Announcing...

Cruz Michael Jolley

2.20.12

7 lbs., 4 oz., 19 1/2"

He's here! I am so enamoured with this baby boy. The little cherub has completely consumed me for the past 4 weeks, I am smitten. I just LOVE him.

I mean, look at him! How cute is he? I will say, getting him here was a bit tough. Cody and I got checked in to the Hospital and all was great. Especially because I was able to get Tiger's Blood syrup in my ice chips. When did they start allowing that?? Best thing ever. I got the epidural (which um, hurt more than I remembered...ow) and things seemed to be going just fine, but early afternoon they wanted to speed things along, and that hurt too. Bad. Around 3:00 my nurse told me that I wasn't progressing as quickly as hoped and Cruz's heart rate was dropping.
They put me on oxygen which was sort of scary. I know it's not a big deal, but still. Nothing improved for an hour and they started talking about an amnio infusion and a possible c-section (!). Finally at 4:00 I had dialated to a 5 and Cruz was doing better. They kept me on oxygen but things were looking up. Cody's Mom came and within in 30 minutes I was ready to deliver, but where is the Doctor? In the operating room...so yeah, my nurse had to lay me on my side to prevent her having to deliver the baby. At one point I told Cody he would have to scrub in. The nurse started getting everything ready and in the nick of time the Doctor showed! Yay! I pushed three times and then then Doctor said, "Ok, during the next contraction we'll just ease you through it". I took a few breaths and then he said, "Alright here we go..." I got ready to push, but uh, I sort of didn't need to. The contraction helped deliver the baby and suddenly he was here! Look at his cute little 'stork bites'.
Cody and I were crying as they took Cruz and got him all cleaned up. Oh my, he was so small and perfect. He sounded a little raspy, like there was something in his throat. They took him to the NICU and hooked him to a CPAP machine to monitor him for a few hours. Cody's whole family came to see us at the hospital and the boys were so excited to meet their new brother. Finally at 10:30 they brought Cruz into my room. They took turns holding him and Cole kept saying, "He's sooo cuuuuuute!". Tender. They came to see me a lot during those first few days, so did Cody's family and Grandma and Aunt. Friends stopped by and Cruz got plenty of love.
Since we've been home I've been overly taken care of. Cody took off those first two weeks and completely spoiled me, I wasn't ready for him to go back to work and for me to face reality. He is such a Prince, that man. The boys have been big helpers - Cache is always ready to give Cruz his binky and Cole loves to take care of the diapers. He also asks if he can 'pet' the baby.

Look at his perfectly shaped head.

The first few nights were rough, but now Cruz has a bit of a pattern and it's getting easier. He's a great little sleeper and he eats like a champ. He's gaining weight and growing too fast. I spend so much time just staring at him. I just love, love, LOVE him. We are so happy to have him in our little family. And I must say, Cody and I make beautiful babies. It's not fair to the rest of the world, really. Welcome baby Cruz!