Roman James

Well, our little guy has arrived!!

Roman James Chalmers
October 9, 2009
1:12am
8 pounds 10 ounces
21 1/2 inches long

Everyone is at home and doing great. Natalie and Michael are doing a wonderful job with him and we're all adjusting to life with a baby. James is home all week so that is a huge help and I'm a little curious as to how I'm going to do all this alone when he goes back to work on Friday!!

We are in awe of God's blessings in our lives. We watch Natalie & Michael play together and laugh and run around and our hearts melt. The way they treat Roman with such tenderness and love is awesome! I know it won't always be that way and they will probably have their moments of frustration but to see their hearts towards him and each other is so special. Natalie seems so mature and is so helpful. Michael seems, to me, like a giant now. My little guy went from being my baby to seeming so big and grown up in a matter of days!! So many emotions come into play when you watch your kids grow up. It's fun and exciting and sad and heartbreaking all at the same time because you realize how fast time goes. I'm trying to enjoy all the moments with Roman - the snuggling, crying, late night feedings, rocking, bouncing... all of it because I know how fast it flies by! I have been asked how labor/delivery was so I'll write the story below the slideshow.

Well, that's about it for now, here is a little slideshow of Roman's first couple of days of life. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Okay, for you (probably moms) who are interested in the labor/delivery, here's the short story:
Started having contractions around 7:30 so I took a bath while James put the kids to bed. After that James had to put up 2 handrails for our home inspection so I just layed in bed and went through some contractions. After he was done we went downstairs to watch The Office and James started timing the contractions and writing them down. They were VERY inconsistent, 8, 10, 11, 7, 9, minutes apart for a little over an hour. I was fine on my own, breathing through them. From 9:45-10:45 they started to become a little more consistent, between 5 & 6 minutes apart and more intense where I needed him to rub my back to get through them. Because I tested + for Group B Strep I was supposed to go into the hospital when they were consistently 5 minutes apart for 1 hour to get an IV of an antibiotic. We went upstairs and laid down around 11:00 and I actually fell asleep (Bradley birthing techniques at their finest). I woke up 2 times with contractions that were VERY strong between 11:00 & 11:30 and told James we should call the midwife to see if we should go in. We called and she said we could stay home a little longer since things weren't really consistent, if we wanted to. I decided that I just wanted to go in so we didn't have to call our friend Sonya in the middle of the night to come over for the kids and so we didn't have to go to the hospital in the middle of the night. James called Sonya and I got out of bed and then, BOOM!!! My contractions were on top of one another, 3 minutes, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2!! I went and waited in the van, once Sonya got here we were off and James was running red lights to get us there. It was a difficult drive! Once we got there, around 12:20, I was admitted and dilated to a 5. Marilyn, the same midwife that delivered Michael, was on call so that was awesome! I labored about 15 more minutes and was dilated to an 7. She said that there was no way we would have the antibiotic in for long enough (it needs to be in for 2 hours to be effective) so if I wanted her to she could break my water and I would have the baby a couple of contractions later. That is exactly what happened with Michael so I believed her. She broke my water around 12:55, I had a couple more contractions and Roman was born at 1:12am! It was crazy fast, intense, and amazing! It is pain that is indescribable but so amazing how our bodies were created! So, that's the story for all you other moms who love hearing labor stories as much as I do!!