Introducing Baby #4... {the REASON for my Blogging Hiatus}

He's HERE!!!

Our baby boy was born September 24, 2013. 

He was 5 lbs. 6.5 oz. 18 inches long.

He looks just like his daddy, with blonde hair, and blue eyes.

And, he was ... over 5 weeks early!

That's right: My little Halloween baby decided October wasn't cutting it for him. 

Little Man's unexpected arrival, his stint in the NICU, and the fact that we just plain weren't ready for him to come yet, threw our family for a loop, and we're just now getting back to "normal-ish" life.

Many of you emailed me wondering if everything was okay, or why I hadn't updated the site in so long. Your concern and interest was so appreciated! It's nice to feel loved. So, thank you again! And to those of you who have not yet received a response to your email, hang in there... I promise I'll get there soon. In the mean time, here's...

The Story:

I had been feeling off for most of the day on the 23rd. I chalked it up to pretty much everything but pre-labor symptoms, because seriously... who thinks they're going to go into labor over 5 weeks early? Especially when their other three kiddos all came when they were supposed to, and there were ZERO indications?

I sure didn't think it would happen. I thought it was indigestion...

My head hit my pillow at about 10:30 PM. At midnight, my "movie-labor" began. I call it my movie-labor, because real labor rarely happens the way they show it in the movies... but mine did.

My water broke in the middle of the night (midnight). I blurted our the all-too familiar line: "Honey, I think it's time!" We hurriedly (and somewhat comically) put together an over-night bag, and rushed to the hospital.

And that was the end of my movie-labor scene. After we got to the hospital, my contractions stopped. I lay on my hospital bed from 1:30 AM to 8:00 AM dilated to an unchanging 3, with absolutely nothing happening. So, we added some pitocin to the equation around 8:30 AM. 

Boy. Howdy.

My body must react REALLY well to that stuff, because 45 minutes later, I was at a 6.

Two absolutely insanely painful contractions after that, all systems were "GO."

After pushing through one contraction, my sweet little guy was born. 

Due to the fact that he was a 34 weeker, he needed a little breathing help in the beginning. His days in the NICU were tough, I'm not going to lie. It was crazy organizing child care for my other children so that I could be with baby boy at the hospital every three hours to feed and care for him. I was lucky to have some help from family during that time.

I wanted him out of there as soon as possible, but in order to get him out, he needed to prove that he could take all of his feedings from me without tiring out and needing to be fed through a tube in his nose. 

He was a champ in the NICU, and was discharged much earlier than originally anticipated. 

The day I was able to bring him home, I was elated! It felt so good to be able to snuggle him, and hold him, and feed him, and bathe him, tube, wire, and machine-free.

His three sisters adore him. 

His daddy couldn't be prouder.

And I think he's perfect.

Not a bad start, little guy.

I love putting him in his little itty-bitty preemie outfits, and touching his downy-soft hair. I love his little baby squeaks, and the way he stops crying when I snuggle him close.

He sleeps like a dream... during the day. This is the first time I've had a baby with their nights and days mixed up. I WON'T be sad when this phase is over, because I've pretty much morphed into a mommy-zombie. My body is semi-functional, but my brain power is nil. I've been writing this post over the course of three days... attempting to be interesting/witty when you can't even talk like a normal person ("Get the pol-nailish, please... I mean nail polish.") is a challenge.

But, I'm done writing for now. Hopefully I can get a new post up this coming week. Stay tuned!!!

Maybe I can sleep some nap now, so I can write more gooder.  ;-)