Has it really been a month already?

Wow! How time flies! On Wednesday, July 22 I told Brian that I though I was going to have the baby. We went to San Joaquin and were there for 5 hours with little progress and a lot of pain. Needless to say they sent me home. Finally on Friday, July 24 I could not take it any longer. I told Brian I doubt that they will keep me again but I just need to know if I had made any progress since Wednesday. Sure enough I was dilated to 5 cm and they were keeping me! Wow! After laboring all on my own to 8cm I had enough of the pain. I needed some help. Every time I had a contraction I was lifting my whole body off the bed with my arms. After the whole birth I felt like I had my arms had been run over by a truck. Before going into labor I had planned on having a natural birth without any help from pain medication. Not because I was looking to get an award for having a natural birth, but because of my experience with having Peyton. For those of you that do not know I had him via c-section due to his Omphalocele. With Peyton I was violently ill due to the medications they had given me and I did not remember most of the things that happened. With Riley I was making an attempt to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section). I was so exhausted once I got to 8cm and the pain just kept getting worse I ended up with the epidural. After having the epidural I am proud to say that I made a great decision in doing so. After an hour and a half of pushing Riley Jaxon Mehciz was welcomed into the world on July 25, 2009 at 2:59 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs 12oz, and was 19 inches long. As soon as he was born the tears just started pouring out. I was elated that I had achieved the most rewarding experience that a woman could experience, natural child birth. In the month of bringing him home I have learned so much. My greatest accomplishment to date is having both of my sons. There is nothing in this world that is greater then having children. Even though at times I want to run out the door screaming and pulling my hair out, I made the right choice in becoming a mom. Riley came home only 14 hours after being born. At his three day check up we found out that Riley was jaundice. He was under a bililight here at home for a week. In this first month of life Brian and I have changed over 400 diapers, I have pumped a countless number of times, bottle feed, breastfeed, and burped non-stop. For Brian and I this is a new experience having a newborn at home. Not exactly what we thought it would be, but defiantly a learning experience. Riley I have fallen in love with you. Your smile can make me smile no matter how tired or grumpy I might be. In this past month you have gained almost 4 lbs. Your features have all changed. We are getting to a more normal schedule and thankfully a little more sleep at a time! Happy 1 month birthday my chunky monkey or like you daddy calls you tubby! :0)