Saturday, February 18, 2012

Meeting His Sisters

When the girls came up to meet their brother for the first time, they were beyond excited! I knew they would be thrilled but their reaction was better than I had imagined.

This picture is not the best, since they ran in all excited, but it is still the picture of them seeing him from across the room for the first time.
There was a lot of giggles and "Awwwwww!! He's so precious!"


Lexi kissing him for the first time...
Lilly kissing him for the first time...
They stayed a couple of hours and had a blast loving on him...


Lexi holding him...
One super excited Lilly holding him...


They have remained the best sisters EVER!! He is a lucky little boy to have these two!

Papa & Nana Epp's Visit

Papa and Nana Epps came to visit on Wednesday. They were sweet enough to go hang out with the girls for a while and play with them. They even took them to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and the girls still talk about that even now. :)

After lunch, they came to the hospital to see Noah. We had a nice time, even though I had just gotten up for the first time since the c-section and was in a bit of pain. It was still cool to pass the baby around and talk with them.

Lilly and her brother hanging out again...
Lexi and Noah..
Nana and Noah...
Wrinkly little feet...
I love this picture of Lexi..
Big yawn!
Handsome boy...



My favorite of my boys!!
My gorgeous family, minus just the dog :)
My Dad and Noah!

Thanks for visiting and taking pictures, Dad and Debbie!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Birth Story and Day One

Our baby boy is here and while we planned the c-section, his birth story has twists and turns that were quite unexpected!!

Eric and I got up at 4:30 am on January 10th. I got my hair and makeup all fixed and made sure I had everything for a 3-4 day hospital stay. My wonderful friend Kathleen had volunteered to come over at 5:15 am and stay with the girls. I got checked into the hospital at 6 am, and the prepping began. I got to answer all of the crazy questions they ask you, then answer the same questions again for the anesthesiologists.

FYI...when the two anesthesiologists look really young, it is probably because they are. :/ My first IV attempt was a bust, as my vein blew. That left my entire right wrist bruised and achey for about a week and a half. Then they got all the other prep work/paperwork done and wheeled me down the hallway to the operating room. Eric was putting on his scrubs in the prep room and was going to come down when my spinal was in.

The two anesthesiologists I met (the young ones) were a first year resident and a last year medical student. I am so glad I didn't know this information going into the surgery. The 4th year med student was the one to give me the spinal. He seemed to do an okay job, but it was super creepy sitting there listening to them talk about methods of administering a spinal and the different problems that can come with each one. Seriously guys?! I am sitting right here and am terrified enough as it is.

So they laid me back on the table and I could still feel stuff. With the girls, he barely got the needle out of my spine, before I was COMPLETELY numb. So I knew something was up this time. They kept prepping me for the surgery and I told them I could still lift my legs and feel everything. My toes were kind of numb, but I could feel my entire belly for sure. They started to panic a little bit and discuss how they had done it right and what could be wrong. But my doctor told them they needed to hurry and get me under general anesthesia since I was prepped and ready. The one girl anesthesiologist was very kind and comforting, cause I was about to lose it and freak out. She said not to worry, I would not feel it and they would take good care of me and Noah.

I tearfully asked them to please hurry up and get Eric. She apologized and said Eric couldn't come in if I was under general. I started to cry and that is the last thing I remember.

I woke up hearing them tell me it was over and everything was okay. They were rolling me down the hall and back into the prep area. I see Eric standing there with Noah in his arms. He smiled, kissed my forehead and apologized for getting to hold him first. He was so sweet and had probably been just as freaked out as I was. Thankfully, a nurse came in and told him what had happened and that he couldn't go back there. She asked him for his camera and promised to take good pictures for us. She did a good job...

Noah Matthew, born January 10th at 8:28 am. He weighed 8 lbs, 15 ozs and measured 19.5 inches long. Although at his 2 week check-up, they measured him really well and he was 21.5 inches long. I seriously doubt he grew 2 inches in 2 weeks, so I bet the hospital had a hard time getting those little legs stretched out. He still loves to keep his legs pulled up tight.



This was the first picture we took...
Such a sweet little boy. He was SO much bigger than the girls were at birth.
Mother and son...first picture of the two of us.
Getting pricked and prodded and all that fun hospital stuff...

Back in our room relaxing! A couple hours old...


Eric left around lunch once Noah and I were settled and got the girls to come meet their brother. That will have to be another post so I don't leave any pictures out. :)

Here is a proud Daddy with his son...
My little angel!



He did have a lot of hair! It is so soft too. :)
And that is just Day 1!!

Handsome Guy

I just love having ultrasounds when I am pregnant. It is probably my favorite part besides hearing the hearing the heartbeat and holding the newly born baby. These first ultrasound pictures were from our first big ultrasound. We ended up having 4 which was cool. The first one was a quick peek to verify and baby and just ONE baby. The second was this big one to see the sex, the third was to double check on the spine since he was so curled up last time and they couldn't see the whole spine in one picture, and the last one was to estimate his size.

Here we have Noah moments after learning he was a boy:
A long, skinny leg...
He really does have cute feet!
These last two pictures were good facial shots at 36 weeks. This was the one where we could see his hair and verify the chubby cheeks. :)

It is so fun to see your handsome little guy before he is actually born!!!