Game Time... Benson makes his debut!

Well, it's high time we make some introductions to the newest member of our Wood clan. 

He came to us, just as scheduled, on the morning of September 5, 2012.  We woke up bright and early that morning because we were supposed to arrive at the hospital at 5:30.  I set my alarm for 4:30 a.m. so I could get in a nice shower, blow dry my hair, and emotionally prepare for what was to happen that day.  Even though it was really early, I was glad to have almost a whole hour to myself... I had the feeling that it would be a while until I had an entire hour to indulge in such a thing (for the record, I was right!).

I knew Aaron had set his alarm the night before, but around 5:00a.m. I hadn't heard him stirring, so I said, "Hon, I think you should start waking up, we need to be leaving in the car in 20 minutes."  He grumbled something to the effect of "Yeah, I'm coming," and I continued applying my make up. A few minutes passed and I realized we needed to be in the car in 5 minutes and I still hadn't seen Aaron.  This time I frantically said, "Aaron, we need to go!  Were you planning on showering??" He woke up with a start and said, "yes! I'm going now!" I told him he didn't have enough time, he kept saying, "It will only take me ONE minute. I promise. One minute to shower!" Well, he took 1 minute and 30 seconds, but that was pretty impressive. 

We quickly took a picture of ourselves before we literally RAN out the door (my mom bidding us farewell as we flew past her room).  Yes, the photo is blurry, but we were in a hurry!  Too bad Aaron's arm. blocking the FULL term expansiveness of my belly... we weren't really thinking about details like that.  Notice our sleepy eyes.  hA!

This is the first time we walked into the hospital's lobby.  

It was a BRAND new hospital (literally, it had opened it's doors two months earlier) and it was located just minutes from our house.  All of this made it pretty SLICK for us!  

We walked in, did some paperwork (so weird to pay for a baby to be born with a credit card!), and took the elevators up to the labor and delivery wing.  The nurses moved quickly getting all my IV's in me and prepping me for surgery. They asked if we had a name picked out... and for the first time WE DID!  It was all decided ahead of time, and I have to admit, it was SO nice having made the decision in advance!

Then, they had Aaron suit up.  Looking good.

Then, since I was feeling fine, we walked on over to the O.R. where I hopped right up on the operating table.  hA!  Surreal.  Like the anesthesiologist told me during Calvin's scheduled birth, "scheduled c-sections are such a civilized way to have a baby!" hA!  Amen, sister.  Amen.  

Aaron took a picture like this right before Tillie's birth and Calvin's birth. 

Here we are as the doctors were doing their thang.  All was peachy and we were all smiles.

They told me, 17 minutes after they opened me up, that we had a beautiful baby boy!  I heard him crying such a great strong cry and started getting teary and feeling so grateful (for weeks I'd been worrying that something was wrong with our baby---Aaron was feeling pretty nervous too).

Next thing I knew, I started panicking and getting really anxious. I couldn't breathe very well and I felt a sharp pain in the back of my neck.  It was awful and I didn't know what was going on.  The anesthesiologist was just starting to take a few "happy" pictures of us, when she got this picture---me flipping out.

 Aaron got these next two pictures of me right as I started my melt down.  Love that we have this all recorded... sheesh!

The anesthesiologist and assistant were right there trying to figure out what was going on with me and kept trying to calm me down and assuring me that all the machines looked normal and fine but I was freaking out.  With the tight pain in my neck I was worried that I was paralyzed, or that maybe I was dying.  Truly, I thought I was dying.  It was crazy.  They asked if I wanted Versed to help calm me down, and warned me that I might not remember anything---Aaron and I told them we didn't care.  It was all so scary. After we gave them the green light, within seconds the back of my neck stopped throbbing and I was able to take deep breaths again and relax.

So crazy.

Let's give THREE cheers for modern technology! I love a good medicine.  :)  Let it be known that the Versed didn't erase my memory, but it did make me ITCH like crazy (well, that and whatever else I was pumped up with).  Hours/days later, I wanted to scratch my face off (really, it was horrible), but eventually it all wore down and out of my system.

