Catching Up!

Life sure has been breezing by us this past week as we are proud to announce the birth of our first child, a son! On Friday, February 12th, 2010 a star was born. We welcomed Acen "Ace" Joseph McKeon into the world at 1:42 p.m., weighing a surprising 7 pounds, 10 ounces and measuring 22 inches. He is perfect and very healthy and we are so thankful to God for such an incredible blessing.

Things are going really well and the most interesting aspect has been how unexpectedly small he is! While you always hear that every pregnancy is different, really...my experience has been VERY similar to my two sister's and mom's pregnancies. With that in mind and Frank and my statures, we just all expected a large child, at least 8+ pounds. To our surprise (and joy) we were blessed with this "tiny" little peanut and we're having so much fun with how teeny he is. "7 lbs, 10 oz. isn't all that small" you may say, however, in a family of cousins ranging from 8-10 lbs...he is a runt in comparison :) We have TONS AND TONS of clothes for Ace from my purchases, gifts from others and clothes on loan from his two aunts, however, we had NOTHING in newborn size. We have been scrambling and Grandma and Aunt Katie has made several trips to the store on his behalf to come up with some newborn sized clothing to get him through the next few weeks until he is in 0-3 month clothing. With how OVER PREPARED I was, I wasn't expecting that curve ball! :)

We were released from the hospital on Valentine's Day and the first two nights were difficult, however, God must have saw that we needed some relief and has sent us two great nights of sleep since. Last night he slept from 12:30am until 6:00am and the night before from 12:30am until 7:00am!!! I'm sure it's just a fluke and we'll continue to have "rough" nights, but for now...I'll take it without complaint!!

For those interested, here is our labor and delivery story: On Tuesday, February 9th, Acen's official due date came and went. I was uncomfortable, both physically and mentally, so my mom adamantly pushed for Frank to take me out furniture shopping (see last post). All that walking around must have done the trick because at 2:00am on Thursday morning, the following day, I woke up with contractions. I went to the hospital at 8:00am that morning, 95% sure that I wasn't far enough long and expecting them to send me home...which they did. I was okay with that because I was expecting it, however, it gave me piece of mind to get checked out and get confirmed that I was in fact in the beginning stages of labor.

Frank and I went back home and labored at home all day together and with my mom's help, we went back to the hospital at 8:00pm the same day. While my contractions were very strong, I was still only 1 cm dialated!! It was very frustrating and I was scared they were going to send me home but I basically begged and pleaded for them to admit me. I had not slept well in almost three weeks and had literally NO sleep the last two nights before. Under normal circumstances I could have labored at home longer but I was simply so physically and mentally exhausted from not sleeping the previous few nights that I just couldn't take it anymore. Needless to say they admitted me. With help from some pain medication I was able to spend the night sleeping and resting up for labor the next day. At around 3:00am I received my epidural, slept a bit longer and then started the labor process through Friday. I had to push for only 7 sets and he was here, arriving at 1:42 pm on 2/12. I have to say from all the stories I've heard and what the medical professionals say you can expect from a first time mom, I think I did pretty well. My doctor and nursing team said they were really proud of me and were surprised on how "easy and smooth" it all went. YEAH!

I have to thank my nursing staff as those women at Community North were absolutely instrumental in what I would consider a wonderful labor/delivery process and recovery in the following days. I also want to thank all of our wonderful friends who were able to visit. It made me feel really special to know that we had your support as friends and that you were anxious to meet our little guy. From kind words, hugs and words of encouragement, to cupcakes, meals ready to eat waiting for us at home and clothes, thank you SO MUCH to each and everyone of you who came, called, texted or emailed us in recent days. We love you!

Well, I have to go. Mommy duty calls, as Acen just woke himself up by farting really loudly and scared himself. Haha!