and then we were four

My pregnancy with Jonah was really quite easy; I had pretty heinous heartburn, but no nausea, no cankles, and more energy than I thought I'd have while simultaneously growing a human and chasing a preschooler around. I'm so grateful it went so smoothly.

This was my last bump pic.

We found out Jonah was a boy at about 10 weeks with Sneak Peek. I was honestly a little shocked it wasn't a girl, because this pregnancy was so different from my pregnancies with Tommy and Benji (who I miscarried in March 2019). We had a girl name picked out (Sunny Kate) and were a little stumped on what to name a boy.

We were surprised he wasn't a girl, but thrilled; we had fallen in love with the idea of two boys when I was pregnant with Benji. We were stuck between Jude and Jonah, so we asked Tommy which he liked better; he wouldn't even say "Jude," just kept saying "Jonah" on repeat, in the cutest little voice, and we kind of forgot about Jude (which was initially the frontrunner).

He was so little, pre-Jonah!

 

Anyway, Jonah's due date was May 25, but when Dr. Peteresen offered to strip my membranes a couple weeks early, I let him.

I had my appointment at exactly 38 weeks and had no idea how quickly it would work, or if it would work at all. I went home from my appointment feeling a bit crampy, wondering "Is this labor?" (you really do forget!), but I it didn't get truly uncomfortable at all that evening.

The next morning, I woke up just after 5:30 (after a terrible night's sleep) with contractions, so I laid down on the couch and started timing them; they were about 4-5 minutes apart and pretty uncomfortable, so I told Andy, "I think we're having a baby today" and got all sorts of emotional thinking about how Tommy's life was about to change dramatically and he didn't even understand what was coming, blah blah blah...

I called my folks, and Andy went to work quickly just to get some pressing things done. As soon as my folks got to Logan, I texted Andy (who had been at work for less than 30 minutes), because the contractions were more intense and closer together (3-ish minutes apart). 

When Andy got home, he and my dad gave me a blessing, and then we made our way to the hospital at about 9:00. There were a couple of ladies doing temperature checks (because Covid), and one of them saw me stop to breathe through a contraction in the parking lot, so she met us at the entrance with a wheelchair, and boy was I grateful to be wheeled into L&D! We got checked in very quickly, thanks to pre-registration. I was already dilated to a six, and the contractions were really uncomfortable, so I told my nurse I wanted an epidural as soon as possible. I got a Covid test ("the swab that touched my brain," as I like to call it) during a particularly painful contraction, so I didn't really notice how uncomfortable it may have otherwise been. 

At around 10:15, I got my epidural, also during a particularly uncomfortable contraction. (My contractions were so close together that there was no avoiding it.) 

My nurse came to check on me around 11:00, said I was at a 10, and that my water had just broken; she called in the cavalry (the on-call doctor, since it was Dr. Petersen's day off, plus some NICU nurses). 

Everything about the delivery was so surreal, and so different from Tommy's delivery. One of the nurses asked Andy about the hat he was wearing, and Dr. Erica Smith (the on-call doctor) replied, "It's a fly fishing company." Then the NICU nurse asked what Andy's favorite fishing spots are, Dr. Smith talked about fishing in Alaska, and the whole thing was so pleasant. 

I pushed through three contractions, and Jonah was here. Amidst talk of fly fishing. I didn't even have time to cry because it all happened so fast.

He was born at 11:13am, and I felt like I'd been waiting my whole life to meet him

his strawberry hair knocked me dead

7 lb 12 oz and 19 inches of perfection

My sweeeeeet boy!

So. I was in labor for less than 6 hours, and in L&D for just over 2. The whole thing was pleasant, and so was my brand new son. 

Having a baby during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic was interesting and scary; we weren't entirely sure Andy would be allowed to be with me, and we definitely couldn't have any visitors. But we were also left alone as much as possible, which meant we could focus on each other without interruption.

I was initially crushed that Tommy and Jonah couldn't meet in the hospital, it was a moment I'd been anticipating and looking forward to. But when they finally got to meet, in our own home, it was more beautiful than anything I could've dreamt up.

My folks took Tommy home with them for a couple of nights and brought him back on the morning of May 14. I was a weepy mess watching Tommy meet his little brother for the first time, and there was such a profound feeling of peace, having us all together. We were complete!

Their meeting was so tender and sweet!

Gramma Orgill and her littlest grand babies

MY BOYS

Tommy was sweet to make sure Jonah always had stuffies to love on

We ARE complete. Jonah is the sweetest little caboose, and he makes our life so much brighter. We all know 2020 was a bit of a crap-storm, but Jonah made our year one of peace and joy.