Russell Wood Fontoura

So he is here! It's almost been 2 weeks since our sweet son made his debut and things are going great. He is a perfect baby and we are so blessed. It still feels pretty surreal most of the time to know that we are parents, especially when my mom was here helping. It felt more like we were playing house. Does anyone else feel that way?

So the week before he was due I went to the doctor and they pretty much assured me he wasn't coming anytime soon and told me we could talk about induction at my next appointment. I was kind of worried because I had already stopped working the week before and I didn't want to spend my maternity leave without a baby. So I called my boss and picked up some extra shifts that week. I ended up working a full workweek- 3 12 hour days, one of which was Friday, May 10th. During the day on Friday I started getting some back pains, but they weren't really bothersome and I'd had similar pains before so I didn't think much of it. By the time I was heading home at 7 pm they were becoming a little more painful and occurring regularly. I thought maybe this was the start of something, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. Plus, Ricardo was kind of mad at me for working 2 days before my due date because he didn't want me to have to go through labor after working a 12 hour shift. I didn't want him to be right :)

After dinner I was convinced I was actually having contractions 5 minutes apart and they were getting increasingly painful, not terrible at this point but definitely noticeable. Around 10 oclock I called my OB and the on call doctor said I could come in but warned me that they may send me home if it wasn't time. When I got to the hospital they monitored me for an hour and saw that I was having regular contractions but weren't convinced the baby was coming yet so they sent me home. People kept saying, "it's your first baby, it's going to take awhile..." They told me to take a Benadryl and try to get some sleep and come back later in the weekend when things got worse. At this point the contractions were getting pretty painful, so I didn't really know when would be the appropriate time to come back. I thought things were already at worse! I took the Benadryl like they told me but neither one of us got any sleep for the 2 hours that we were home. Soon enough my water broke and that was our ticket back to the hospital. They were pretty surprised to see us again and even more surprised that I was already halfway dilated at this point. I am convinced I just wasn't dramatic enough when I came in with contractions the first time. Turns out if you calmly tell someone that you are having painful contractions they don't necessarily believe you! It was 2 AM by this point and after labs, receiving fluids, and waiting for anesthesia to show up, I didn't get my epidural until 4:30. Worst 2.5 hours of my life, but after the epidural it was smooth sailing. Ricardo and I both got to sleep for an hour and a half. At 6 they woke me up and checked me and said, "ok, it's time to have the baby." I was shocked! He was born at 6:41 AM on May 11, one day before his due date and of course, as Ricardo predicted, immediately after working a 12 hour shift. :)

We had a great stay in the hospital. I delivered at one of the hospitals where I work and it was great. This hospital is out in the suburbs and just opened in September. It is beautiful and the staff was amazing. Even the food was good. Sunday was Mother's day and it was so fun to spend it with my perfect newborn baby my husband. We went home on Monday and my mom flew in on Tuesday. She stayed for a week and just left this past Tuesday, which was a lot of fun. We ate like kings and just enjoyed hanging out with Russell. Ricardo only has one class this summer so he has had a lot of free time to spend with us, which has been really nice. Anyway, see below for pictures, which I'm sure is all you want anyway!

     Last pregnant picture! Yay for being able to sleep on my stomach now.

     First father and son picture.

     How he spends most of his time...

     We love Grandma!

     He's not a huge fan of tummy time yet. He does like getting his hair washed though, which is a perk!

    ALL of the pictures of me with Russell consist of me sitting in this chair either right before or right after he eats, so I will only subject you to one.

    More father and son bonding

      Do they look alike?

  We love this boy.