our sweet baby boy

reece william came into this world on april 16th, 2012. we had planned it that way. after all, two previous c-section buys you a free pass to the operating room. I knew it would be the safest way and I wasn't about to roll the dice and try it any other way.

however, reece decided that our original 7am report time was far too late. I had chocked up two hours of tossing and turning and multiple bathroom trips to a final "pregnancy makes sleeping impossible" hurrah. not so. my water broke at 1:15am. really?  my first official "scheduled c-section" and now my body decides to go into spontaneous labor?  um...you're about four years late my friend. I called labor and delivery and they advised me to head on in, but that it probably wasn't a huge rush...in other words, go ahead and shower.
I called my mom and dad and then I proceeded to wake up kyle.  the conversation went something like this:
me: uh, honey?
kyle [asleep]: mmm
me: we need to go to the hospital
kyle: why?
me: my water broke
kyle: are you kidding me?
me: nope
kyle: don't you think you could tough it out for about 5 1/2 more hours?
me:  riiiiiight.
I showered, called my sister (of course), got ready, and then we woke up the boys. luckily I had made sure our bags were all ready to go before I went to sleep mere hours earlier. phew. by this time the contractions were about six minutes apart.
we dropped the boys off at my parents house and then my mom hopped in the van (in her pjs) and drove us to the hospital. the nurses at the desk were expecting us. they led us to our room and handed me my very fashionable outfit. they certainly know how to make a preggo feel beautiful. yikes. by now it's 3 am and my contractions are four minutes apart.

by 4 am I'm officially in active labor and (half) jokingly complaining that I did not sign up for this double whammy.  read: let's get this show on the road. apparently I had just beat the rush and there were quite a few ladies in very active labor who were requesting the services of the anesthesiologist. great. the residents decided that they were going to verify that my water had indeed broken.  in their words, this would determine if I was near the top of the to-do list or dead last.

lo and behold I do know what it feels like when one's water breaks and contractions start coming like a mack truck. I now edged my way almost to the top.  key word: almost. I am ever so grateful to my nurse for requesting that they give me something for the pain. contractions every three minutes can start to smart just a bit. a quick shot in the arm, dimmed room lights, and a reclined bed and I dare say that I nearly napped. around 6 am they wheeled me into the OR.

thirty-one minutes later we heard "IT'S A BOY!" for the third time.

it never gets old.

the rest of our time in the hospital was smooth sailing. I now know to take full advantage of the night nurses in the nursery, so I was able to get some actual rest. miles and henry were in daycare monday through wednesday which made it possible for kyle to spend some quality time snuggling with reece.

the big brothers came to visit little reece on monday afternoon. they were so proud to wear their new t-shirts and I was so proud to see their sweet faces light up when they laid eyes on the tiny baby they had been waiting for and talking about for months.  miles was mildly disappointed when he found out it wasn't a girl, but he was more devasted to discover that we had not named the baby "marker" - tragedy.

we quickly distracted him with a mini spelling lesson for r-e-e-c-e and then he was happy as a clam...and eager to inform anyone who stepped into the room how to spell his baby brother's name. nana and papa bought the big brothers new cameras. thank goodness professional photog nana was there to provide a crash course.


we were grateful for our visitors. it's comforting to know how many people are there to support our little family.

we were also grateful for the quiet moments spent taking in every detail of our sweet little man. if you had asked me ten years ago what I would do if I didn't have a baby girl, I would have probably told you that I would cry. oh how I was wrong. I am so incredibly in love with the three beautiful baby boys that God has blessed kyle and me with. what a privilege to become parents to such perfect little ones.

we are in love.

enjoy this little video montage: