Welcome Jacob Owen Beckenhauer

I have been wanting to sit down and post my thoughts and pictures for a week now so now I finally get to it...

As you can see we have welcomed our son Jacob Owen into our family and we feel more than blessed. I wanted to write down his labor and delivery story so that I wont forget and for his own knowledge... its always fun to hear about the day you were born.

So I was a week overdue.. I had done just about E-VER-Y-THING to get my baby into this world. I went to my 41 week checkup where I was 3cm dialated and ready to go.. my doctor said that I should go anyday. I decided to take my brothers advice and get some labor inducing acupuncture done. At 4:00pm I walked into the chiropractors office for my appointment. He informed me that if my body was ready acupuncture has been proven to induce labor and also make contractions come fast... hummmm... We'll see. I arrived back home at 5:00. We sat down to a yummy dinner of pea soup and cornbread (one of my favorites) and I am feeling some stirring going on, but I refused to say anything to my mom or Rob as to not get anyones hope up. We decided to go on a nice long walk (a routine we had done every night). Every so often I would have to slow down my pace.. hummm I thought could this be it?? We arrived back home and my mom put allie to bed. I started to watch the clock everytime I felt anything.... 15 min apart? really? At about 9pm I realized my contractions were about 8 to 10 min apart.. And at that point my mom goes, "Are you keeping time?? Will you please let us know when you are having a contraction??" I was so afraid of false labor that I didn't want to say anything. Finally at 9:45 we decided to start packing my bag and get things moving. I called my sweet friend and neighbor, Jenny, who was going to stay the night with Allie. At 10:30 we headed out, my contractions were about 3-4 min apart, but still not too intense. We checked into the hospital and I was 4-5 cm dialated. They checked the heartbeat and I was on my own. I was really wanting to go natural again, so I slipped into my own comfy nightgown and started to walk the room. In the blink of an eye my pain went from a level 3 to an 8. Man did those contractions hurt. I decided to get into the tub, the tub was my best friend in Allies labor so I was hoping the same. I got some relief but not much. Now I am not one of those quiet laboring ladies... The poor women that are in the other rooms are probably thinking that someone was dying in the room next door. I scream and grunt loud. I mean loud. It is the only thing that relieves any pain. I have the joy of having ALL back labor. Back labor is something that is hard to describe because the pain is so intense. It is like someone is taking your lower back muscle and ripping it to shreds every 1 to 2 minutes... sounds nice huh? Well my poor husband and mom tried there best to help, but nothing seemed to help. At midnight they checked me again and I was about 7cm. Ugh I thought come on I know its only been a little over an hour but man I am dying here. Rob was trying to be encouraging... a great hubby. So I continued to bounce on the excercise ball, walk, squat and back in the tub I went. Pain Pain PAIN. I felt like I was ready. They checked me at 1:15 and I was 9 cm. The doctor came in and broke my water and I was ready to go. I looked at Rob and said "I don't think I can do this" He lowered down kissed my head and said "You are almost there you can do it". Let the pushing begin. At this point I had a flashback to how painful pushing Allie was and decided Nope cant do it. I verbalized my concerns... probably not very nicely yet again Rob says "You can do this, you can do this" So three CRAZY PAINFUL pushes later our baby joined the world. I can't explain the pain of pushing a baby out but whatever pain you can imagine times it by 10 and maybe youre close! :) But at 1:47am I looked down at this baby looked at Rob they helded him up at said "Its a BOY". They placed him on my chest and I looked at that sweet boy amazed. I then looked over at Rob and he looked at me and continued to say "ITS A BOY ITS A BOY ITS A BOY!! WE HAVE A BOY!" I can not describe the grin on Robs face. I gaze into my sweet sons face amazed. Amazed at my Lord who continues to bless my family beyond belief. My mom kisses my head and says how proud she is of me. Rob kisses my head and says he loves me. Bliss. Those 30 min of having my son on my chest is minutes that I just wanted to breath in and never forget. The nurse finally came over and asked if I was ready for him to be weighed.... I guess if I have to... So they took him over to the scale and 9.0 pounds was read. No WONDER this boy hurt so bad coming out! Ahh. They wrapped him up placed on his hat and gave him to his daddy. The joy that poured out of Rob was almost humorous. He got his boy he had dreamed of... I could just hear Nebraskas school song ringing in his head....

Robs mom was on her way from Nebraska so we called her and told her to join us at the hospital since Jake already joined to world. Rob, my mom, and I all got to squeeze this new life that joined our family. I felt so blessed that I could share this with both Rob and my mom, a time that was so special. The support of both of them was one that got me through all the pain. Ann showed up shortly after Jakes birth and so we all got to share in the joy. Rob at that point was as giddy as a 5 year old on christmas. Soaking up that he had a boy was something that was seeping out of his pores. We all were laughing at him hopping around the room. Although it was 2:30 am we all talked and held this sweet baby boy. One of my good friends was coming off her shift at the ER and she stopped by and held Jake and got us all ice cream from McDonalds... I needed some calories in my system! Around 3:30am everyone headed home so it was just Rob, Jake, and I. That night I was unable to sleep. The adrenaline would not leave my system so I just layed in bed, prayed and watched my son sleep.

