A One Week Old Ethan

H
appy Birthday to Ethan! He is one week old today. Since I finally have a few minutes to sit and think, I will share a few details of the past week.

Little Ethan was so happy in utero that he pasted his due date with flying colors. So, last Wednesday at 6 days overdue we checked in to the hospital to begin the inducing process. I received my first dose of meds around 5 in the evening. I was told the medication would make me dilate, but it was rare that it put you in full labor. Well, after barely surviving a night of intense contractions, the nurses checked and at 7 AM I was 7 cm dilated. So, I skipped the other inducing medication and went straight for the epidural. Ahhh… relief at last. I pushed through about 4 or 5 contractions and Ethan arrived at 10:56 AM. I’ve heard many people say that once you see your little baby, you don’t think about the pain anymore. It’s really true. I think back on that night of labor pains as just a bad dream. Praise God for a healthy delivery and a healthy baby!

After the delivery comes the realization that I now have a baby. Not only do I have a baby, but I am the parent. This is intense. Slowly, hour by hour it becomes more real. Wading through the emotional highs and lows, the sleeplessness, the doctors visits, the nursing issues, I have started to see a little light at the end of this seeming endless tunnel of newbornness. I have started to get to know my baby.

After 7 days, this is what I have learned. He likes to eat, a lot. He sleeps almost anywhere. He loves to be swaddled by his daddy. At 2 AM he stares at me with his big brown eyes like he’s telling me something important… He is. He likes to be entertained by his new friends Kanga and Roo that his Aunt Yennie sent him. He really only cries when he needs to eat, be changed, or burp. He is an optimist. I can tell he sees the world as a happy place already.