Haiven Mary Morse

Haiven Mary Morse made her appearance on Monday this week, the 10th of October. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 4 oz. and measured 20 1/2 in. long. She weighed less than Taj did, but was a full inch longer than Taj was at his birth. I really hope she gets her daddy's long legs! She has a head full of long dark hair too, which I am loving:)

This labor could not have gone better compared to Taj's. I arrived at the hospital at 7:15 a.m. to check in and by 8:30 a.m. I had the IV going, the Pitocin started, and my water broke by the doctor. Things progressed pretty quickly, but I wanted to hold out on the epidural until I was at least dilated to a 5, since last time I had the epidural at a 2 and it took 12 hours to become complete. This time around I dilated to a 6 in about 4 hours and then I very much wanted an epidural. I am such a baby! Kudos to women who go without the epidural because there is no freaking way I could ever do it willingly! My whole body literally shook, I mean teeth chattering with every contraction. They were really intense while they were putting in the epidural and I held on to my mom and I think I nearly ripped the belt loops off her pants. Sorry mom! Brannon wasn't present for the epidural or the IV, so he showed up in time to basically watch the baby come, which was great because we didn't need him passing out again:) I had the epidural for one hour before I felt A LOT of pressure in the nether regions. By 1:33 p.m. we were meeting our sweet baby girl. I pushed about 20 minutes this time versus 2 hours last time. It was wonderful to get it over with so quickly! Another HUGE plus was that I didn't have any tears or require an episiotomy. So my labor this time around was about 5-6 hours, with Taj it was 14 hours, obviously a tremendous improvement! I stayed one night in the hospital and since all was well with both me and Haiven, we got to go home the next day. So far she has been a really great baby. She basically eats and sleeps all day and all night as well. I usually only have to get up twice in the night to feed her and then she goes right back to sleep. Another great thing about our sweet baby girl is that she is a champ at breastfeeding. I never really got to do that with Taj, so I'm glad that I get to experience that with her, although I never knew it would hurt so badly! For some reason every time she first latches on and the pain is really intense, the words "Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!" go through my mind. At this point I have scabs and am bleeding, so you can imagine what it feels like to reopen a wound about every two hours every day. My mom says it will get better soon and I'm really hoping that proves true!

Taj is also loving his new baby sister. He always points to her says, "Awww, my baby!" He loves to try and help by giving his sister her pacifier, or giving her a push in the swing, or by sharing his blanket and stuffed animal of the day with her. He loves to pet and tickle her head, which is his idea of being "soft." Really though, we are all very surprised with how much interest he has in her. We thought he would think she was neat and then go on back to whatever it was he was doing. When he wakes up in the morning and from his naps, the first thing he says is "My baby" and he takes off running to find her. I know he will be such a good big brother to her. I think the biggest challenge with this baby is going to be balancing my time between the baby and Taj. I am just going to have to make mommy and Taji time every day.

I am so blessed to have such good family and a great husband. My mom has stayed the week with us to help me get back on my feet. She has been an enormous help with Taj and with keeping the house put together and our stomachs full. Taj will certainly not be the only one sad to see her go back home, but I know my dad and youngest brother are dying to have her back as they've been eating freezer burnt chicken and whatever else my dad could manage to find in the cupboards. I think they even attempted to have the house cleaned up for when she returns, but as my dad pulled a groin muscle vacuuming (who knew that was possible?!), who knows how far they were able to get:) It's been great to have my mom here and I know the next week or two may be a little rough until we find a new routine. Brannon has been a great help as well. He spends every evening one on one with Taj so that Taj doesn't feel as though we don't pay him enough attention. He also takes care of Taj's bedtime and bathtime routine, which is a big relief. I'm so thankful I don't have to raise two kids on my own and I'm so thankful I have such a wonderful, helpful, and patient husband!