Jonah Michael Martin (l-o-n-g post)

I went in to labor around 6pm on Dec 27. Contractions started out slow so I thought it was just more Braxton Hicks. Then.... they got painful... and were coming at semi-regular intervals. I still wasn't sure it what "the real thing" since I had gone for several hours at a time previously with contractions at regular intervals. It wasn't until about 11pm that I decided it was "it". By then it was a matter of deciding when to call my parents and let them know to prepare for Rebekah. I decided to take a shower, then Danior and I got ready for bed. We read scriptures, prayed, and talked about how soon we wanted to go to the Hospital. While laying there I decided it was time (so we never got any sleep before leaving). I packed the last couple things for the Hospital and Diaper bags while Danior got ready. Then he loaded up the car while I called my parents to let them know we were on our way. I finally made my way to the car and Danior brought Rebekah (who was fast asleep) and we were on our way.

By this time contractions were about 5 minutes apart, and gaining fast in intensity. We checked in to Labor and Delivery at around 12:45am Sunday morning. When I was checked around 1:30am I was dilated to a 5, and in the worst pain ever, so I asked for all the pain meds I could get. They came in with an IV and gave me morphine to take the edge off. Then they did blood work to prep me for the epidural. About 45 minutes later I got the drugs I so badly needed. About 20 minutes later they decided to move me to the delivery room where I told my nurse, Kristy, that I felt the need to push. She checked me and said I was probably at about a 9... and called for Susan, the midwife, to come evaluate me. When she came in she said I was at a 9, but that the baby was "sunny-side up" meaning that he was facing up instead of down... hence the horrible pain of back labor. They had me lay on my side to try and get him to flip over. By then my urge to push was too strong, and Susan came back in the room and got ready for delivery. (Trying to get the baby to flip over)

At 3:30am I had dilated to 10 and began pushing.

After 7 minutes of pushing, baby had arrived... sunny-side up! Danior took the opportunity to snap this shot... keeping all modesty in mind... thank you! Almost as soon as they put him on my tummy he decided to shower us with a birthday surprise... welcome to the world of little boy babies.

Once Danior cut the cord they took him to be weighed and measured. He weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs. 1 oz. and measured a very long 21 3/4 inches.

Danior and I were both shocked at how much he and Rebekah looked the same. The nurses got him and me all cleaned and warmed up. Gina drove down from Palmdale and waited in the waiting room until the baby was born. Once I was cleaned up, Danior went out and she came in to the room to see the new baby.

Look at the cute little feet and toes. Kaiser puts an electronic device on his ankle so that he cannot leave the Maternity Ward without alarms gong off. They also have a security guard placed at the entrance of that part of the hospital and they are very strict about the number of visitors you are allowed to have, and keeping track of how you are related to the patient. I'm glad they take such precautions!

They moved me to the recovery room around 6am on Sunday morning and we met round one of nurses (who were changing shift at 7am). We lucked out and got a nice big room with two beds, which gave Danior one to sleep on (or at least theoretically he could have slept).

Sunday afternoon Brenda and Mike stopped by to say hi and to hold the baby. (At this point he didn't have a name yet... we were having a hard time deciding). Then the security guard came in and told us that my parents were here, but that she couldn't let them come in until Brenda and Mike left... see, strict visiting policy.

My parents came in with Rebekah and she (RL) immediatly pointed and said, "baby". Danior tried to explain to her that this is the baby that was in mommy's tummy. She had the most confused little face I had ever seen... it was priceless.

We told her this was her brother and that she is now a big sister. She was a little scared of the baby, but seemed to be like being with him.
Me and my babies.
Me and my family (it's so hard to get 4 people to all smile and look at the camera at the same time).

Late Sunday night -- my sleepy boys.

We were able to get a couple pictures of baby Jonah with his eyes open. This is one of the better ones. His eyes are really dark, but as far as we can tell they are a dark blue-gray... so he will probably have blue eyes like Rebekah does.

(top) Jonah -- 1 day old

(bottom) Rebekah -- 1 day old

Can you tell they are related?

We spent all day Sunday with visitors, which unfortunately left little to no sleep time for Danior or myself. Then Sunday night we were bombarded by nurses who kept coming in to run tests on me and Jonah. Danior got some sleep, but not very much because I needed his help to get out of bed and to feed Jonah. He was also the designated diaper changer. So, by Monday morning, we had been up for almost 36 hours straight... with only a couple 10 minute naps here and there... needless to say, we were completely exhausted.

My grandma and Gene came by to visit right before we got discharged from the hospital. Since Jonah and myself were both healthy and doing well, they gave us the option to leave Monday, or spend another night in the Hospital. We opted to go home thinking it would be easier on Rebekah and that it would be nice to be at home.

It wasn't until we were getting ready to fill out our discharge papers and fill out birth certificate information that we were able to decide on his name. Jonah Michael Martin. He isn't named after anyone, we just really liked the name.

We left the hospital and headed for home. Here is another comparison shot of Rebekah when she came home from the hospital and Jonah when we brought him home. Crazy huh?

(top) Rebekah --2 days old.

(bottom) Jonah -- almost 2 days old.

We are still exhausted, but adjusting pretty well to being the parents of two, and a family of four. We appreciate all those who are helping us out. It is rough with no sleep, but I think Danior and I are getting used to it ... either that, or we are too delirious to care.

We are hoping to bless him in church in February, but need to check our ward calendar to see if that is possible. Keep the month open though, just in case... we'll let everyone know as soon as possible.