Newborn Photos

Our first full day to have Thomas home from the hospital (his fourth day of life), we bundled him up and took him to have his first (of many, I'm sure!) photoshoot.  I wrote a little bit about our experience here.  Other than it being the beginning of a roseola virus for Katie Wynn, it was a really fun experience!  After doing a bit of research, we decided to hire Lisa Mac to photograph Thomas.  We purchased a First Year Package so throughout his first year, we'll actually have 4 sessions to capture him growing up.  

Anyway, all that's to say we've finally gotten his pics back and we are so pleased with how they turned out!  Now that our birth announcements have arrived in our friends' and family's mailboxes, I'm happy to share some of the pictures with you.  

I'm sure it goes without saying, but all photo credits go to Lisa Mac unless otherwise stated.

First, here's the one that we chose for our birth announcement.  Love, love it!

This one on the same striped blanket is another one of my favorites, but it had already been shared on Facebook as a sneak peek.  It was so cool to watch her get Thomas set up in this position.  She moved her hands for two seconds, quickly snapped the picture, and caught him before his head bobbled over.  :)  Notice his chubby cleavage?

This was the other one in the running for the birth announcement.  Very similar to the one we ended up choosing.  Looking at this picture makes me realize how much of that sweet peach fuzz on the top of his head he's already lost.  

Two more sweet ones.  Love those baby blues!

I like to compare pictures of both my babies to see how much they look alike.  I wouldn't have guessed that Katie Wynn had more hair at birth, but she did!  They both have those sweet kissable lips and chubby cheeks.  (Katie Wynn's picture on the right was taken by April Garrett Photography.)

My grandmother used to make (crochet? knit? I can't ever tell the difference...) what she called a "take me home sack" for new babies.  Both of my brothers and each of my cousins received them when they were expecting their first babies.  I was really bummed that I wouldn't ever get one since she passed away before I had kids.  Little did I know that she did make me one and my mom hid it from me until just before Katie Wynn arrived.  What a special gift!  Here are both Katie Wynn and Thomas pictured with it.  KW just has a part of it draped over her (this was the picture from her birth announcement) and Thomas is laying inside it.  He's also laying on a blanket made by his grandmother, Lala.

I've saved my very favorite pictures for last.  While I love all the precious pictures of just Thomas, nothing is better to me than a sweet photo that has both of my kids in it.  These were the last photos of the day and Katie Wynn was very done with it all, so I'm very impressed that Lisa was able to get these two shots!  I hope to get pictures like this of both of them at all four sessions this year so we can see how they grow together.  Katie Wynn is so proud to be a big sister to Thomas!

If you're looking for a photographer, definitely check out Lisa Mac!  We can't wait to see more pics from her later in the year!

Lately

Thomas has slept all the way through the night for the last two nights in a row!  Wooohooo!!  We've given him a bottle at 9pm and then haven't heard any screams until time for his 6am bottle.  The first night - his 5 weeks old "birthday" - I thought it was just a fluke, but he did it again last night.  I'm sure I'm totally jinxing everything by writing it out here, but I'm just so excited!  (And slightly more well-rested!)  Now that we know he can do it, we can start working towards it being an every night thing.

At his two week checkup, he was back above his birth weight.  He had gained 15 ounces in 13 days to put him at 8 pounds, 13 ounces.  It's been three weeks since that weigh-in so who knows what he's up to now!  Everything looked good at that checkup - good weight and size and no more jaundice.  Now we don't go back until he's 2 months old and the dreaded shots start.  

Thomas seems to have a thing for blondes.  Don't tell his big sister that he was playing in her bed while she was at school!

A couple weekends ago we upgraded our driveway pool to a bigger size so we've been logging lots of time in the water.  Katie Wynn spent one whole evening "diving" for stones!

Oh!  Big news for Katie Wynn - her hair is finally long enough for pig tails!!!  Probably no one thinks this is as exciting as I do.  I have always wanted a little girl so I could play with her hair.  :)

Katie Wynn has become the best big sister ever.  Any fears I had of her hating the new baby have completely gone away.  Sure, we have to tell her to "be gentle" a hundred times a day, but she just LOVES to touch Thomas and be close to him.  She kisses his head over and over and the first thing she says when she wakes up or gets home from school is "Baby?"  She has to know where he is at all times!  If he's on his playmat (pictured below) then chances are, she is too.

