This year we weren't too sure what to do about Thanksgiving. I was due to have Jonathan on Saturday the 27th, and I was sure if I bought a turkey, I'd go into labor as soon as I started cooking it. We were invited to have dinner with friends, and that seemed like a good idea, until we were blessed to receive a full Thanksgiving dinner from the First Sergeants group. Every year they choose families (usually young Airmen with families) that may need a little extra help during the holidays, and this year they chose to do a breakfast and then we "shopped" in the Commissary--really we just walked through the front of the building and they handed us each item. The only issue I was worried about was that we had to be at the breakfast at 7 in the morning. I've been blessed with boys that like to sleep until 9 a.m., so having them up and out the door by 6:45 seemed like a tremendous task. Will is the one I really worried about--Ethan's totally a morning person--but I explained to him the night before that we were going to get up early for a special breakfast, and he totally grabbed onto that concept. As soon as we got him up, he was asking if we were going to our special breakfast, and for days afterward, he asked if we were having another special breakfast. Nothing can ever compete with it in his mind. When we got home, I was faced with the task of figuring out where to put a 16-pound turkey. Our freezer was already filled to the brim with 3 weeks worth of meals I made for after the baby was born, so that was out. We decided that as long as Jonathan didn't come early, we'd go ahead and have Thanksgiving at home, which ended up being a great choice. Everything was pretty relaxed, and we had a wonderful dinner together.
Ethan, being picky as ever, mostly ate turkey and deviled eggs.
Will ate so much, he had to unbutton his pants.
That night at midnight, I was checking out some of the Black Friday sales online when I started having contractions. By two a.m., they'd started getting pretty painful, but I didn't think we needed to head to the hospital, so Anthony tried to get some sleep. I went to bed too, but I definitely couldn't sleep. Around 3:30 I told Anthony that we might want to go in, just in case. By the time we got the boys over to a friend's house and headed back to base, the contractions had pretty much stopped. They had me walk around for an hour and then put me back on the monitor, and even though the contractions had started again, they still sent me home. I couldn't believe it, especially since I was having trouble walking out to the car, but you can't argue with military doctors. I decided that I didn't want to be sent home again, so I'd just wait until I couldn't handle it any longer. That lasted until 3 in the afternoon, and we headed back at 3:30. This time we were lucky enough to first be stuck behind a car going 20 mph in a 35 mph zone, and then once he turned off, we were stuck behind a bobcat endloader going, at least it felt like, even slower. By then I realized I'd probably waited too long, and I was starting to worry that I'd be one of those stories on the news for giving birth in the car. Anthony dropped me off in front, and even though I knew there wasn't a lot of time, all of the nurses nonchalantly went about checking me in. We arrived at almost 4 p.m, and at one point we were alone for about 10 minutes while they downloaded my file. By the time the Captain came to check on me and ask if I wanted an epidural, it was about 4:15. She then checked to see how far along I was, and suddenly everyone was rushing around to get everything ready. No time for an epidural, not even time for the doctor to make it to the hospital. As she told me later, she was at home watching "Keeping Up With The Kardashians." I can understand--it is near impossible to drag yourself away from Kim and Kourtney. It wasn't really the doctor's fault; no one called until I was at the hospital, and she never would have made it. They kept telling me to wait for her. Yeah, right. Jonathan Joseph was born at 4:26 p.m. on Nov. 26th. He was 7 lbs 15 oz and supposedly 22 inches, but he'd shrunk a quarter inch at his 2 week apt, so I guess we'll never know. We were both pretty surprised that he had dark hair, and quite a bit of it. Will's was dark when he was first born, but he didn't have a whole lot, and it lightened up pretty quickly. So far Jonathan favors me, at least in that way.
Will was so excited to hold Jonathan. He loved having
a new brother right away.
Our favorite things he said were, "Can he talk?", "Does he have teeth?", "Is he hungry? Does he want macaroni and cheese?" and "He just walked out of Mommy." (as if it was so easy!)
Will was obsessed with touching his toes.
Ethan was more interested in running away.
He just had to get back to the light switch.
From the beginning, the Government staked its claim on him.
Our hospital experience was pretty different from the first two times in a civilian hospital. Everyone was very nice and helpful (except when they forgot to bring my pain medication and had to have a conference to determine if I was lying about not getting Motrin), but we didn't have any cell phone service or Internet access, so we had trouble getting the word out. I've never felt so cut off! Anthony had to sleep on a ridiculously small and uncomfortable fold-out chair, and by the time they released us, we were more than ready to be on our own.
Leaving the hospital
They were using Jonathan as their race track. He didn't mind.
Before the 1st bath at home
After the bath
