he's here!!

Walker Larell Eyre was born at 12:30 AM on December 28th. 

The final weeks waiting for his arrival were a roller coaster filled with hurry up and wait scenarios.  We thought, on many occasions, that today was the day...only to be told nevermind.  Because I had a double vessel umbilical cord, they had to check my fluid levels often and told me on many occasions they would re-check them in a couple days.  If they had dropped at all, we'd go have a baby.  However, each check turned out alright.  So, we were physically and emotionally geared up to possibly have a baby on MANY different occasions, only to be told not yet.  It made the final weeks feel like months!!  Long story short....the 27th was finally the day!!

Going in to be induced was an interesting experience.  Being admitted to our suite around noon and getting poked and hooked up all while feeling absolutely normal was sort of surreal.  I did, however, enjoy the fact that I went in having had a decent nights sleep the night before (much different than the 30 some odd hours I'd gone without sleep prior to going into the hospital to have Briggs').

We sat and waited for hours as my contractions got stronger and stronger waiting for things to progress.  In a nutshell, they started me on pitocin around 2, I got my epidural around 7:30, they broke my water around 9, and Walker was here by half past midnight.  I only had to push for 10 or 15 minutes and he was here!!  It was actually a really positive and beautiful experience.  The doctor set a very calm and confident tone in the final minutes and made the experience just perfect!

Walker is a healthy and usually happy baby!  We love having him in our home...our little family already feels more complete with him around (as cliche as that might sound...it's true).

Anyway, on to the part you really care about.....pictures!

This picture captured the moment just seconds after he was born.

Our beautiful baby boy!




When Briggs first came to the hospital with my mom, his initial reaction wasn't exactly what I was hoping for.  He wasn't feeling good at all for starters (he came down with a serious case of diarhea due to an antibiotic he was on) and he wouldn't even acknowledge Walker or I on the hopsital bed. He would only talk to Blair and my mom.  I was pretty emotional about it at first and it made me pretty nervous/sad about how the coming days and weeks at home were going to play out.  I felt like my baby boy didn't like me....it was hard to swallow.  However, the final few minutes before they were going to leave brought peace to my troubled heart :)  Briggs all of a sudden walked over to me and Walker, reached his arms out, and said "take....take".  He wanted to hold Walker!!  I was thrilled.  Blair took the baby over and let Briggs "hold" him.  When Walker started to cry, Blair brought him back to me, afterwhich Briggs came running over with his binky because he was concerned that he was "crying".  It was seriously just what I needed to see to know that Briggs was going to be a great big brother, he would still love me, and it was all going to be okay :)

And...it has been.  Briggs has been SO good with everything.  He has his moments, but all in all, he loves his baby brother and is always looking out for him.  It's pretty cute to see, and I am already having visions of them as best buds (and moments as worst enemies as well I'm sure :)

This one just kinda makes me laugh.  He looks like he's telling me off..."get that that flash out of my face" :)

And just because he's cute....a couple of big brother Briggs.  It crazy how big he seriously seems to me now...and it literally happened overnight!  He'll always be my baby boy, but he really doesn't seem like the "baby" that I thought he was before.  He's starting to become a little boy and I'm not sure how I feel about it ?!?!

So far, we're really enjoying life as a family of four.  I would say my transition this time has been much smoother than it was when Briggs was born.  Other than some sleepless nights (since day and night weren't exactly part of Walker's vocabulary yet....we're making progress) and occasionaly feeling overwhelmed, life with baby Walker around has been really good. 

Going from newlywed-ish wife to mom of one sorta rocked my world; however, going from mom of one to mom of two feels pretty good...like I kinda-sorta know what I'm doing this time around, and it's not so bad... it's actually pretty great :) 

I have yet to venture out of the house with both of them alone, however!  That will be a moment of truth :)