Beautiful Birth Story

7 days ago, I became an AUNTIE again! I am so in love with my new little nephew and have been so excited to share the entire story of his birth, but I knew it was going to take some time to get it all down, just perfect, every little detail. So I begged the boys to play dress up with the girls for an hour, poured myself a cup of coffee and here goes...

Monday, Feb 15th 10:30 a.m.

Megan was scheduled for an NST (non-stress test - used on high risk mom's to evaluate the baby's heart rate and movement). Everything looked good with the baby, but her doctor was concerned that if she didn't go into labor on her own in the next few days she would be putting the baby at risk of complications from her placenta breaking down. Megan had been having pretty strong (but irregular) contractions the last few days, but unfortunately when he checked her cervix it was completely closed. He recommended scheduling a repeat c-section. Megan really wanted a VBAC, and I know the decision was a hard one for her but knowing Jordan would be there in just a few hours was also exciting. She was finally going to get to hold her little boy at 2:00 that afternoon!

12:30 p.m.

Megan & Ryan dropped Aubrey off at our house with Bob and the boys, and the rest of us head on down to the hospital. We grab some food on the way down, anticipating a long afternoon.

Megan has to be one of the calmest people I know. Visitors came in and out of her room while she waited for her doctor. If she was nervous, she didn't show it. Except maybe when the lame nurse couldn't find her vein and stuck her about 50 times to get some blood drawn :(

Jordan had hiccups the entire time- super fun to hear on the monitor.

This picture captures being pregnant with the big D.

Adding some humor to the day- what our little brother does best. Tim, or DR. Tim as he sometimes prefers. Oh and by the way- by the end of the day Tim could tell you everything you ever wanted to know about breastfeeding. I think he was out searching the halls for some breastmilk for himself after reading all the benefits to it! JUST KIDDING Tim!!

Just some pretty shots of the soon-to-be Mom to 2...

And one I love of Megan & Ryan

Finally, after being pushed to 3:30 - Megan heads to the operating room!

Ryan gets in his scrubs...

And after originally thinking I wasn't going to be allowed in (the nurse said there wasn't enough room but the doctor and anethisiologist were ok with it so she was overruled!) I got to scrub in, too!

Megan, still cool as a cucumber, kept asking "Is he almost here yet??"

And at 4:24 p.m. he arrived!

Jordan Ryan William Bell... 8 lbs 15 oz 21.5 inches!

Jordan shares his birthday with the anniversary of our Grandad's death 6 years ago. I am certain Grandad gave Jordan a kiss as he was placed in his mother's arms.

How sweet his first cries were. How relieved his parents were to hear those sounds, to hear the nurses say he was perfect. Apgars 9/9. No NICU! No breathing tubes! What a wonderful moment for Megan & Ryan and how special for me to get to be there to witness it all!

First moments together...

Ryan went with Jordan to the nursery while they finished stitching Megan. I went to announce the news to the rest of the family. Jordan had quite the audience as he was bathed and swaddled!

And when they brought him closer to the window he was all calm and just so perfect!

Tim & Dad staging a plan to get Jordan out of the nursery and bring him down to Megan (still in recovery).

A proud daddy!

The nurses wouldn't budge on their policy to wait 3 hours before bringing the baby to the mom's room (despite Timmy flirting with the nurse - through the glass but still...) So, Danielle rushed to our house to take over so Bob could come up to the hospital and we all took turns trying to entertain Megan- who kept threatening us all if we came back to her room ONE more time without her baby with us!

At 7:30, Jordan was wheeled in where he belonged...

And all is right in the world as mom and baby are together...

And after lots of kisses from his mom, he got to meet the rest of us...

Beautiful moments....

At about 9:00 p.m. or so, we reluctantly left the hospital to go home to our own sleeping babes, who suddenly seemed so grown up! We arrived home to 3 little girls, sleeping peacefully in the Tinkerbell beds that they refuse to sleep in any other night! Let me just say our wonderful babysitter (and friend!) should be cloned and every mom in the world should get one of her. Danielle, we love you, the girls adore you and we are so thankful to have you in our lives!

Tuesday, Feb 16th

Sophia & Madison ended up back in our room sometime that night, but Aubrey slept the entire night. We woke up to her shouting from the girls room the next morning, "Where's my mommy? Why am I in the Tinkerbell bed? Why Sophia & Maddie not here? Are they afraid of bad witches?"

Aubrey wasn't allowed to go in the hospital (stupid swine flu rule) so we had to get creative. She was asking about her little "brudder" and really missing her mom. Megan had a room on the 2nd floor that overlooked the parking lot. So just before lunchtime the next day, Aubs got to see her little brother for the first time, as Megan held him up to the window.

Ryan and I took all three girls to lunch at Bob's Big Boy that afternoon to celebrate Aubrey's big sister day!

Wednesday, Feb 17th

Aubrey was really missing her mom by this time and Megan was definitely missing her. We packed a lunch and headed to the hospital. Megan snuck out to have lunch outside with us.

Thursday, Feb 18th

Home at last!

Saturday, Feb 20th

Jordan will definitely get a lot of attention! These girls adore him and were all over him the second he came home! They fight over whose turn it is to hold him and Madison is convinced he is actually HER brother. OH BOY.

Megan bounced back from her cesarean quickly. She makes it look so easy! We have had some fun this last week taking pictures of Jordan. I may need to buy a new external hard drive just to hold on the pictures of this little guy! I love that I am getting pictures of BLUE and BOY!