Letting the Good Times Roll: He's here!

Well it finally happened! Colin McCabe Mandell is here! It seemed like we had been waiting forever, but our newest addition has arrived and what an amazing day it was! Since Ethan was born via cesarean section, we decided to have Colin in the same fashion. The risks outweighed the benefits and we decided it was not worth the risk especially when it came to putting the little man's life in potential jeopardy.

The day started early for us. We had to be at the hospital by 6am. Because I did not want to just show up right after rolling out of bed, I decided to wake up early (4:50am) and shower and get make sure I was clean for the big day. My parents stayed at our house so they could take Ethan to school and make sure he was taken care of while Justin and I were away. We got everything packed and were out the door.

After arriving to the hospital, I was admitted, hooked up to an IV, and then sat there patiently waiting for the my doctor to show up and for things to really get started. When I had Ethan I had an epidural and for Colin's delivery they were going to do a spinal which was explained to me as one shot of numbing medication in the back and not a continuous numbing agent like an epidural. Either way I was terrified as I know the risks of both and just was dreading the needle being put in my back (as I am sure any person would be). BUT of course things did not go according to plan (it seems like for us it never does). Since I was taking baby aspirin to help keep preeclampsia/eclampsia at bay, I could not have an epidural or a spinal as the anesthesiologist feared I might develop a clot in my spinal cord which could result in paralysis. So we were given two alternatives: wait five more days to have Colin or I could be complete asleep for the procedure. My doctor did not want me to wait another five days so we decided to have me go completely under and deliver the baby without me being awake to remember doing so. With this option, Justin would not be allowed in the room, I would not be able to hear Colin crying for the first time, I would not able to be the first person to hold him, and when it was time to wake up I would feel as though I was hit my a ton of bricks and be in the worst pain OF MY LIFE! Sounds awesome doesn't it?

Once the decision was made to be asleep for the whole procedure, everything seemed to speed up and in no time Colin was here. He was born at 9:15am. He weighed 7lbs 2oz, was 19 3/4 inches long, and was completely perfect. Justin was able to see him right after he was born and he was even able to feed him about 20 minutes after he was born. Our little guy came out hungry and has been the same way ever since! Colin is completely different than Ethan with regards to a sleeping schedule and formula intake. When Ethan was born it was hard to get him to eat and keep it down and we joke that Colin ate more in one day than Ethan ate in a week. He eats ALL of the time and as long as he is keeping it down, we don't mind. He also (so far) has been really great with sleeping. Of course we are going to bed later, but I consider it a success when a 4 day old newborn sleeps from 1:30am-6:00am instead of being up every two hours like Ethan was. So below are some pictures of our little guy and if you has followed the pictures of Ethan since he was born, the boys are very similar and I couldn't be happier!

Colin McCabe Mandell