One Week Old!

This time a week ago, we were sitting in the hospital waiting for our little bear to make his arrival. At this time, we had no idea that he was a bear, but we did know that he was going to arrive some time last Wednesday. We are definitely adjusting to being a family of four. Harrison loves his little brother so well and much better than I could have ever imagined. Just today when he was leaving for school he said to me, "love you too mom! Oh, and take care of baby Fisher while me at school." So sweet.
I'm trying to get used to being up at night again. I guess it is one of things that you just do because you don't have a choice. However, I'm already looking forward to the days when he sleeps through the night. And it is pretty amazing how fast your day goes when you live on three hour increments. Three hours, which seemed like a good bit of time just a week ago, now seems like a sprint to get everything done.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

First Bath at Home

In keeping with tradition, Adam gave Fisher his first bath at home (he did the same for Harrison). Harrison and I supervised. Harrison was a little concerned about the amount of crying that was going on, but I assured him it was totally normal. It definitely raises the blood pressure of everyone in the room, and I think it makes you scrub, scrub a lot faster than if it were a silent bath. As an aside, I hope that everyone has a husband that helps like man does. He is pretty much amazing and game for everything. At the hospital, after the nurse showed me Fisher's circumcision, I had to sit down because I was sure I would pass out. At that point, Adam volunteered to do the cleaning of it until I could handle it (which was only after one more diaper). But still, he is pretty unbelievable.

Fisher Meeting the Family

After delivering Harrison in Colorado almost three years ago, it was really fun to have a bunch of family around for the arrival of Fisher. They all love Harrison so well that I can only imagine that they will love Fisher just as well. Check out Adam's sister, Amanda...she is the most likely to provide our boys a cousin in the near future...we are VERY hopeful for it. Plus, doesn't she look like a natural?

Yay! He's Here!

Harrison came to visit while I was waiting on Fisher to come. I'm confident that I was grinning through a contraction at this point. I was about to get the epidural when H arrived and didn't want to freak him out, so I waited. And then my back labor reached an all time high!

Our bear

Daddy holding Fisher for the first time. Well he did cut the cord which he described as "gummy." Yuck!

Harrison meeting Fisher for the first time. He was super sweet with him.

Oh my word. Adam "Fisher" Brantley has made his debut and it was absolutely glorious. After this experience, I realized that I had a terrible experience with Harrison. And when I say terrible, I mean that I had to push for two hours without pain medication (my epidural ran out and they wouldn't hang another bag). I know people do it without pain medicine all of the time, but I labored all day with it for Harrison, so it was a big change. In fact, I looked back at my original blog post about it and I said that it was going to take sever amnesia for me to sign up for it again.
But here's the deal. #1. The Lord is good. #2. East Cooper Medical Center may have the best doctors/nurses around. It was an amazing experience that I would absolutely do again (except for being pregnant...I don't want to do that again).
Anyway, Fisher came out really quickly. I think I only had to push like five times and it took 25 minutes. Praise the Lord! He is quite the chunker and everyone around the hospital is calling him "the big baby." The crazy thing is that he didn't feel like a big baby coming out (if you know what I mean) and he doesn't really look that big (except his cheeks are might large). He is so long, that I think his weight is distributed well.
As far as who he looks like...we have no idea. Last night, I thought he looked totally different than Harrison. Today, I think he looks more like him. I guess we'll see in the coming months.
Oh, so he arrived at 6:13 pm weighing 9 lbs, 3 ounces and is 22 inches long.

The Night Before

Well, we are in Charleston and ready to head to the hospital first thing in the morning. It is such a surreal feeling. Adam and I keep on looking at each other like, "is this really happening? Are we about to go have our second child?" For some reason, this time around feels very different. Maybe we were a little ignorant about what we were getting into with Harrison. And things were amazing with Harrison, but we are both just a little nervous. And it has nothing to do with delivery, but everything to do with parenting two kids. We've been telling ourselves that people do it all of the time, so we'll be fine. We are also probably more excited too. We are so curious to see what this little boy looks like (although Harrison told us the other day that baby Fisher is going to have a donkey nose after I asked what he is going to do when he sees the baby for the first time). Even more, I can't wait to see how much he wants to be with Harrison in the coming months. As you can see from the picture above, Harrison is thrilled about baby Fisher entering this world. Today, when I told him why we were coming to Charleston, his response was "Momma have lap again?" So, maybe he doesn't totally get it, but whatever he grasps, I'm thankful for. Thanks for all of the prayers, text messages, and sweet phone calls everyone has sent our way. They are much appreciated.

Some Final Thoughts on a New Adventure

"I prayed for this child and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him over to the Lord. For his whole life will be given over to the Lord." 1 Samuel 1:27-28

As we closed out 2010 and are full-steam ahead into 2011, I can't help but reflecting on how absolutely crazy 2010 has been for us. I remember that I begged in my first post on this blog for 2010 that it would be a Year of Peace. Well, I can't say that it has. So, I'm not claiming anything this year. This year has been marked by pregnancy...ones that have not been viable, and one that is about to become to fruition (see my post when I announced this for more info). Anyway, the other day, I was looking through the pictures on my phone when I came across this photo of a positive pregnancy test. The date on it was 5/4/2010. I wasn't sure as I had a few positive tests and against my husbands protest, I always sent them to Allison as she walked through this struggle every day with me. But when I came across this test, I was flooded with the emotions that I felt that day. I remember sitting in my bathroom and saying aloud, "you have got to be getting me. I cannot do this again." And by "this," I was referencing another failed pregnancy. I felt defeated the moment I saw the blue lines and just knew isn't possible for me to actually have this turn into something. Well, almost eight months to the day after taking the test and quite a few pounds larger, I'd say it has turn into something. God is good. That collection of thoughts sent me into cries of adoration for my Father in Heaven that I could not seem to control. It was a tender moment, that I will never forget.
And we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of this little blessing. I called Adam on Dec 30th and said, "how badly do you want a tax deduction? I'm willing to stomach the Castor oil." In typical Adam form he replied, "Mandy, I can wait until Wednesday. I have a lot I need to do in the next few days before this baby comes." He apparently doesn't know what it feels like to be 100 months pregnant. Harrison is more excited now that Christmas has passed. We have been telling him all along that Fisher will be here after Christmas. So now that it is after Christmas, I think he is ready to get this show on the road. And the timing really couldn't be better. We had yesterday, today, and tomorrow just to hang out as a family of three, and through today, it has been glorious. Not to mention I just woke up from an hour and a half nap. I awoke and was alarmed with the thought, "that was a great nap...does that mean I'm going to have a long night ahead of me?" After last year, here is one thing I can claim for 2011...Here's to a non-pregnant 2011!