Worth the Wait

Finally! I am taking a few moments to update you all on our little miracle, Jones Nathaniel! I am so sorry it's taken me three weeks to do so, but we've been a little busy. ;) I am exhausted but completely in love with my new little man, and we are enjoying every minute we have together! For those who aren't following me on Facebook  I will tell you that Jones is probably the most photographed person on the planet right now! Since I am home with him all day and up with him all night, I can't help but snap pictures of him every time I think he's looking extra cute...which happens a lot! So let's see if I can remember how things went down three weeks ago...I'm a little sleep deprived so we'll see how accurate this is!

Josh and I dropped the kids off at his parents house just before I had to be at the hospital for my scheduled c-section. We were all so excited and I had started getting pretty nervous at this point! I worried that we had come so very far only to be devastated with something going wrong during the birth. I tried so hard to give it up to the Lord, but it wasn't easy!

We were so excited to finally know if we were having a boy or a girl! I had ordered these little hats with the baby names on them, and brought them with me to put on the baby to show our families! Would it be Jones, or Ambria??? We had allowed Jake and Eisley to pick the names, after giving them a "short list" of names we both liked. Eisley picked Ambria Nicole for a girl, and Jake picked Jones Nathaniel. Jake had actually come up with Jones entirely on his own. We had told Jake we wanted a "J" name that was unique, and one day he just came up with that! Later that night Josh and I talked about how it was actually kind of a cool name, and after looking up the meaning (God is gracious), we decided we'd go with that if we had a boy. And just in case you're curious, Nathaniel means "Given of God" or "Gift of the Lord", so I think it is pretty fitting!

When we drove away from Josh's parents, I realized I had forgot just one important little thing, my suitcase! We stopped by the house and picked it up, then we were on our way! Things went pretty quickly once we got to the hospital. I got checked in and things just took off! We were pretty excited, and honestly I was loving knowing that my baby would be born in a matter of minutes and I was feeling no pain at all!

So stylish

Josh looking sexy in his scrubs

 My family was able to come in and wish us luck just before I walked back to the OR. We were so excited to finally share a joyful occasion with them! Hospitals haven't been our friends the past couple of years, so this was quite a bit better. :) The kids were so excited! I could not wait to finally see them with their new brother or sister. I had waited so long for that moment, and we were finally there.

Last family picture with just the four of us!

Me and Aunt Lisa

There is one picture we took that when I saw it later, it make me tear up. It is a picture of me kissing Jake goodbye. I realized I had a picture almost identical to it when I kissed him goodbye before having Lily. Such similar pictures, such drastically different emotions...

Right before I gave birth to Lily

Right before giving birth to Jones

 Josh waited outside while I got my spinal block, and I remember they had the radio on and a Philip Philips song was playing. I had a long conversation with the anesthesiologist about him coming to concert in Glendale soon, and then we talked about how this was my first c-section even though I had twins, and before I knew it, I was completely numb and spread eagle on the operating table! There was a mirror on the ceiling and I remember thinking how ridiculous I looked and hoping they'd cover that mirror soon because I wasn't exactly loving the view!

Josh came back in, and it was time to start!!! I reminded him a hundred times not to text any information about the baby's sex to our families, only to tell them when everything was okay and give them the weight. We had promised the kids that they'd be the first to meet the baby, and since I wanted to be there when everyone met the baby (I was NOT missing out on that moment! Sorry!), they all were going to have to wait until I got wheeled back into my post-partum room.

Josh promised he wouldn't text any pics or the sex, and before I knew it the doctor was saying she was almost to the baby! A Pink song came on the radio, and Josh kept his eyes on that mirror on the ceiling. He kept saying things like, "This is so crazy babe. It doesn't even look real." I was so surprised they let him watch, but he was pretty enthralled by the whole process. It's a good thing he doesn't get queasy easily! He was able to take quite a few pictures of the whole thing, but they are not for the faint of heart! ;)

Halfway our and mad as heck!

Welcome to the world Jonesy!

