One Month Later . . .

And we're still alive!  It's been tricky adjusting to the demanding schedule of a newborn, but we're slowly getting the hang of it.  Luckily he's cute and we adore him, or we would have given up by now!

Here are some super fun pictures of the little man.  They were taken by a friend when he was 10 days old.  Thanks, Jen, for hauling your kids over and then crawling all over my bed.  You're so talented!

Bigger News!

When I say bigger, I really mean BIGGER!

Fischer Cory Maughan

May 22nd, 2012

10:49 a.m.

9 lbs. 2 oz.

21 inches long

 We are all desperately, need I say hopelessly, in love with this handsome little man.  He timed his birth perfectly  (My mom decided last minute to fly in the day before.  She hadn't even been here for 24 hours, by the time he was born.) and thank goodness for his own mother, he came quickly!

His sisters are in high heaven, and Dad loves to call him, "Pal".  

Half the pictures from that day are with my face smashed up against his.  I can't get enough of being close to him or his delicious smell and softness.

He has two wonky toes, that you can kinda see in this picture.

He's a hungry little fellow, and eats super well.

We'd been a very comfortable family of 4 for almost 5 years, so this is a big change for us.  How quickly you forget about the sleep deprivation a newborn comes with, but we wouldn't have it any other way.  

Welcome Fischer!

Here is his birth story:

I was getting antsy.  I never want my babies to come before they are ready (lesson learned from experience) but two of the girls due on the same day as me had their babies a week early.  On Sunday night, we went for a walk and I swear I had a 40 minute contraction during to whole outing.  We got home, nothing.  That same night my mom decided to fly in the next day.  

Monday: Tessa and I picked Grandma up at the airport, had some awesome waffles, and headed home.  My mom sent Cory and I on a date to see the Avengers 3D.  I stuffed myself with popcorn candy and even drank a caffeinated beverage in hopes of sparking something within me.  Nothing.  

6:00 am Tuesday morning; I had a really good contraction and felt a pop.  Tiny bit of leaking fluid, but nothing like the gush with Emory.  Contractions every 5 minutes for the next hour.  I waited to wake up Cory until a pillow-bitingly painful contraction.  We got up and showered (where my water truly broke) and made plans for the girls for the day so my mom could come to the birth.  By the time we got in the car, I was super unhappy.  That was around 8:00 am.  It takes 25 minutes to get to the hospital, and at that point I thought I might die before we made it there!  Luckily, time had no meaning to me that morning, because all of the sudden we were at the hospital.  We checked in and they checked me (I was 6 cm) and I ordered an epidural STAT.  Unfortunately, another girl came in 5 minutes before me and she was a 6 too, so she got the Anesthesiologist first.  (Let's not mention the fact that she didn't give birth for another 6 hours, were I could have been enjoying numb bliss for the hour before I pushed my giant baby out!!)  At this point, the contractions were intense.  Cory can attest to that, because he was being so sweet and attentive, and I literally could not let him (or anyone) touch me.  I remember him rubbing my back and whispering words of encouragement, and me just putting a up my hand in his face, like the "talk-to-the-hand" gesture.  I feel bad, but at least I wasn't screaming at him!  I also remember the just holding the bars on the sides of the hospital bed like they were the only things that were keeping me from losing it.  The nurses and doctors would peek their heads through the hand holds when they needed to ask me questions.  (It makes me laugh out loud to think about that now!)  When I finally got my epidural, the relief was minimal to non-existent.  Good thing that by the time I got it, I was ready to push.  When I was getting ready to push Tessa out, the nurse had me do a couple test pushes.  On the first one, she yelled, "Stop!  Get the Doctor!", because Tessa was so close to coming.  Not so, on this go around.  I felt like I was pushing for an eternity.  (In actuality, it was 45 minutes.)  At one point, I thought, if somebody would just tell me how many more pushes it will take, I can do this.  As long as the number is not over 2, I can do this.  (My mom and Cory can both attest to this by the look in my eyes.)  Finally, the doctor said 4 more pushes.  He lied, it took 5 and I will hold that against him forever.  As soon as Fischer's head was out, everyone laughed and said I was pushing out a small  toddler.  Once he was all the way out, I grabbed him and pulled him up on my chest.  He was perfect!  After a while they took him over to weigh and measure him.  They laid him on the scale, and it read 8 lbs. 10 oz., with blankets and everything, so we were thinking he weighed a little over 8 lbs.  They zeroed out the scale and up popped 9 lbs. 2 oz.!  There was a combined gasp from Cory, my mom, and the Doctor.  I think the Doctor was the most surprised, because he said he prides himself on guessing the weights of the babies he delivers pretty closely.  I flopped back on the bed and didn't feel so bad about having such a hard time, and decided there and then we are done, because my babies are getting bigger each go around.  Emory = 3 lbs. 14 oz. Tessa = 7 lbs. 7 oz.  Fischer = 9 lbs. 2 oz.  I really don't think I could birth an 11+ pounder!  Cory ran home to get the girls and they were there within a couple hours of the birth.  They got to help give Fischer his first bath,and then left to have some fun with Grandma.
What an amazing experience and I wouldn't have changed a thing!