our hospital stay

Nothing is better than newborn snuggles!  And Jerry and Bev were the first ones to meet the little guy.  Jerry was supposed to be traveling that day, but he decided to catch a later flight so he could hold his first grandson :)

The happy grandparents!!

The Meador boys :)

I could not wait for Brooke to come and meet her baby brother.  We called my Mom, who was at home with Brooke, to let her know that we were ready for visitors.  Brooke was napping at the time, so we made plans to have Mom head over as soon as Brooke was up from her nap.  I had a "coming to the hospital" outfit all picked out for Brooke.  And no, the outfit pictured is not it, haha.  Brooke was not compliant for Mom, and in the end, Mom made the executive decision to just allow her to wear the pajama shirt that she was crying and crying to wear.  I feel silly that I was even worried about it, because it totally didn't matter.  Seeing her precious first kisses on his head melted my heart and put everything in perspective for me.

She was just glowing!  I love that little girl so much. And I loved every minute of their first encounter.  I told Kevin that I didn't want to make Brooke pose for pictures, I just wanted to capture the moment as best we could without asking her to smile.

Colby (who was not named at the time) looked so tiny next to Brooke!  

I think she felt like such a big girl when we let her hold Colby for the first time.  She tried to rock her little arms, but it was a little tricky with him in them :)

Mom was also so so excited to hold our sweet boy.  She makes grand mothering look so beautiful, in my opinion :)

I felt so great, and was able to walk around, hold Brooke, and just enjoy time with family.  Bev went and bought Chik-fil-a for dinner, and Mom headed home to feed/bathe Brooke for the evening.  Kevin walked them out to the car because she was not too happy about leaving.  I can only imagine that it was a little confusing for Brooke.  The only time she has been away from BOTH of us, is when we went on Trek right after her first birthday.  We checked in with Mom later, and Brooke was fast asleep.  It had been an eventful afternoon for her and a lot to process.

The first night went smoothly.  Colby was nursing beautifully, and although they were checking on me every few hours in the night, I was able to get some rest.  I was given some pain medication to help with the afterbirth contractions, which were no joke!  My friend Tracy had warned me that they were worse with each child, and she was definitely right.  And I was still bleeding quite a bit, but thankfully going to the bathroom was not painful, so I didn't feel like I had much to complain about.

Since he was eating well, the nurses didn't seem overly concerned about him and were just very laid back when they came to check on him.  His jaundice levels were borderline, so they did have to stick his heel a few times throughout our hospital stay.  And then there's the whole circumcision :(  Kevin and I made the mistake of watching some youtube videos of the procedure, and I am scarred for life.  The poor babies were screaming and it looked so so painful.  I couldn't imagine making my baby go through such a horrific ordeal, but then again, the doctors make it seem like no big deal?  We learned about two different methods, but honestly, I could not watch another video, so I made Kevin watch them.  We just wanted to be informed, but it was breaking my heart.  We wanted the procedure done, but after watching the videos, I was a bit unsettled about the decision.

After talking with Dr Daniels, learning his preferred method, and the numbing creams, etc. they used, we decided to move forward with it.  They took him to the nursery on Tuesday (he was one day old), and brought him back about an hour later.  They warned me that he might be a little upset and not want to nurse, which was what happened.  I just snuggled my sweet baby for hours until he was ready to nurse again.

We also checked in with my Mom to see how Brooke was doing.  Poor girl was struggling!  Mom said that Brooke was calling for us when she woke up.  Mom went in with milk, but Brooke told my Mom to leave and she wouldn't drink her milk.  My Mom was sad on the phone since Brooke was so sad, and I felt bad that Brooke was hurting her feelings.  I was a mess of emotions.  I didn't want Brooke to be confused when she wanted us, but I also knew that she was in great hands with my Mom there.  We decided that Kevin should go home and spend some one-on-one time with her, and that my Mom would come be with me at the hospital.

While I was waiting for Mom to arrive, they came to do Colby's newborn hearing screening.  I was really happy they performed the screening in our room because I wanted to see it done, and that wasn't an option when Brooke was born.  He passed the test, so nothing to worry about :)

That afternoon, Doug, Tracy, and baby Nora came to visit.  It was wonderful to see them and to let them meet the still-unnnamed Colby.  They brought flowers and a balloon, which I knew Brooke would be super excited about (and she was!).  Then Joanna came by with milkshakes, and I was able to share Colby's birth story with her.  

We ordered some take-out from Oliver's, and Kevin brought Brooke to the hospital.  I love how much Kevin worries about his little girl, and when talking with him that afternoon, he decided that we should have a "picnic" in our hospital room to do something special that Brooke would enjoy.  So, we spread out our picnic blanket, ate some dinner, and watched Cinderella.  It really was a perfect evening.

Then we let Brooke open her special present from the STILL unnamed baby, which was a baby of her own.  She thought it was great that baby Chloe had her own pacifier and bottles. 

Our second night also went smoothly, but when we woke up Wednesday morning, we were feeling ready to get home.  We had FINALLY decided on the name, and once we were in touch with the medical records office, we just had to wait for the final paperwork.  Colby was cleared from Dr. Daniels, I was cleared, and they came by the room to give me my discharge paperwork and to remove the security device from Colby's umbilical cord.

We were so happy with our little Colby!  And happy that we could finally settle on his name!  We had gone back and forth between Colby and Brady.  Brooke always preferred Colby, and I honestly think that had a big impact on my opinion as well.  She was just so certain that it was "Baby Colby".  And hearing her say his name kind of cemented it in my mind.  The middle name was also such a tough decision, but in the end, we went with Roy since that is Kevin's middle name.  Brooke got my middle name, and Colby got his Daddy's :)