We had a fun dinner date with friends one night and KW and Addi Clare took turns pushing each other in a doll stroller.  She may need one of these for her birthday...she loves strollers!

A couple weeks ago I got my first scary call from daycare.  I always dread seeing their number pop up on my phone because it's never good news!  They called to let me know that Katie Wynn had red bumps all over her body and they seemed to be getting worse.  She didn't have any bumps when we dropped her off so I had no idea what they were talking about.  They texted me pictures and I immediately called the doctor for an appointment.

It definitely looked like hives from an allergic reaction and they were completely covering both her arms and legs.  We racked our brains of what could be causing it and finally decided this cute little dress was the culprit.  The outer layer of fabric was shimmery and must've had something that irritated her skin.  I took it off of her and the bumps immediately started to clear up.  They were nearly gone by the time she saw the doctor - thank goodness we had pics!  She agreed it was just an allergic reaction and no major need to worry.  Phew!

Katie Wynn has become obsessed with pockets.  She has a couple new pairs of shorts that have them and she loves to put her hands in them.  "Paw-ets!"  Of course, once they're in, they can't come out...she has to walk around with her hands jammed down in them!

Sometimes we sing, "Hands in your pants and do the pocket dance!" and everyone has to put their hands in their pockets and dance with her.  I wish I had this on video.

Remember how I said she loves strollers?  Poor Lolli has to be her passenger since Thomas can't sit up yet.  (But believe me, she has tried to get us to put him in her stroller hundreds of times!)

Here are some pictures of Mr. T so he doesn't feel left out.  We don't have any fun storiesl about him yet.  Mostly he just eats and sleeps (and sometimes screams and cries). 

Ok, back to Katie Wynn.  We bought an awesome bubble machine at Walmart that puts out a ton of bubbles.  She loves playing in them and I love that I'm not covered in sticky bubbly mess from having to blow them for her.  :)

It's amazing to me how much Katie Wynn has grown up in the last month.  Her vocabulary has expanded so much; she says words I didn't even know she knew!  She will copy what we say (gotta watch the language!) and chatters all day long.  Sometimes she says something over and over and gets so frustrated because we can't figure out what she's trying to tell us.  We do a lot of "point to what you want" around the house until we figure it out.  We've also realized that she notices a lot more of what we do than we think.  The other day I caught her strapping her baby doll into the car seat and then hooked her arm in it to pick it up just like how I do.  Didn't know she was watching me do that all the time!

Here is Sweet T in his "wet" monogram.  :)

I wasn't kidding about how much KW loves her little brother.  Here is more evidence of her sisterly love.  She had to immediately check on him after her bath, completely bypassing her pajamas that were laying out.  And one morning she wanted to hold him in our bed and just fell backwards when we gave him to her.  

On the morning of the 4th of July, she wanted Thomas to sit in her "yap" for a picture.  Can you believe these are the only pictures I took on the 4th?? We went to three different parties and I didn't break out my camera at a single one.  Shame on me!  But we had a really good day and enjoyed lots of time in the pool and eating good food and watching the fireworks.  

I think I'll end this post with a selfie (groupie?) we took one night after we'd all had baths.  Katie Wynn insisted that I put Thomas in her lap and then wanted to take a picture.  She is too funny!  

I'm going to try to do better at posting more regularly.  I already have a few other things to share and if Thomas keeps sleeping through the night (fingers crossed!!) maybe I can get back on a good schedule of posting!

Two Weeks with Two Kids

Life over the past two weeks has been sweet and fun and tiring and chaotic and everything in between!  I have so many pictures that I don't even know how to break them out into separate posts, so I'm just going to dump them all in one.  Hopefully I can do a decent job of summing up how life with two kids has been.

