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This is my first blog post announcing the birth of Caleb Temerlin, however I did post on social media the day he was born. Coincidentally, my blog was undergoing a little maintenance this past weekend so I haven’t been able to post since last week anyway. The site looks the same but it should work at a much faster speed, which will be nicer for all you readers. If you encounter any difficulties or see something that doesn’t look right, please let me know!

Now back to baby. Isn’t he beautiful? These photos have been taken over the past three days or so and I feel like you can already see the slight changes to his face. The woman in yellow rocking him is my mother. She’s been by to every day to drop off food, watch the kids, fold laundry, or do whatever needs to be done. She is a lifesaver and I honestly have no idea how we would function without her.

And now, The Birth Story: An Abbreviated Version. I woke up at 11:45 on Wednesday night with what felt like slight stomach cramps. I decided to sit on the couch and time the contractions to see if they were indeed regular or if I should perhaps try to go back to sleep until they became something worth waking Gabe up over. Fifteen minutes later, I was dressed, bag packed, and standing over Gabe saying “We need to go. Now.”

Gabe made it to the hospital in 11 minutes. It usually take us 20 minutes from our house, if that is any indication of how fast we were going. I was admitted right away and received an epidural as soon as my blood work came back. At the time, I thought it took an eternity before the anesthesiologist came around to my room but according to Gabe, it was actually quite fast. Time does not fly when you are experiencing excruciating contractions every minute.

My labor was relatively short. It lasted for roughly 6 hours and that was only because the doctor was swamped that night with deliveries so it took her almost two hours to come to my room. She broke my water and Caleb was born 30 minutes later at 6:30 in the morning. Had she been able to see me as soon as I was fully dilated, my labor most likely would have only lasted four hours. (Isn’t it weird how in the movies, labor always starts with the pregnant woman standing in a public place minding her own business when whoosh, her water breaks, announcing in the most indelicate way possible that her labor is about to begin? That never happens to me. They always have to break my water for me. Too much information? Sorry.)

Caleb is slightly bigger than Eddie was at birth but smaller than Sam was. He is healthy, with a good appetite and a semi-decent sleeping pattern. He is only three days old, so he hasn’t developed any type of schedule per say. I’d say I’m averaging five-six non consecutive hours of sleep at night. While it isn’t great, it was certainly much worse with Sam, so I am greatful for what little sleep I can get.

I have been working on the Rosewater one row at a time. Usually I knit one row while pumping, so it’s coming along. Ideally I would have it done in time for Caleb’s Bris on Saturday but that is probably unlikely.

Happy Monday, my friends.