I am sitting in my hospital room with the OSU Christmas lights outside my window enjoying my last few hours alone with baby Jack. So I guess he should get his own dedicated blog post to introduce him to the world officially before life gets too hectic. My next post could be in 6 months, who knows.
I looked back at Benson's arrival blog post to remind myself what I had to say about that. Since Benson was the 2nd birth (3rd child) I was struck by the fact that his birth was just as magical and amazing as when I had the girls. So with Jack I was anticipating that same experience--the surreal experience of becoming a parent again, now to #4--and it didn't disappoint.
We had a planned C-section since Lydia started the trend with being breech (What, Lydia? Stubborn?) I have had to follow suit and to be honest I am very much ok with that for various reasons. Our preparation for this fellow seemed less than stellar this time around since he had a queen bed and other junk in his nursery until days before his birth but somehow it all came together. We had a relaxing Thanksgiving day (thanks to the Taylors for taking us in) and even got some things done (I got a second wind and cleaned out the garage!). We battled black Friday traffic to get baby essentials from Target (and ended up with a giant TV in our cart too). I somehow made it through my last shift without my water breaking and answered my last questions to the families ("yes, I am about to pop, thanks . . . yep, he is coming in 2 days. No, not my first my 4th. Yes 4th. Yes, 4 and under. 2 girls and 2 boys. Yes, we are busy. thanks") We trekked to a tree farm with some friends and cut our own tree. By Sunday afternoon our house was quite the idyllic setting with our Christmas decorations in place, the tree glowing and most importantly a lovely nursery ready for baby Jack.
So, Monday arrived bright and early and we were off to the hospital. We were scheduled for 8 but were a bit delayed because of a couple of emergency c-sections so I had more time to savor the last few moments with Jack. The section went well. One minute he was entertaining the entire OR by making my whole belly move with his intrauterine antics and the next he is being pulled out by his head. He arrived at 9:23 am, weighed in at 7 lb 8 oz, and 20 inches long. He was well behaved for the pediatricians and then we were able to cuddle with him for a few minutes before he was whisked off to the newborn nursery for his first bath.
He's a cutie. He looks kind of like Ben but with dark hair. So far he has been pretty chill. He slept through his first immunization. When his sibs came he was very tolerant of their probing. At one point Lydia pried open his mouth to 'check for teeth' and then promptly snapped it shut like he was a lion and she the tamer--he squirmed but didn't make a peep (although we're not out of the woods yet, he's still fresh and could turn on us at any moment). All 3 of his sibs were super excited to see him and hold him. Lydia was especially exuberant about holding him which is surprising because she was not too fond of Ben at first and refused to wear her big sister shirt when B arrived for several weeks.
We had a hard time picking a name for him and we finally narrowed it down to 3 front runners about 2 weeks ago. We still couldn't decide but then had an epiphany (we've been able to observe our funny and entertaining next door neighbor boys who are very close in age) that we needed to pick a name that was easy to say--or rather shout--with Ben. I mean let's be honest--we have 2 boys less than 2 years apart--I think it is safe to say that we will be shouting their names together quite a bit. So we practiced 'yelling' Ben and the other 3 names together and Jack seemed to fit the best. Ryan was a little leary about the commonality of the name but I had pored over the lists and reassured him that although it is popular it wasn't in the top 10 (Jackson is but Jack proper had not made it yet). The ironic thing is that on Jacks 3rd day of life they announced the top baby names of 2012. The newscaster actually said "and new this year to the top 10 list is Jack!" So, sorry Jack, you will be one of many--but Jack Battles is still cooler than those other Jacks :). The middle name was settled on the night before his birth at dinner. Matthew is Ryan's middle name so now both boys have one of their dad's names.
We are more than thankful for him and so excited to add him to our family. I think he will fit in wonderfully and I can't wait to see what his little personality will be like.
