Wade is Here!

On April 5th, Matt and I arrived at the hospital at 5AM to get the newest addition to our family. I was too excited to sleep at all, so I was running on pure adrenaline. Matt slept for a few hours, but he woke up early and was ready to go. Arriving at the hospital at that hour was such fun. The lights were dimmed, and it was very tranquil. The nurses showed us to our room, which already had my name on the door, and it felt like checking into a hotel.

We unpacked our suitcase (which is what I do immediately after checking in at a hotel too.) Then the nurses began getting us ready for Wade's arrival. We had a super set of nurses that morning who were very attentive. Around 6:30 family started to arrive, and the c-section was scheduled for 7:30.
Here we are off to the OR to get our baby! See the guy to the right? He was my hero. I wish I knew his name (I think it was Jim.) to give him proper credit, but he was the anesthesiologist and was AWESOME! I'm a tad embarrassed to admit that I panicked once inside the OR. I think when I had Lee, I was in shock from the news that I was actually having surgery. I didn't have time to think about it and panic. This time, I was keenly aware of what was about to happen. I could hear the nurses shuffling instruments, and after getting the spinal block, I was sure I could still feel everything. During this time, I was pretty much alone. Matt was made to wait in the hall during the preparations, and the staff was busy getting ready. My mind was racing with all the possibilities of what could go wrong. Mainly I was concerned, because I knew I had feeling in my lower body. I told Jim that I had feeling, and he assured me that was normal. WHAT!?! I didn't want to FEEL anything! He said that I would feel what was happening, but I wouldn't feel pain. I was certain he was out of his mind! I was waiting for Dr. K. to come in so I could tattle on Jim for not numbing me properly. In the meantime, someone threw the sheet up right in front of my face and slapped the oxygen mask on me. Luckily my arms were not strapped down, because I ripped that thing off in a hurry. It was then that I forgave Jim, and we became friends. He was SO calming and kind and talked to me to distract me from what was going on on the other side of the sheet. It was during this time that I lost all control of my tongue and vowed never to watch _Grey's Anatomy_ again! (Don't worry GA fans. I have since watched it and handled it fine.) Dr. K. finally came in, and I didn't waste any time telling him I could still feel things. He poked around, which I felt, and assured me I would feel no pain. Let me just say that I adore Dr. K. and trust him completely, but I was certain he was out of his mind! Meanwhile, Jim was still being so kind and trying to distract me by asking about the baby. Finally, they brought Matt in, and we had a baby within minutes. It seemed pretty traumatic at the time, but it was just as they said where I would feel movements but no pain. It all happened so fast. Dr. K and his staff were just as amazing as when I had Lee, and I can't say one bad thing about any of them. I love them so much!
Wade was born at 7:43 and cried and cried in the delivery room. As soon as he was swaddled, he was so content. The nurse claimed that he was about a "7 pounder." I had only seen him swaddled, so I could not make a good guess on his weight. But I knew based on our ultra sound and weekly measurements, he should be bigger. I was right. He weighed 8 pounds and 12 ounces, and was 21 3/4 inches long. If he was born on his due date, he would have been almost the exact same as Lee, who was 9 pounds and 4 ounces. I thought he looked exactly like Lee did as a newborn the first time I saw him. I was surprised that he didn't have much hair since the tech said she saw some on the ultra sound.

Lee is meeting his brother for the first time. He smiled all day long.

I think he was overwhelmed by how small he was and that the day was actually happening. After talking about it for 9 months, I'm sure he thought it would never get here.

Here is our chubby baby. I'll have to scan a picture of Lee's birthday for comparison. They look identical on their first day.

Healthy baby boy...we couldn't be more blessed!

Here is the best baby nurse on the planet....Laverne Williams. We LOVE her!

And here is our very favorite pediatrician, Dr. Scott Whitby. He takes great care of our boys.

He is just delicious!

This is our first family picture. I absolutely love it for so many reasons. We look so excited to finally be meeting our baby.

This is my favorite picture from Wade's birthday. Lee had so much love for Wade right away.

Those cheeks just begged to be kissed.

This is one happy kid!

And one beautiful baby.

I just couldn't quit staring at him and touching him.

Oh how I love a chubby baby!

Kim-nurse extraordinaire!

Wade meets Nam for the first time!

Aunt Shay and Brylie take a turn.

Great Aunt Clara is ready to spoil him!

Hayes and Shelby loved him too. Hayes said he was too fragile to hold yet, but Shelby scooped him up for her turn.

I couldn't wait to put them in their matching shirts. They were just as cute as I had hoped.

Hello Pa!

I don't have a picture of everyone with Wade from his first day, but Mom, Dad, Subo, Brian, Paul, and Hope were also there to welcome him. Most of these pictures come courtesy of our sweet friend, Brad Ridgeway. By now, you know how much I love pictures. When we had Lee, I didn't properly designate others to take pictures, and so I don't have certain ones that I would have taken myself. For instance, no one took a picture of Matt bringing Lee out of the delivery room. I think everyone was excited and didn't snap any. I didn't want to stress about that with Wade, so I asked Brad, who loves pictures more than me, to come and take pictures that morning. He was happy to do so, and he has provided us with pictures that I will treasure forever. It was a wonderful day, and we were so grateful to have our families together to welcome our sweet new boy.