Welcome Nathan Luke!!

I know most of you have seen pictures already, but I thought you might want to hear from me and see some of mine too! Thank you all so much for your prayers. They were definitely felt and appreciated.

Craig and I arrived at the hospital right around 6 a.m. We got checked in, did labs, and headed up to my room. They got prep started right away and before we knew it, my surgery nurse showed up to walk me back to the waiting area. As soon as the nurse (a male) walked in, he gave Craig a hearty OOH RAH and it took me a while to figure out how he knew he is a Marine. Of course, Craig was wearing his Marine lapel pin. (Should have known!) It turns out my nurse was a Navy Corpsman and has a fond place in his heart for Marines. They had plenty to talk about, which was a nice distraction (for Craig at least).

So then, off in the O.R. I managed to get my spinal done with less nervousness than I expected, though it is still always scary. The most difficult part of the whole ordeal was after the spinal and during the prep. I felt like I couldn't breathe, but the anesthesiologist kept assuring me that I was breathing fine. It was like having a huge weight on my chest. I know the pressure laying flat on my back with a big baby in there didn't help! Thankfully, that feeling wore off by the time Craig came in and things got started.

It seemed like it took quite a while before they finally got Nathan out, but when they did, it was very obvious to me because I could feel my rib cage lower by what seemed like a foot! Not really, but it was dramatic. I have been much more comfortable ever since!

Craig did great and was even able to hold Nathan while I saw him for the first time and then he carried him to the nursery. We soon got the report back in the O.R. that we had an 8 pound 5.5 ounce baby. I told the surgery staff, "I told you he'd be between 8 and 9 pounds!" (The Dr. had guessed 8 pounds after he delivered him.)

I'm getting around better than I did when I walked into the hospital. I even comfortably walked around in Wal-Mart on the way home (something that hasn't been comfortable to do for months.) By the way, I had to pick up my prescription and some other things which required both Craig and I to go in. Why else would I be insane enough to go to Wal-Mart just two days after having a baby? We made it fine though and don't worry...Nathan was never uncovered from his carseat carrier, so he didn't get any germs.

Joshua and Andrew were so glad to have us home and continue to be excited about their new baby brother. They are going to be such great big brothers. We are all doing well and getting settled in. Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers.

Here are the stats and some pictures....I hope you enjoy!

Nathan Luke
Born: Sept. 25, 2008
Time: 8:38 a.m.
Weight: 8 pounds 5.5 ounces
Length: 19 inches

Final "Belly Shot" just before changing into hospital gown..


Big Brothers can't believe Nathan is FINALLY here!


Mom holding Nathan for the first time..


The "Biggest Brother" Joshua


The "Big Brother" Andrew


Daddy and Nathan


Would you stop with the flash already?


Sweet Baby Boy

Last Minute

I wish I had some really great post with some pictures to leave you with until I return, but I'm sorry I'll have to disappoint you. I do have a couple of things to say though....

One is that Josh lost his 4th tooth yesterday. The last of the two big top teeth. We've been telling him that he'd have to get it out before the baby comes. I finally just held him down and twisted until I hanked it out. It would have taken weeks or maybe months to come out on it's own since he isn't much for wiggling loose teeth. You can already see the new tooth ready to come in. I guess he won't be singing "All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth."

Well, tomorrow is the day... I've been busy all day taking care of things I should have been doing long ago. I work best under pressure. Anyway, we will be checking in at 6 a.m. Please remember to pray and check for updates on my Mom's blog (linked below). I will update as soon as I'm able.

Thanks!

Fastest Updates

While I'm thinking about it, I wanted to let you all know that you can check my Mom's blog, Seasoned With Salt sometime on Thursday for the quickest update on the arrival of our Baby. Her link is also in my sidebar, if you need it. I know she will be updating promptly upon arriving home, whereas, my update will be on Saturday at best. She would want me to let you know that it is perfectly fine to leave comments there too!

2 more days!!!

Update and Prayer Requests

For the record....I DID try to update yesterday, but somehow it got lost in bloggy land!

There really isn't anything to report except that we're still scheduled for this Thursday. I have to check in at 6:00 that morning. I am down to be the first patient of the day, which would be at 8:00. However, we all know how surgeries can be...if something more pressing comes in, I could be bumped. I don't expect it to be too much later though. We're ready and excited and do very much appreciate your prayers. I get VERY nervous about the spinal block and somewhat the surgery itself. Please pray for calm nerves and everything to go off without a hitch.

The boys are SUPER excited about Nathan's arrival. Josh went with me to my appointment yesterday. I took him to the nursery window (which was closed) to show him where he'd be seeing his new brother for the first time. The anesthesiologist shocked him by knowing when his birthday is. (She looked in my chart!) He took everything in. He asked me why his birth was an emergency. Thankfully, he didn't seem to be paying attention when the doctor went through the list of risks of surgery. I just sat a bit stunned when he said...."the baby could be injured or die etc. etc. etc. or you could die." Of course I know they always have to say that. Thank the LORD, God shielded his little ears for that part though! I didn't want to have to answer those questions.

