Graham's Homecoming

we stayed at the hospital friday and saturday night and then they let us leave on sunday after graham was checked out by the pediatrician and i was checked out by my doctor. they said he had passed all his screeners and tests and he had only lost about a half pound since his birth. the doctor said he expected him to lose closer to a pound so he was impressed he was already eating well. when we brought him home he weighed 8.3 lbs. brian's parents met us at the hospital at the time of our release with lilian so she could ride home with us. they came in and gave last hugs and kisses and let lilian hold her brother one more time before we got all packed up to head home. thanks for taking care of our girl, grandma and grandpa, while we were away. it was fun looking in the back seat and seeing two car seats with our two loves in the back seat. lilian talked to graham the whole way home (although he was sleeping of course!)

 

our first day home lilian gave graham a tour of our home, held him a million times, and we got things organized from the hospital. welcome home, baby graham. we are so happy to have you join our family. we are officially a family of four! here are some pictures from our first day home...

 

 



 

 

Graham's Special Visitors

of course we had many special people who wanted to meet baby graham! he is one lucky fellow to have so many wonderful people who love him already! friday afternoon he was greeted by nannie and ross, my brother (who brought him a birthday cake!), and my dad. we were then able to tell my dad how we gave graham his middle name, charles, after my dad. he was so surprised, it was awesome to wait and tell him in person!

 

 

 more special friends that visited on friday...some of mommy's college friends and some of our james walker family...

 

alison and curtis came up after she got off work. curtis was very excited to meet his first male cousin! he was very gentle and sweet with him and kept wanting to hold him. it made me super excited for lilian's arrival to see her reaction to baby graham!

 

 

 

 colleen and drew brought lilian up and we had everyone clear the room so she could have her special moment with him. i read to have the baby in the bassinet so mommy could still greet her without the baby in my arms, so that is what i did. she rushed in and gave me a big hug then asked, "where's graham?" i pointed to the bassinet and the first thing she said was, "oh, he is so cute. can i hold him?" we set her down in the big recliner with the boppy and let her hold him. some of the sweet comments she made..."we can keep him forever!" "he's just the sweetest baby ever" and "your big sister will take care of you." talk about melting your heart.

 

 

 we called everyone back in after lilian had her moment with graham and sang happy birthday to baby graham and enjoyed a cookie cake. lilian loved opening her big sister presents as well, she was spoiled! i think she thought it was her birthday, too! shortly after some very special visitors arrived who drove a long way to meet graham...grandma, grandpa, aunt leanne, uncle mark, and cousins lauren and andrew. lilian had been so excited for their arrival for weeks! she knew they would be coming as soon as her brother arrived and had been waiting patiently for the time to finally come!

 

 

lilian got to go dinner with everyone and then have a slumber party back at our house while we stayed at the hospital. the next morning everyone came back up to visit. she got to hold baby graham again and continue to profess her love for him! i loved watching her interact with him and see her instant love for her new brother. we enjoyed some more visits from friends and family on saturday as well. graham was the only baby born on friday and no babies were born on saturday at st. mary's so we pretty much had the entire birthing center to ourselves. it was so quiet and peaceful!

 

 



Baby Graham Arrives!

we are so excited to announce the arrival of graham charles hartstack! his actual due date was not until monday, may 27th, however, my doctor went ahead and induced me on friday, may 24th. he was already measuring around 8 lbs so i was ready for him to arrive! we reported to the hospital at 6 am for my induction. here is my last belly pic right before leaving for the hospital!

sidenote:
the ackersons were sweet enough to keep lilian on thursday night to play and spend the night with amelia so we could prepare for the big day and not have to wake lilian up so early in the morning. colleen took the girls to michele's like normal on friday. lilian knew her baby brother was arriving that day and that she'd get to come visit him after michele's. colleen even said the girls were talking before bed and she heard lilian say over the monitor, "amelia, you have to stop talking if you want to meet my baby brother tomorrow." cracks me up!
here are some pictures of us before labor was really beginning...

after arriving at st. mary's at 6:00 (my mom met us there to be with me the entire labor as well) they got us checked in, started me on pitocin at a low dose and then dr. adams came and broke my water (he was the doctor on call that morning). at this point i was dilated to a 4 and my contractions were 8 minutes apart. i could tell my contractions were getting closer together quickly though. within a half hour they were 3 minutes apart and my nurse was shocked at how quickly my labor was progressing. i went ahead and asked for the epidural at this point since my contractions were starting to get pretty painful. it took a little while before the epidural was in (this was the worst part, just waiting for it arrive as the contractions were getting stronger!) after the epidural they checked me again and i was at an 8 so the nurse called my doctor to come deliver and said we would have a baby in no time. it all happened so fast it was like a dream! dr. wegner (my doctor) arrived and said i was ready to push. i had 3 sets of 3 pushes and baby graham was out! it was crazy! i truly feel blessed to have a short and pretty pain free labor. i know that is rare and i am lucky for that! i was able to hold him on my chest and take it all in before they whisked him away. the miracle of a baby...it is just so overwhelming. we were in complete love from the moment he entered the world! it is hard to put into words the love you feel when you see your child for the first time. we had dreamed and prayed about him for so long and to finally have him in my arms was the greatest feeling on earth. here are some pictures of his arrival.

 

 

 

 

the sonogram was correct, he was a big baby! they put him on the scale and he weighed 8.10 lbs! i was amazed by that and thankful that i was still able to have a vaginal delivery with a bigger baby! brian and i had predicted he would be around 8 lbs. so both of us were pretty shocked when he was closer to 9! he had a perfect, round shaped head and chubby cheeks! he has a little dimple in his chin like lilian did as well. he doesn't have much hair...just some fuzz, and a little more in the back. the color is light...a light brown. his eyes are a dark blue right now so we will see if they change. he is our handsome little man and we could not love him more! god has blessed us! we love you baby graham!!