Our birth story

Anderson James Moll, who we'll be calling AJ, arrived just after midnight today, weighing 8 lbs 9 oz and just over 20" long. He was 5 days early, and here's how the story goes...

Saturday mid afternoon, I realized I hadn't felt much movement throughout the day. I called My Nurse and was advised to go to Labor and Delivery for monitoring. Turns out everything was fine, but as I was laying on the bed with monitors, it occured to me I was having very mild contractions.

Sunday morning I woke up and they were still mild. Around noon they become more frequent and intense. We made arrrangements with Gail's family to watch Cohen, and patiently waited.

Around 4:30 we left the house and dropped Cohen off at Gail's. Seeing him excited to be there and play with his cousins lifted a huge burden off my shoulders. That was the one piece of this whole experience that was giving me much anxiety! We had several great options for Cohen's care, but a worrying mommy like me appreciated the reassurance that her little boy was happy and fine. We arrived at the hospital at 5:15 and I was dilated to 5. I decided to wait on the epidural in hopes of progressing as much as possible. After a couple hours of trekking around the floor, I'd had enough. The anesthesioligist was a welcome sight and administration of the meds was problem free. It was now around 8:15 and I was dilated to 7.

As with Cohen, the epidural slowed down contractions. At around 11:15, I was dilated somewhere between 8 and 9 and Dr. Gisi suggested a light dose of pitocin. They'd check me again in an hour. Yay, a short nap was in the cards.

30 minutes later, our awesome nurse Kelly and her trainee Kaylin came rushing in. They'd been monitoring baby's heartbeat from outside and it had dropped suddenly. Kelly quickly checked me and announced it's time to start pushing. She called Gisi and the delivery troops in. She had me do one big sample push to see how baby's heart rate responded (he was fine). In her words, baby was about to fly out!

It seemed like forever before Gisi arrived. Finally, he took his spot and told me to push 2 more times. On the 3rd push, he told me to stop while he situated the ambilical cord and made sure baby was in the best position for entry into this world. One small push (ahhh!) and AJ was out!

He cried immediately. Hard. They put him right on my chest and I had several minutes of awesome bonding time with my little dude. When his crying settled down, I got such a kick out of the little murmers and coos coming from this tiny little person. I told him he sounded like a baby kitty or mouse (and Dominic is giving me crap about calling my baby a kitty). So adorable and sweet. And slimy and sticky.

They took him away for his APGAR and examination. This took place in the corner of our room and it was reassuring how calm everyone was. He loved the warming table. He came back swaddled and slightly less slimy, and Dominic and I had more time for cuddling and acquainting ourselves with our new son. Just as quickly as the doctor and delivery team arrived, they were gone. The whole thing took less than 20 minutes!

AJ is one special little guy. He came out rather scratched, bruised and cone-headed, but now (18 hours later), he's perfect. We love his blonde wavy (blonde? hmm...) hair and his teeny, tiny parts. He's significantly shorter and heavier than Cohen was as an infant, which makes him seem almost stocky. The nurses have commented how strong and tough he seems. He's also determined. When he tries to nurse, he gives it his all and focuses intently. Most of all, he's sweet. He sleeps peacefully and seems low key when he's awake too. He's barely cried so far (except after being born). Every once in awhile he'll show his disatisfaction by one tiny little wail, then he's done. Please please please let this temperment remain!

As the newborn scrunchy face fills out, we see a resemblence to Cohen. Especially the mouth and chin. Like his brother, AJ was born with nearly invisible eyelashes and no eyebrows. It will be interesting to see if he eventually sprouts long, lush, perfectly curled lashes like Cohen's. AJ also has remnants of lanuga (thick, light hair) on his shoulders. I inspected his entire little body and I'm pretty sure he's the softest human I've ever met! Newborn skin is priceless...

I'll be posting photos and more frequent updates. Today is the start of my 12-week maternity leave, and I'm so excited to have this special time with my new little angel!