As you know, Thomas arrived on a Sunday afternoon.  Sunday evening and all day Monday were full of lots of visitors, so we stayed busy and were still functioning on adrenaline.  We finally got to go home on Tuesday, but not until after a long morning in the hospital that seemed to drag on.  Thomas got held up in the nursery for a good portion of the morning waiting on the pediatrician.  We got so antsy that we eventually walked to the nursery and tried to bust him outta there ourselves.  Turns out, you can't really do that.  You only get to view your baby through the window.  Sad.  

After what seemed like an eternity, he was finally brought back to our room with his discharge papers.  We were ready to blow that popsicle stand!  The only question left was, Is the world ready for these chubby cheeks?

Once at home, Matt helped me and Thomas get settled in and then left to fill prescriptions and pick up the big sister.  Thomas took his first nap in the Nap Nanny and I took this picture that reminded me of a similar one I took of Katie Wynn on her first day at home.

We survived our first night and if I remember correctly, it was very similar to our first night at home with Katie Wynn.  Lots of tears.  We definitely missed the hospital nursery!  We were up bright and early because we had newborn pictures scheduled for Wednesday.  Yes, they were crazy early and that day I definitely thought I was insane, but I was so glad to have them done and out of the way!  They were at 11:00 in the morning and we needed every minute before that to get out the door in time.  Katie Wynn was a big help, though, with Thomas's morning feeding. 

The whole photoshoot was an interesting experience.  This was the first time I'd ever done "studio" pictures so I didn't know what to expect.  It was the neatest room with all kinds of different backdrops.  I thought we would take a family picture or two so Matt, Katie Wynn, and I were all ready for pictures too.  Mom came with us too to help tend to Katie Wynn, so we had quite the crowd.  

We had to get Thomas good and asleep before we could get started which was a little easier said than done.  I think this was the most awake he'd been since birth, but Matt finally got him to sleep...even while holding big sister too!

The photographer had music playing and the room was lit with white Christmas lights.  It was a nice soothing environment for Thomas and even made the rest of us all a little sleepy.  They provided us with comfy chairs while the photographer worked her magic with our sweet baby boy.

Katie Wynn uncharacteristically fell asleep in my lap while we watched.  I chalked it up to it being her regular nap time, but in hindsight I should've realized that she was coming down with something...

After being there for about 3 hours, we finally packed up and headed home.  We never got a family shot and Katie Wynn wouldn't really cooperate in her picture with Thomas.  Thank goodness we bought the First Year Package so we'll have another chance to try in a couple months.  I'm so eager to see the pictures she did get!

By that evening, Katie Wynn was running a fever.  It didn't seem to effect her mood, though!  We gave her some tylenol and just assumed she was overtired.  

The next morning, Katie Wynn woke up early and was burning hot!!  Her temperature was around 102 so I called the doctor's office right at 8:00.  Miraculously, they'd had an 8:30 cancellation and said we could have it.  We've never gotten in the doctor that quickly!  Matt loaded her up and took her to the doctor while I stayed with Thomas.  I was hoping for an ear infection since that can be treated quickly, but both ears were fine (one had to be flushed, though, which I hear my baby girl did NOT like at all).  She passed her strep test too so that wasn't it.  The doctor said it could either be a bladder infection (a urine sample was needed to prove this) or roseola.  They tried to get a urine sample in the office but Katie Wynn wouldn't eat or drink anything so she wouldn't use the bathroom.  Matt brought her home with all the tools needed for me to try to get a sample from her to take to the hospital later in the afternoon.  It didn't work at all!!  Both bags that we attached to her fell off so we couldn't collect any urine.  But her fever was gone so I wasn't too stressed about it.

While they were at the doctor, Mom and I gave Thomas his first bath.  As expected, he wasn't impressed.

Even when it was over and I was getting him dressed, he kept giving me these "I hate you" looks.  I hope one day he actually enjoys bath time!  This picture of him in his Nap Nanny is one of my favorites to date.  :)

When Katie Wynn got home from the doctor, we had a Sonic drink waiting for her to hopefully get her to drink.  I finally broke down and played the Let It Go video from the Frozen movie for her (I have tried to so hard to keep this movie out of our house, but I recently heard that they listened to the soundtrack at daycare and that she loved this song).  I thought it would cheer her up and it did; she was glued to it!

