Introducing Ethan Daniel Durbin!!

Our new little guy!

Welcome Ethan!!

So you were the one who was kicking me...

Big boy!

Trying to get a family picture....someone wasn't cooperating.

Ethan Daniel Durbin was born November 22, 2010 at 8:29am. He weighed 8lbs 7.5oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. Here is his story....

We got to the hospital a little late, needed to be there at 6am, got there at 6:10 or so by the time we got back to the prep area. My nurse, Roxy told me she would get me started but at 7am, my friend Dory would be taking care of me! I was excited because I requested Dory to be my nurse! Roxy got my IV started, got me all prepped and ready to go. A couple of friends from work, Dallas and Kelly, came down before their shift ended to say hi and wish me good luck. It was fun and helped me to relax a bit before the c/section. Its different knowing that you are going in to have a baby and you have to have a surgery in order for that to happen! (Its a little nerve racking, even though I knew I was going to be surrounded by awesome friends that were going to take excellent care of me and my baby.) Dory got there at 7am and was so excited to be my nurse! And she told me that when she woke up this morning, she just had a feeling that I was having a boy. Hmmm, weird! Anyway, we chatted away and caught up as she finished all the prep work, then talked me through the spinal block. As soon as I layed down, Dr Olesen came in and said, "Wow, there sure are a lot of people here." My friend Jill said, "Thats what happens when you are a VIP!" I thought that was funny. There was Dr Olesen, the girls from the NICU (Jessica and Jill for the baby and Pam to take pictures) Dr Wahlig from the NICU, Dory, Dr Olesen's student, 2 surgical techs, and the anesthesiologist. And probably a couple more, it seemed like there was a couple more L&D nurses too. Full room. And I am pretty sure I was laying there, stark naked in front of all of them. Nice. Anyway, all went well except my BP dropped a couple of times and I thought I was going to black out. Dory and Jill were coaching me, telling me to take deep breaths...it was kinda scary. I had never been that close to blacking out before. The next thing I knew, Dr Olesen said, "Oh its got a lot of long hair!" Then I heard her ask for the vacuum and thought, "oh no, its stuck...great." The surgical techs started pushing on my stomach and I felt a ton of pressure. I guess he was kind of wedged in there transverse, which is how he was in all the ultrasounds. Finally I heard all sorts of things - "Its a boy!" "Its an Ethan!" "What a big boy!" "Look at all that hair!" I was in shock. I thought my friends were joking with me - they had told me all along that they thought it was going to be a boy. I looked at Daniel and he was doing a little version of a Happy Dance (later I found out that he was actually doing a big version of a Happy Dance!) It was amazing - I love the surprise of finding out the gender of that baby I've been carrying around for 9 months! And I was wrong 2 times in a row - I really thought he was a girl! Daniel got to cut the cord and then they brought him over to me. When Daniel showed him to me, I instantly thought he looked like my side of the family. His eye brows and eye lashes were so light, almost hard to see. He didn't open his eyes like Isabelle did; she was so alert and looking right at me. Ethan thought it was too bright to even try to open his eyes. After a while, they took Ethan and Daniel to the nursery and I got stitched up. I was back in recovery by 9am.

Isabelle, Grandma Rita and Granny & Papa were waiting outside the nursery to see the new baby. My friend Jill came out to the waiting area and asked if Isabelle wanted to see her new baby brother! They were all excited to see him and Isabelle kept saying "Baby" and pointing to her new brother. She was all decked out in her Big Sister Tshirt and then she got to add a blue sticker that said, "Its a BOY!" to it.

After I was in recovery for a bit, Daniel and Ethan joined me (finally!!) and I got to hold him (finally!!) My mom and Daniel's mom brought Isabelle in too. She got to sit in bed with me and see Ethan up close and personal . She was pretty excited to finally meet her little brother!

I am so thankful that all went well that day. I am thankful for my healthy, beautiful baby boy and that his birth was safe and uneventful, that he didn't need any oxygen support or have any blood sugar issues. I guess that's how you begin to think when you work in the NICU. I am also thankful for my job and my coworkers and the fact that I got to have a say as to who came to the delivery. That was nice and an added perk to being a nurse in this area! I am just so thankful that I have 2 healthy babies. They are a true blessing from God. When you stop to think about all the things that could go wrong during a pregnancy or delivery, I am just to thankful that I was blessed not just once, but twice with healthy kids.