Also, I'd like to mention a prayer request for Craig. He has had some shoulder pain for several months now. He tried physical therapy, but it didn't work, so he is going to have surgery. His is scheduled for exactly 3 weeks after mine, on October 16. I figure I will be doing well enough by then that I can handle him when he passes out from the pain....he's like that... :) But I love him anyway. Who says Marines aren't sensitive?

For some cool, exciting news....I have a friend who put my name in to receive an invitation to the Gerber Mother to Be Giveaway. I had decided I hadn't been selected and had stopped watching the mail for the letter, but I finally did receive one a couple of days ago. I'm pretty excited about it. They are giving away all kinds of free products and serving lunch. Sounds like a deal to me!

Well...that's it for now. MAYBE I'll get another post or two in before the big day. You can be sure I'll have plenty to share next weekend though!

What's Your Wager?

So, I'm taking guesses on baby's weight...anyone care to give it a shot? This is me, today, at 38 weeks and 2 days. He'll be born at 39 weeks and 2 days. Whoever is the closest wins........
oh who am I kidding, you win nothing, but the pride of knowing you won.

I have my last prenatal appointment tomorrow, so maybe I'll have more to say then, and possibly I will try to get a better picture of myself too. I know it isn't bad, but it would be nice to have one taken earlier in the day when I'm a bit less ragged.

Since I haven't posted any pictures lately, I thought I'd also share a few of my recent ones.

Josh has been asking me to make pumpkin pie for quite some time. Since it has been a bit Fall-ish, I thought it would be a good time to do it. We really enjoyed it and I think I'll make another soon! I also made a yummy pumpkin cake recently. I'm so going to have to cut back on this kind of stuff soon!

Pumpkin Face

Cutie Andrewdie

And then there are my new little tree climbers. We have a small tree in our front yard that the boys just decided to start climbing. It isn't particularly a "climbing" type tree, but sure enough, they did it. This is quite a feat for Josh as he's been known to be quite timid when it comes to heights. He went up pretty high!


Tree Hugger

What's in a Name?

Some of you may not have noticed that our baby's name has been posted in the sidebar under his picture for quite some time. I purposefully put it there without mentioning it, mainly just to get used to the idea of it before going "public" with it. I suppose it is fully settled though. Josh and Andrew use it all the time now. It's still strange for me, but any name is really when there isn't a person physically present to be seen...

If you know me well, you know I don't take naming a child lightly. I tend to over analyze everything about it. The MOST important thing, however, is that it has a good meaning. I'm always shocked when I hear that someone didn't know the meaning of their child's name before choosing it. Now, I'm not saying I always remember what my children's names mean, but I know they have good meanings....

God thinks names are so important that He even changed them sometimes. {Abram became Abraham, Sarai became Sarah, Jacob became Israel, and Saul became Paul (just to name a few...)} So there must be something to this naming business.

So what is it??

Nathan Luke

Nathan -- Gift of the Lord
Luke -- Bringer of Light and Truth

Right now we are just calling him Nathan, but I think he will likely become a Nate. That's one of those things we'll have to wait out and see what fits him best.

So there you have it....unless I change my mind, or by some crazy turn of nature he ends up to be a she...

Dumpster Diving

There are several things I've been wanting to post about, but not really all together. This one I've got to get down before I forget too many details. I'm sure it won't be exact and if any of you who were present want to correct any details, feel free. Rudy....be sure you read all of this! For those of you who don't know who Rudy is...he's my brother.

It's a Josh funny...

Sunday morning we're riding with my parents to church. Apparently, we drove by a lady out in her yard, wearing her robe and digging in the trash can. I didn't see her. But, I mentioned something about her "dumpster diving." So the conversation went something like this...

Me: You know, I didn't even know what dumpster diving was until I was in college.

Dad/Grandpa: I don't guess I know what it is.

Mom/Grandma: Me either, is it homeless people digging through dumpsters?

Me: Yeah... Just anybody crawling in a dumpster to dig. We had a poem we had to learn in college English and that was what it was about. Well, really it was one of those interpretive type poems.

Grandpa: I HATE those kind of poems, I'm not any good at figuring them out.... Rudy was always really good at that.

Me: I was pretty good at it too, I guess.

Josh: Does Rudy still do that?

Grandpa: Oh yeah! He probably still could.

Josh: He goes dumpster diving???

Laughter ERUPTS!

That boy takes it all in...he just has a hard time following all the trains of thought!

Sorry it's been so long....

It's been a week since I posted already...I didn't mean to wait that long. I have been snapping a few pictures here and there, but have waited until today to upload them. I thought I would give you a little collection this time that includes each of us.

Last weekend, Labor Day weekend, was very nice and relaxed. We enjoyed having Craig home for a change. He and the boys washed and waxed both vehicles, which they were in desperate need of. They look a lot better now. The boys loved soaping things up. I enjoyed the peace and quiet. :)

Check out the excitement in Andrew's eyes!



Here's Craig wearing his "Dad's Weekend Shirt."



Josh hard at work...



Where IS my lap? Wait...I think I see some knee caps!



You're gonna make it girl...you're in the home stretch.