Now that he's already 8 months old, I thought it was about time I shared Wesley's birth story.
We learned we were pregnant with our second baby a couple days before Christmas 2021. We took a trip to Utah to visit family and Jason managed to keep the secret the whole time (go Jason!) Then back in Colorado, we spent two weeks packing up our lives and saying goodbye to our Denver friends and family before, yet again, loading up a moving truck.
Moving day was awful. Jason left a few hours before me since you can't speed in a moving truck. I woke up around 5am, ready to grab Oliver and hop in the car. Much to my dismay, I found him peacefully sleeping in a puddle of puke in his pack 'n' play. Exhausted and queasy myself, I cleaned him up as best I could and we set out on our drive. It was dark. It was cold. There was blowing snow. I was pretty sure we were going to die. Oliver threw up two more times on the way. 10 hours later, we finally arrived at our new home. I very much regretted getting pregnant right before a move.
At our first ultrasound, my doctor asked if his med student could take the picture. I was fine with that, but when we got the picture back it was veeeerrry hard to see where the baby was. No 'bean' pics for us! We called him our amoeba baby for awhile.
For the first few months, I was sure I was having a girl. I was much more nauseous than with Oliver, and probably more tired too (although that may have been because this time I had a toddler to care for while I was pregnant). Rather than cravings for mac 'n' cheese and tator tots, I found myself eating LOTS of strawberries and salads with Olive Garden dressing. (Somehow I still gained just as much weight as with Oliver though). Much to my shock, when we went for our second ultrasound, the technician pronounced, "It's a boy!"
I wasn't upset we were having another boy, just surprised. There were definitely some perks: not having to buy a bunch of girl stuff, for one, and we were already used to the idea of being 'boy parents'. The only downside? We were pretty sure we'd used our favorite boy name with Oliver, and there were no good ones left.
We ruminated over names for several months. In June, while we were vising Colorado, Jason's aunt Sheri suggested "Wesley", which was a family name. I genuinely liked the name, and now that I've met the little boy it belongs to I love it.
As we approached the 37 week mark, I anxiously waited for signs of labor. Oliver was born at 37 weeks and 3 days, and my doctor had told me it was likely this baby would be early too. 37 weeks came and went, then 38 weeks, then 39. Finally I asked to be induced, and so Jason's mom came to spend the night with Oliver and we headed to the hospital early on a Tuesday morning.
Let me tell you, induction is the way to go. My doctor broke my water around 10:30, I had contractions until 1:30 or 2, then I got my epidural (I LOVE epidurals), we started pushing around 3, and Wesley made his entrance around 4:30pm. There was a bit of a scare in there when his heart rate kept dropping, and my doctor mentioned he may have to use forceps (this felt oddly reminiscent of my own birth story). The nurse called out his weight in grams and my doctor said "That's an 8-pound baby!"
I about died; he had told me if I went full-term, the baby would likely be 7 or 7 1/2 pounds at most.
No complications with recovery this time around! The next morning I was able to get up and shower while Wesley napped in the nursery (we took full advantage of the nursery this time), and then later on Jason's mom brought Oliver to meet his brother. During their visit, Jason took Oliver to the vending machine and while they were gone a nurse took Wesley for a vision test. When Ollie re-entered the room, he asked "Where's Wessee?" What a good big brother he was, already worried about his baby brother.
We were able to go home that night and my family stopped by to meet him. Then a few days later he met Uncle Nate, home from his mission just three days after Wes was born. That weekend he was also able to meet Jason's family and all of his cousins. What a busy week for a newborn!
He is such a precious boy. We have loved getting to know him and watch how he and Oliver interact. Wesley likes to bully Oliver by stealing his food and toys. Oliver loves having a brother... for the most part :)
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