He's here!

Well, some time has passed since the last post and with good reason. We've been a little busy around here now that Mr. Rhett has made his arrival. Born 8-25-08 at 8lbs, 5 oz, he arrived at 8:45 am. Things couldn't have gone more smoothly. I am so blessed and thankful! We arrived at the hospital at 7:00 and they immediately started getting us ready. We were back in the operating room by 8:15 and a short half hour later I was blessed with hearing those first cries. It was all a little surreal. I know I've posted a lot about this being my last time and I just tried to soak in every moment. The surgery was a little more uncomfortable than I remember the other surgeries being and I was a little more sore afterwards but all in all we are all GREAT.

The big brothers are so proud. Jagger just dotes over him. Every time he passes by us he stops to give him a kiss and say, "How you doin' Rhett??" Lawson isn't quite as intrigued with him but is surprisingly protective! He doesn't want Jagger to bother him or wake him up. Lawson was the first of the two big brothers to hold him and kept talking about how tiny his fingers, toes and yes, even fingernails were. These moments have been so precious to me.

The first day and night with Rhett was so easy. He was very laid back, nursed right away and hardly ever cried. The next night mom and I had a little harder time with him. Seems he developed some tummy trouble and was a little uncomfortable that night.

When we left the hospital he had lost down to 7lbs, 8 oz. almost a whole pound. He was a little jaundiced and one of the pediatricians had thought she had detected a heart murmur. Luckily when we were discharged they told us that there was no heart murmur present. We are so thankful!

The last few days at home had definitely been tiring. Brandon has been here with me the whole time and has been great to help out. He was able to rest while we were at the hospital and mom graciously spent the nights with me and Rhett to help out. I am so blessed with great help and family that goes above and beyond what they are expected to do.

Today Brandon went back to work and mom took me and all three boys to the dr office for Rhett's weight check. He eats all the time and that was confirmed by the weight check today! He had already gained back up to 8lbs even! Dr. says the jaundice isn't bad enough to worry over and he will see us back in two weeks. 

I'm going to attach some pictures since I know that's what everyone is most interested in anyway. :) Thanks for checking in on us. Here's my sweet new baby boy!

Here we are just before leaving for the hospital.

Rhett's 1st pic.

Brandon putting on his first diaper.

Our wonderful doctor, Dr. Welsch who delivered him.

Linda goes to church with us and works in Labor and Delivery. She was with us the whole time during the surgery and was the "baby catcher" and got Rhett all cleaned up and ready to see mom and dad. I was SO thankful she was there. It was supposed to be her day off!

Here was are! This was in the recovery room just minutes after surgery.

And again after they moved us to our room. Can you tell the pain meds were kicking in on me?? :)

Our complete family! I've said it before, but we are SO blessed!

Mr. Rhett taking a snooze.

Big brother Lawson is first to hold him.

The boys checking out their new brother.

Jag checking out those tiny fingers.

My three sons! CHEESE! :)

Random thoughts...

Well, here are some random thoughts on the last night of my last pregnancy.

1) I can't wait to wear regular clothes again! I'm tired of all the frumpiness (is that really a word?)

2)I'm extremely excited about seeing what my third boy looks like. Since my other two look nothing alike I wonder if Rhett will look completely different as well or resemble one of the others?

3)I'm extremely thankful that I've had a smooth pregnancy. I've been very blessed with all three pregnancies in that me and the babies have all been healthy.

4)I can't wait to see how the older boys react to seeing their new baby brother for the first time.

5)I can't wait to hear that precious first cry--there is nothing in the world quite like that! :)

6)I have noticed throughout the day that I've been careful to pay attention to each and every tiny move Rhett has made today. I know that as this is my last day to ever be pregnant I'll miss those little (and sometimes not so little) nudges and kicks.

7)As I was tucking my little ones in to bed tonight I realized that there is no one quite like mom to them. A "snuggle" (which is our nightly routine) from dad was just not the same and they didn't want to say goodnight without that "snuggle" from mom! Melts my heart.

8)I have a lot of anxiety over this upcoming surgery. Although this will be my third--you'd think I'd be an old pro by now!--I'm very nervous. My first c-section was unplanned. The second came early, before the scheduled date. This week I've found myself sitting around anticipating a surgery rather than a birth.

9)I'm an emotional wreck. I have this flood of all these different emotions, not to mention hormones! Sleep is not something that has come easily for me over the past few months but especially tonight I find it hard to relax and get ready for sleep.

10)I know that tomorrow after seeing, hearing, smelling my precious baby boy all of the above mentioned things will melt away and I'll feel once again what every mother feels when she meets her baby for the first time--blessed and feeling that every minute was worth it all!

Family day

The boys enjoy the games at Chuck E. Cheese!