The doctor had told Matt that we didn't necessarily need to keep Katie Wynn away from Thomas, but to try not to let her touch him.  Easier said than done!  That day seemed to be the day she wanted to touch and kiss him the most!  She settled for sitting next to him and watching him sleep.  

Going through my pictures, I can tell we were operating in Survival Mode on Thursday through Saturday because my picture taking drastically slowed down!  

Even though Katie Wynn was fever-free on Thursday evening, she woke up with a high temperature again on Friday.  Mom came over early that morning so that Matt could go to work and she could help me with the kids.

Thomas's first doctor's checkup was scheduled for that afternoon at 3:00, so I just told myself if I could keep her fever under control until then, maybe her doctor could look at her too while we were there for his appointment (she saw a different doctor on Thursday).  While I hated that she was sick and having to take medicine, it was nice that she was taking really long naps for me!  

Our doctor mostly echoed the same thing the other doctor had.  She was back to using the bathroom regularly and it didn't seem to be hurting her, so we kinda ruled out the bladder infection.  We were told to keep pushing ibuprofen and hopefully the rash from roseola would eventually show up.  They had a Saturday morning clinic we could go to if it got worse.

As for Thomas, he had a great checkup!  Everything looked good...except for his jaundice.  Our doctor was slightly concerned with it and wanted us to have it checked to make sure we didn't need to do light treatments.  Our local hospital where we would've had the test done was closed that day due to a fire, so we made plans to go to the ER at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital the next morning.  Not really what I wanted to do with my newborn!

Friday night was fine; fever was back down.  Saturday morning she was on fire again.  So frustrating!  We decided to split up - this time Matt loaded up Thomas to take him to get his jaundice checked (it came back fine, hallelujah!) while I stayed with our sick little girl.  I got her dressed in case I needed to take her to the Saturday clinic, but ultimately decided against it.  I gave her more ibuprofen and she was curled up in my bed and sound asleep again before 9:00 and slept until past noon!  

Saturday was low-key as we just tried to keep Katie Wynn's fever down and keep her eating and drinking.  We were THRILLED when she woke up fever-free Sunday morning!!  We were obviously glad that she felt good and were also glad that we didn't have to cancel our plans for the Cooks to come over for breakfast.  We hung around house all day and Katie Wynn loved doting on her brother.  Here she is enjoying tummy time with him.  :)

Sunday is when Katie Wynn finally got brave enough to hold her little brother.  And then once he was in her lap, she couldn't stop kissing on him!

It was while we were outside on the patio that I looked down and spotted a rash on Katie Wynn's back and got so excited!! I know that sounds strange for a mama to say, but the rash meant that A) it really was roseola that had been causing her fevers and B) it was finally over!  The doctor had told us that once the rash appeared it would be the end of it and that it would just go away on it's own.  I couldn't even see it by the next morning.  So glad to be done with that ordeal!

Week two with two kids was much calmer, thankfully.  Katie Wynn was able to return to daycare which kept her on her normal schedule and definitely made the days easier for me.  We did bust her one afternoon trying to pick Thomas up from his bouncy seat by herself.  We are going to have to keep a close eye on her!

My parents have both been a huge help with the kids when Matt's not around.  I had one night where he was going to be late getting home and my mom had somewhere to be so I was going to be left alone during dinner and bath time (most stressful part of the day!).  My dad was nice enough to come over and help so I wouldn't have a nervous breakdown.  I seriously don't know how I'd survive without my parents being so close!

This girl has gotten to where she kisses Thomas anytime he's close enough for her to reach.  It's so sweet to see her love him (although we have to say "be gentle" a LOT!).

Friday of this week started with Donuts with Dad at daycare and ended with popsicles on the patio after dinner.

Saturday we had a fun day just hanging around the house and playing.  Anna was with us for the weekend and she is always such a huge help with Katie Wynn.  She loves to play with her but also helps with diaper changes and meals and bath time!

