a long overdue (no pun intended) update!

Shame on me for not writing sooner! Graham is here, he is 11 days old, and he is absolutely perfect in every way! I have no excuses on the update, other than I have been soaking up my little boy and the rest of my family, loving every second of it. God has been so good to us over the past two weeks. After two prior hospital experiences that were filled with grieving, first over the loss of my grandfather and second with Poppy, a hospital stay with no shadow of grief to hang over it was amazing. Nathan and I could hardly absorb how different the circumstances were this time, but we drank it in and enjoyed it for the blessing it was.

The c-section was flawless, and 10 minutes into the surgery, the most beautiful, squalling baby boy was born, weighing 6 lbs 11 oz. Our time with him since then has been just as flawless. My recovery has been the easiest so far, and that is saying a lot because I am blessed with unbelievably easy recoveries. Today I feel like I never had a baby, which to me is totally miraculous considering I was undergoing major surgery 11 days ago! And Graham could not be any sweeter or more captivating. I am in love. Of course it was the exact same before with my first three, but once again I have been bowed over by the force with which a new baby captures my heart. I don't think it is possible to get enough of his face or his smell or the softness of his baby skin. There is nothing like it.

Since we've been home, Graham has spent the great majority of his time sleeping and cuddling. He wakes up once during the night to eat, and then he is back out like a light. Certainly no complaints from his mama there! His daddy couldn't be any prouder if he wanted to, and his sisters are pretty smitten themselves. Both girls have transitioned beautifully, a few hiccups notwithstanding, and are loving the newest addition to our family. I'll share a few pictures with you from the past two weeks, and then I'll try and be better about not falling off the face of the earth over the next few weeks =)

Countdown to Graham: 2 Days and on the mend

When I woke up this morning, the first two things that popped into my head were as follows: 1) this is the day my doctor was going to deliver me up until about two weeks ago, 2) I really wish he hadn't changed his mind!

Sleep is something that is beginning to evade me, and my back feels more like it is 80 than 28. I just got off the phone with Nathan, and he suggested maybe I should sleep on the floor tonight to see if that worked better. Since this was spoken out of genuine concern and with hopes it might really work, all I could do was laugh. I think the only solution is delivering this baby, but it's sweet of him to try and brainstorm.

On the bright side, things are looking up with all of our health ailments. Adrienne is cured, no one else is showing symptoms of the stomach bug, and Nathan has an antibiotic for his pink eye that has cleared it right up. Both girls did wake up with tell tale signs of pink eye themselves, but an antibiotic for them is waiting on us at Walgreens, so again, I'm hoping this will all be behind us by Friday.

Friday. Oh my goodness. I have no idea what to expect. I have had babies two times before, but with the dramatically different circumstances, it makes me feel like this is all new. I am thrilled, very excited, a little bit nervous, and overwhelmed with gratitude. I can't wait to meet our first son. I can't wait for Marianna and Adrienne to have the experience of a little brother. I can't wait to have the privilege once again to raise a child. It is an amazing thing. Thank you God for the opportunity, and help me not to waste it!

Countdown to Graham: 3 Days and some hiccups

Since I wrote yesterday morning, Adrienne has come down with the stomach virus and Nathan woke up with pink eye. Neither of those things bodes well for a three day countdown, but I'm trying not to get worked up about it. It is out of our control of course, but certainly not out of God's. Nathan and I both are doing lots of praying that neither the pink eye or the stomach virus spreads to anyone else so that hopefully by Friday, everyone will be in the clear!

These new developments have changed today's plans into a stay at home day, but maybe the forced grounding will be good for us. Here's to recovery Tuesday!

Countdown to Graham: 4 Days

We are going in to the hospital for a planned c-section this Friday at 7:30, so after a few weeks of wondering when, we are finally in the last days of the countdown! As I was thinking about the four days we have until his birthday, I realized I wanted to spend them intentionally. Not to say that I want to plan every second of every day, or even that I need to have many plans at all. But I do want to spend them, not just looking forward to Friday, but celebrating the last days I have with Marianna and Adrienne as my two girls, before we transition to two girls and a boy.

I know that baby time always throws a little tumult into any family dynamics, so I want to do everything I can this week to focus on how special each girl is to this family. It may be impossible to completely eliminate insecurities on their part, but as much as I can I want to show them how the baby in no way eclipses their role in this family, but instead, it enhances it. I'm not sure exactly what we'll do, but whatever it is, I hope it all works toward that goal.

In the meantime, there are some practical details to attend to. I would love for Christmas presents to be wrapped and under the tree, a final grocery trip to be made, work stuff needs to be completed, Marianna has practice almost every night for the Christmas program this weekend, and we would love to squeeze in a play date too. It will be busy, and normal, and completely unlike my past experiences leading up to a baby.

Gearing up for Graham without any known crisis on the horizon is uncharted waters for us. I am so grateful for that, but I also feel strangely less prepared. More on that tomorrow. For now, happy Monday! Enjoy the cold weather and the Christmas feel all around!