Xander Gage Westbrook is finally here! It has been almost 9 weeks since he was born and it has been the biggest roller coaster of emotions that I have ever experienced! We went to the hospital at 5 am on July 30th, 2009 (which is also mine and David's birthday) to induce labor. They broke my water at 6 am and then told me that my normal Dr. had an emergency and would not be delivering my baby! That made me a little uneasy, but everything worked out in the end and I love the new doc and now she is my regular doctor. She had a smile on her face the whole time during delivery, and made me feel very comfortable. I was in labor for about 9 hours, and was only in pain for about one of those hours. After contractions started getting really painful, I got an epidural and felt nothing until right before it was time to start pushing, and then they gave me a boost of medicine and I was back to numb, thank goodness! I pushed for over an hour, which I had no idea was part of birth, I thought you just gave it a good push and it was done, but boy was I wrong! I didn't do any research on the actual process because I didn't want to scare myself any more than I already was, because believe me, I was terrified, even right up to the last minute. I told David I didn't know if I could do it, but it kinda had to be done! So at 3:06 pm on my 25th birthday, with lots of help and support from my family and friends, I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy! My husband, mother, and mother in law and up to 4 nurses going in and out were in the room with me during birth. He weighed 7 lbs and 7 oz and was 21 and 1/2 inches long. I cried the moment I saw him and when they put him on my stomach, he touched my nose with his tiny little finger. David did not get to cut the cord like I thought he would, but he didn't really seem to mind! The first couple of weeks I was consumed with caring for the baby and was so scared that something would happen or that he would stop breathing the moment I took my eyes off of him. Eventually that feeling started to fade, and I was able to sleep some during the night, but even now when I wake up, I still check to make sure he is breathing! I finally got to where I could do things with him by myself, without being scared or clumsy with him, but I honestly don't know how I could have handled it if it wasn't for my mom being there whenever I needed her. I also had lots of help from Gran and other people fixing us dinner and bringing it over (although I think they just wanted an excuse to see Xander! just kidding). I finally went back to work during my sixth week off, and it has been another tough adjustment, because I was having to leave the baby for 8 hours a day, but at first it was only 3 days a week, and now I am back on a 5 day a week schedule and will be bringing him to work with me for part of the day, so I won't have to miss him so much! It is so fascinating to just sit and stare at the little life that David and I created. He is so beautiful and I never thought I could love someone so much, besides David of course, but that's really a whole other kind of love! He does the funniest things, like when he has been sleeping for a long time and he starts waking up and stretching, his little fists go back and forth really fast like he's revving a motorcycle! Also, as he is waking up, he will smile and laugh sometimes it even sounds like a belly laugh yet his eyes won't open for a few minutes. Xander doesn't usually want to take the pacifier if he is not full and sleepy, which sometimes can be stressful because at times he just wants to be fussy and it seems like there's nothing I can do about it. I am also thankful that he isn't dependent on it because maybe it will be easy to transition away from the "passy". I am so lucky to be a mother, so many people don't have the opportunity and it has completely changed my life in a way I never would have imagined. I can't wait for the many milestones that are sure to come in our lives with this little person that we have created!