First Introductions

I have been a little worried about Hunter's reaction to his baby brother for a while. He was such a momma's boy I was afraid it would be a hard transition. He was so excited to meet Luke, and wanted to hold him right away.

I had a gift for Hunter that Luke gave him, something he has wanted for a while, a backpack. He was thrilled. He left the hospital with my mom and Kerry with no problems. It was great.

I know it has been only a few days, but so far Hunter is doing great, really bonding with Kerry and wants to hold Luke every chance he gets.

It is really interesting since I have been home I look at Hunter and am amazed at how big he seems and how articulate he is. Like he has grown up in the last few days. I can't wait to see the bond that forms between these brothers. I hope they grow to know how lucky they are to have each other.

Welcome Luke Alexander

Luke Alexander was born on Monday, March 24th at 2:55 pm. He weighed 7lbs 3 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long.

What these pictures don't show is that we actually arrived at the hospital around 2:40 pm! Maybe 2:45, I don't think either of us took the time to check and the next 10-15 minutes were utter chaos.

I will backup a bit. I thought I could be in labor as I dressed for work that morning. I took Hunter to daycare and decided to stay at home in the morning to make sure that I was in labor. Around 9:30 I decided I was and called my mom to let her know I thought she should plan to get to our house in the early afternoon. At the time I didn't think I needed to be more specific so we didn't establish a set time. That would come back to haunt me!

Kerry went to a meeting that started at 11am and I knew he would have his phone off during that time. He told me the meeting wouldn't last that long and I told him not to worry, I was in labor with Hunter for many hours before it got to a point where the contractions were every 5 minutes for an hour. By noon the contractions were really painful and 5 minutes apart. I called to check on Kerry, the phone was still off, and called my mom to see where she was. I got not answer and her cell phone wasn't on. Kerry called me around 12:30 I told him yes, pick Hunter up and hurry home. Shortly after my mom called and I told her to hurry as well. I called the doctor and waited for a call back.

Kerry got home and we tried to get Hunter down for a nap. He was a bit difficult and I was feeling enough pain to send him up to bed with an entire bag of cheetos (whatever worked.) We left for the hospital around 2:10. Kerry commented that these contractions sounded stronger than with Hunter. I agreed. I think about 15 minutes into the ride my water broke. With each subsequent contraction I started to push. This was not a good sign. Kerry told me to stop. Easier said than done.

We got to the hospital and instead of him dropping me off like we planned I told him I needed his help. I got out of the car and couldn't walk and dropped to the ground. Hospital staff saw me and rushed out with a wheel chair. They rushed me up to triage, and I remember saying "I want an epidural." One of the women with us said "Oh honey I wanted one with my second as well." And laughed.

5-10 minutes later Luke was born in triage after about 3-4 pushes. Amazing.

Easter

We had a great Easter. Since Hunter is such a huge fan of chocolate, he thought the Easter Bunny was the best and carried his basket around everywhere.

We went to my parents for dinner and an egg hunt.

Here is my last pregnancy photo, 40 weeks and 4 days.

New Development

Hunter and I were driving home from daycare yesterday and I was making conversation with him. Wed is power tots day (a gymnastics class that is offered, which he loves) and so he has stamps on his hands from the class. I point out the stamps and ask him what color they are, he replies “Violeta” or violet in Spanish. Shocked I ask him other colors:

Blue, he says “azul”
Red, he says “rojo”
Green, he says “verde”
Yellow, I say now this is a hard one, he says “Amarillo”
White, “blanco”

Accent was perfect! Amazing what he has in his head! I asked him for numbers, but no luck.

Mr. B

On Mondays at Hunter's school Mr. B comes to play music for the kids and sing songs. Hunter loves it and because of that we even have a cd of his songs we can play in the car over and over. (Lucky us!)

For the past couple of nights/mornings, Hunter has been particularly difficult to get dressed/undressed and bathed. Most of these events are met with tantrums, timeouts and us physically putting him in his clothes/pjs or the bath. It is exhausting.

Last night was a great night, he took a bath no problem, got dressed for bed with ease, a complete delight. I was so appreciative I just kept thanking him over and over. I told him to go downstairs and tell daddy what a good boy he was. Kerry congratulated him and gave him a high five followed by knocking their fists together, to which Hunter responded, "to the good life!"

Evidently that is something Mr. B does at the end of this visit to the kids. So funny hearing it come out of the mouth of a 2 1/2 year old.