Luckily, Aaron and I were able to refocus our attention on the MAN of the HOUR!

Check out this little guy!  

post freak-out, we're all feeling much better.

Benson was ready for his close up and even looked at the camera.  Nice!

So, let's formally introduce this darling baby boy who weighed in at 8 lbs. 14 oz. and 21.25" long...

Benson Elmer Wood

(more on his name in a later post)

What a sweet baby boy!  After they wheeled us into the recovery room, baby Benson started nursing right away!  A perfect latch and everything. Amazing that he just knew what to do!  I'm happy to report that the rest of our hospital stay was COMPLETELY uneventful and happily low-key!  HOOOORAY!

Bring on the siblings!

love Cal's face here.  I don't know if I've ever seen this lip/smile situation. hA!

in case you were curious, Calvin is a little over 2.5 years older than Benson.  

I love how sweet Calvin is.

and sweet Tillie... she was THRILLED out of her little mind to FINALLY meet her baby brother.  Is she a sweet girl or what?  Did I mention that this day was her first day of preschool too??  Sheesh. SO OLD!!  I love her little outfit she picked out.

And lucky for us, Auntie Becca took a half day at work to head up and meet this special delivery.  

here I was video recording it all on my phone.

I love this next shot of my mom, Tillie, and Becca meeting Benson.

giving Benson kisses for the first time

First sponge bath

There's not much more explaining to do, so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves and chime in from time to time.

have I mentioned how much I LOOOOVE hospital food.  It's always a safe bet when you go with breakfast items---for every meal.  Delish. 

some of the many faces of baby benson on DAY ONE of his life.  amazing ALL the expressions he was capable of!!

wakey, wakey, eggs and bac-ey

check out that head of hair! woot woot!

so so tiny next to my swollen hand.

I'm in love with these pictures with my mom.

Couldn't be any happier.

Wood. Party of Five.

helping Cal with some of my jello (no, I didn't eat ALL of that food at once).

I love these next ones of my BOYS.  They are especially great of Cal.  First stage: Denial.

2nd Stage: Curiosity.

Third stage: Acceptance.  hA!  Don't ask me what those stages are, I just made them up.  But, didn't I sound like a psychologist or something?  Yes, I know.  

Auntie Becca came up again from her corporate fancy job... looking so smashing!

oh, that face!

my awesome view at the hotel. I mean, hospital!

Pretty fun to have a baby fill up this little onesie.

And, yes, he looks REALLY long in this next picture.

It was heaven for those few days in the hospital, just soaking up our sweet, sweet baby.  He's been a dream boat from day one and we can't even believe how lucky we are to have our dolly Baby Benson Elmer with us.
Oh! I want to remember that our last nurse was AWESOME!!  She HOOKED us up!  Check out my pack mule down below.

She gave us several packs of diapers and bottles, two of the awesome water cups with handles, but the BEST gift of all was a "binder" she gave me.  Have you ever heard of these?  It's like a huge Ace Bandage that you pull really tight like a girdle around your post-pardum belly, and hello, it changed my life.  Seriously.  After a c-section, your incision feels like it's going to burst open with every sneeze, every laugh, every time you twist and turn, and try to stand up---but with this "binder" as she called it, it gave me SO much support and rocked my world.  WHY HAD I NEVER HEARD OF SUCH A THING???  Have you heard of them before?  Honestly, if you know of anyone having a c-section, feel free to let them in on the secret like she did for me.

Oh, and the hospital gave me a new fancy robe and slippers AND sent us home with a pre-made lasagna, breadsticks, and salad.  Hello.  Now you know why we enjoyed our stay so much at the hotel hospital.

Well, actually, this little one was actually the best part.  Hooray for baby Benson and his safe arrival to us.

(if you were wanting to re-live Matlida's birth, like I did, go here and see pictures here.

and for Calvin's birth, go here. )