quickly admitted and given a room - #1116 was going to be our home for the nest 24 hours!

I'm guessing it was somewhere around 4:30 by the time we got settled in our room. Matt and I were at the hospital and while I don't remember who arrived first, Maggie or Aunt Val, it was my Mom who arrived last! Turns out everyone thought they had LOTS of time! Another form of entertainment in the room was my contraction monitor....my spectators liked to watch it and tell me when another one was coming...Matt even spit out "Wow...that one was right off the chart" after I had a particularly grueling contraction! At some point I begged for an IV pain medication and the nurse told me that I could have it but it had the potential to cause breathing problems in my baby. Well in that case sign me up for two lady!! It looked as though this would be another all natural delivery for me!

Contractions were getting stronger and closer together...I thought I was going to die! The nurse told me that I could bear down and push with the next contraction if I wanted to and Matt asks her what she means.....he actually asked the nurse if they were going to put a stick in my mouth while I pushed (like I was some lady giving birth out in the bush)! The nurse chuckled and Mom, Aunt Val and Maggie all sort of gasped...could believe that had just come out of his mouth. The great thing is that wasn't the last creative thing he said while I was giving birth =) The nurses were talking amongst themselves about getting Dr. Bump (yes, the same Dr. Bump that almost slept through Madison's birth) and Matt spit out "Well, I'm no doctor but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night". I don't remember exactly but some where in there I requested no more talking in the room!

The ring of fire reared its ugly head and with about ten minutes of serious pushing (Matt said he started to worry when I pushed so hard my face turned purple) and Garrett William arrived at 5:59am at a whooping 9 lbs 10 oz!! This kid was HUGE - that is all I thought about when they put him on my stomach!

After they took Garrett off my belly Matt helped the nurse give him a bath and then he was passed around to Mom, Aunt Val and Maggie. I just hung out - literally - I sat there in the birthing position while everyone walked around the room and Dr. Bump stitched me up. You didn't really think I pushed that big kid out without a stitch or two...did you??

The nurses helped get me all cleaned up and one of them said that the kitchen had just opened and she would get a room service menu - Matt said "Great because I am kinda of hungry!" I guess he forgot about ME and that giving birth to his son might have make ME a little hungry =)

I know I've shared all the funny things that Matt said and did in room #1116 but he was an amazing husband in there and he didn't complain about how hard I grabbed his hand (at least not that I was aware of)! I'm sure there is more to the labor and delivery story but this is what I remember...I'm sure that my Mom, Aunt Val and Maggie all have their own versions and would be happy to share with you at anytime!