While my parents were here, Seth got to have another early birthday surprise! They had shipped us a slide for him about a month ago and we had it saved in the garage for when they came!
Thanks Ama and Bompa! He now loves to put flowers and sticks down first and go catch them : )
I had a great Mother's Day! My parents had been in town for the week prior, so for the first time in 5 years, my Mom and I were able to be together. I always hate being far away from her, but especially on Mother's Day. We snuck away for a little quiet time on Saturday. Mom found this AMAZING joint that will be a new tradition for us.
It was also a bittersweet day. After church and lunch, we had to say goodbye. Thankfully, I'm blessed with a wonderfully caring husband. He saved some surprises for me to open later on to cheer me up.
Between postpartum hormones and missing my mom, I had no prayer of keeping it together once I read this card and opened this perfect gift. (there were also some sweet treats which cure anything)
I'm incredibly blessed to be a Momma to these two boys and their Dada did a great job of making me feel extra special <3
Now that all the baby details are shared, I need to backtrack a little and share some more about our spring break!
The plan originally was for my in-laws to come to help us put our fence up and fix our master shower. But, after our HOA told us that family wasn't allowed to build fences and that we would have to hire a professional fencing company, plans changed! This (again) turned out to be a blessing since a few weeks prior we had an unexpected issue with Jeremy's car that took most of our fence finances. We still got the shower fixed along with some other small projects, but then we enjoyed spending time together. As I said in my previous post, this worked out perfectly. Seth was able to get cozy around them so that when the time came for us to leave him, he didn't blink an eye about it.
We celebrated Jeremy's birthday.....
We had plans for Easter Sunday, but since we got home from the hospital around 11pm the night before, things changed. I made sure to get Seth's basket ready so that I wouldn't forget that, though!
Of course, the $0.30 grass was his favorite. Jeremy's dad actually raked the house to pick it all up that night and I'm still finding pieces of it!
Seth got an early birthday present from Grandpa and Grandma (we told him once we got the fence up, we'd get him his own hoop - so we had to improvise)
So thankful that they made the trip, all that we got done and how the week ended! <3
For Seth, my sister was in town to help me do a little photo shoot with him. I'd definitely put her in the professional category with how awesome her shots come out!
So, for Lucas, I was having a hard time justifying the money it would cost to hire someone since my sister wasn't going to be able to be here. I know it's a skill and worth every penny, but it's also quite obnoxious what some people charge, especially when you add up the session itself and then prints/rights to the pictures. But, newborn shots were super special to me and I felt bad having them for Seth and not Lucas, so Jeremy told me not to worry about the money. I started "shopping" around and found this wonderful photographer with incredible prices and I booked a slot with her!
At exactly one week old, she captured these beautiful shots...
I think this one looks JUST like my Grandpa!
I designed his birth announcements and put in an order of prints earlier this week :D
Lucas decided to arrive two weeks early, which his Momma did not complain about at all. I had been feeling quite uncomfortable and ready for a while at the time and we had already had two false alarms with labor signs. My in-laws came into town for spring break to work on some projects that we had wanted to get done before he arrived. It's really awesome to look back and see how God worked in it all. We didn't do the projects we thought we were going to do and after Seth had got to spend most of the week with them, my water broke. Not only did this allow Grandpa and Grandma to meet their newest grandson before they went back to NY, but it also allowed us to just leave Seth at home with them instead of packing him up to go stay at our friends' like we had planned. I will take a moment right now to say how thankful I am that they were here and all that they did for Seth and for us. And how blessed I feel to have another example of God's hand at work in my life. I should never be surprised when these pop up so black and white.
So, a bit more detail. I have to mention that Wednesday we went and ate the magical macaroni and cheese because for all I know, it could have helped things along again hahaha Actually, that night was our second false alarm with labor. We went in since I was having contractions every 2 minutes, but was sent back home. Thursday my mother-in-law treated me to a wonderful pedicure that was incredibly relaxing and then we had a quiet night at home. Friday morning when I got out of bed, I experienced the same thing I did with Seth (although I didn't feel a pop). There was no gush, but there was no doubt that my water had broke! So a quick call to the hospital and throwing some things into our bag, we were headed out the door! The process got started as soon as we arrived - questions, IV fluids and pitocin.
I progressed pretty slowly just like I did with Seth. I wasn't feeling much pain with the contractions so they kept increasing my pitocin dose. I have to say, this labor was far more enjoyable (as enjoyable as labor can be) than it was for Seth. My doctor was on vacation just like she was for Seth, but I absolutely loved the doctor that I got. Since I was progressing so slowly, they actually did an ultrasound to make sure he wasn't breach and at that point the doctor checked me and realized that my amniotic sac had resealed itself (who knew that could happen!?). So, he broke that and we got things rolling! I voted for the epidural and was able to relax for a bit. Right around 7pm I started having awful contractions. My nurse gave me the button on my epidural to get an extra "shot" every 10 minutes, so Jeremy took control of that - closely watching the clock and giving me more when I could have it. Unfortunately, there was no relief. I was in pain and I desperately wanted to push, but I wasn't 10cm yet so my nurse told me to breath through them. Finally, the doctor came in to check me and told me I was clear to push. He set up camp along with the rest of the crew and after just 4 short pushes, our boy was lying on my chest at 9:01pm! They did have to take him over to the table to get him better stimulated, but they didn't have to take him to the nursery so I was glad for that!
That night my best friend brought me a big ole' big mac (since McDonalds was the only thing open) and Jeremy and I had our first night with Lucas! He was super duper sleepy so we were actually able to get a ton of rest, but the nurses and I were both anxious for him to start eating a bit more! The next day Jeremy's parents brought Seth for a visit.
Thankfully since Lucas and I were both doing well enough, we were able to go home at the 24 hour mark! Jeremy's parents stayed a couple extra days, so we had Sunday together before they left Monday morning and life began for the 4 of us : )
