Gigglesandgumballs: Welcome Baby Landon!!

Landon Owen finally made his arrival on Monday, October 12th! He was a bit overdue, but I kept reminding myself sometimes God's plan is not our plan...and Landon will come when he is ready.

Since I found out we were having number 5 back in January, my biggest concern...which is really silly...was that I really didn't want to go thru the process of labor. It is the unknown....and we have a new Dr, new hosptial, four other kids to worry about when I do go into labor....and again, I didn't want to go thru the birthing labor pains.

On my last pre-natal check, my Dr, who was extremely patient with me, suggested for us to at least schedule an induction, to get our name in before the hospital fills up....they have been having quiet the baby boom here! He said he didn't anticipate me going that long, but sometimes just putting a date on the calendar can get things going. He also suggested, but left it optional, to have a non-stress test at 1 week over to just make sure things were on track. So on Monday we headed to the hospital at 1:30-2:30pm to do just that. I wasn't concerned because my current state had not changed. I was basically feeling no signs of labor...and baby movements were normal. When they hooked me up to the monitors, the machine was reading as if I was having fairly long, hard contractions. Hmmm...interesting. I was only feeling a few of the ones it was picking up. Landon's heart rate was fine and normal. So I went home and Sean went back to work.

When I got home, I laid down to take a nap...but it was one of those afternoons where panic set in...and I needed to prepare my "sub" plans with a few friends and my dad. So I spent naptime arranging rides with friends for the kids and typing up plans for my dad. I had an early, relaxing dinner outside on the patio and then went and watched a little TV. While watching TV I noticed I was having contractions and so I started timing them. They ranged from 8 minutes to 20 minutes apart, so nothing alarming.

Sean came home around 6pm and he grilled up some pork chops with my dad. The kids were all outside playing and enjoying the nice autumn weather. At this point I started feeling sick and nauseous, so I went to the kitchen and told Sean we should head to the hospital just to check on things again. He took the last bite of his pork chop and showed me a new "toy" that he got that day ...with a serial code "BABY"... Apparently that was a sign...only joking.

We headed to the hospital at 6:35pm...it is a whole 2 miles down the road. Fun fact: we actually live on the same street of the hospital!

I really didn't think we would be staying, but wanted to see how dilated I was. The nurse checked everything out and to my surprise I was having intense contractions every 3 minutes! Interesting because I wasn't feeling them. Apparently my prayers over the past 9 months were paying off for an easy labor! She called my Dr....he lives down the street from us...so not a long commute for him either. He came up right away and hung out in the hallway until I was ready to go.

At around 8:20 pm or so, I still wasn't having very painful contractions, but my Dr said that I could try pushing and see what happens. Sure enough Landon was ready to come!

Landon Owen entered the world at 8:33pm! Whew! I was relieved that the being pregnant part was all over and couldn't wait to hold our baby!

He wasn't our biggest baby weightwise, but was lengthwise. He weighed 10 lbs 4 ounces and measured 22 1/2 inches long.

He came out practically sleeping. He let out a little cry, but other than that he rarely cried while we were at the hospital. He checked out ok..so no concerns...he just isn't a huge crier...hopefully he stays that way! He was circumcized and that didn't even phase him. He also slept thru all of the blood draws. The only thing that irritated him was his first bath at the hospital and second one at home.

We had a few friends visit from church and of course my sister, parents, and kids came to the hospital. The kids were overly excited to meet Landon.

Since we got home on Wednesday morning, the kids have been overly helpful. I always have a line of kiddos waiting to hold and snuggle with him. What a difference it makes to have 4 older kids instead of 4 younger kids all under the age of 5 like when Weston was born.

The first two nights at home were rough. I had no milk to feed him yet and he was just wide awake! I felt like I had been hit by a train in the mornings. I felt bad for Sean who didn't have the luxury of napping at work...like I could at home. My parents took the kids to the pumpkin patch on Thursday and I took two long naps. They left on Friday after a Dr's appointment for Landon...I was feeling a little better...so the kids and I spent the morning cleaning the house and getting things squared away.

His third night at home was much better. He stayed up until 1am, but had a few stretches of sleep. Sean slept downstairs, so I am glad he is able to get a little caught up before going to work on Monday.

The kids took four days off of school last week, so I am looking forward to our new routine on Monday with the newest addition!

Enjoy a few more pics from our last week!