A very long and much needed post....

Alright, Alright, no more excuses... i need to write a post! Everything is going very well here, Joel is a very very good baby. As of today, he has not spit up ONCE! i know, you don't believe me, but it's the truth. But, let me tell you, he does find other ways to get rid of his gas! Gets that from his dad of course ;) He is 8 days old, and already we can tell he is growing and developing so fast. He even got his third bath last night, and didn't mind it too much. He's definately not going to be a Michael Phelps though! Anyways, I need to answer the two questions I've been asked the most in the past week....

1. "Why did you end up needing a cesarean?" Well... i'll try to make this as short as I can without leaving out important details.... Last Thursday night we went in for my scheduled induction. They gave me medicine every three hours through the night that was supposed to start the process since I wasn't dilated. I had 2 of 3 pills when my contractions started coming a lot faster and a lot harder. At 4:40am they started giving me pitocin. Apparently throughout the night, Joel's heartrate dropped a little after each contraction, and this was getting worse as the contractions were getting worse. The doctor came in at 5:45 to check me and Joel's heart rate charts. Because of these constant drops and because of some bleeding that I was having, the doctor said, very matter-of-factly, "Okay, we are going to do a c-section....now". In the next 10 minutes, doctors and nurses were pouring in, getting me ready for surgery, helping me take out my contacts, handing me paperwork, and then i was carted off to surgery...we had enough time for the local epidural and then by 6:31 Joel was born. Scott was able to get ahold of both sets of grandparents and he sat in next to me during the c-section. Joel had some fluid in his lungs and had some difficulty breathing, so he was in the NICU for a little while with a breathing tube and getting checked out while I was in recovery. We were both healthy and awake by 10:00 when I was able to hold him for the first time. The whole process happened pretty fast, but I'm glad it went that way instead of being in labor and pain for hours and hours. Recovery for me has been just fine, i'm still taking it pretty slowly, and not able to drive or exercise for a little while (oh darn!), and the little man is doing just great!!

2. "How's Barkley doing with the baby?" Barkley has been awesome with his new little friend. When we first got home, Barkley had a lot of energy from being kenneled for 3 days, so he was very interested in figuring out who this little baby was, and wanted in the middle of everything from diaper changes to feedings. While we held him back, Barkley would smell him and lick his feet. Along with his parents, Barkley has a lack of sleep in the past week and so he has really calmed down and likes to just sit at your feet when you are holding Joel. He still smells him every once in awhile and tries to lick him, but for the most part, he seems pretty content and happy and understands that Joel is a part of the family now and is going to stick around for awhile. One thing we do need to work on... Barkley loves pacifiers....a lot. He's gotten a hold of a few, and we continue to disenfect them... over and over again....

Hope that helps! We just want to say that we appreciate all of our family and friends so much! From my mom staying with us this last week, to friends and family stopping by for visits and dropping off meals, it's been awesome to see all of you and we thank you so much for your thoughts, prayers, and help! Alright, now what you really want to see, plenty of pictures! Including, Joel's first bath, first 'outing' (to Costco of course!) and Barkley with his new favorite toy...the pacifier. If I haven't sent you the snapfish account email with all the rest of the pictures, email me and let me know and i'll send it your way!!