Today we had family day. I took the whole day off of work since my surgery is on Monday. We decided it would be fun to do something fun with the boys since they will be in for big changes come Monday. I had my final dr appt today and afterwards we headed to Chuck E. Cheese for some pizza and games. The boys had a blast! They played every game, I believe! They won their own tickets and got to pick out a prize at the end. Even Brandon and I got in on the fun and played a little ourselves. :) I'm glad we were able to take time out today and make it a little about them. I'm sure the baby will get lots of attention when he arrives on Monday and we wanted the two older ones to have a day with just mom and dad.

We all had a wonderful time together and feel extremely blessed by these two wonderful little boys. At the same time we are looking very forward to meeting our third precious little boy on Monday! :)

10 days and counting!

Wow! I can hardly believe we are only 10 days (or less!) away from meeting our newest, precious, little boy! It just doesn't seem real to me.

I had a dr visit yesterday and everything was great. I had even lost two pounds. Guess that's what happens when you live on a diet of sprite, crackers and chicken noodle soup! We've all had the stomach bug around our house. Lawson was the only one who seems to have escaped it completely. The rest of us, although to different degrees, have had it in some shape or form. Luckily, we are all better!

I feel that this next week will fly by. We have a whole lot planned that should take the focus off of the wait. Monday Lawson starts his new pre-school. Monday through Wednesday will also be spent registering our new students at Freed and handing out their technology.

If all works out well, I'll plan to work through Thursday and have Friday off. I'll have my last dr visit that morning and would like to do something fun with the boys that afternoon like take them to Chuck E. Cheese. Not sure if all will work out, but for now, that's what we're shooting for. Next Saturday will begin Lawson's soccer season so I'm looking forward to seeing at least one game before being out of commission for a while.

So, I'm going to try to sit back (as much as the week will allow) and enjoy these last days of my last pregnancy. As ready as I am to meet this little guy I know there are aspects of this part that I will miss in the coming years. Please keep our family in your prayers as we all prepare for this new life that we are about to take on. Please keep my upcoming surgery in your prayers as well that both Rhett and I will be healthy and recovery will go smoothly. :)

My 2nd 29th :)

So, today was a mile stone for me, I guess. I've made it to thirty. Funny I don't feel 30. But, it has its advantages. One of my favorite summer treats is "Sin Pie". I'm not sure what anyone else calls it but our family has called it this for as long as I can remember. I guess because it is sinfully delicious! :) When mom asked me what kind of cake I wanted I told her sin pie. She grunted and told me how non-easy it is to make and didn't really want to make it. However, I played my cards while I could telling her that it WAS my 30th birthday, not to mention my being pregnant! She gave in and made this delicious treat! I thoroughly enjoyed it! Thanks so much mom for taking the extra time!
We went to Logan's to eat this afternoon. I love the bread and salad. Yum!

The boys helped put the candles in the pie and then helped me blow them out. They were so sweet!

Me and my boys.

All in all my day was pretty good. Lots of calls and Facebook messages. However, on the way to Logan's Jagger got sick. We hoped he just had gotten a little car sick but he has thrown up for most of the afternoon. I don't think he's kept anything down since lunch time. I guess he's got a virus. :( My day would have been much better had my baby been able to enjoy it with me. I hate he has been sick and hope this passes very soon.

Tooth Fairy!

Well, as it turns out, the tooth-fairy thought Jagger was especially deserving for being so brave and brought him a five dollar bill for his two front teeth. He was so excited about his money. He was so proud of himself as he told us he was going to give it all to God! :)

Jag and his 5 dollar bill.

Our new (but temporary) smile! :)

Well, here's our new look. I must say it's the cutest snaggle-toothed kid I've ever seen--not to mention the bravest!

We made our trip to the dentist today and as expected, that tooth had to come out. But, a little unexpectedly, the other front tooth had to come out as well. We were a little disappointed but glad that we could get it over with on the same day rather than putting him through this twice. I just cannot say how good he has been through this whole ordeal. We had to give him meds before taking him this morning so he was groggy all morning long. At one point as we were waiting to be called back he leaned up, eyes half open, and said, "I love this place!" We got pretty tickled. He never shed a tear all day long! The dentist and nurses couldn't get over how good he was and to only be 2 1/2! I am a very proud mom!

He's done great and doesn't seem to be hurting at all. He's still groggy from the medicine, mostly laying around but has still had the appetite to have a hotdog and some rice. Drinking is proving to be a little more difficult for him but we're making it.
The dentist's office even sent us home with his two teeth and special tooth fairy envelope. Sorry if the picture is a little too graphic for you. I tried to keep it to a minimum. Hopefully the tooth-fairy will pay sweet Jag a visit tonight, although we're not exactly sure the tooth-fairy knows the going rate for prematurely extracted baby teeth! :)

We'll be going back to the dentist in 4-6 weeks to have him fitted for false teeth. Both dentist and nurses strongly encouraged the false teeth since both had to be pulled and speech is still developing at this age. Jagger tended to talk with a bit of a lisp anyway and both said it would only get worse with no teeth there. So our cute little toothless smile is only temporary. Anyway, just wanted to send a quick update on our little guy and let everyone know he's done great. (Mom and dad did ok, too!) :)