Thankful

Praise the Lord, my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, my soul,

and forget not all his benefits-

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Psalm 103:1-5

These verses have kind of become my postpartum scripture.  I memorized them after Hudson was born and have gone back to them with each baby.  Life is a blur for these first few months and its nice to have these verses floating around in my head.  I love the first part about praising God with all your soul.  After the birth of a child I feel like no amount of praise can properly express how thankful I am to have this sweet child in my arms.  It's a miracle and blessing like no other.  

The middle verses might seem a little odd to be clinging to after such a joyous occasion so let me try to explain.  Postpartum is always a tricky time.  I feel like I should just be totally happy all the time, after all I just had a baby! But instead I cry ... a lot.  Really its just the hormones.  I am happy, very happy, despite the random outburst of tears.  Combine those crazy mood swings with a severe lack of sleep and things can get a bit overwhelming at times.  I do not feel like my life is a pit or that I have a disease (although those hormones might qualify as a disease!).  I use those verses as a reminder that things 

a) are really not that bad - I will sleep again one of these days and soon I will feel like my normal self

b) I serve a God who cares about me and when I'm having a bad day he crowns me with love and compassion

The last part is my favorite and the part that I recite over and over in my head.  "He satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."  I have felt so blessed by all the help I have received from friends and family.   We have received flowers and gifts, people have prepared us food, Hudson and Cooper have had lots of fun play dates, all the grandparents have showered us with love and support.  It's been amazing and has made me feel so loved! I could also go on and on about my incredible husband.  He has been taking such good care of us and has done so much to pick up the slack during this new baby fog.  Every one of these "good things" allows me more time to rest and focus on my family which in turn makes me feel "renewed".  Praise the Lord, my soul!

This Little Piggy ...

I took Garrett to the doctor on Monday for his 2 week check up.  Holy cow!  This kid has had a major growth spurt in his short little life!  When we left the hospital he had dropped from his birth weight of 9 lbs down to 8 lbs 9 oz.  Yesterday when they weighed him he was 10 lbs! (that's an increase of 1 lb 7 oz in 10 days!)  He had also gotten 1.5 inches longer.  The nurse actually measured him twice because she didn't believe it the first time.

I've been pretty tired lately.  Garrett eats well (obviously!) and sleeps well.  In the middle of the night though he continually wakes up every 3 hours. It makes for long nights and tired days, but now I completely understand.  The little guy has been doing some major growing and apparently has just been hungry!  I'm glad to know my efforts haven't been in vain.  I know he'll start sleeping longer stretches soon and I bet this extra weight will help with that!  

Around the House

Check out these sweet brothers!  Hudson asked to hold Baby Garrett and Cooper plopped down beside him to pat on his brother.  They are too precious!

Cooper checking out his baby brother before his first bath

Precious baby boy sound asleep

All my guys!

Garrett supervised while the big boys did their sticker books

Apparently it's hard work being a big brother!  I found Hudson this way during rest time.  He usually plays in Garrett's room while Cooper and Garrett sleep in other rooms.  Looks like he was waiting for 4 o'clock and fell asleep! :)

Introducing Garrett Tyler ...

Well, as I posted previously, I was up at 4 am on Garrett's birthday. I was scheduled to go in at 8 am to get induced and I was too anxious / excited / nervous / antsy to sleep. I couldn't wait!  But at 7:30 I received a phone call from the hospital saying that they were going to have to delay my appointment. There had been an influx of women who had arrived at the hospital. Labor & Delivery was hopping that morning and they didn't have room for me. Apparently women already in labor have first priority over scheduled inductions ... Whatever! ;) 

I was crushed. They couldn't give me a time estimate but assured me it would be sometime that day. I wasn't so sure. I was worried it was going to be a really long day with no baby at the end of it. My mom came and got the boys as planned then Jeff and I sat and waited. It was a miserable wait. I didn't want to leave because I didn't want to miss the call. I couldn't nap or rest because I was so antsy. Jeff didn't go to work but kept wondering if he should. We tried to relax and watch tv but I couldn't pay attention. Finally they called back at 9:45 and said we could come at 10:30. We were out the door in a flash!  

When we arrived they were still busy but at least we had a room. I started the admittance process, got hooked up to all the machines and my IV and then had to wait some more. That was a bit of a bummer to be at the hospital, all ready to go but not actually in labor. It wasn't until 12:15 that the doctor came in to break my water. Then he wanted to wait another 30-45 minutes to see if things would progress on their own. I was happy to find out that I was already dilated to a 4 and contractions did actually start on their own. They weren't really strong enough or consistent enough so around 1 pm they started me on pitocin. The contractions gradually started picking up intensity and over the next 2 hours they upped my pitocin a couple of times to get them nice and strong. Pretty soon I was ready for that epidural!  Come to find out the reason I was in so much pain was that I was an 8 and Garrett was about ready to come out! Within 30 minutes it was time to start pushing and 20 minutes after that I met my little boy!  

I have to admit that I was a little taken aback by his size. He felt so huge while he was inside of me. I really was expecting another 10 pounder!  The doctor held him up for me to see and I immediately thought "he looks little". I figured that my memory was deceiving me but sure enough he weighed in at 9 pounds even. My little runt! :)

We stayed at the hospital for 2 days and came home Wednesday around noon.  We're still adjusting to the routine of life with a new baby, but we're doing well!  It's so good to be home as a family!  The big boys absolutely love their new brother.  They want to hold him, help me burp him, and pat his head.  They've been so sweet!  I feel so blessed by my precious family of five!

40 Weeks
One last picture before heading to the hospital

Me with the soon to be "Big Bros"
I was so impressed with how well they understood everything!  They knew it was Garrett's birthday.  When Cooper came up to the hospital to see me later he immediately said, "Baby Garrett isn't in your tummy anymore"  To which Hudson asked why my tummy wasn't any smaller - haha! Thanks, bud :)

Together at last!

The boys brought me balloons when they came to see me! :)

Hudson was a little uncertain about holding Garrett for the first time.  He wanted to make sure that I was going to help him.  Then when it was Cooper's turn, Hudson wanted to make sure that I was going to help Cooper also.  So sweet - already protective of his baby brother! :)

Garrett didn't love getting dressed to go home

He was much happier once he was back in Mommy's arms with a paci!

Time to go home