Judah Thomas Penton!!

oh man! Judah is here. We are so excited and thankful to have 2 healthy beautiful boys. I have been putting off this post bc I feel like it will be so massive.. we have so much to say!

Here are some highlights of the past 2 weeks -

cutest moment: When we arrived home from the hospital and introduced Joel to Judah, He kept saying 'baby' and tried to pick up Judah by the legs as he had been holding the other baby doll. see the full video HERE.


scariest moment: The Dr. broke my water and found tons of meconium. This could be a life-threatening situation for the baby, if the baby swallows it. (he didn't, and was fine)

most surprising challenge: Adjusting Joel III to his new brother. He still hasn't fully learned but I think now he knows that Judah is a person (he will now frequently hand Judah footballs and guns and offer Judah a drink from his sippy cup) and that Judah isn't going away. However, he still does not like it when Mommy is nursing Judah and attempts to climb on top of both of us... causing lots of stress for Mommy.


biggest answer to prayer: The entire labor and delivery process. Wow. It was truly a great experience! I labored at home for 8 hours (even went to church!) then we headed to the hospital at 4pm. Got an epidural at 6pm, was so comfortable that we joked around and watched some of "Meet the Parents" on TV. Pushed twice, Judah arrived at 839pm. Easy. I guess next time I should try it without the epidural to make it more challenging. ;) Watch the entire Labor and Delivery process (G-rated) HERE.



most precious moment: Praying with Judah on my chest immediately after delivery. We did this with Joel and it was such an intimate time with Our Lord, each other, and our newest gift from Him.


are the two boys different? Yes! We can tell already. Judah has darker, thicker skin, and darker hair. He is also of course way smaller than Joel was. Judah is naturally pretty laid back, but more difficult to 'mold' i.e. conforming him to my preferred schedule is not as easy as it was for Joel. Fortunately the schedule he 'prefers' is pretty easy to deal with.

Joel III after first bath:

Judah after first bath:

was it easier the 2nd time around? Surprisingly, most of the pregnancy was! I think I can attribute most of this to his weight. Also as you just read the Labor and Delivery was no comparison. Knowing what to expect afterward also made things easier. So, all in all, yes!



most surprising moment: Finding out that Tiny Judah was only 6 lb 11 oz! (Joel was 8 lb 4 oz.) Our Dr. did say that the placenta was huge for his size (about half his weight which isn't normal) the cord was very long, and there was a lot of fluid. His size was very surprising to me, however, Joel kept predicting he would be 'small and feisty'



saddest moment: Joel III crying "up, up!" when I nursed Judah and then crying even more when I told him I wasn't able to hold him right now.

moment that makes me laugh: Thinking about Joel (husband)'s face when we were getting ready to go to the hospital. He had a huge smile on his face, he kept making me laugh, and he was running around the house like a crazy person trying to get things ready. My contractions hadn't progressed for 6-7 hours (they were still 10 mins apart and not any more painful than when they started) so we weren't sure it was the real thing until around 3pm. He didn't think I would ever go into labor so the whole thing was pretty exciting for him. You can catch a glimpse of his excitement HERE.

More to come later!