Every new beginning is some other beginning's end...

Thursday, May 26th.  Finally the long awaited day had arrived.  We were told the previous night to be at the hospital by 7am.  Neither Megan or I could sleep all that well.  We were both incredibly nervous, but evermore so excited.  Megan was ready to be done being pregnant, and we were both ready for the new addition to our family.

We left Koby with Megan's sister Emily (Thanks Emily for taking care of crazy boy #1).  The hospital was about 10 minutes away from our house, so it gave Megan and I a little time to mentally prepare for what was to come.  But still, with every turn, I could feel the anxiety in both of us rising.  We got to the hospital a little early.  They set us up in a room right away.  The nurse we had, Annette was great, and before long we had received the tour, found out where the DVDs and snacks were, and Megan was all IVed up.  Luckily this time it only took one stick,with Koby it took five.  I think Megan was more nervous about that than she was the labor and delivery part.

Anyway, not long after Megan started receiving the pitocin contractions began.  The doctor broke her water, which was a very interesting sight to see, and then the nurse asked her if she wanted to epidural.  Megan said she would wait, but the nurse said that they had a bunch of ladies just admitted and a few more coming in to be induced, so if they didn't do it soon, she might have to wait a while.  With that info, Megan decided to get it then, and I'll tell you what, I was a fan of that.  Megan was so nice to me, no yelling, no telling me to stop talking or eating.  We just sat and enjoyed each others company and even took a nap.  When Megan was in labor with Koby, I was eating chips, and apparently the crunching and the noise of the bag weren't two things that pregnant lady was not fond of.  This time I contemplated bringing marshmallows in a pillow case, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that would be a terrible snack...  The only bad thing was she had to get the epidural twice.  Apparently the first time the doctor hit a blood vessel.  He had to redo everything. Poor girl.

Right after the epidural

Ok, back to labor.  Megan and I just talked and rested for the next couple hours.  Megan was in heaven with the drugs.  She even said she felt like she was in a spa.  Later Rachel, Sean, and their new little boy Charlie came to visited us at 12pm.  They brought me lunch and stayed and visited for a couple hours.  It was fun.  The nurse came back in right as they left around 2pm to check how Megan was progressing.  She was only dilated to 4.  Megan was a bit frustrated, but at least she wasn't in pain... yet.  Since she wasn't progressing too fast, the nurse stripped Megan's membranes.  Doesn't sound fun.  The nurse said she would be back around 3:30pm to check on her again.  We just sat there and played the waiting game.

Around 3:00pm or so Megan started feeling some pain.  She hit the epidural button a few times, but that didn't seem to help.  We didn't want to call and bug the nurse (mistake), because she said she would be back at 3:30pm, so we just waited.  Things got worse and worse.  Megan kept saying, "I don't think the epidural is working."  I just said, "Ahhhhh, you want me to get someone?"  We waited till 3:55pm, at which time Megan was grabbing the bed rails in pain, till I finally went out to grab the nurse.  She came in and checked Megan and told her that she was dilated to an 8.  She asked if she needed a boost in her epidural.  A boost?!  There is such thing as a boost?!  Needless to say, she took it.  The only bad thing was it was going to take 10 minutes or so for it to kick in.  The nurse checked her again 5 minutes after the "boost" and said that she was at a 10.  She went to go get the doctor.  It was 4:10pm.



I was left alone with Megan writhing in pain.  Megan kept telling me something was coming out.  I was just like, "they said they would be right back."  I'm such an idiot.  The doctor and the nurse finally got back at about 4:25pm.  The doctor lifted the sheets and said, "Wo, there's the head!"  The nurse and I lifted Megan's legs and POP, out he came.  I am not even sure if she pushed...

Lincoln was born at 4:28pm on May 26th.  He was 7lbs 7oz and was 20in long.

After they cleaned him up, we got to spend almost an hour with him.  It was nice.  In a lot of ways we thought he looked like Koby, but he also had a lot of his own looks.  We were pretty happy to say the least.

I went do to the nursery with Lincoln for his shots and what not and then went back up to make sure Megan was doing alright.  She was hungry from not really eating the entire day, so she order some honey pecan chicken and mashed sweet potatoes.  She only ate a few bites, so I got to finish the rest and to my surprise, it was really good.  I was almost as excited about the food as I was have a new baby.  I told all of our visitors about that chicken... man that chicken...

Before Lincoln came back they moved Megan to a new room.  We called Emily and told her to come and bring Koby.  I went in to the nursery to see how things were going, and he was all ready to be carted back to Megan's room.

Koby, Emily, Shane, Sean, Rachel, and Charlie came to visit.  Before they all came in they sent Koby in by himself to meet Lincoln.  He had a balloon for Lincoln and Megan.  He came right up to Lincoln and gave him a kiss on his head.  It was pretty fun to see.

We sat and visited awhile with everyone.  We were still deciding on a middle name, but after a lot of thought we decided on Kenji (健二).   We wanted to do my middle name Kenichi (健一), but that name can only be used for a first born son, so we figured we could pass on the first character of my middle name and change the ending so it could be used for a second born.  I am really happy we did.  I am grateful that Megan liked it.

I went home after the visit and helped Emily put Koby to bed and then came back to the hospital to help out there.  It was nice spending some time with just Megan and Lincoln.  Although we didn't get much sleep that night, I was grateful to be there to help Megan out when I could.

 

We woke up around 7am the next morning.  We both felt bad that we had been away from Koby as long as we had, and we were sure Emily was exhausted from trying to keep up with him.  We decided that I should go give her some relief.  Although I didn't want to leave the hospital I was glad to have some time to hang out with Koby.

That morning we took Koby to visit Megan and the baby for awhile, which was exhausting because all Koby wanted to do was push the buttons that made Megan's bed move... good times.

Afterwards we went down to Provo and Koby, Emily, and I hiked to "Y" with Sean, Rachel, and Charlie.  It was fun, but Koby only made it up the first switchback before wanting me to carry him the rest of the way.

It was hard climbing up to the "Y" with Koby on my shoulders, but it was really fun.  We we got to the bottom Koby said, "Daddy let's do it one more time pleeeeeease."  So we did... Just kidding, I would have died if we did.

Megan and Lincoln came home that night.  It was nice to finally have everyone home.  Koby is still getting used to the idea of sharing his parents with someone else, but I think he will do just fine.  It's fun seeing him talk to Lincoln and kiss him on the head, although he has also slapped and attempted to kick him too.  Luckily I was able to grab Koby right before the kick would have landed.

So here we are, two kids now.  The pregnancy that seemed like an eternity has finally come to an end.  The responsibility of being a parent to a second son for an eternity just beginning.  Life is a little crazy now to say the least.  But we are excited for the fun and adventures the future holds for our little family.  I have never felt more overwhelmed with a sense of responsibility when holding our kids, but at the same time I have never been so overcome with joy.  Hopefully we don't screw these two kids up :)