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Monday, September 7, 2009

Introducing…

Benjamin Taylor Chaplin!  He was born yesterday at 1:44pm.  He weighed 8 lbs 6oz and was 21 inches long.  He is an awesome sleeper and a champion eater (wonder where he got that from…).  Here are some pictures:

And for those of who want the details:  I was up for one of my many nightly trips to empty the tank, thinking to myself “I can’t do this for another week!” when my water broke. After waiting for a minute to be sure that’s what it was and my bladder hadn’t miraculously tripled in capacity, I woke up Mike.  I wasn't having any contractions, so we had plenty of time to call our friends to come stay with Carter and Samantha, get our stuff together and get to the hospital.  I got all settled in, had a few contractions, but still nothing to write home about.  Finally after walking the halls all morning they started me on Pitocin to get things going.  Once that started, things picked up.  They placed my epidural but didn’t dose it, so I could still get up and walk around until things really got going.  Unfortunately, when things did get going, the epidural didn’t work.  Pretty much all it did was numb my right leg.   Not a lot of help there.  After 2 more doses straight into the catheter Mike realized that the pump wasn’t going at all.  The 3rd dose kicked in pretty much after Ben came out.  So, like it or not, I ended up getting a glimpse of unmedicated childbirth.  Let me tell you, I did not like it.  I was crying like a baby there at the end.  I freely admit that I am weak, and I have a whole new respect/curiosity/fear of  people who chose to do it this way on purpose.  Anyways, lucky me, I pushed for maybe 10 minutes and Ben was here!  He had his cord wrapped around his neck twice and took a while to pink up, but otherwise, he is perfectly healthy!

Carter and Samantha are super excited.  They got to meet him yesterday.  Samantha jumped up on my lap and said “now you can hold me again!”  Yeah, sister is in for a shocker.  She did promise to protect Ben though, just like Carter protects her.  Yikes.  Hopefully Samantha’s love of babies will save him. 

I am just relaxing in the hospital.  With Carter, I was doing baby announcements, thank you cards, whatever when I was in the hospital.  Me and Ben are just sleeping and eating all day.  Things I know that I will not get at home. 

I should be going home tomorrow.  3 kids, yikes!  Wish me luck, because I am going to need it!

9 comments:

Jodee Luke said...

SO CUTE LINDA!!! CONGRATS!!!

Jessica said...

Linda, you are super woman. What an amazing mom you are, I love you to death and have a whole new respect for being a mother of very mobile, active children after spending the last couple days with Carter and Sammy. Ben is so lucky to be a Chaplin! What a darling boy!

Sarah Patten said...

Congratulations Linda. We are so happy for you. I chuckle at Mike's expressionless face...it says it all I guess for him. What a cute family you have!

Sarah Patten said...

Congratulations Linda. We are so happy for you. I chuckle at Mike's expressionless face...it says it all I guess for him. What a cute family you have!

Nicki said...

Congrats! You are amazing! Sorry to hear about your epidural (or lack thereof). CUTE PICS!

Kristi said...

Yay!! He is such a doll. No, you are still super woman even though you cried. I cried during Wyatt's labor because my doctor refused to get to the hospital to administer an epidural...even though I was on Pitocin. Towards the end, I thought I was going to die...literally. I don't know why women choose to do that "naturally."

January said...

congrats!!!!!!oh yeah for new babies!! he is so cute. I cant wait for you guys to come down so we can see met him! kisses for Paul and I

Sarah said...

YAY!!! Ben is such a cutie pie and I am so glad you guys are doing well. Bringing home a new baby is a much bigger adjustment than what I had expected! But so worth it.

Kaitlin said...

he is so adorable! i can't wait to meet him in person :)