Ezra is two weeks old today. Time seems to fly faster with each baby and I don’t like it one bit! He is such a sweet and easy (so far *fingers crossed*) baby. I’m so thankful for that! It definitely is crazy having 3 little ones, but I’m loving every minute of it!
We got so much snow! It’s beautiful! Yesterday, before it got too cold, we Jake took the kids out to play in it! They had an absolute blast and were out there a good solid hour. Ashelyn is obsessed with sledding. She even loves to crash. It just throws her into a giggle fit. Gideon is much more interested in building snow forts and throwing snowballs. Jake even went for a run on the sled after he had shoveled the driveway. I think he shoveled too soon though because our driveway is completely covered again. Oh well! Here are a couple videos of the kiddos and lots of fun pictures!
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Ezra Jacob Doan
Born: December 30, 2010
Time: 10:20 am
Weight: 6 lbs. 10 oz.
Length: 21 in.
The Delivery Story: (Feel free to skip to the pictures, this is mostly for me so I remember)
Jake and I stayed up until about 1 am after Gideon’s party just getting last minute things together before having to be at the hospital at 4 am…that’s right, FOUR IN THE MORNING, to be induced. Considering the enormous lack of sleep, I actually felt really great heading to the hospital. I was more than ready for the arrival of my little man. I like to think I got a power nap instead of thinking of it as a bad night’s sleep.
After getting checked in, changing into that super sexy hospital gown, getting the IV, and hooking up all the monitors , it was about 5:40 when they started me on the low-dose Pitocin. It started working right away, so by 6 my contractions were in full swing. Since I was already at a 3 when we got there, I started to panic that I wouldn’t get an epidural in time. Not being a fan of pain, that was not an option in my opinion. :) But, I tried to keep myself calm and get some rest between contractions. At 7:05 my water broke! Around that same time, Ezra’s heart rate started dropping with every contraction, so they took me off the Pitocin since I would progress on my own from that point and called for the epi. The lady who gave me the epidural was really good at her job. Couldn’t feel it when that big nasty needle went in and couldn’t feel anything for a. long. time. I actually slept for a little bit after that until they started to get really nervous about Ezra’s heart rate. They had to switch him to an internal heart rate monitor, which I was so freaked out at the time, I literally didn’t even realize they had switched it until she said, “His heart rate will sound different on this monitor, so don’t freak out.” Things were a little crazy!
They figured out that he had turned and was facing my hip and on top of that they were fairly certain his chord was around his neck. No bueno. Since I was still only at a 6, the nurses decided I needed to get on my hands and knees to get him to turn. Which would have been no problem except for the fact that I had no feeling from my waist down. Well, it was interesting to say the least, but I managed it with the help of my amazing nurses and luckily (or so we thought) he turned! Literally as soon he flipped over, I was at a 10! It was 10:o5 and baby was coming.
I expected things to go quickly. My other two deliveries were fast and easy and “they say” it just gets easier every time. I guess it didn’t help that I NEEDED this delivery to go quickly because with every contraction his heart rate was still plummeting. There were lots of extra nurses in the room, in case I had to be rushed for a C-section. So scary! I was pushing and it seemed like nothing was happening. They tried to use suction, wasn’t helping. And I started to see some looks of uncertainty passing between my doctor and the nurses. I was trying so hard not to panic and could not figure out why I was having such a hard time. The only thing I could think of was that he had to be HUGE. They finally had to use forceps (HATE…they left his little head bruised) and after what seemed like FOREVER, but was really just a few minutes, there he was! Looking face up (If you haven’t had a baby, you may not know, but that is NOT the way they’re supposed to come out.) with his chord wrapped once around his tiny neck. My doctor quickly unwrapped the chord and Ezra let out a perfect cry while they rushed to check all the APGAR scores and to make sure all was well. Thankfully, He’s perfect! That’s where the complications stopped.
Apparently, he turned the wrong way when he’d flipped earlier, which made for the crazy delivery. But luckily the labor went fast enough (just over 3 hours from when my water broke!) and I had a great Dr. and nurses to help me through it. Ezra was actually the smallest of my babies and my doctor said if he had been my first, I definitely would have had to have a c-section. He high-fived Jake and I after the delivery and told me I did good work. :)
I think we do great work. These pictures are proof: 
We’re so in love with our little man. He’s a great baby and he LOVES to snuggle. We feel so blessed to finally have him here and are soaking up every second of his new baby perfection.
To Gideon,
You turned 4 on December 29th. I can’t believe how fast time has gone. You are still such a happy kid and you’re SO creative. You are constantly dreaming up adventures and playing games with your sister. I hope you can keep that wild imagination forever. You love stories (especially the ones your Daddy makes up for you at bed time) and books and coloring in your coloring books. Lately, you’re very meticulous about staying in the lines. You make up silly songs and build amazing forts and castles out of Legos to play with your dinosaurs, army men, dragons and Vikings. You truly entertain yourself and I love to watch you play… You also have a recent OBSESSION with any of the Lego games for the PS3. Star Wars, Batman, or Harry Potter, you want to play all. the. time. It’s a bit extreme, bud.
We thought maybe your little brother would come before your birthday, so we put off planning a party for you until the very last minute. Still, I think this was probably one of your favorite birthdays! We had everyone get together and went to Chuck E. Cheeses for cake and lots of games! Everyone had so much fun! Daddy and Uncle Josh worked REALLY hard to earn you lots and lots of tickets so that you could pick out whatever prize you wanted.
What did you choose? The Chuck E. Cheese Pez dispenser. You could not be swayed even for the Toy Story toys. That might be the most expensive Pez dispenser in history. :) But, whose to argue with the birthday boy?
I was so emotionally overwhelmed that I didn’t take nearly enough pictures. All I could think about was that not only was this your FOURTH birthday, but the next day you would have a brother. And suddenly, you wouldn’t be my only boy. I was so worried that I was taking something away from you. But now, you have a tiny little buddy who will look up to you and follow you and your sister on your adventures. You are such a great brother and you make me smile every single day. I love you, my boy! Thank you for being ours.
Love,
Momma
