Brown: Party of 5: 27 Days Later

It's been 27 days since Connor joined us. I probably should have written this post sooner, but there have been things to do: cuddling a baby, cuddling a 3 year old, making sure the laundry doesn't take over the house, resting, more cuddling, visiting, etc. So better late than never right ;) This is also going to be pretty detailed. I decided recently that this is more than just for sharing with people, this is for me to look back on when I get old and forgetful and can't remember this stuff.

I scheduled Connor's birthday to be April 1, and he cooperated. (Good thing too, the OB had a stretch of being SUPER busy about 2 weeks before then. We had supper with Jess, the nurse manager for OB and she told me to hold on to the 1st. They wouldn't have had room for me!)

Nana came down Thursday night so she could keep track of Kaden for the weekend. Chris cooked an awesome supper while I rushed around and did all the cleaning I wanted done before Connor was born. We finally headed to bed around 11, and were up early to be at the hospital by 6. We checked in and the nurses got things started (only 1 IV stick- yay!) My nurse and anesthesiologist that morning were both pregnant too. Must be something in the water! In the OR they got me all ready and gave me the spinal block. Chris joined us, and soon Dr. Ivey showed up. We started at 8:00 and at 8:10 Connor was born. I got to hear him cry as they checked him over and then they let me see him before they took him up stairs. He looked huge compared to Kaden. THey called back down and confirmed my thoughts. He was 8 pounds 12 ounces. He was over 3 pounds bigger than Kaden!

When I finally got upstairs, they brought Connor to the room. We had lots of visitors that day. Grandma and Nana were both there when I got back to my room. Whitney snuck up for a little bit to meet him, and Shelby and JD joined us later. Paw also came. We spent the morning snuggling and sending text messages and picture messages. Kaden wanted to take him home that day. I told him that I couldn't come home yet, and he said "You stay here, we'll just take Connor home."

We had presents for Kaden at the hospital. He got a new Mack he had been wanting and a new Color Wonder color book. He also got presents from just about everyone that came to visit. We spent the weekend hanging out at the hospital. Connor dropped a lot of weight on Friday and Saturday, and was down to 7 pounds 12 ounces on Saturday night. We were still waiting on my milk to come in at this point, and we had to give him some formula. I kinda freaked out about this (in my defense, I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep). Chris ended up coming back Saturday night and staying with us. The couch was uncomfortable for him, but I REALLY appreciated it.

We had many more visitors throughout the weekend. Karla was my savior as she brought me some puppy chow (They wouldn't let me eat real food until Saturday night)
that helped me get through.

Did I mention the weather was BEAUTIFUL all weekend. Kaden drug Nana to every park in Storm Lake AND Alta. Monday, when it was time for me to get out of the hospital, it got cold. Chris and Kaden came to pick us up Monday morning. I finally got to get dressed, we got Connor dressed, and we got all of our instructions for leaving. Connor was back up to 7 pounds 15 ounces. We had to come back in 2 days for a weight and billirubin check because he was a little jaundiced. We stopped at Villager for lunch, made a Wal-Mart run, and then headed home. By the time we were done at Wal-Mart I was about done for. I spent the rest of the day on the couch with Connor.

So that's the story of when Connor was born. I have a feeling the OB nurses are going to be pestering us to have more children though. Chris made caramel bars Sunday morning and shared with the nursing staff. They asked for more when we went back for the weight check!

And now, in no particular order....

Kaden watching a movie at the hospital.

Jason and Chrissy and the boys came to visit and Dylan wanted to hold Connor.

Aunt Shelby took the day off to be here!

The kid's feet are huge. You can't see it here but his toes are REALLY long too.

Some of my students stopped by.

Our babysitting family came to meet Connor too. They have 4 girls and they have been fighting over watching Kaden ever since. He spends lots of Monday nights (fire meetings) and Friday nights (golf) at their house.