Welcome, Nathan Thomas!

Our sweet Nathan Thomas joined our family last week. He is such a handsome little guy and brings us so much joy. His sister is obsessed with him and his brother really likes him, too. 

So, here's the birth story. You may not want to read all if you don't want Too Much Info! This is more for my record keeping than anything. I was 39 weeks and 4 days pregnant. I'd gone on a 3 mile walk, run on the elliptical, and bounced on an exercise ball that week to get labor started. I'm not sure any of that really helped. Saturday morning, I was having regular (5 min), painless contractions from the time I woke up. We started to go somewhere with the family around 11, but I felt nervous and the contractions were getting stronger in the car, so we came home. By 4 pm, they were finally getting painful. We dropped the kids off with a friend and got to the hospital around 6. The contractions were still not too bad and Luke was hungry, so we stopped by Subway first. Another dad commented on how calm Luke looked eating his sandwich while we waited for a room. When Luke told him it was his third, the man basically said he was a pro :) 

After we got in the room and got hooked up to the monitors, Luke gave me a very sweet blessing. I always love getting a blessing from him. The midwife, Christine Jennings, came in to check me and said I was at a 2-3 and almost totally effaced. I loved my midwife. She was very friendly, sitting down just to chat. Turns out she was 12 weeks pregnant with twins, pulling super long overnight hours. She went to do a C-section, then came back and broke my water around 7:30- it hurt so much less than when the last midwife did it. There was meconium in the amniotic fluid (so, they had to suction him well when he came out). Then, the contractions became very powerful. We waited a little while, as they contractions came stronger and closer together. Then, the anesthesiologist came in to save me from the pain. I didn't love the extra numbness I felt with this epidural or the crazy shakes, but I would take it a thousand times over the pain! 11:15, my midwife checked again, then said she would be back around 1:30 am. At 12:15, I was feeling some pressure and called the nurse who said the midwife was next door and would be there soon. When she checked, Nathan was on his way out! I pushed through 1 1/2 contractions and he was out. He had a funny bump on the back of his head from sitting there so long, but it went away quickly. I didn't tear at all. They suctioned him and cleaned him off, then gave him back. He was so handsome already! We loved his adorable blonde hair (all the nurses commented on it) and handsome face. He nursed well from the beginning. Then, the nurse came in to clean and weigh him. 7 lb 10 oz, 21 inches long.

We didn't sleep much that night because I didn't even get to sleep until 5am from all the fuss, then nurses came in every hours for a while. When I did get time to sleep, I couldn't because of the excitement/adrenaline. Luke got Abby and Brad from our friend and brought them to meet Nathan. Abby loved and fussed over him from the beginning. Brad noticed him, but didn't seem too impressed. Then, Luke took them to dinner and home for the night. The next day, 2 different friends took the kids and we came home that afternoon. We got some time with just us three before going to pick up the kids. 

It's been nice to be home as a family, although tiring! Luke was home the first week and really stepped up to the plate. I'm so grateful for his hard work. My mom came in the day he went back and is really helpful. I'm a bit nervous about handling the 3 kids by myself next week! 

Alright, get ready for approximately lots of cute photos :)

On the way to the hospital. 39 weeks and 4 days.

 New baby just out.

Meeting his big sister and brother.

 Going home a day and a half after his birth.

First bottle.

 First bath.

 First tummy time. He rolled over 4 times!

 Abby Loves her baby. She loves to hold him and pet him.

 Helping to feed him a bottle.

 Brad's 1st time holding him. We were a bit worried, but he did great!