We started Saturday off with some donut holes...

...and then we spent the WHOLE morning outside.  Matt and I worked in the yard while the girls played in the driveway.  We filled up Katie Wynn's little pool so they could "swim" and we didn't bother putting a swimsuit on KW.  With all the toys in the driveway and a toddler running around in her diaper, we were all kinds of redneck.  :)

Oh, and Thomas?  He supervised the yard work from the shade. 

After lunch and afternoon naps, we all walked down to the neighborhood park to do some sliding.  

Back at home, there was more playtime on the floor together.  

By nighttime, Matt had discovered that the air conditioning unit that cools our bedroom (and Katie Wynn's) was out.  We knew it was warm in our room but figured it was from me having the blinds open all day and the sun coming in.  But after having the blinds closed for several hours and the temp not dropping any, we knew something was wrong.  It wasn't too hot for us to sleep in Saturday night, but by Sunday evening it was a sauna and we had to sleep upstairs.  (It has since been fixed, thank goodness!)

Speaking of Sunday - Katie Wynn played on the floor with Thomas while I got ready for church.  Yes, we made it to church!  We had three kids in tow and weren't even late! 

I totally dropped the ball on Father's Day this year.  I let Matt get up early with Katie Wynn while I slept in, then I let him cook me breakfast, and then after church I let him buy us pizza for lunch!  I did at least give him a card and small gift...

After church on Father's Day.

Katie Wynn cooked dinner for us Sunday night.  Fried goldfish for everyone!  Well, actually she and Lolli are the only ones who ate them.  

She was at it again Sunday night, but this time she cooked our meal on the grill.  Who doesn't love ketchup on their fried chicken? :)

Finally, I'll leave you with two pictures of my pretty boy.  Who says boys can't wear bows?  I think he wears them well.  :)

So we have officially survived two weeks with two kids under two!  Parts of it have been easy and fun and just like I hoped it would be while other parts have been tough and exhausting (mostly the no-sleeping parts).  We are starting to get into a good routine so I hope things will only continue to get easier from here on out!

Thomas Meet and Greet

We have been so blessed to have so many visitors since Thomas arrived.  Our little dude is pretty popular already!  I have tried so hard to take a picture of him with all of his fans, but I know I missed some.  At any rate, here are the visitors I did get pictures of!

Some of the very first people to get to meet Thomas at the hospital were his grandparents...from both sides!  Lala and Poppa and Mimi and Poppy are all pretty smitten with our little guy and I think enjoyed getting to see him right away.

While meeting the grandparents was definitely important, the MOST important meet-and-greet was with this sweet little girl!

Matt's parents arrived in town before our scheduled induction so that they could help take care of Katie Wynn.  We had no idea beforehand if she would get to meet him on Sunday (his birthday) or if it would be on Monday.  We wanted her to stay on schedule as much as possible so if he didn't arrive until later in the evening, she would have to wait another day.  But, since he arrived at 3:36 in the afternoon, there was still plenty of time for her to come for a very quick visit.  We are so thankful that Matt's parents were able to bring her!

Overall, her first visit went pretty well.  She was shy, just as I expected her to be.  She touched the baby but then noticed our hospital bracelets and got way more interested in them.  At one point Thomas started crying so she did too.  Her visit was short and sweet which was fine since we knew she'd be back the next day (also because my legs were still very numb and dead and she kept crawling all over them!).  

Here are William and William getting to know each other.

Just like with Katie Wynn, our friends Jenny and Darrin were the first non-family guests to meet our new addition.  This time they had sweet Henry with them!  The boys don't look excited in their picture but we feel good about them being future BFFs.  On the right is Thomas (Brother Tom, our preacher) meeting our Thomas.  He stopped by on Monday morning and offered a prayer for us and Thomas.

My two boys...

On Monday afternoon, Anna and Wyatt got to come by to meet their new little brother.  I love this picture because everyone is smiling and looks happy, but I also hate it because Katie Wynn's not in it!  Unfortunately, her visit didn't overlap with theirs so I'll have to get a picture of Matt with all four of his kiddos later on.

