It Began with a BBFT

So we aren't new to this parenthood thing--we went through that glorious transition nearly 2.5 years ago with our two wonderful girls--and although we have been eagerly awaiting little Baby B #3's arrival for 9 months I thought I was prepared for the shock and awe of the 'bringing baby into the world' process since it was not necessarily going to be a new experience.  I am not talking about the actual logistics of going from point A (intrauterine life) to point B (extrauterine life)--although that never ceases to be cool and definitely surreal. I am talking about that moment when they hold that screaming, red, slippery little being in front of you for the first time and it hits you that it is your child and life is never going to be the same again--and all the other 'Juno moments' I like to call them--that follow.

I was wrong--It was just as much of a Tsunami of emotion and amazement as it was the first time around.

Let me go back a few hours to our pre-Benson state. We spent our last day as a family of 4 doing fun things with the girls like breakfast together (do you need to even ask where?), reading books (most of the activities had to be sitting down since Benson was using my lower organs as a bean bag chair), and even had time for a dip in the pool (I watched from the sidelines). We put the girls to bed and gave them big hugs and kisses--I had to strongly resist the urge to breakdown and cry (have I ever mentioned that I am terrible with change, whether it is positive or negative?) and then were off for my 'last supper' before the big day.  My parents came down a day early to Columbus to spend this pre-baby time with us (before they became babysitters extraordinaire for a week of twin two year olds) which made it extra special.  We were the only customers in our little local Thai restaurant since the rest of America was engrossed superbowl football or commercials.  

Despite my 2 benadryl (OB approved), sleep was elusive--not surprising. I had super planned for this day (lists were made, frozen meals were prepared, guilt alleviating gifts for the girls were purchased, remotes labeled) but contemplating this new chapter we were about to embark on in less than 12 hours kept my mind whirring. How would the twins take it? How are we going to get him to sleep through the night? Is he going to be a newborn that we are just going to start liking at month 4 when the colic subsides? How am I going to make all 3 feel equally loved? Most importantly--when will the minivan arrive? :)

We arrived to the hospital nice and early and before I knew it Benson made his first appearance into this world (before quite a crowd I might add: 2 nursing students and their instructor, a medical student, 2 anesthesia residents, an OB resident, an anesthesia attending, our OB, 3 pediatricians, a PhD student doing research, and 3 OR nurses) and I was experiencing the aforementioned 'first moments' with our son.  He did wonderfully. He came out peeing and screaming at the same time (I am sure that in the world of infants that means you are a good multitasker) and within an hour I was in recovery and he was in my arms.

We spent a surprisingly calm and cozy first day with him. My parents were able to visit and hold their new grandson in the morning. We spent the afternoon admiring our new little boy and in the evening he met Ryan's parents.

I must say that Benson is adorable. I know I am his mom and part of his genetic material came from me so it might seem that I am tooting my own horn, but I'd like to think I can be objective about this. I have seen my fair share of newborns and they are not all equally cute--so if he was one of those I would just omit this paragraph and hope for the best over the next several months :).  The twins certainly had their 'wrinkled raisin' newborn moments that were not so beautiful and now look at them.  Anyhow, back to Ben. He has great little lips and thanks to the miracle of the C-section has a great looking head too.  Some vital statistics for posterity must be dropped into the post as well. He was 8 lb 6 oz born at 8:45 am on February 7, 2011. He was 20 inches long.

He is amazing and I love looking over at his bassinet and knowing that he is my little guy.


And now for some pics.  I avoided the surgical pics on facebook because I know not everyone is as excited about that stuff as I am but since this blog is written mainly to record my own memories I did not censor anything--don't worry, there are no private part pics, unless you consider the inside of my abdominal cavity private parts.