I am sitting here awkwardly typing as baby Zander sleeps in the crook of one arm and the wireless keyboard is propped up by the pillow supporting my arm. I carry Zander around everywhere. On Monday Rob was home and I think I put Zander down for an hour. I am going to need some serious massage therapy when he gets older. I am loving every minute and wish it would slow down. That is the advice every new mom gets, hold them while you can and enjoy it all. Of course we all stress and don't get to enjoy it, but this time things are so different. Every time I look at Zander I remember what a little miracle he is.
I feel like I don't know how to function these last couple of days, there is no drama right now, I am used to things being so stressful and full of drama. To just sit back and relax and to just do the normal day to day stuff seems so calm. I can take twice as long to do the normal day to day stuff because there is no drama to deal with when I am done.
Our Christmas was fantastic. The boys got some much needed toys, they have kept busy with them. We had breakfast at my dads and supper at my moms. At my moms dinner was lasagne and chicken manicotti with alfredo sauce. We like to do something other than turkey for christmas dinner because most people have more than one christmas dinner they go to and then sick of turkey. Clean up is so much easier too. Every year we find a price point for each person and get one gift that is from all of us. Usually they give me the money and I do it for everyone, but this year because I was pregnant and then busy with a new baby we drew names. They got me the cake pops maker. I tried it out after dinner, it was pretty cool, I couldn't figure out how to get the sticks to stay in the cake, because it is all fluffy inside and not dense like the other ones I make. I think with chocolate it might work better. It did taste good though. My mom got the mini cupcake one, it takes 5-7 minutes to cook the cake pops.

I feel so blessed to have a man like my husband in my life. He is so amazing, he works hard at his job and comes home and still manages to have enough energy for us and the things that need to be done around the house. If you have read the twilight saga he is like Jasper, as soon as he walks into the room I am calm, it doesn't matter how stressed I have been. He is my best friend and the first person I go to when something is wrong. I couldn't imagine my life without him, Happy Birthday Robert Mairs.

Zander and I are doing great. We went to the doctor for our 2 week checkup just because he was jaundice and he is good now. He has passed his birth weight and he is 10 pounds and 1 ounce. I don't know if it maturity or the that he is such a miracle, but things are so different this time around. I think it is maturity. Having a baby in the house made me look at Seth and Tyler and I was shocked, when did they grow up?? Tyler said to me I'm not the baby anymore.

Well we have made it though 2 nights, Zander has done really well, he slept for 4 hours straight both nights.

If you are a guy I would stop reading now, seriously stop now. Well we finally made it home. It has been a very long week. We went into the hospital on Monday night at 8PM, it started at 6PM at home I had this really long cramp and it was so painful to walk it brought me to tears and I would stop and lean on something. I called the health link and they said I should go to the hospital immediately. When I got there the contractions started and were consistent of every 10 min. Because there was a plan to induce me anytime after the 27th, they decided to keep me and see how I progressed on my own and if I didn't they would induce me. I did progress on my own till 2 1/2cm but then stayed there. They do not consider you in active labor with your third child until 4 cm. They induced me at around 5AM and turned it up every half an hour, they start at 1 and end at 20. I ended up at 20. I still didn't go past 3 1/2 cm so my doctor was going to break my water but didn't cause she didn't feel comfortable with how high baby's head was. The OB team came in to assess me and he broke my water and guided babies head down to ensure that the cord didn't slip out first. Then they left me and I went into hard labor right away and within 3 hours I was ready to push. The epidural DIDN'T work at this point, I was told it did work and I was just feeling the peak of the contraction which lasted about 20-30 seconds every 3 minutes. I couldn't imagine what that would have felt like if I felt it all. They gave me a stronger drug for the last hour and that seemed to help. During the contractions the babies heart beat kept dipping the lowest it dipped was 80 once, so they knew there was an issue. They kept me on one side and that seemed to work for the most part but baby was not coming down even though I was fully dilated, meaning there was a problem we just didn't know what it was. The OB was there again and quickly assessed and said he was going to use the vacuum. They told me when to push and the doctor used the vacuum, when the babies head came out the doctor was right on him, he suspected the cord was around his neck, he cut it right away, and we kept on. When babies shoulders came out one of them got stuck behind my pelvic bone, the doctor helped baby get unstuck. After the placenta came out the nurse took a closer look and saw there was a true knot in the babies cord, not just a kink. This most likely happened early in the first trimester. He couldn't come down because his cord was so short, since it had a knot and was around his neck. We are so lucky and blessed to have Zander Joseph Reid Mairs join our family. He was born on November 29, 2011, at 3:33PM, he was 9.8oz. and 21 inches long. Thank you God for having the right team on duty that night and for watching over Zander right from conception. He had low blood sugar after which is why we were in the hospital for so long, but he is ok now and there is no concern for low blood sugar at this time.
As for me I can't believe I did it, I hadn't slept for over 36 hours by the time he was born. There was so much adrenaline going through me, I was shaking for a couple hours after he was born. I was up within 2 hours of him being born and felt great. There was no stitches, swelling or pain. I am so thankful. I do feel the pain of my uterus contracting but thats it.
Seth and Tyler came in to meet Zander and got to hold him for a second. Seth and Tyler asked if Zander was my baby and I said yes, and your baby too, Seth then asked can he sleep in my room, lol it was so cute.