The men of the family all crammed onto the tiny couch for a picture together.  I almost wrote "four generations of men" but I guess Wyatt and Thomas are the same generation?? Even though they're 14 years apart?  Yea, I don't really know.

Anna loved getting to hold Thomas!  She's so good with both him and Katie Wynn.

Later that day, Katie Wynn was back for another visit (and yes, back in her Big Sister shirt again).  I was so glad to see her; I had missed her so much already!!  Since she was only at the hospital for a short amount of time the day before, we saved her presents for Monday.  "Thomas" gave her a big bag of Mega Blocks as her big sister gift.  I don't know why it surprised me that we had to dump them ALL out onto my bed.  I should've seen that coming.

This guy.  I think he's pretty proud of his new son.  :)

Katie Wynn sat on the couch with the boys and her Poppy helped her inspect her new baby brother.  She was especially interested in his booboo after she saw his umbilical cord!

You would think that after giving her a brand! new! baby! and a bag of 86 mega blocks, that I would've totally won the gift-giving contest with Katie Wynn, right?  Nope.  Not even close.  In fact, it was my friend Jenny that won and she wasn't even trying!  She brought this bundle of balloons to us on Sunday and when Katie Wynn found them on Monday, you would've thought she won the lottery!  She squealed and shrieked as she batted them across the room.  I'm sure the people in the room next to us were glad when she left.  :)

Here is my brother Ben and his wife, Erin.  When Katie Wynn was born, I forgot to get pictures of the two of them when they visited her.  This time, I forgot to take pictures of my brother Nick and his wife, Beth!  Grrr, so mad at myself for that.  On the right is Allison who stopped by for a quick visit on Tuesday morning.

The visitors didn't stop after we left the hospital!  One day my friend Dana stopped by with her two kiddos and was even sweet enough to bring us dinner too!  

The Reginelli sisters stopped by to meet Thomas and even brought a gift - a new baby doll! - for Katie Wynn.  This picture on the right shows the one bad part of having so many visitors - Lolli thinks everyone is there to see her and jumps all over them.  :(

Last Sunday morning, Allison brought the rest of her family - her husband Chris and son Everett - over to see Thomas and even brought us a delicious breakfast.  

It's really hard to get a good picture of two toddlers, ya know?  I love the one on the right from when we asked them to hug.  Everett gave the ol' toddler lean so that Katie Wynn could hug him if she wanted (she was too shy!).  

That same Sunday, the Washburns brought over dinner.  Maybe I should have babies more often so I can see my friends all the time!  Wait, no...

Wesley was able to hold Thomas all by herself.  I can't believe how big she's gotten!

My grand mother was at my parents' house for a cookout one night so we took Thomas over so she could meet him.  She loved getting to hold and kiss him!

I know I've missed several of our visitors (not just Nick and Beth).  My friend Emily stopped by as well as Katie Wynn's old babysitter, Mrs. Kim, and her two girls.  Other friends to stop by included Kim J, Tracy and Olivia, and the Schwartzes.  Our cleaning lady even dropped by to bring us a gift!  Two of my mom's besties, Jenny and Leslie, came by and while I didn't get an actual picture of them, they're represented by the popsicle in the picture to the left.  They brought a whole box of them for Katie Wynn so we've been enjoying cold treats on the patio every night!

We have a Sip and See scheduled for the end of the month so we look forward to getting to see even more of our friends there!

The Day Thomas Arrived

Sunday, June 1, 2014...day of induction

12:36am   I'm wide awake.  I felt certain all day long that contractions would start on their own, but they never did.  I should really be getting as much sleep as I can, but there are too many thoughts.  Mostly about Katie Wynn.  Her world was about to drastically change and she had no idea it was even coming.

2:00am   All I can think about now is the red gatorade in the fridge.  I'm so parched I could chug the whole thing in one swoop.  Would they be able to tell if I drank it after midnight?  The possibility of bright red throw-up (would I get nauseous?) keeps me from breaking the rules.