I looked back at Benson's arrival blog post to remind myself what I had to say about that. Since Benson was the 2nd birth (3rd child) I was struck by the fact that his birth was just as magical and amazing as when I had the girls. So with Jack I was anticipating that same experience--the surreal experience of becoming a parent again, now to #4--and it didn't disappoint.
We had a planned C-section since Lydia started the trend with being breech (What, Lydia? Stubborn?) I have had to follow suit and to be honest I am very much ok with that for various reasons. Our preparation for this fellow seemed less than stellar this time around since he had a queen bed and other junk in his nursery until days before his birth but somehow it all came together. We had a relaxing Thanksgiving day (thanks to the Taylors for taking us in) and even got some things done (I got a second wind and cleaned out the garage!). We battled black Friday traffic to get baby essentials from Target (and ended up with a giant TV in our cart too). I somehow made it through my last shift without my water breaking and answered my last questions to the families ("yes, I am about to pop, thanks . . . yep, he is coming in 2 days. No, not my first my 4th. Yes 4th. Yes, 4 and under. 2 girls and 2 boys. Yes, we are busy. thanks") We trekked to a tree farm with some friends and cut our own tree. By Sunday afternoon our house was quite the idyllic setting with our Christmas decorations in place, the tree glowing and most importantly a lovely nursery ready for baby Jack.
So, Monday arrived bright and early and we were off to the hospital. We were scheduled for 8 but were a bit delayed because of a couple of emergency c-sections so I had more time to savor the last few moments with Jack. The section went well. One minute he was entertaining the entire OR by making my whole belly move with his intrauterine antics and the next he is being pulled out by his head. He arrived at 9:23 am, weighed in at 7 lb 8 oz, and 20 inches long. He was well behaved for the pediatricians and then we were able to cuddle with him for a few minutes before he was whisked off to the newborn nursery for his first bath.
He's a cutie. He looks kind of like Ben but with dark hair. So far he has been pretty chill. He slept through his first immunization. When his sibs came he was very tolerant of their probing. At one point Lydia pried open his mouth to 'check for teeth' and then promptly snapped it shut like he was a lion and she the tamer--he squirmed but didn't make a peep (although we're not out of the woods yet, he's still fresh and could turn on us at any moment). All 3 of his sibs were super excited to see him and hold him. Lydia was especially exuberant about holding him which is surprising because she was not too fond of Ben at first and refused to wear her big sister shirt when B arrived for several weeks.
We had a hard time picking a name for him and we finally narrowed it down to 3 front runners about 2 weeks ago. We still couldn't decide but then had an epiphany (we've been able to observe our funny and entertaining next door neighbor boys who are very close in age) that we needed to pick a name that was easy to say--or rather shout--with Ben. I mean let's be honest--we have 2 boys less than 2 years apart--I think it is safe to say that we will be shouting their names together quite a bit. So we practiced 'yelling' Ben and the other 3 names together and Jack seemed to fit the best. Ryan was a little leary about the commonality of the name but I had pored over the lists and reassured him that although it is popular it wasn't in the top 10 (Jackson is but Jack proper had not made it yet). The ironic thing is that on Jacks 3rd day of life they announced the top baby names of 2012. The newscaster actually said "and new this year to the top 10 list is Jack!" So, sorry Jack, you will be one of many--but Jack Battles is still cooler than those other Jacks :). The middle name was settled on the night before his birth at dinner. Matthew is Ryan's middle name so now both boys have one of their dad's names.
We are more than thankful for him and so excited to add him to our family. I think he will fit in wonderfully and I can't wait to see what his little personality will be like.
One of his first pics
Getting weighed
My turn to finally meet him
First pic with mom and dad
His thinking pose
Ryan demonstrating his swaddling skills
Meeting Grandma
and Grandpa
Aunt Sammy (aka yaya)
and now to meet his siblings!
November 30, 2012 at 11:58 AM
He is adorable Heather! I can't wait to meet him on Monday for his first photo shoot. Seems extra special since he and I now share a birthday...I was born at 10:00 so even his arrival is close to mine. Enjoy your time with him!