The Best Birthday Party Ever.

Benton Thomas Osteen was born Tuesday, April 13th, at 9:56am. He weighed in at 7lbs 13oz and was 19.5 inches long. We are SO EXCITED and SO IN LOVE with this little boy...he's just incredible. :)
Here he is at 2 days old:


So here's the story:
We had the c-section scheduled for Tuesday morning at 7:30am. Matt and I got up at 4:45am to take showers, get me on the monitor, and prepare for the delivery.
Wouldn't you know that the doctor ended up having to do an emergency c-section on another patient, and our section was pushed back to 9:30! It was actually okay though; I was getting nervous around 6:45am and the extra time allowed me to calm down and actually anticipate the surgery. So around 9:15am, the nurses came in to take me back for my spinal. It took 3 times for them to find the right spot (thank God for the numbing medicine!), and then immediately my left leg went numb, then my right leg and then I was numb almost to my chest! That is the craziest feeling ever - the anesthesiologists were great and talked me through the entire thing...I'm super paranoid when it comes to my body and what's going on with it...I needed to BE SURE that everything that was happening was normal. :) Well about 10 minutes later, the nurses got Matt to come back, and then 5-6 minutes later, Benton was born! He came out screaming...and it was the best sound I have ever heard!
Matt got to watch him get cleaned up, weighed, and checked out by the doctor; he even got to hold his little hand while all of this was going on. Benton was having a little trouble breathing and was sent to the NICU for monitoring. I got to see him just as he was being wheeled off...a beautiful little boy!
Originally, we thought he was just going to be in the NICU for a few hours, then overnight, and then for the next day. His breathing issues resolved after a couple days and he was able to come off the CPAP machine.

Little Man:


However, the doctors were worried about his feedings. Benton was not excited about breastfeeding, but he didn't really want the bottle either. When he didn't take the bottle or breast, they fed him through a feeding tube. We became worried that he wasn't on the right schedule of feeding and that's why he wasn't eating...he wasn't hungry! So the doctors let us move into a room in the Children's Hospital so that we could be in the same room as the baby...which puts us at today. I have actually been discharged as a patient since Friday, but the hospital allowed us to take on "boarder status," where we wouldn't get any nursing care, but Matt and I could stay on the postpartum floor and go down to the NICU as often as we wanted. I laughed with some of my nurses that I am actually choosing to stay here of my own free will...haha...but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Now we are in the Children's Hospital with Benton, and I am so PROUD to say that we have had 3 successful feedings since we've been in here! YAY!!!!! As long as he keeps this up through the night, he should be able to have his little feeding tube removed (the docs want it in there "just in case") and maybe we will get to go home! We will see and please continue to pray about this!
I'm feeling okay...c-sections are no joke! I'm in a good bit of pain when I get up from bed and when I'm moving around too much, but it's all been worth it. Benton is the most precious thing Matt and I have ever seen, held, and loved. He really is such a good baby - he hardly ever fusses and is just a doll to be around. Thank you so much for all of your prayers throughout this journey; it's nothing short of a miracle that we made it to 37 weeks. When the doctor saw my placenta, he said it looked "ugly"; apparently the clot between the placenta and the uterine wall was the size of a softball...and could have abrupted at any time. God is so GOOD!!!
Keep watching for updates...we bought a new camera yesterday and will be taking LOTS of pictures! :)

A very proud Daddy


Being a good boy and drinking his bottle


Sweet face


3 days old!


Asleep on Daddy's belly, watching the Gamecocks win today


More photos to come!