The next day we could not wait for Allie to come see her new brother. My mom, Ann and Allie finally came to the hospital around 11. She walked into the room and came straight to my bed climbed up and saw jake in his bed. I could see her eyes looking at him soaking it up. She got closer to him. "Can I hold him?" she asks. "Of course" She comes in next to me and I place him on her lap and pure joy pours from her face. Allie noticed a small wrapped box in Jakes bed. (Rob and I got Allie a silver heart necklace for Allie from Jake before he was born) We told Allie that it was for her from Jake. Her eyes lit up and she opened it up. She looked inside and her eyes lit up as she said can I wear it? We put it around her neck and she now has to show everyone her beautiful necklace that her brother Jake gave her. She never wants it taken off. Nothing like the love of a two year old towards her brother. We spent a lot of time together just holding Jake and soaking in our family. We spend another night at the hospital and got to go home the next day. We arrived back home where we were greeted by our two dogs and a happy little girl ready to show Jake all of her toys and things.... What Joy.
Its funny how a time that started in such extreme pain can end in such joy. I swear women can only get through labor pains knowing that there is such joy waiting for them on the other end... atleast thats what gets me through. That and the strength of the Lord... Other than those two things I couldn't do it.
So Jake is now a part of my sweet family. We are adjusting well to a family of four. Allie is doing so well with it all. She is such a great helper and is so patient when Jake needs to be fed or changed. Jake went to his check up on monday and was already gaining weight! Normally a baby looses weight and doesn't start gaining till 2 weeks so I have a feeling this little man is going to be a beast! The Dr said I can let him sleep at night so I do and he does :) he already is sleeping 6-7 hours at night! Love that!
I will try to keep posting photos and info on here as much as I can. Thank you for all of your congrats and support we are always amazed and feel so blessed to have such loving family and friends.

Nothing Like a Daughter with her Daddy

This week has been such a blessing... We normally have a very packed schedule, which only allows us to have one or two nights a week with just our family so those nights are so precious to Rob and I. This week, due to different circumstances, we have had so much more time together as a family and it has been a total gift from God, something we definitely needed since I know that time will be limited after the baby is born. I love those nights that we can just laugh and play together as a family.
One of my favorite things in the world is to watch Allie with her Daddy. I can never mimic that time they have together and how happy she is to be with him. Throughout the day Allie is constantly asking when Daddy is coming home from work. When she hears his truck rumbling up the street she runs to the window and starts squeeling. As he walks up the sidewalk she gets all giddy just waiting for him to walk in the door. When he walks in she squeezes him so hard and has the biggest smile on her face. Right away she asks "Daddy take this off" (as she pulls on his uniform) as she thinks that if his uniform is off he wont have to go back to work. She follows him up the stairs to change talking all about her day and then I hear her laugh upstairs with him saying "Plane please daddy!" Allie asks me all day to do things such as plane, throw her in the air, climb up mommy, or wrestle with her... at this moment with this LARGE belly of mine none of those things can be done and even without this belly, as a mom I can never play as rough as daddy, I worry too much, so she waits eagerly for her Daddy to play with her. Rob comes bounding down the stairs with Allie thrown over his shoulder like a ragdoll asking "have you seen Allie?" Allie looks at me with a grin on her face. For the next hour or two I have to hang up my motherly hat so that they can play together. So many times I want to say 'Careful! Be careful! She might get hurt!' but the second I want to say it I hear Allie's great belly laugh and her say "Again daddy again!" What it is about playing rough with daddy I do not know, but it is one of the things that makes her laugh so hard she looses her breath. One of Robs favorite things to do with Allie is something he has done since she was only 2 months old, something that makes my heart stop for a second and that is balancing Allie on his hands. She loves it... I hate it :) He has her stand on his hands as he raises her to the ceiling, great balance that girl has, but man I am always scared she will fall. But again its another thing that is only something Allie does with her Daddy. And so the playing continues....
Rob tosses her on the couch as she laughs and he sits down. She climbs off the couch chases Charlie (our dog) around the house then comes back to daddy and climbs up him. Rob pretends he doesn't see her and she looks up at him all confused at to why he isn't tossing her into the couch. I laugh. Allie looks up at him again and says "toss me daddy!" "Oh you want to be tossed??" Daddy says. "YEAH" allie yells! And so the craziness begins again. I continue to think we are going to have one tough cookie on our hands. There are only a couple times Allie stops, rubs the area that has been bonked, takes a breath and begins again. Rob turns into a horse, plane, wrestling partner, and many other things before we finally have to say okay Allie time for dinner or time for bed. She looks up at her Daddy smiles and says "again?" "No Allie time for bed" She walks away sad. "We'll play again tomorrow." "OK!" And so she waits another day for that precious time with her Daddy. Time that we always miss when his job calls him away, but time we love so dearly when hes home. mmmm. Nothing like a Daddy.