Wow, I can't believe that I actually have five minutes and a little energy to sit down and type out this post, but I wanted to let everyone know that I delivered our little bouncing baby boy last week on October 15th! Oh my gosh... He is divine. He is an angel. We are the luckiest, luckiest family in the whole world! We named him Benjamin Joel Tjarks. He was born by Cesarean at 12:21 pm, weighed exactly 7 lbs, and was 19.5 inches long. Here's a quick little story about how he came to be!
On the morning of Thursday, October 14th, I woke up with (now this part is embarrassing) wet undies. I figured the baby had been on my bladder and I has just leaked a little urine through the night. However, I continued to feel consistently damp throughout the rest of the day until Joel finally made me call the hospital at 8:30 that night to get a second opinion. Well, they advised me to come in and get tested to make sure the dampness wasn't amniotic fluid. We were totally shocked to find out that it was indeed my water leaking and I was to stay in the hospital until the baby came! Auughhh! Scary!
They took my to my room and started me on Pitocin to kick start some contractions. The only problem was that since my water had broken so much earlier in the day, I was on a time line to deliver the baby. The hospital policy is to deliver within 24 hours of the water breaking to avoid any infections. Sad to say, I wasn't progressing fast enough so we had schedule a C-section for Friday at noon. My doctor was out of town for a conference but we were lucky enough to have a wonderful "substitute" standing by - Dr. Njagi. Baby Ben came out to greet us at exactly 12:21 and spent some quality time with Dad while I got stitched back up. Standing by were two very excited Grandmas and two very excited Aunties! Auntie Amy is taking all the credit for his perfectly timed arrival! She took a risk and bought a plane ticket on the slim chance that she'd be here for his arrival.... and amazingly enough my water broke the very day she flew in. It was so meant to be!
Well, life has been crazy to say the least. I'm still recovering from my surgery and Joel has been absolutely swamped with tests in school on top of learning how to be parents. We're sleep deprived and barely remember to eat, but I can't imagine being any happier. Ben fits into our life just perfectly. He is so sweet and we love him to pieces! It's such a miracle that we brought him into this world. We're a very happy family!
His first breaths
With Mommy during the surgery
Welcome to the world Little Ben!
With Grandma and Grandpa Tjarks (Nana and Papa)
With Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Dave
With Daddy!
With Crazy Aunt Becky!
With Auntie Amy
Lindsay! He is perfectly adorable!!! Can i call you this week? I really want to talk but i know how hard it is to get a minute where you can use a hand to talk on the phone. I'll try and if you dont answer i totally understand! Just want you to know im thinking about you and little ben!
ReplyDeleteAww. Yay! I'm equally surprised you found time to write up a little post. Hope the family is doing well. Love you!
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize you had a C-section! Oh man, what an experience. He is SOOOOO cute! Congrats! Take it easy and get as much sleep as possible!!
ReplyDeleteYAY!!! Congratulations! He is soooo stinkin cute! I'm so sorry you had to have a c-section! I know how you are feeling! I am so excited for you guys though! You are probably the cutest mommy ever!!!
ReplyDeleteAmy - Yes, call me! I won't promise I'll answer right away since you know things are busy, but I'm dying to talk to you!
ReplyDeleteBecky - come visit anytime, Crazy Aunt Becky!
Amanda - Thanks! I'm trying to sleep! I can't believe how intense the utter exhaustion is! How's little Clara? I've been following your blog; it seems like things are going great for you guys!
Tessie - Thank you! Yes, the C-section was sad, but oh well! It's just too bad I've had so many complications since. Did you have one too with Dakota? I didn't know! How is your family?! Tell Zach I said hi! By the way - you are so intense with all the running you've been doing! You're my idol!