Our new addition... the birth story

A little overdue, but I must introduce Mr. Joshua Mitchel Stover to the bloggy world.  Our third baby boy was happily welcomed into this world on Thursday, October 11.  Yep, that's right, his birth date is 10-11-12.  Pretty cool.  Apparently lots of people chose this date for c-sections and inductions, because the hospital was crazy crowded.  We didn't choose the date, it chose us.  :-)  It was our due date though, but I honestly didn't think he would come until the weekend.  But, we had a check-up with the OB that morning and an ultrasound to check on fetal movement.  Apparently, Joshua wasn't really cooperative and he only scored 4 out of 8 on his biophysical profile, so our doctor smiled and said, "looks like we're going to meet this baby today. Here's the plan.  You are going to walk down stairs, get admitted and we will see him soon - hopefully, he'll cooperate once the fetal monitor is on, but if not, we might see him REALLY soon."  So off we went.  I was really nervous.  I didn't want a c-section.  I just didn't intuitively feel like he was coming that day.  So much for mommy intuition.  We weren't even prepared.  We had driven two cars into Louisville that day.  I was planning on working that afternoon, for crying out loud.  I love it when God takes over and just does His thing in His timing.  That's what I had prayed throughout this pregnancy - that we wouldn't be given the choice to induce or not.  Well, that's exactly what happened. 

So, we got admitted, hooked up and off things went.  He was cooperating better, so there was no need for a c-section, thank you Jesus!!! Billy ran home to get our stuff and I got hooked up for monitoring and was given an antibiotic through IV.  I was dilated at 3 when we got there, but they decided to go ahead and speed things along with pitocin and breaking my water fairly soon after we got there.  My birth plan (all natural) kind of went out the window because of BACK LABOR.  OUCH is all I have to say.  I made it to almost 7 cm and finally asked for an epidural when I semi-yelled something like "this is crazy stupid" to Billy.  You know what??? I'm not sad about it.  At all.  I enjoyed the labor and delivery so much more after that little epidural.  I progressed quickly and the whole experience (leaving the OB's office to delivery) lasted only 7 hours.  And, can I mention that my OB is an angel?  She wasn't even on call that day and drove back to the hospital that evening to deliver our sweet baby boy.  She delivered both Jacob and Jonathan, so I'm just so grateful it happened the way it did. 







 I hate to make some mommas jealous, but I only pushed 3 times. (i think it's because I exercised throughout pregnancy and my body is in pretty good shape).   Seriously.  30 seconds of pushing and I got to hold my sweet baby boy.  His cord was around his neck, not tightly, thank the Lord, but apparently, that was the reason he'd failed his little tests that morning.  He was perfect from the start.  Great APGAR scores and just beautiful.  He surprised us by being smaller than we thought.  He was 7 lbs 10 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.  He also had a bunch of black hair.  For some reason I thought he was going to be bald.  No idea why, but I was dead wrong!  Perfect is all I can say.  We enjoyed a little time with just him and his mommy and daddy.  What a precious few minutes. 

Oh Joshua - you are so loved.  Welcome to our world little man!  Your brothers are completely obsessed with you and hold you all.the.time.  You guys are going to be the three little amigos and it makes my heart happy knowing how much fun you guys will have together.  You have the best daddy on the planet.  Hands down.  He loves you so much.  He's quite the role model - watch him carefully and follow in his footsteps as he leads you toward Jesus.  I love you to the moon and back my sweet friend and even more than that.  You make my heart feel whole.  Love love love love you! 

Jacob-Man...

A little update about the oldest Stover kiddo... Jacob is doing great!  He is still loving Kindergarten and is learning a lot.  He really enjoys getting homework (go figure... he's a little like his momma.)  He is totally into writing little messages and he writes them every where.  My favorite lately has been: "Jacob is a cool kid.  He really is.  He is cool. He is fun"  His teacher has been encouraging him to expand his writing and he's now up to 5-6 sentences.  It's so cute.  He is reading like a champ and scored very well on the preliminary standardized tests at school.  I couldn't be more proud.  He loves (and even keeps me accountable!!!) the little notes I put in his lunchbox every day.  I started it the first day of school.  Lord, please help me never forget to put one in his lunchbox.  He would be crushed!!!!

