Birth Day

I have quite a lot to catch up on, but I think the best place to start is with our little Elijah's birthday!

Monday finally came and I was more than ready to meet this little guy. The kids spent Sunday night at my parent's, so Brad and I had a quiet, relaxing evening together and then woke up first thing Monday morning and headed to the hospital.

The 2 hour prep seemed like a lot longer, especially since they had to try 3 times again to get an IV working right, but before we knew it we were in the OR ready to go. I wish I could say everything went perfectly, but it was actually the most difficult of all my c-sections. When they were administering the spinal they hit a nerve and I can't even describe the pain of that. It was like my legs were being electrocuted. That pretty much freaked me out and wasn't the best way to start. The surgery went really well, but again I had problems with the spinal. At first it wasn't numbing me high enough so I could feel a lot more than I wanted to, but then they would adjust it and it went too high so I felt like I couldn't breathe because it went up to my lungs/heart region. It basically went back and forth like that for the hour I was in the OR. I was pretty scared a few times, but we made it through.

As soon as they showed me the baby I was amazed that he looked almost exactly like Riley! I am still having deja vu because they are so similar, not just in looks but in mannerisms as well. The biggest shock was that he weighed in at just under 9 lbs! No wonder I was so uncomfortable! That's 2 pounds bigger than Riley and Naomi were! But honestly, as much as 9 lbs sounds like, he is still so teeny, and ended up getting down to 8 lbs while in the hospital.





It is so amazing to hold a newborn again. I didn't realize how much I missed it. There really isn't much better than snuggling a new baby. Elijah is a quiet baby. He is a very good eater. He is very strong and can lift and hold his head up to look around for several seconds. The doctor joked that he thinks he's 2 months old already!




We're so happy to have him here with us. It was fun to have Riley and Naomi come meet their new baby brother later that day with Grammy and Boppy.


They are so proud to be a big brother and big sister. They were enthralled by him. Naomi would giggle every time he would make noises and she loved to touch his cheeks and hair.

Riley just can't get enough of him. He loves to hold him and tells him all the things he is going to teach him. He is very gentle with him and very loving. It is so sweet to watch. Lots more pictures and stories to come. We had a fun Christmas. Things are still busy around here with Brad back to work and family in town, but I will get more pictures up soon!