Welcome to Our World Matthew Nathan!!

Matthew Nathan Wagner was born at 7:01AM Friday, October 12th. He was 8lbs, 3 oz and 19.5 inches long.

I woke up at 2 AM with contractions, and waited 2 hours while counting minutes between them before I called the doctor. At about 4:15 or so we called the doctor but he didn't call back. We waited 15 minutes and called again. A different doctor called back and decided it was time for us to come to the hospital. We called a friend to come and stay with Kate and she arrived about 5AM. We sped to the hospital because by that time my contractions were coming much harder, although they were still only 8-10 minutes apart (5 minutes is the general rule to go to the hospital). We made it to the hospital at 5:45 and were put into a delivery room right away. When I heard that I was going right to the delivery room, I became pretty nervous, as if the nurses knew something I didn't. I was 5-6 cm dilated around 6AM. I asked when I could get my epidural and they said I needed to wait for my doctor. The doctor hadn't arrived yet. Apparently his sleep was more important.:) The next time they checked me I was 7 cm. I kept waiting for the doctor to come running through the door and order me my epidural.

All this time my contractions were getting stronger. I felt like I had to push. When the doctor finally came in, he "sauntered" over to my bed. It wasn't my doctor. My doctor had actually called someone else to fill in for him! Anyway, he checked me and I must have been 10 cm because he told me that I could push. I never got my epidural.:( So, when the next set of contractions came, I started pushing....and screaming. And screaming. And screaming. And just a little more pushing. The doctor actually told me 5-10 minutes into pushing that I was "doing a lot of screaming but not much pushing." Not something that a woman wants to hear when delivering her child.

I was frustrated because there were 2 nurses and the doctor in there, all telling me at the same time what to do, and none of it was the same advice. I was feeling tossed around mentally and physically. But, after about 20 minutes of pushing, our little boy came out. The relief that immediately shot through my body was incredible.

And then I felt overwhelming joy when I saw my little boy lying on the delivery table. My emotions were so strong for him, I can't even explain them:).

The next two days in the hospital went pretty well, although we hardly got any sleep. We noticed right away that Matthew was different from Kate. Kate cried more and slept less in the hospital. Matthew slept so much - I had to wake him up to feed him. He also didn't eat much (compared to Kate who ate all the time). It was a nice change.

We had relatives come to visit us in the hospital. My brother John and his wife Jess (who was 2 weeks behind me in her pregnancy) were coming to visit us Sunday morning before we were discharged, but we got a phone call from them saying that they needed to go to their hospital because Jess thought her water broke. How ironic. A few hours later it was confirmed that yes her water did break and no, they wouldn't be coming to see Matthew:(. And then we waited to hear the news about the arrival of a cousin. Jess was going to be induced so we were anxious to hear about her status. It actually wasn't until the next day, Monday (7:30 AM) that little Johnathan Allan was born. He had to be taken by C-section because he was turned sideways in the birth canal. So, Matthew has a cousin who is almost exactly 3 days younger than him...and they were both 8lbs, 3 oz when they were born! We hope that they will be really good friends as they grow up.

As for now - Matthew is adjusting pretty well. We have realized that he has a really fussy time every evening around 7-ish. And some middle-of-the-night feedings he can be very fussy as well. But Kate is sleeping through the night and through his crying. Kate likes him for the most part. She hasn't been mean to him or told him to go away, so I suppose that is pretty good. She has said some interesting things about him. While I was changing his diaper, she sat on the other couch watching intently. I knew she was watching and wondered what she thought of Matthew and his new "parts." Then all of a sudden she yelled, "That's a pretzel!!" She was talking about his scrotum! And then a few days later, when his umbilical cord fell off, she said, "Matthew's leaf is gone!"

Well, I hope that you have enjoyed reading this long blog. Sorry it has taken me so many little installments to finish it. I am running low on sleep and time to sit at the computer, so I take any time I can get! Now I am off to sleep for a little while until Matthew needs to eat again.

Blessings on you and your loved ones!