During my whole pregnancy, I was against induction. I had been induced with Little Man and enjoyed a 23 hour long labor. Notice my sarcasm, because 23 hours was not enjoyable to be in labor while in the hospital. I really wanted to go into labor on my own and labor at home in whatever comfort I could enjoy.
Little Man meeting Baby K for the first time. It was instant love.
At 38 weeks, I left my doctor's office in tears. I had not progressed any more from the previous week, in fact, Baby K had moved further up. He had made every appearance of making himself comfortable for the long haul. I on the other hand was far from comfortable. I had really hoped I could have a baby that week.
Baby K at 2 days old.
It was at that point that I really started to consider induction. Mike and I talked about it, the pros and cons (Con, possible 23 hour labor, Pro, my sister was in town and wouldn't be here again until June,) and my reasons for not wanting an induction until about 10:30 that night. I then e-mailed my doctor then and let him know that we had decided to go ahead with the induction the following Monday, if needed, when I hit my 39 week date.
Baby K at about 2 weeks old.
On Sunday, April 1st, the hospital called me and let me know that I was number 7 on the list for inductions and to expect a call to go down anytime before 6 PM. If I didn't get a call on Monday, I would get bumped to Tuesday. I really didn't expect to get a call because of how many people were in front of me and they took two at a time.
Baby K at 6 weeks.
I was looking forward to sleeping in, but my pregnant body had other plans. I woke up on Monday morning at 6 AM with my back hurting. I could not get comfortable, so I got up. We got everything ready to go and then waited for the call. We didn't expect to get one until at least after 3 PM, however, at 8:40 AM, we got a call to be there at 9:30. We then packed up the car, loaded up Little Man, took him to my parents. We then filled up on gas and headed to the hospital.
I love baby feet!
As we were getting everything ready to go at the hospital, the nurse told me that I was having contractions, could I feel them? Nope, I wasn't feeling them at all! The then hooked me up to the Pitocin and started me going. Everything was going great! I was progressing, the pain from the contractions wasn't bad at all, but my back! I just could not get comfortable! My back was bothering me more than anything else. The nurse finally let me know that my back hurting was probably the contractions I "wasn't" feeling. Ha! That made sense! My nurse felt that I would have been in on my own either later that day or the next day if I hadn't been induced.
Baby K 6 weeks old
I caved and got the epidural, just so I
could try to get a nap. It was great! Not too much and it allowed me to
kind of sleep. Because of my experience with Little Man, I didn't
expect to have a baby until late in the evening. Imagine my surprise
when I felt ready to push at a little before 5 PM! I held out for about
15-20 minutes, and then they started prepping for delivery. Wow, things
happened so fast! They got ready and I pushed 5, maybe 6 times, and
there was a baby! So much different than the first time around!
Somebody has started to smile and we love getting them!
The nurses claimed that the only reason
Baby K didn't come in at 10 lbs exactly was because he peed. It took
off that ounce. We had some issues with biliruben (big surprise since we
had to do that with Little Man also,) but everything else was great
with Baby K. He has been welcomed into our family and is loved by all of
us. I was a little worried how Little Man would react when this baby
came home with us for good, but there has been no jealousy. He is always
asking to hold "Baby Ke" as he pronounces his baby brother's name. He
gives lots of kisses and pets his baby brother's hair.
We have our Big Kahuna (since I refer to him everywhere as Baby K, my friend gave me this adorable outfit!)
Baby K continues to grow fast! We had to move him to 3-6 month clothes at 3 weeks. At 5 weeks, he was weighing in at 14 lb 7 oz. He is growing so fast! Looking at him, he does not look like a newborn, though he still acts like one. He is our little chunky monkey, but is also big in length also. At his two week appointment he was in the 85% percentile and above in all of his growth charts. He is our future football player, that is for sure!
I love this little boy!
We
are so lucky to have 2 healthy boys to love and cuddle. Transitioning
from one child to two was not as easy as everybody says it was, but we
seem to have made it! We are enjoying our family of four and feel very
lucky!