3:30am  Matt's alarm goes off.  It's finally time to get this process started!  I hop in the shower first to start getting ready (still no contractions).  He strips the bed so our sheets can be washed and starts loading the car with some of our stuff.  He also moves small pieces of furniture into our bathroom since our carpets are being shampooed while we're at the hospital.  

4:05am   One last weigh-in before delivery: 155 pounds!

4:29am   I choke back tears as I check on Katie Wynn in her crib.  She is sleeping peacefully.  I promise her I'll be back home soon.

4:30am   Matt's dad is downstairs to see us off.  The car is loaded up and we make our exit.  Lolli is very confused about why we're leaving and not putting her in her kennel.  She gives me the saddest face as I close the door.  Her little world is about to change too!

5:00am   We arrive at the hospital right on time and get an awesome, up-front parking space.  Not many people out and about this early on a Sunday morning.  There is one family in the waiting room and that's it.  I sit down at admissions to get check-in and then we have a short wait.  

5:20am   We are settled in in L&D room 6.  My gown is on and the monitors have been hooked up to my [enormous] belly.  Still no contractions.

5:45am   A nurse arrives to put in my IV.  She has to draw blood first.  She pokes around on my left wrist to find a good vein, pokes in the needle, and draws blood.  As she flushes the tube, she realizes she has busted my vein and the fluid goes into my arm.  Holy cow, that hurt!  I held on to that bruise for a couple days.  Thankfully, she does a better job with the second stick and IV fluids are started.

6:10am   I am finally checked for the first time and I'm still just at 1 cm, same as my last doctor's appointment.  No progress has been made at all!  Pitocin is started to get the ball rolling.

7-9:00am   The 7am shift change brings in our new nurse, Laura.  She's nice and informative but awfully chatty.  It's only bothering me because I'm sleepy.  She catches on and lets me rest for a while.  Contractions have started but are totally manageable.  Matt runs to the hospital cafeteria to grab some breakfast.  He sits outside to eat and rushes in when he sees my doctor pull into the parking lot.

9:00am   Dr. Cole arrives to check on me.  I've only progressed to 2 cm.  She literally climbs onto the bed with me to break my water.  With Katie Wynn, I already had my epidural when this happened so I couldn't feel it.  This time I'm very aware and it feels like a huge gush of water.  Smaller gushes continue for several minutes.  I finally ask nurse Laura if I'm peeing on myself.  Nope, just more amniotic fluid.  Dr. Cole estimates maybe a 6pm arrival time for baby.  She has another delivery in progress at a different hospital and is jumping back and forth between us.

9:30am   I didn't last very long before requesting the epidural.  With my water broken, the contractions were immediately intensified.  Mev, the CRNA, arrives to give me the epidural.  He has a thick accent and is hard to understand.  Nurse Laura tells me that he was a "real doctor" in his country (don't know which one) and that in the United States he is only certified as a CRNA.  I decide that Mev hates his job as he is not very happy and bubbly at all.  Either way, the epidural goes in and the pain slowly starts to lessen.

10:20am   We've been at the hospital for 5 hours and have had pitocin going for 4.  Nurse Laura checks me out and I'm at 4 cm.  She says that's good progress.  Just like with Katie Wynn, I have a hot spot that is not being numbed from the medicine.  It's in the same spot, too - right side lower abdomen.  She asks my pain level and I tell her I can handle it as long as it doesn't get worse.  We both know it's gonna get worse so, with her help, I roll to my right side to see if the medicine will make it's way over there.  It works!

12:00pm   I'm up to 5 cm now so Nurse Laura ups my pitocin drip.  My mom and dad arrive!  Mom pats my right foot and I ask her to stop - it's too weird knowing she's touching it but not being able to feel it!  

12:10pm   I have spent too much time laying on my right side and now all the medicine has traveled over there.  My hot spot has switched to the left side so nurse Laura and Matt help tilt me back over that way.

2:15pm   Dr. Cole stops by for another check and I have progressed to 7 cm.  She says I'm making good timing!  Matt notes the time and writes it down in the notebook I brought with us.  Dad left the room before I was checked and I don't see him again until later in the afternoon.  Rumor is he took a nap on a couch in the main lobby.

