Ajay is 4!

Happy Birthday, Ajay!
(Green happens to be my big guy's favorite color)

I thought that in honor of Ajay's birthday, I would post his birth story. Even as he runs around in his underwear because he's upset that none of his pants (even the elastic ones) are tight enough for him, I can't help but be filled with love for this munchkin. He has a great imagination and makes us laugh. I love the minds of little ones - on a drive about a month back he looked out the window, saw the full moon and said "Look! The moon is all put together!" He see's the bunnies in our backyard and wants to go feed them, I just tell him that they get enough food from our garden! He enjoys videos/tv and dancing to his kid's music cds. He still seems small to me, but I'll find out where he ranks amongst his peers next week at his well-child check-up. He has a very sweet heart and loves his little brother very much (even tho he has a rough way of showing it!)
And now, as I head off to help him make his birthday cake, I leave you with his birth story (as typed up a few days after his birth) .....

Hello Everyone!! Its been a long 9 months in the making, but our Baby Boy is here! He's the cutest Lil Guy ever!! Here are his stats: (Sorry we're just now getting this out, we weren't able to get our cable connected until today - Thursday)

Name: Ajay Joseph (pronounced ah-JAY - sort of like a sneeze - ah-CHOO....ah-JAY)
Born: Sunday, June 5th, 11:45pm
Weight: 6 pounds, 3.6 ounces
Length: 18 1/2 inches
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Dark Brown
Here's the story of what happened...

A contraction woke me up at 5:20am Sunday morning (our 2nd day of moving into our new place! - luckily my family was in town to help and they didn't have to make a second trip!). I must've woken Biju because he asked me what was wrong - I said it hurts, so he reminded me to BREATHE! I was able to fall back asleep, and 40 minutes later another woke me up, then 40 minutes after that another one. At this point it was time to wake up for the day and I started moving around the house and taking my shower and what not and the contractions (from here on out known as ctx) got closer together. I didn't want to time them because I didn't want to jinx them and make them stop! We got over to our new place where my brother and his family had slept, and my mom and dad, who'd stayed at my sisters, came over. We made breakfast and started working on the house. My ctx were still coming, but since I couldn't do any heavy work, I sat down and started going through the baby clothes and getting them put into his dresser with the help of my sister in law. While I was sitting, the ctx spaced themselves out to one every half hour! They were supposed to get closer together, not further apart! By this point I was thinking I had jinxed myself by calling our Doc to give her a heads up that we might go to the hospital - now it was looking like I was jumping the gun. I started doing other things around the house and the day passed with irregular ctx - coming whenever they felt like it. Around 3pm, we went over to our old house to pick up some more items before going to my sisters for dinner... we didn't make it for dinner. The ctx were coming a lot faster, and they sorta took me by surprise, cuz they seemed to suddenly jump to every 3-4 minutes! I was expecting them to gradually get closer, not to do so suddenly! I kept having to lean over a chair or my mom or the trunk of the car to wait for one to pass! Finally we decided it was time to go to the hospital. We checked in at 5:09pm (Biju made special note of what time we got there) and the ctx were officially about 4 min. apart. I was checked by the dr. on call and he said I was at 6cm, and we wouldn't be going home without baby!! We called my friend Lisa so she could come and be our secretary :-) She kept a log of what happened and what time it happened, and all my ctx, and a few of our phrases - it helped me keep my mouth in check! 2 hours after check-in, I was a 7...Only a 7?!? All that pain and 2 hours and I'd only progressed 1 freakin' centimeter?? Well we were able to get up and walk around so my nurse directed me to a passage way that crosses over one of the streets - she said it has a slight angle which might help progress things. My mom and dad and sister were were by my side during this time while Biju went to the car to get our things. When Biju got back he started helping me count my breaths - I think it was his counting that helped me get through the contractions. I finally made it to 8 cm, but wasn't making it much further, so Dr. Cobb and I decided to break my water. Boy did things get intense after that! Biju helped me into the tub and we turned on the jets. I thought they were intense in the tub but once I got out I realized how much the tub was helping me. I shivered and my teeth chattered out of the tub until I was able to warm back up. I got back into the bed for a bit more, but knew I should walk around a bit to help dilate. So Biju helped me walk around the room - I stood behind him with my arms draped over his shoulders and we walked around. I then decided to try the labor ball and it wasn't nearly as comfy as I thought it would be. I eventually got back into bed and Dr. Cobb said I was close to 9 1/2 cm and Doc said to start setting things up cuz we'd have a baby within the half hour (it was another hour after that). Everyone kept telling me to let them know when I felt the need to push - I never REALLY felt the urge to push, but the pressure did get stronger, so I told them I thought I was ready. I started pushing and they told me to "wrap around the baby" - I pushed as hard as I could and I pushed that baby boy out in 14 minutes! I did get a local to help numb the area, but that was all! No epidural or any other sort of medicine. All natural is painful, but I think definately worth it! Ajay was quite alert and they put him on my tummy right away. Daddy and Mommy got a little emotional when we saw our Lil Guy staring up at us. Such an amazing sight. Ajay is a great little baby, he has quite a content little personality. He can get quite loud when we're not able to latch on right away, but after some cooing and shooshing, he calms down enough to try again. He was 5lbs 14oz yesterday when the Home Health Nurse weighed him, so we have a few ounces to go before we're back up to his birth weight. I'm afraid he's starting to get his days and nights turned around, so we'll have to work on that.
i now have the lil guy nursing in my arms, so typing is a bit more difficult. hope everyone is well!

All our love, Kalinda, Biju and Ajay