Welcome baby Jacob!

Jacob Matthew was born one day early on Friday, November 15th at 1:34pm. He weighed in at 7lb 3oz and is 19.5 inches long. 

ready to go home!

I was feeling really crappy at work on Thursday and let my boss know that I would need to take Friday off. I figured I was going to rest and set up some more baby items that were still in boxes & bags since Chris had gotten the baby's room 90% finished. 

I wasn't able to sleep Thursday night and hung out on the couch with Chris for a while. Baby Jake was very active in my belly and was kicking and punching me. I finally decided that I needed to try to go to bed and I started to feel weird pressure in my lower abdomen. And then my water broke. It was scary and exciting at the same time. Contractions started about 45 minutes later and I called my OB. She said to take my time to shower, eat something, and then head into the hospital. Chris managed to get me to sit on the couch and watch 2 episodes of Friends before I just couldn't take it any more and told him we had to leave. I wasn't in pain; I was mostly just nervous and thought I would feel more relaxed being at the hospital. 

We got to the hospital around 4am and were admitted pretty quickly. I labored for a while before I got an epidural and then I was able to nap. Later on, after 2 hours of pushing, baby Jake was born. It was the most amazing experience ever. 

Our hospital stay was great and Jake passed all of the tests that are performed in the days after birth. We were finally ready to go home on Sunday and of course Chicagoland was experiencing some crazy weather (tornadoes Southwest of the city and heavy rain & winds in Chicago and Oak Park). We watched the weather on the news and checked our iPhone weather apps and decided around 1pm to make a break for it. We were lucky to leave the hospital in between storms and we got home safe & sound. 

It has been an exciting week so far. I was absolutely exhausted for 2 days after getting home and now every day is better and better. Chris and I are absolutely in love with this little man and couldn't be happier!