2:30pm   My sister-in-law Beth arrives for the delivery.  She joins Mom on the couch to wait out the baby.  I hope it won't be much longer because I hate that everyone is just sitting around waiting!  Nick and their kids have joined Dad in the lobby.

3:15pm   As we sat and visited, my pain began to worsen.  Now I was able to feel the contractions all the way across both sides of my lower abdomen.  Nurse Laura came in so I told her my pain level was at least at a 6.  We talked about my options - spinal tap, more epidural medicine - before she checked me again.  Ten centimeters!  In just an hour, I had made it the rest of the way.  She called Dr. Cole to let her know it was baby time.  As for my pain, we decided to push the epidural medicine one last time and if it didn't work, I'd just push through the pain.  Either way, my baby was about to be born!

3:30pm  Dr. Cole arrived and we did a practice push to make sure it really was time.  When a contraction came on, I took a deep breath, pushed for a ten-count, and then repeated two more times.  After one set of pushes (3 x 10 count), Dr. Cole got suited up in her gown.  It was go time!

3:31pm   Everything about having Dr. Cole for delivery was better than using the on-call doctor with Katie Wynn.  She made me feel very relaxed and not nervous at all.  As she got everything set up, we placed bets on what the weight would be.  Beth guessed 7 lbs, 3 oz; Mom guessed 7 lbs, 9 oz; I said 7 lbs, 10 oz; and Matt threw out 8 lbs, 2 oz.  Dr. Cole looked at me and said she'd be very surprised if he weighed that much since I looked so little.

3:32pm   On Dr. Cole's command, when the next contraction came, I took a deep breath and pushed for a ten-count three times like we had practiced.  She told me one more push would get him there if I could do it, so I pushed for the fourth ten-count.

3:33-ishpm   After seeing his chubby cheeks, Dr. Cole tells us we're probably gonna get that weight we guessed!

3:36pm   William Thomas was born and placed on my belly.  We immediately exclaimed how much he looked just like his big sister!

3:40-ishpm   In a surprising turn of events, Matt decided to cut the umbilical cord.  He did not want to do that at all for Katie Wynn so my mom did, but this time he felt braver! :)  

I love these two pictures below.  Thomas came out pretty ticked off at the world.  He was screaming and very unhappy!  My mom obviously had sympathy pains for her newest grandbaby.  She didn't like that he was crying!

I have no concept of time for the rest of these events.  It's funny how, during childbirth, everyone is crowded around the mom until the baby arrives and then they all shift over to the baby bed and the mom is just left to hang out.  

I listened as Matt, Mom, and Beth talked about how big he looked.  After a few minutes, the official weight was announced...8 pounds, 4 ounces!  I am currently holding the record for biggest grandbaby on my side of the family and I'm pretty proud of that!  I think it justifies how miserable I felt in the last couple of weeks.  :)

This is the look of relief.  Relief for a big, healthy baby, relief for a smooth delivery, and relief that he was no longer in my belly!

After he got wiped down and weighed and wrapped up, Matt got to hold him for the first time.  He also got his official "I'm the Dad" bracelet.  

We had a proud daddy and a proud Mimi in the room!  Beth got to hold Thomas too (I think?) but I unfortunately don't have a picture of her.  Special shout-out to her for taking pictures period and helping us document Thomas's big day!

After what felt like an eternity, the doctor was finally done with me and I could have my turn to hold my son.  What a precious boy he is and what an honor it is to get to be his Mama.  

5:30pm   I am so glad I did not have any complications afterwards this time.  Thomas, however, was having high respirations (normal range is between 30-60, he was at 100) so we had to wait awhile for him to calm down so they could drop to normal range.  He cried a LOT during his first two hours so calming him down wasn't the easiest task ever!  They finally dropped, though, so we were allowed to leave Labor and Delivery and head to our postpartum room that we would call home for the next two days.

Overall, everything about Thomas's arrival went so well.  We are so, so very grateful that he is here and that he is healthy.  LOTS more pictures of him (and all his visitors!) coming soon!