Suddenly I heard the doctor say, "Are you ready dad? Take a look!" They let Josh make the big announcement, and he said, "It's a boy!" I started crying and laughing at the same time, and was so happy to hear Jonesy wailing in the background! They held him up for me to see for just a split second, then he was gone, but I was so happy! I told Josh to go take more pictures, and then he was gone too! This was the one thing I hated about my c-section, I was just stuck there, unable to see a darn thing, while Josh and the nurses got to see and hold my baby! I was pretty jealous and kept bugging them with dumb questions like what color his hair was and who did he look like.

He's HUGE!!!

This is my favorite picture! Jones is grabbing the doctor and wouldn't let go! She had to tear him off of her!

One of the best moments of my life!!!

Jones Nathaniel Harrison was born at 2:51 p.m. and weighed in at 9 lbs 7 oz. He was 22.5 inches long (though since then there has been debate on if that was accurate since he's measured a full inch shorter than that at both his doctor appointments!).

He is not happy!!! He wanted his mommy. :)

Our little man! Jones Nathaniel, 9 lbs 7 oz. 22.5 inches!!!

Finally they had him cleaned up and Josh brought him over to me!

I told everyone that his name was Jones, "Jones...something!" Because we hadn't decided completely on his middle name yet. All I wanted to do was get off that table and snuggle him, it was the longest 30 minutes of my life when they sewed me up! I did get to see him and sort of hold him for a minute, but it is hard to study the features of your new baby when you're upside down! 

Meeting my son for the first time! It was surreal! 

Looking back I'm kind of shocked they let me hold him like that!

Jones with mom and dad

He's already kissing his mama!

Love those lips!

I was telling Josh to text our family, but I made him show me the texts so I could proofread them before they went out, I didn't want anyone to know if it was a boy or a girl because I wanted to be there when they found out! Our poor families had to wait almost four hours to find out! I was back in recovery a bit longer than we anticipated, but I did enjoy getting him all to myself for a little while in the recovery room. I was able to nurse him and just stare at him. I couldn't believe he was actually here, and he was healthy, and he was mine.

Finally, and I do mean FINALLY, they wheeled us back to my room and said we could let our families come up! We had promised Jake and Eisley they'd be the first, so Josh went to get them. My sister was able to take pictures of them meeting Jones for the first time, and I have to say, those were some of the best moments of my life! They were so happy, and they instantly fell in love with him.

Our first family photo

Then the rest of our families were able to come back, and Jake announced that it was a boy! Of course everyone had to take a turn holding Jones, and I just sat back and tried to imprint all of these images in my mind and in my heart so I'd have them forever. It was so special. I kept thinking about how this is what it was supposed to be like when Lily was born, this was the day I've been waiting for and praying for for so long.

I stayed in the hospital for the next couple of days, and fell deeper and deeper in love with my son. I was hurting a lot physically, but I was so at peace emotionally. These were the moments! These were the moments I had been waiting for and wishing for and dreaming about, and now they were real. I was in heaven, and I did not for one minute take it for granted.

Getting to know their new brother

Jake found diaper changing hilarious

A present from Uncle Brian

We got to take Jones home on Saturday, and we have been settling in ever since! He has had some issues gaining weight, he lost quite a bit and only today has he gotten back up to his chunky birth weight! He's such a sweet little guy, and has eyes that look straight into your soul! He's also quite the snuggle bug, which is good because he gets snuggled 24/7 whether he likes it or not! In fact, I think getting this blog post up took me away from Jones longer than I have ever been! He's happy in the swing, but I'm already missing him! ;)

Again, I am so sorry it has taken so long to get some pictures up! I will post some more later, and hopefully catch you up on life since Jones changed it all! For now I am just trying to function on two hours of sleep a day! Blogging is waaaaay down on my list of priorities!

He's here. Finally. He's healthy. Miraculously. We are in love. We are so thankful. We do not take for granted all it took to get here. Thank you so much for your prayers for this little one! He's quite the little miracle!!! And totally worth the wait.