I'm letting you in on a little secret: the second labor really does go faster than the first. It's just a question of how much faster and whether or not you are prepared for it.Arthur took his time. He was born about 12 hours after my contractions started (including an hour of pushing), which, according to the midwives, was not really that bad for a first labor.
This time around, I woke up at 11:30 pm because my water had broke. Then the contractions came on, but they weren't 1 minute long and 4 minutes apart. They were 1 minute long and 2 minutes apart! Eek! We called Marcy (who came over to spend the night with Arthur) and then Sarah (who was going to watch him the next morning until we came home). Marcy made it over safely despite the snow (another 4 inches or so) and we were off to the Birth Center.
Robinson managed to get out of our driveway, hit every single light green, and avoided law enforcement (while speeding a little). When we arrived, Robinson hadn't even taken off his shoes and jacket as I threw off clothing and started to push. The second midwife arrived. Balin was born 20 minutes later. We were completely unprepared for how quickly this baby came into the world. Had we hesitated, he might have been born on the Steese (a very similar situation happened to my mom with her second daughter, only she was on the Richardson).Balin was born March 28th at 1:31 am. He was 8 lbs 12 oz - almost a whole pound bigger than Arthur! - and 20 1/4" long. He's healthy and happy and has reddish hair. I hope he gets to keep that.
As we were pulling into the driveway this morning, we were a little concerned to find no one home. Sarah had kidnapped Arthur and had taken him to her house where he spent the entire day playing, eating, and watching Bob the Builder. In fact, when we did call the conversation went something like this:
Robinson: Hi, Sarah, it's Robinson. How's Arthur?
Sarah: He's fine. Do you want to talk to him?
Robinson: Sure.
Sarah (to Arthur): Hey, Arthur, do you want to talk to your dad?
(No response.)
Robinson: Ask him if he wants to talk to Mommy.
Sarah (to Arthur): Do you want to talk to your mom?
Arthur (to Sarah): No. I'm playing.
Sarah was gracious enough to keep Arthur all day and all night (his first sleepover!) so that we could get settled in with Balin. It was nice to have time with Balin, but we missed Arthur terribly. Sarah sent updates throughout the day so that we'd know he was doing well.Balin is eager to meet his older brother and give him a gift. I think Arthur is eager to meet Balin to see what all the fuss is about.
Blessed be.
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