Ezekiel Gordin Romander has arrived!

Well, we finally have our little man at home. On Tuesday, October 7th, I woke up feeling a little funny. I decided to call Ginger, my long-term sub, and let her know that I would not be going in to work just in case. Around 10 AM, I began having some small contractions. Ethan, who had decided to stay home with me (just in case), and I decided to go for a walk to try and encourage things to move along. We walked around the neighborhood, but after only a few contractions, all action stopped.

Since I had already called in my long-term sub, I decided to just go ahead and stay home until labor officially began. After all, I had a doctor's appointment set for the next day at 12 pm. On Wednesday, October 7, Ethan and I met at the doctor's office (we had decided he might as well go to work). The doctor told us I was dilated to 5 cm and that the baby had dropped down some into the birth canal. We began discussing the due date, and the doctor indicated that the original due date of October 8 was probably more accurate after looking back over all of the records. With this information, we decided to just wait it out rather than take any action.

I got home from the doctor's office and decided to try to wrap up a couple of small things that I still needed to do. I had some paperwork that needed to be completed to finalize my administrative credential. I also wanted to finish copying my files off of my work laptop so that I could give it to Ginger. As I was looking for a flash drive to put the information on, my water broke at around 2:45! I frantically called Labor and Delivery and Ethan. I was told to take a share and wait for 30 minutes before calling back to labor and delivery. I was also told that my hospital of choice was currently full, and I would need to go to the San Jose facility.

After my "time out" I called back and was told to come in for delivery. I let Ethan know, and he quickly headed home to pick me up and take me to the hospital. Of course, he got stuck in traffic, so it took him 45 minutes to get here! By this time, I was having contractions. We raced to the hospital where I was immediately admitted and assigned a room around 4:30 pm.

I quickly discovered that I could not comfortably sit or lie down during contractions. These positions intensified the pain to an unbearable point. As a result, I spent the next several hours pacing the room and dealing with the contractions as best as I could. Around 9:00 PM, it became obvious that I was getting very tired from the constant standing. I realized that if labor continued in this way, I would not have the energy to push when the time came. Reluctantly, I gave in to having an epidural.

The Nurse Anesthetist came into the room to give the epidural. After "three" attempts with numerous kits, we realized that the epidural was not working! Finally, the anesthesiologist came into the room and administered what the nurses called the "perfect epidural". I couldn't feel a thing, but I could still move my legs!

Around this time, they checked and discovered that I was fully dilated, but that our little boy was not progressing down the birth canal. It would appear that his head might be too large to clear the necessary bones. We had one option...we decided to use pitocin in an attempt to encourage his head to drop further. If this didn't work, it would be time for a C-section. Luckily, he moved down a bit, and the midwife felt like we didn't need to have a C-section. However, he had not moved all the way down yet. The midwife decided to try some pushing to see if we could make any progress. After only 30 minutes of pushing, Ezekiel entered the world at 6:03 AM on October 8, 2009!

Ezekiel weighed 9 lbs. 4 oz. at birth, and he was 20 inches long. He was a very healthy little boy and quite strong. Immediately after birth, he was placed on my chest, and he actually lifted his head to look up at me. About half an hour later, when they examined him, he grabbed the nurse's stethscope as she was checking him out. He was very alert and active for the next couple of hourse. My mom, dad, and grandmother were able to come into the room and see him about an hour and a half after birth.

Ethan was a trooper through the whole process. He stayed by my side and stayed quiet, just as he knew I would like it! He gave encouraging words during the pushing stage and made sure that I rested in between. He was a wonderful coach!

About 2 hrs. after birth, we were moved to another room for our brief stay at the hospital. Ezekiel proved to be a bit of a lazy eater, so we had to supplement with a bit of formula fed using a syringe and tube until he figured out how nursing worked. It only took a couple of days for him to figure out that milk from mama was the way to go!

During the past week, my mom was here for 5 of the days to help out. She took care of some things around the house, including laundry, dishes, and even replanting our front flower bed. She was an amazing help, and her presence made it easy for Ethan and I to develop a routine for taking care of Ezekiel.

Ezekiel has had a busy first week! We came home from the hospital on October 9th. On the 10th, we had to go to the doctor to assess his health. He was a bit jaundiced, so we were given a Billi Blanket to help give him the light to help him get rid of the bilirubin in his system that caused the jaundice. This was fun because the light was a bright blue, making Ezekiel look like a glow worm when he was swaddled! The same day, Ethan's dad, Uncle Curt, and cousins (Linnea, Andrea, Madison, and Lucas) came to meet him. The following day, Ethan's mom (Jannie), my dad (Bill), and my brother (Brandon) and his family came for a visit. Ezekiel had his first trip to a restaurant when Jannie, Sandi, Bill, and my family went to Left at Albuquerque for lunch. That evening, Ezekiel made his first trip to the park with Grandma Gordin and I to meet papa and the puppies. The following day, my sister, Kristen, and Ezekiel's cousins, Kaylie and Sophia, came for a visit. We returned to the park so that the girls could play on the playground.

On the 13th, we had a wonderful rainstorm for Ezekiel to enjoy! We went to my school in order to drop off a few things to Ginger and allow some of the Vargas staff to meet our little man. Unfortunately, this was the last day that my mom was able to be with us, so we trepedaciously said our goodbyes and prepared for our first day on our own. On the 14th (yesterday), we went to the district office to finalize all of the paperwork I had been preparing on the day that I went into labor. Many people at district office were very excited to meet our little man.

Ezekiel has been a perfect baby. He is very quiet and enjoys his sleep, which allows mom and dad to have plenty of rest! Last night, Ethan and I went to bed around midnight, we got up for a 3 o'clock feeding. Then, Ezekiel went to sleep for the rest of the night. Today, I headed back to Vargas (for the last time for a while!). I wanted to give a couple more things to Ginger, and it was picture day, so I went to be in the class picture! The rest of the day has been spent relaxing and enjoying our little boy. We had some tummy time this morning and took a nap together. I have even managed to get a bit of laundry and picking up done around the house!

We are loving our little boy, and we look forward to having him meet all of you! Thank you for all of the calls and notes of support! We welcome visitors, just be sure to call before you come so that we aren't caught completely by surprise! Ezekiel is truly our precious little gift, and we are looking forward to the rest of the month while both of us are off work and able to bond as a family!