Man, working on setting this tree up is tiring business! I better take a break and drink some eggnog! I cannot describe how happy I am that Little Man loves eggnog as much as Mike and I. In fact, he has been known to find it in the fridge and haul it all over the house with a cup until he finds one of us to open it for him. If the answer is no, we get a full blown temper tantrum. {sigh} He is getting too good at those tantrums. He hasn't learned yet that it is just a waste of time and energy.
After the tree got set up, Little Man got to put the first ornaments on the tree. Grandma Proctor has given him his very own ornaments for every year of his life. He got to put those on the tree first. He didn't quite get the concept of hanging them and wanted to just lay them on the branches, but with a little help, he did awesome!
Of course, after you put an ornament on the tree, you have to stand back and admire your handiwork! Do you see that stool Little Man is standing on? It has become the bane of Mike's and I existence. That stool helps Little Man get into many things he couldn't before. He hauls that thing all over the house and uses it to his benefit! He has also discovered our kitchen stools can help him reach as high as the refrigerator. There goes that hiding place!
After the tree was decorated, Mike helped Little Man put the star on the tree, or Little Man helped Mike. He loved it and can be found pointing at the star and jabbering away to whoever about Daddy and Star. If you are over to our house and he does this, ask back, "Did you help daddy put the star on the tree?" That is what he is trying to tell you!
Can you see why this is such a magical age? He is so happy and excited about everything this year! Last year with the snow, he was fascinated, until he had to touch it, and then it was "Get me out of this!" This year, on the few times we have had snow, it is a fascination of, "Look Mom! I am making footprints in this stuff!" I love watching his discoveries!
Since I am the one normally behind the camera, I wanted to have a picture to document that I was there with Little Man too! 
On Saturday, we went to see Santa Claus. We discovered Santa at the Riverwoods in Provo last year and we loved it! He is outside, so it gets a little cold, but he is so real! Not like these "fake" ones found in the malls nowdays. We met up with our friends, the Peacocks at 5, only to discover that Santa wasn't there until 6. No worries, we entertained ourselves! 
Somebody made a joke about licking the pole and all of a sudden, that is all Little Man wanted to do. Heaven help me, I may be in trouble with this boy as he grows older! 
Little Man is such a daddy's boy! He loves his daddy and it is very rare indeed when he will choose his mommy over his daddy. The night wouldn't be complete without some silly shots with Daddy!
If there is water, I can guarantee that is where you will find Little Man. The fountains at the Riverwoods are amazing and are a mixture of water and fire. Of course, Little Man and Little Miss were completely fascinated and would catch our gaze and shout, "Water! Mommy water!"
We had a hard time keeping them away from the fountains, even though their gloves got soaked through from the water splashing up on the rims.
Of course we had to take some pictures. Little Man sat himself right down and put his arm around Little Miss. Too bad he then appeared to ignore her!
If you are going to sit on a concrete planter to take pictures on cold winter's night, bring something to sit on! Don't I have a cute little family though?
We finally went out and joined the line that formed immediately upon Santa coming. It was cold! it was fun! Little Man can often be found with his mouth open. One of my friend's daughters refers to him as Napoleon. 
I have been amazed lately at how big my boy is getting. I often wonder who snuck into my house and replaced my baby with this big boy!
When it was our turn to see Santa, Little Miss immediately started crying. While excited for it beforehand, it now scared her to see this big stranger all dressed in red. We were a little worried that Little Man would exhibit the same signs, but Mike put him down and gave him a nudge towards Santa, and this is what happened. 
He was shy, he didn't say a word, but he looked at us for pictures and was so excited about it after. If asked, "Did you see Santa?" he shouts, "Yea!"
We hoped that if Little Miss sat on Santa's lap with Little Man she would calm down, but alas, it wasn't to be. She just didn't like being that close to the man in red. She was only ok once more when she was in her mom's arms. As we were walking back to our cars she was her happy, joyful self!
I can't wait for the magic of Christmas morning this year as Little Man is starting to understand the concept of things. We have a little nativity that stays on his bedside table, or in his bed with him, or somewhere around. He knows which one is baby Jesus and Mommy and Daddy. He is a little confused by the angel, but all of them get a goodnight kiss from him. 
