Joshua Keith Davenport

Well, I'm only 12 days late! As you can imagine, time has been very precious and so has sleep, so I haven't had much time for stuff like this. But I figured before I got too many complaints I should probably announce the birth of my son!

Joshua Keith Davenport was born on Tuesday, February 10th, at 10:34am! He weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs. 7 oz. and was 20.5 inches long (a lb. heavier and an inch longer than Sam was)! He was (and is) a big boy! He's another blondie like Sam, but doesn't have as much hair as Sam did.

My contractions started at about 4am and I could tell immediately that they were actual labor contractions and not just the braxton-hicks I had been getting. So I got up and started getting my stuff together, woke Dave up, we took Sam to the Bolinger's, and we ended up leaving Bagdad at about 6am. By then the contractions were about 8 minutes apart.

And just as luck would have it, we ended up having to drive to Prescott that morning on unusually snowy and icy roads. Because it's AZ and people don't know how to drive in the snow, we were behind slow people the whole way. Anyway, we made it to town at 7:30 and I decided I wanted to go and walk around Walmart before we went to the hospital because I'd rather be in pain there than in a hospital bed, and my contractions were a little more inconsistent at this point. So we went and did some shopping (we got Sam a potty! I'll talk about that later...). Every once in a while we'd have to stop while I leaned against Dave to get through a contraction and the Walmart workers were worried I was going to have the baby there. Come on people...the Hospital was only a minute from Walmart.

So when we were done we sat down and started eating a cinnamon roll and that's when the contractions immediately started to be almost on top of each other and a lot more intense, so we finally left for the hospital. When we got there I was thinking they'd check me and I'd only be at like a 4, like how it was with Sam, and that I'd have to wait for forever, which I was dreading since I was determined to do this one all naturally, but luckily I was surprisingly at an 8 already and things were moving along very quickly.

Long story short, we got to the hospital at about 9am and Joshua was born at 10:34am! It was quick and wonderful! Once it got further along the pain was so intense but I somehow was able to keep control and remain calm throughout it, and right when I thought I couldn't take it anymore the dr. told me I needed to start pushing...but I didn't even feel the urge to! I had always heard you will know because you will not be able to help but push (I didn't feel any of that with Sam because I had an epidural), but I didn't...so I just trusted the dr. that it was time. After a little while of pushing and I felt I absolutely couldn't do it anymore, Dr. Feingold (awesome, by the way) told me I was really going to have to push him out because if I didn't get him out now, they'd have to use the vacuum. That was all the motivation I needed.

Anyway, it was definitely the most intense pain in the world, but it was so nice to be completely aware of all my limbs and body parts and be able to actually feel what was happening! It was amazing. And the nicest thing about it was that after I had him I was able to get up and walk to my recovery room! To anyone who's thinking about doing natural childbirth, I highly recommend it! It's better in so many ways...especially if you find a breathing/relaxation technique that works for you!

Anyway, Joshua came through the birth canal so fast that his face was very swollen and bruised, but that went down quickly and by the time we left the hospital, he looked normal...besides his swollen eyes. He developed an eye infection in the hospital and after some testing, long story short, he is fine and we are still giving him eye drops today.

He is very healthy and an excellent eater! We went in for his checkup when he was 6 days old and he was already at his birth weight again, which is amazing! He is a big boy and it wares me out with how much he likes to eat, especially because it's almost impossible to keep him awake during the nursing sessions.

He is such a sweet boy with a sweet spirit and when he just gazes into my eyes I can't help but just want to stare at him forever! He is so precious and such a good baby! I think he looks mostly like me (he has Sam's mouth though!), especially because he got cursed with my ears.

Sam loves his little brother and I think, thanks to Grandma being here and taking the reigns when Joshua was born, Sam's jealousy stage only lasted a couple days. It's definitely challenging trying to take care of both kids and trying to give them both the attention they need...it makes it almost impossible for me to even go to the bathroom! But I love my boys so much and I love being a mom...even when I am going on 2 weeks of only getting 3-5 hours of sleep a day!

To see more pictures of him and this past 12 days, go to this Photobucket album.

And there's more I want to write about but I will do that in another post! And HUGE thanks to everyone who has helped us out! Thanks to Nick and Destiny for taking Sam that day and to Morgan and Christa who gave me and Josh a ride home from the hospital (Dave unfortunately couldn't make it back to the hospital...the joys of living in Bagdad...), to all the families and people in the ward who have brought us meals, and mostly to my wonderful mother-in-law for EVERYTHING she did for us that week! We were sad to see you go a couple days ago! I honestly don't think we could have made it without you! You're amazing! Love you all!

And I have to personally thank my husband (even though he wont read this). He is truely the most amazing and supportive man I know and I can't even believe how blessed and lucky I am that I found him! I don't know what I'd do without him! He helps so much and is so selfless and understanding. Every time I hear horror stories about unsupportive husbands during these types of times, it makes me more and more greatful. Thanks honey...I love you!