My pregnancy with Ethan was such a roller coaster ride. It was thrilling, it was exciting and at times, it was downright scary. We had no expectations, and while my tolerance of being large grew short in the final weeks, I do not remember being extremely uncomfortable.

And like babies, all pregnancies are different. I remember the thrill, joy and sheer excitement of finding out we were pregnant again. And then came the nausea that seemed to get worse as the day progressed and around week 18 I had terrible sciatic nerve pain…to the point I had to take a few sick days home from work because I could barely walk. Thankfully, this went away on its own by week 22 or 23.

Every night I was in bed by 8pm and asleep by 9. I was completely and utterly exhausted. I had no energy, no motivation to do much exercise and I was being beat up on the inside by a set of what seemed to be very strong little legs!

Katie and Scotty were also pregnant at the same time – so it was such a comfort to know that I was not alone in my impatience to meet my new little one….AND return to my normal physical state. By the way I felt, you would have thought I had gained 50+ pounds, but in reality I only gained 20 pounds…two pounds less than my first pregnancy.

In May, I left corporate America and tried my hand at freelancing fulltime. I fell in love with the flexibility and freedom as much as getting to spend more time with Ethan before he was no longer an only child.

By August I was just done. The summer was insanely hot…even for St. Louis and I stayed either indoors or at the pool which is just so unlike me. I would take Bailey for a morning walk, and then plop myself on the couch to work and count the days until I thought Max would make his grand arrival.

We were told Max was going to be larger than Ethan – who was 8.1 at birth and was born a week early. So we scheduled an induction for 9.9.10 – about a week in advance (my due date was 9.17.10) because that’s when my doctor would be delivering at Missouri Baptist. I thought Max would come sooner than that, but he waited until they forced him out 😉

We arrived at MoBap at about 7 am and they started the pitocin drip around 9 am. By 11:30 am I was REALLY wanting my epidural. Dr. Stein broke my water around noon, ordered my epidural and that’s when things progressed quickly. There was a time I didn’t think Dr. Stein would make it back in time to help Max enter the world! Maxwell Thomas was born at 1:48 in the afternoon after only a push and a half!

Max’s stats:

Weight: 7 lbs 11 oz

Length: 20 inches

Hair: Light brown with a little curl

Ethan was one of the first to meet Mr. Max, and he loved his little brother from the start. He was so proud…and he looked HUGE compared to this wee little one. He grew literally overnight (in my eyes).