Kindergarten has kind of mellowed him out. He loves to read and comes home and just soaks up our time together.  He is so sweet and a delight to be around most all the time.  He's also very intuitive.  A couple of times lately, I have been sad (my emotions have been crazy this whole pregnancy, but these were special times...).  My aunt died suddenly a few weeks ago and I had a really hard time with it.  After I got the news, I was laying down in bed and my sweet little Jacob came in and snuggled me.  Genuine, unselfish snuggling.  Nothing could have made my day more than that!   

He has really enjoyed playing soccer this year.  So cute!!!  He's pretty good - he's fast and seemed to "Get" the game.  He even scored a goal.  I wonder if he'll keep his interest??? Who knows. 

Drum roll please...Jacob man is going to be in the little community theater play this Christmas season.  He is so excited.  The play is "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever."  And Jacob is Henry the angel.  I can't wait.  His papaw is really into the play thing, so this is something the two of them can share.  I'll be his biggest fan - that's for sure.  This play thing is no joke though.  Lots of practices and lots of time commitment.  He is pumped about it.  :-) 

Lastly, and I can't believe I'm typing these words... He turns 6 next Sunday.  Holy moly.  This time six years ago, I was imagining what he would look like, smell like and act like.  Now, I'm doing the same for his baby brother.  Special times.  I can't believe he's almost 6.  The last 6 years have been wonderful.  I love being momma to Jacob.  He stretches my heart more than I ever imagined.  We had a fun "friends" party for him last weekend - I wanted him to have a special time before baby changes our family.  He is determined that he will NOT share his birthday with Joshua... i hope that for his sake, that's true.  Happy Birthday sweet boy. 

 

OH, Jacob, I love you to the moon and back.  You are such an awesome kiddo!  Can't wait to see how God uses you in your life.  Keep shining for Jesus!!!

september update

wow - time is flying.  Cannot believe it's already October, which means it's almost D DAY!!!  Excited to meet baby Joshua SOON SOON SOON.  So, just going to try to do a quick update on everyone one at a time.  :-) 

So, what's new for the youngest (for now) Stover.  My sweet little Jonathan had an eventful September.  Here's the highlights: 

He started preschool again - he's in the three day program at FBC and LOVES every single second of it.  His teacher is Mrs. Ashby, and she (like everyone else at FBC preschool) is fabulous.  He has several friends from last year and his buddy Walker in his class, so that's super fun.  It's hilarious... he gives absolutely no details about his day other than, "I rode bikes."  Well, alrighty then.  So, thankfully I know the questions to ask and I can pull out of him what he ate for snack or who he sat by or what songs they sang, etc.  Fun stuff.  Really! 

 
Jonathan also made his soccer debut.  You know what?  He really likes it.  I was a little hesitant to see how he would react, but he really hangs tough and likes it a lot.  AND....drum roll please... he scored a goal yesterday!!!  That may not seem like a big deal, but really, our team has only scored maybe 6-7 goals all season and one of those was by Jonathan.  Big bro Jacob also scored one during the first game.  :-)  Maybe I'll be a big time soccer mom one day??? 

Speaking of big brother, Jonathan has had quite the transition without Jacob around all the time since he's in kindergarten.  In fact, he's downright sad at the sitters sometimes because life just isn't as eventful without Jacob to play with.  I pray that God is using this time to help him be comfortable who he is and realizing just how special he really is. 

I think he is totally ready and excited to be a big brother.  He is so sweet... he always includes Joshua in his family pictures and he prays for him a lot at night.  He also is careful to kiss my belly.  He did ask the dreaded question today though... "mommy how did baby Joshua get in your tummy?"  Hmmmmm... well, I gave a nice vague answer and he was satisfied.  :-) 

Here's a few other tidbits about sweet little Jonathan:
* he insists that we hold hands when we pray at meal time
* he's into trying to figure out what letter all words start with
* he loves toys.  All toys.  He just really genuinely enjoys playing and it's precious. 
* He is very dramatic and can turn on the whine like no other.  I can't stand it, but he is responding much better to the limits I set with him! 
* he's a great eater and takes great pride in that!
* if Jacob ever gets in trouble, Jonathan is quick to say, "Am I being great???"  :-p
* he goes through phases where he doesn't sleep throughout the night and he's in one of those slumps now... really dude, you CAN cover yourself and your animals back up... I promise!  And your water???? DRINK IT ROOM TEMPERATURE DUDE!  :-)

* I love him more and more every single day and I can't wait to see how God uses him.  And that smile??? Melt my heart.  Seriously.  Love him.