Thatcher Arie was born on January 6th, 2011 at 5:31 pm, weighing in at 6 lbs, 3 oz, and measuring 18.5 inches! Labor was only 2 hrs long after they broke my water, and he was out after 4 pushes (in one contraction)! There are the stats, and if you want, just scroll on down to see all the pictures. If you're interested, the whole birth story will be after the pictures.
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| Right after his birth. It's amazing to me the rush of pure LOVE you feel seeing your baby for the first time! |
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| Steve bravely cutting the cord. It makes him so squeamish, but he did it! |
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| Snuggling with Momma -- I love that they let you do skin-to-skin right after birth. |
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| Thatcher reached out and grabbed right on to Steve's hand -- like "I got my mommy, now I need my daddy, too" |
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| 6# 3oz! Just teeny! Grayson was 8# 8oz! No wonder this time was so much easier... |
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| Good, healthy set of lungs on this one! :) |
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| Proud parents |
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| So in love already! |
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| Nanna is in love, too! |
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| Waiting for his bath -- love that they do it in the room with you now! He's got lots of blonde hair -- just like big brother! |
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| Squeeky clean after his bath! Look at those lips! :) |
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| Tired momma. |
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| Thatcher is SO snuggly and soft! I love it! |
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| More snuggles. |
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| Steve can't stop giving him loves and kisses. It makes my heart happy :) |
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| Thatcher is also very FUZZY! It's so funny! His shoulders, face, neck, back, --even his ears have tiny tufts at the top! |
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| What a poser. |
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| Ready to go home. In the same outfit and car seat Grayson came home in! (Except the outfit actually FITS Thatcher!) |
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| Thatcher brought Gray a present -- an "awesome dinosaur!" Gray now thinks Thatcher is pretty cool. |
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| Basking in the sunlight |
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| First trip out to Nana and Poppa's house |
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| Thatcher's bili levels were borderline high risk, so he had to be in the bili bed for a few days. Bleck. Such a nuisance. |
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| All snuggled in. |
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| Loves from Nana |
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| Little snuggle monkey!! |
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| Thatcher is one week old today! Wow, how time flies when you're having fun! |
I had my scheduled OB visit on January 6th at 2pm, and Steve was going to stay home from work so he could watch Grayson (my mother-in-law usually watches Gray during my doctor appointments, but she and my father-in-law are on a cruise, so Steve volunteered to stay home). A few hours before my appointment, my mom texted me to see if we wanted her to get off work early so she could watch Gray -- that way Steve could come with me to my appointment. He doesn't usually go with me -- except for the two ultrasounds -- but my mom said "What if the doctor just sends you over to L&D?". That sounded like a GREAT idea to me, but I wasn't getting my hopes up. So we put our bags in the car (just in case), and we dropped Grayson off at my mom's work. I started having some pretty good contractions on the way to the doctor's office, but didn't think too much of them, since I've been having contractions for the past two months! When we got in to see the doctor, he checked me while I happened to be having a contraction (OUCH -- I think I almost kicked him), and said "Wow, you're 5 cm dilated! Want to have a baby today?!" I said, "Seriously?! YES!" -- so we called my mom to tell her she was right, and headed over to L&D. My mom cooerced my brother JD into coming home early from work so he could watch Grayson, then she came up to be with us for the birth. Dr. Seale broke my water at about 3:30, and they started the Pitocin shortly after. The nurse said she'd be in in a half hour to up the Pit, but she didn't make it back for almost an hour. She didn't need to up the Pit -- I was having VERY intense contractions about 2 minutes apart -- that makes for only about 20 seconds of "rest" between contractions. I am NOT a lover of pain, and was just waiting for her to come back to tell her I wanted my epidural -- I was all but begging for it at that point. Steve and my mom were trying their best to get me to relax through the contractions -- easier said than done when you feel like every cell in your body is screaming. Anyway, I got the epidural about 10 minutes later, and they waited to check me again until it started to work a little. Good thing they waited, because when they did, I was dilated to a 10, and ready to push!!! WHAT?! I was shocked!! I'd only been in L&D for two hours! I couldn't be complete ALREADY!!?! So they hurried and called Dr. Seale, he rushed over, and got everything set up. At 5:30, they got me in the stirrups, waited for the next contraction, and told me to push. I steeled myself for another marathon pushing session (I pushed for 2 1/2hrs with Gray). I pushed once, he said "Good, the head's right there! Push again!" -- I pushed twice more, he said "Ok, one more!" -- and I was in shock again! ONE?! I pushed once more (this is all within the same contraction), and at 5:31 he was born! Total shock. Start to finish, it was only 2 hours to deliver Thatcher. Less than just the PUSHING with Gray! I think if I'd have known it was going to be that easy, I wouldn't have had to have the epidural -- they didn't even have time to set me up on the pump -- the anesthesiologist just gave me the initial dose, then when they saw how quickly I was going, he gave me an extra bolus, just to get me through delivery. I did get a 2nd degree laceration, but even that's better than the 3rd degree I got with Gray. I told Steve I could have LOTS of babies if they're all as easy as Thatcher!
Right after delivery, they placed Thatcher right on my bare chest and wiped him off. I loved that they let me have some snuggle time with him before they weighed and assessed him! He only screamed a few times, then snuggled right into me, grabbed Steve's finger, and just gazed around quietly! And that's pretty much how he's been ever since!
Thatcher is a week old now, and it's been so fun spending time with this little guy! He's already so much different than Gray -- it's so interesting to see differences in their little personalities! Thatcher is very quiet, and just kind of squeaks or grunts when he's upset or hungry -- he usually only lets out short 'bursts' of crying if you're not responding quickly enough to his demands! He doesn't really like being swaddled -- he likes to stretch out with his hands by his face. But he loves being held and nuzzled -- good thing because I love holding and nuzzling him! :) He's a champ at breastfeeding -- also a good thing, because I love breastfeeding him!! I refused to supplement him with formula when his bili results were high (such a no-no to go against Dr's orders!) -- but he really does eat SO well, I didn't think it was necessary. If you've never heard me get on my soap-box about breastfeeding, count yourself lucky.
Grayson is adjusting fabulously so far to being a big brother! He stayed the first few nights with my parents (which he LOVED -- thanks again, Nana and Poppa!), and when my mom showed him a picture she'd taken of Thatcher, he said "Baby Fatcher! Out of Mommy's tummy!" -- he is very astute, and seems to just be taking it all in stride. He didn't want anything to do with T when he came to visit while we were still in the hospital -- he was just anxious about being in the hospital, mommy being in the hospital -- he just kept screaming to go home. But now that we're home, he always needs to know where Thatcher is ("Where baby Fatcher?"), cries for him when he's gone (when Steve took T for his follow-up bili checks), and when T cries, Gray says "It's okay, baby Fatcher! It's okay." He's "held" him for a few seconds, but we haven't gotten a picture, because it really IS just a few seconds, and then he's off again to play with something else. But he loves his little brother, and they're going to be best buddies soon :) Oh, and another cute thing he's said -- I told Gray the baby's full name was "Thatcher Arie", and he said "Fatcher Berry??" -- and it kind of stuck. So now sometimes T gets called "Thatcher Berry" :) (p.s. 'Arie' is after my late Grandpa, if you're wondering)
We're all just adjusting to life with a newborn now, and having a lot of fun doing it! He's such an easy baby so far (knock on wood!), and we're all just so in love with this little guy!!!
