Justin Gregory Smith - Birth Story Part I

We welcomed Justin Gregory Smith into the world October 22nd, 2009. We had a scheduled c-section date and time, but our little boy decided for himself when he was to arrive. We are proud of him for it too! We were scheduled to start the c-section around 12:00pm on Thursday. At 9:00pm on Wednesday night my water broke as Mike and I were sitting on the couch in our living room! Thankfully we were prepared enough that we had our bags packed, were able to drop Zach off with his daycare provider (we love her!) and make it to the hospital around 10:30. As we sat in triage I was having mild contractions about 4 minutes apart. We were told the O.R. was occupied and so was the anesthesiologist. I thought, no problem I can handle some mild contractions for an hour or so until it's our turn. Mild contractions turned into major contractions which turned into pushing contractions all by 12:30. 3 1/2 hours after my water broke! Finally my doctor arrived, the O.R. was free and the anesthesiologist was available. I actually pushed for a bit with an epidural to see if this little guy would come out. Turns out he is stubborn like his brother. We headed into the O.R. around 2:00am and at 2:44am Justin was officially born. The rest is a blur :) He is perfectly healthy and a joyous addition to our family. More on our first visitors and our trip home in the next few posts.

It's time! (the post that never happened!)

In my idle time before Justin was born I created this post a day ahead so I could put it up on our site the night before we went into the hospital. Well little did I know our little boy would decide on his own to come a bit early. After my water broke and we were sitting in triage at the hospital, I said to Mike "Oh no, I forgot to put up my blog post!" So I thought I would put it up now and it hopefully will jump start me into putting up pictures and writing about our experience! Stay tuned...



"A woman in childbirth suffers, because her time has come; but when she has given birth to the child she forgets the suffering in her joy that a human being has been born into the world."

-John 16:21, NJB



We go in at noon on Thursday the 22nd. Please say prayers for a safe c-section and a quick recovery for both of us. We can't wait to introduce you to our new little one!

Our first goldfish

We hit a very important milestone in the Smith household this fall. We brought home our first goldfish! Zachary accomplished this all by himself at our parish festival. Grandma and Grandpa Smith were happy to give him some money to throw ping pong balls to try to get one in a gold fish bowl. (your typical carnival game) I figure, really what are the odds that my 2 year old will get one in? Seemed like a safe activity! The first round of throwing didn't go so well. But the second round Zach got the hang of it! He got one in! I was very excited for him until I realized that meant we were bringing a goldfish home with us! Zachary was so proud of his prize! He carried it around with him the rest of the time. We brought it home and even had a fish bowl stashed in one of our closets. I did my best to follow all the "how not to kill your goldfish" rules and we even went out to get some food for him. You may be able to guess where this story is going....Anyway, our little fishy lasted until about bedtime. Right before Zach was to go to bed, fishy was resting on the bottom of the bowl. Ironically, I think the fish food may have done him in! We said good night to fishy and I spend the rest of the night wondering how to explain to Zach that his fish was no longer alive! It took a few hours in the morning before he remembered he had a fish the day before. I told him that his fish wasn't feeling well and went back to his mommy and daddy. That seemed to satisfy him and he didn't seem too upset. Disaster averted! whew! In the end, it all makes for a great story and blog post and I don't have to keep a fishbowl clean!

October fun!

We had a great time at Kade's birthday party earlier this month. It was a fun crisp fall day to be outside! Zach had a blast riding his tricycle on the Monon trail with all the big kids and playing on the playground. Oh and of course he loved the birthday cake!

2 1/2 !!

Our little Zach is 2 1/2 years old today. He amazes us with what he can do (and say!) at such a young age. We had our doctor visit yesterday. He did really well and our doctor loves to chat with him! He weighs 32 pounds and is almost 37 inches tall. He did need to get shots yesterday. I tried my best to get him ready, telling him that they were going to hurt and he would probably cry. And cry he did! Oh the look in their eyes when that needle goes in. It breaks my heart every time.

Baby Smith #2 is doing well. 16 more days! I think we are eager and anxious all at the same time! We have everything washed and organized. We have our family all lined up to help after he arrives. Now we just need the baby!

I know I promised pictures, but our computer just crashed! We are working on getting it fixed and hopefully will have it up and running in time to share pictures of our new family member!