Baby Jude

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I've been a bit behind in posting pictures of Jude's birth, but here they are! Joel captured some great photo's of the kids meeting Jude.

A little bit about his birth...

I had been having contractions on and off all day, but didn't think much of it since I had been having episodes of strong contractions for a few weeks at that point. I kind of shrugged it off and said I'd wait until my midwife appointment and she can let me know if I was in labor (since I was still having NST's at that point and the monitor would show if I was having consistent contractions).

A few contractions showed up on the monitor, nothing consistent, but they were there. My midwife checked me and was surprised I wasn't already in labor. She told me she wouldn't be surprised if I was in labor that night. I told her not to say that unless she was positive! Ha. I was SO over being pregnant at that point :)

But sure enough, my appointment was at 4pm and by 5pm I knew I was in labor. 6pm I called the midwife to let her know, and by 7pm we were at the hospital. I had an epidural at 8pm and we just waited. I had gone back and forth on whether or not to try this birth naturally, but decided a few weeks before Jude's birth to get an epidural again if possible. So we waited and waited until 10:41pm when he was born!

It was a fairly quick birth and Jude was born healthy, healthy! Elijah and Ella both required NICU to be present at the birth, so as soon as the baby was born they put them into a warming bed and cleaned them off. This time, I was able to hold Jude immediately afterwards. It was such a sweet moment. Actually, everything about this birth was so chill and much more laid back then it was with my others and I loved it!

Jude is such a sweetheart and a very easy newborn. He eats and sleeps great, and during the day is pretty calm even when he's awake! I'm hoping it lasts :)

Ella and Elijah LOVE being a big brother and sister. I'm sure it will wear off a bit, but for now they adore him. Ella likes to steal his pacifiers and tries to crawl on top of him in his swing, but she also loves to kiss and "pet" his head. Elijah wants to hold him ALL THE TIME, and does a great job :)

Life with 3 kids is an adjustment, but I am loving it. I thrive so much more in the newborn stage than I do in the pregnancy stage. I get nervous for when the baby starts needing a schedule and wanting to be held. Right now it's pretty easy to put him in the carrier and go about my daily chores and outings. We will see how the next few months go! I'm praying my heart is prepared for the challenges and the not so easy days. But for now I'm soaking up all of Jude's newborn'ness.' :)