Levi's Arrival!

My sweet Levi is 3 months old today!! I feel so blessed to have him in our lives. He is a very patient and sweet baby, and Thomas is a GREAT big brother. He truly loves his little brother. And Levi stares at Thomas constantly. He may be young, but I can tell arleady that he cannot wait to do things just like his big brother. I love my chubby little three month old :).

Here is the story of Levi's birth...(I copy and pasted this from a note I wrote on Facebook so some of you might have already read it)

The experience was very different this time. After discussing it with my doctor, considering our options, and praying about it, Tommy and I decided that a repeat C-section would be the best thing for me and Levi, especially after the blood pressure issues I was having during the pregnancy. It was strange to have a date set to go in and have him. With Thomas it happened two weeks earlier then my due date and I didn't see it coming. This time around I knew exactly when it would happen (if I didn't go into labor earlier which I didn't...). So Decemeber 18th it was :)!

I was actually more nervous this time. Knowing the date ahead of time is nice as far as preparation goes, but it was a lot scarier to me to know what was going to happen and when it was going to happen.

I tried to go to bed earlier that Thursday evening, December 17th, but it seems like no matter how hard you try to have things prepared early, you still have last minute things to do.I was anxious anyway, so I probably wouldn't have slept well if I had gone to bed early. I ended up not going to bed until midnight that night, and I set the alarm on my phone for 4:00 A.M. since we had to be at the hospital at 5:30 AM. My parents spent the night at our house (instead of going home to Highland Home) that night, that way they could wake up with Thomas around 6, get some breakfast, and head to the hospital before I went back for surgery. They aslo kept him the whole time we were in the hospital, plus off and on some during the next two weeks of adjustment and recovery. I can not begin to tell them how grateful we are for that and how much it helped us.

We arrived at the hospital a little before 5:30 Friday morning, December 18th. We checked in at the ER desk and they sent us upstairs to the recovery area for me to be prepped for surgery, they put the IV in and set me up to the monitors and all of that fun stuff. Tommy and I had some quiet time in our little area while we waited for the anesthesiologist to come. We prayed together and talked and guessed Levi's weight and whether he would have hair or not, what he'd look like, how Thomas was going to handle it, etc. It was a really wonderful couple of hours with him, honestly. It was peacful and nice so I relaxed a good bit. Meanwhile, my parents and brothers, my mother-in-law, and Thomas were all in the waiting room...bright and early, waiting to meet Levi!

I was suppose to go back to the operating room at 7:30, but it was a little later then that (not too much later though). Once the operating room was ready and I was prepped they came, Tommy kissed me, and they wheeled me away. We got to the operating room and I moved from the bed to the operating table. They had me sit up for the spinal. I figured it would be easy, but I was a little nervouse. With Thomas I was having severe labor pains so I didnt even notice the stick..but still, I knew that time it was quick and easy and they had gotten it on the first try, so I figured it would be this time too. I was very wrong, it took them THREE long tries before they finally got it. It was a lot more painful this time, and it actually ended up leaving a bruise that I wouldn't be able to lay on for a couple of weeks. After they FINALLy got the Spinal in, they pushed me back so that it would take affect. I immediately started to feel badly, I kept telling them "I feel weird, I can't breathe...I feel like I need to sleep." They said that my blood pressure had dropped after the Spinal. They put something in my IV to help my blood pressure go back up.. It scared me pretty badly because every one in the room was standing perfectly still staring at the blood pressure machine waiting for it to change. I could tell when my blood pressure started to go back to normal because I immediately felt better. Whew! This all happened within a minute, but it felt like a lifetime!

After that, everything went smoothly! Dr. Phillips came in and performed the surgery and at 8:22 A.M. I heard my sweet Levi cry for the first time :) They took him and suctioned him and wrapped him and gave him to Tommy. Tommy brought him over to me and we had a moment together (I got to touch him but not hold him yet) and then Tommy went with him to the nursery and I was taken to the recovery room, where I did get some rest because the blood pressure thing had made me feel so exhausted.

Tommy came back to the recovery room a couple of times and showed me pictures and told me about what was going on. I was so happy that my friend Miranda (who is an RN at East) was working in the nursery that day and got to take care of Levi for us! She did the weighing and measuring and the first bath, etc. That made it even more special!

After about 45 minutes or so they pushed my bed into a Labor and Delivery room (because they were waiting for a regular room to open up) and there they brought Levi to me and I got to hold him for the first time! My family got to come in there and see him for the first time too. I'll never forget how excited Thomas was and how sweet he was the first time he got to see and "hold" Levi. I couldn't of been a prouder mom looking at my sweet 3 year old and precious newborn together for the first time!

We had lots of visits from family and friends that day and the days following. I was up and walking the next day and determined to get out of there on Sunday instead of Monday (which I did..woohoo!). Our first night home from the hospital was just Tommy, me, and Levi (thomas was still at my parents). It was nice to have that first night with him getting all of our attention. We were also glad to get Thomas back when he came home the next day. Our family was all together then, like it was suppose to be! :)

The recovery was a little tough on some days, a little easier on others..just like any recovery from surgery. It was a little harder this time because we were not getting any sleep. But after a couple of weeks I was feeling totally back to normal!

Levi is a very sweet baby. I love him so much. I think that all parents when they are pregnant with the second one tend to wonder how it's possible to have room in your heart when you already love your spouse and first child so much. I knew how much I loved Levi when he was still in the womb! And those feelings just "exploded" even more once he was born! I look at him today and am brought to tears by the overwhelming love that I feel toward him. My heart is over-flowing with love for both of my boys!!

I pray that as parents Tommy and I will always show Levi how much we love him. I pray that he knows how much he is wanted and how we are always there for him. And most of all I pray that we can bring him up in "the nuture and admonition of the Lord!" (Eph 6:4)