Our newest blessing

I can’t believe that it has been almost three weeks since we welcomed Philip into our family. There is so much I want to post but finding time to get on the computer with a newborn and 2 year old has been challenging.

Right now, Philip is asleep upstairs and Jackson is completely mesmerized by the Imagination Movers so I thought I would take some time to recap the story of Philip’s arrival and post some pictures of our newest blessing!

Here's the fun and exciting timeline of Philip’s birth.

Sunday, February 7 (2 days past my due date)

9:00 am: I woke up feeling great and we all headed to church.

9:30 am - 12:00 pm: I guess a 40+ week pregnant lady shouldn’t be at church because we were confronted with “Are you ever going to have that baby?” from everyone at the building.

12:30 pm: Head to Publix to pick up a paper and a few items for lunch.

2:30 pm: After lunch, we put Jackson down for his nap and since I had nothing else to do, I decided to take a nap as well.

4:00 pm: My sister Emily called to check in. The phone woke me up so I decided to get ready for the Super Bowl party we were heading to at 6:00.

4:21 pm: I felt the first contraction! YEAH!! I told Wesley and he started recording.

4:26 pm: Contraction #2
4:31 pm: Contraction #3
4:34 pm: Contraction #4
4:35 pm: Contraction #5

Humm…these contractions were coming much faster and with more pain than I remembered from when I was pregnant with Jackson.

At this point, Wesley stopped recording the contractions and told me I needed to call the doctor. I explained to him that I was told not to call until my contractions were coming for an hour. It had only been 14 minutes! But after a few more minutes filled with frequent, intense contractions, I realized we didn’t have an hour to wait. It was time to call the doctor!! The doctor’s advice: come on in!

So, 40 minutes after our first contraction, we were in the car and on our way!

5:30 pm: We dropped Jackson off at Tucker’s house – he was so excited about his first sleep over!

After leaving the Howards, we headed for GA 400. The usual drive to the hospital is about 45 minutes. Wesley made it in 30. All the way down the highway, my contractions continued to come every 1 to 2 minutes and were getting stronger. This baby was coming…soon!

6:00 pm: We finally made it to the hospital! We head to the registration desk where they start asking us the standard admissions questions. I just look at the nice lady and yelled, “I need some medicine... now!!!!”

Sensing that I was not joking, they stop asking the questions and directed me to a Labor and Delivery Room. Once in the room, a nurse checked me and I was at 7 centimeters. They started my IV so I would be ready for an epidural once my blood work came back.

Now, we just had to wait and endure the increasing pain that was coming from the contractions. The midwife who would be delivering Philip said that once I was comfortable from the epidural she would break my water and we would have a baby. Not much longer now!!!

Well, Philip had other plans. He didn’t want to wait!

As soon as everyone left the room and Wesley and I were alone, I felt the urge to push. Wesley ran out to get some help and within minutes, everything was set up for delivery.

Needless to say, there was no time for that epidural -bless the nurse’s heart who had to break that news to me! I continued to yell my way through the delivery -contrary to what some say, screaming actually does help with the pain!- and in no time, Philip was here.

7:01 pm: - One hour and one minute after we arrived at the hospital, we had a baby! I couldn’t believe it! It all happened so fast – labor only started 2 ½ hours ago!!!

They quickly whisked Philip away to the transition nursery to check out his breathing. It is not a great thing for a baby to come out that quickly. Wesley went with him so within an hour of delivery; I was alone in the room. With nothing to do, I turned on the Super Bowl and watched the second quarter!

I couldn’t believe I was in the hospital watching the Super Bowl AFTER Philip had been born! It was surreal!

Soon, Wesley returned to the room to give me a status on Philip. He was doing much better and just had to be monitored for the next few hours. We settled into our postpartum room and waited.

1:00 am: They brought Philip in and we were able to enjoy some time with our new little guy.

What a whirlwind night! – 8 ½ hours after my first contraction and we were holding our 6 hour old baby boy. God is good and we were so blessed to have a safe yet crazy delivery of our little Philip!

All's good!!

Here I am after delivery. Though the pain was intense, as soon as Philip came out, the pain instantly went away. I hadn't felt so good in 9 months!!!

A very happy Mommy giving Philip his first meal.

A proud Dad holding Philip for the first time.

Our happy family of four

We caught him with his eyes open!

Heading home!

Philip James

is ready to head home!

He's Here!!!

Philip James Bender

Sunday, February 7, 2010

7:01 p.m.

8 lbs 4 oz

20.5 inches long

** More photos and the fun story of his arrival coming soon!

The waiting game

Three weeks ago, when I went to the doctor, I got my hopes up that Philip was going to arrive early. Obviously, since I am sitting here at my computer weeks later, he's in no hurry to get out!

That's okay. One, it gives him more time to develop inside of me and two it has given Wesley and me more time with our little family of three.

Though we are so excited to welcome our second child, we have really enjoyed spending some quality time with just Jackson. Though Jackson won't remember these days and outings, they will be special times I won't forget!

Here are some special picturesof things we have done while waiting on Philip:

Jackson has continued to go to school and is doing so well. His teacher told us today that he is doing very well with his shapes, colors, and singing. I am so proud of him!

Yesterday, we went over to Kate's house for a playgroup. The kids had a blast - as did the Mommies. Afterwards, Jackson came home and took a 3 1/2 hour nap. WOW!

Monday, we went to story time at the library. The stories were all about Forest Friends. Jackson wasn't all that impressed with the stories, but loved playing on the computers afterwards with his friend Addison.

The past two Monday mornings, we have gone over to Chick-fil-a for breakfast before Wesley has gone to work. They offer free chicken biscuits if you bring in your church bulletin. It has been so nice. It is not crowded at all and you have never seen a happier little boy than one that gets to eat chicken nuggets for breakfast!

I am not a huge fan of the restaurant playgrounds -- especially during flu season - but since it was so early and there were no other kids around, Jackson and Wesley enjoyed a little time in the play area.

Saturday night, we took advantage of two free coupons we had at Chapps and enjoyed a cheap ($8) and delicious dinner out. Jackson was given an orange balloon at the beginning of the meal and held on to it through the entire dinner. He ate his whole meal with his left hand. Sadly, right before we left, something happened and the balloon part got away. It was pitiful. He was sitting there with the string but no balloon!

Friday night, we ventured to the Mall of Georgia to use a gift certificate at Macaroni's Grill. Jackson didn't enjoy the meal, but LOVED the fact that you could color on the table. Wesley and I colored numerous trash trucks, trains, ambulances, and police cars all over the table.

And of course, no journey to the Mall of Georgia is complete without a stop at Krispy Kreme. They were making the donuts while we were there and Jackson was more interested in that than eating his Valentine's Day doughnut.