Introducing....Jakob Becket Pedersen

HE'S HERE!!!!!!  The 2nd Pedersen baby boy has made his arrival....4 days early!  He and his brother now share the same date in the calendar for their birthdays: the 5th of their respective months!  Coincidence?  Don't know but weirdly enough....it is the same for my sister and me: the 16th of our respective months.

ANYWAY.....back to the newest little Pedersen!  :)  The Stig is now.....Jakob Becket Pedersen!  (sometimes pronounced as Ya-kobe) :)  You will have to continue reading to get the rest of the details (ie: weight, length, time, etc.).  We decided on Jakob (the Scandinavian spelling) back in the late winter.  Becket....we finally decided to go with Becket (another great English martyr was in the running as well) at the beginning of August after MUCH back and forth debate.  Thomas Becket is Dave's confirmation saint.  I'm not sure why but we seem to be going with English martyrs for baptismal saints for our children...even though neither of us have much English heritage....if any!

So....with the mystery of the name finally being revealed....on to Jakob's birth story and the rest of the details.  :)

Two weeks ago tonight, I was NOT feeling well.  I was suffering from a shortness of breath which was alarming and concerning and had me contacting my doula/good friend for advice.  As I spoke with my sister on the phone that evening, my shortness of breath came across as sounding like I had been crying.  I had not been crying.  :)  I went to bed early, thankful that I had a dr. appt the next morning.  At exactly 1am Thursday, September 5th, I was awakened by my water breaking -- something that never happened with Jeffery.  I woke Dave up, called Lauren (my doula/friend) to alert her, and called my parents.  

Here is how awesome my parents are: it is 10pm in AZ when I call them and as I am explaining the events to my mom...she is informing me that my dad is ALREADY on the computer, arranging for the earliest flight to Richmond.  (My mom was already scheduled to come on the 7th)  

I also called our friend Shawn who had wonderfully agreed to come to our house, no matter the time, to take care of Jeffery when I finally went into labor.  We made up the sleeper couch for him downstairs, he arrived, and we all went back to sleep....intent on keeping me at home to labor for as long as possible.  Well....the boys slept.  I labored through contractions that were intensifying and coming closer and closer together.  Around 4:30am, I had had enough and the contractions were coming every 4-5 minutes.  I woke Dave and a half hour later, we were on our way to the hospital.

39 weeks, 3 days....ready or not....Stig is coming!

Lauren, my doula and good friend, met us in our labor and delivery room and after learning that I was only 3 cm dilated (VERY discouraging), we lowered the lights in the room and Lauren and Dave got some rest....as we were all pretty convinced that it was going to be a LONG day of me laboring.  2 hours later, things were REALLY picking up.  After some tough love from Lauren (THANK YOU!) and getting out of bed, it became apparent that Stig's arrival was going to be sooner rather than later.  Things started happening SO fast that we actually had the doctor running down the hall to make it to our room on time.  She arrived, introduced herself (she wasn't my OB/GYN), asked for our birth plan wishes, and 3 pushes later.... at 9:29am....he was born!!!!  

Dave pressing the bell to play the music to announce Jakob's arrival throughout the whole hospital!  :)

After my 28 hour labor and 45 minutes of pushing (which is pretty short actually) with Jeffery....this labor and delivery was a breeze.  And thanks to Dave and Lauren's constant support and encouragement....I was successful in having another drug free labor and delivery!  Still can't believe that I....Jessica Pedersen....have birthed 2 boys without the use of drugs.  

Couldn't have done it without these 2 amazing people!

Can't believe little Jakob is here!

Before little Jakob was even 7 hours old.....my dad had landed in Richmond and was meeting his newest little grandson.  Dave went and picked him up at the airport, picked Jeffery up from our friends' house and brought them all back to the hospital to meet little Jakob.

Jeffery meeting his new little brother for the first time

I'm the mommy to TWO little BOYS!  HELP!  :)

Grandpa with little Jakob

Hugs for the new baby

The proud daddy!

The coolest thing about having Lauren as my doula...besides the fact that she is a good friend...is that we had asked her and her husband, Mark (our realtor for our new house!), to be little Jakob's Godparents.  So....for her first experience as a doula, she was witness to her Godson's birth.  It was a pretty emotional moment for all!  :)  Later that night, both she and Mark stopped by and we are so excited to be adding them to our "family".  :)

The proud Godparents!

My dad was a lifesaver!  His almost immediate presence after Jakob's birth saved us from SO MUCH stress and concern when it came to handling Jeffery.  Dave wanted to be at the hospital with me as much as possible but a small, confined room with a lot of "no fingers" items is not an ideal place for a rogue planet toddler.  :)  Enter my dad.  He fed Jeffery, got him down for naps, watched football and baseball with him, played with him in the backyard and was an absolute God-send!

Never mind that in the ONE WEEK that he was here, he managed to rake our entire front and back yard AND mow both yards TWICE!  :)  Have I said that he was a God-send?!

Sooner than I could imagine, it was time to go home.  Unlike when I had Jeffery, I was more than ready to get home and have the family all together again.  

Content little Jakob

Dave and "Uncle" Adam's viking drawing and spelling of Jakob's name!

Ready to go home

All decked out in the hat Lauren made for him!

Dave and I arrived at home just in time for Dave to go back to the airport and pick up my mom....and some celebratory BBQ from our favorite BBQ place, Buzz & Ned's!  :)  The minute my mom walked into the house, Jeffery was yelling for "Oma" (Grandma in German) and was so excited to see her!  (Thank you SKYPE!)

Our new little boy!

We're a family of 4 now!

Mom's here and in heaven!

A happy Oma with her two little boys!

And now....we are starting to settle into the newborn routine all over again!  The adrenaline rush of the first few days is gone and has been replaced with sleep deprivation and the inability (on my part) to finish sentences or even think of words.  But despite all that....I am absolutely in love with my little Jakob Becket and am so happy he is here!

Bliss!