My baby boy is two weeks old today. It seems crazy that it has already been two weeks since we headed to the hospital, and at the same time a part of me thinks, I've only known this little guy for two weeks?? He is such a sweet baby and I feel beyond blessed to be his mama.
The Story
Levi's due date, March 6, came and went uneventfully. After 3 weeks of thinking he may be born any day, this was kind of a bummer. We had been advised that he would likely make an early appearance, and there was even some talk of inducing labor as early as 37 weeks, so when he held out to his due date (and then some), I was getting a little weary of waiting. Don't get me wrong - I am so thankful that this little baby made it to full term and that he was born healthy and strong on his own timeline. But the anticipation was making Justin and me a little crazy!
I worked on Wednesday but wasn't feeling great and decided to take the next day off. I'm glad I did because I started having contractions around 4 in the morning on Thursday, but not wanting to be dramatic about it (and having had them for over a month already!), I ignored them and probably would have headed off to work anyway thinking they would taper off soon enough. Except that this time they didn't taper off. I took my dog on a walk, showered, rested, and for some reason they just kept getting stronger rather than disappearing like they normally did. Meanwhile, Justin was at work and I encouraged him to go ahead and go to that meeting he had scheduled an hour away, because I was sure I wasn't actually in labor. After all, they say that you'll know when you are in labor. And besides that, they weren't all that regular, and labor contractions are supposed to be regular. Or so I thought. Justin called after his meeting, and when I reported that yes, I was still having contractions, and strangely enough they were beginning to get more intense, he decided he'd better head home. By the time he got home I was pretty miserable and he insisted on calling my doctor just to see what she recommended. (At his request, I had done this already and wisely left a message telling her I thought I might be in labor but that I wasn't sure. Who does that??) We were advised to head over to labor and delivery just to see what was going on, and I dragged my feet to the car just knowing that if they sent me home I was going to lose it.
Thankfully, we were told that not only was I definitely in labor but that things were moving right along very quickly. At this point, I felt a little sheepish for insisting the baby was not coming, completely relieved that he was, and understandably nervous that our world was about to change forever. We got checked into the hospital around 1:30, called the family to let them know, and just a few hours later, welcomed little Levi into the world at 5:46pm. He was 7 pounds 12 oz and 20.5 inches of sweetness.Everything went incredibly smoothly and Justin was exactly who I needed with me. Holding Levi for the first time and getting to know the little face I had been waiting to see for months was surreal. I couldn't believe he was finally here and that this little baby was ours. March 7 will forever be a day to celebrate!
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| Meeting Levi for the first time |
The Name
Levi's middle name, Shafer, is after his great-great grandmother who turned 100 years old exactly one week after he was born. She is an incredibly kind woman who Justin and I admire and enjoy. We hope to make it up to Pennsylvania to introduce her to her namesake soon!
The Last Two Weeks
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| First day home |
