Welcome Baby Tyler!

After waiting and WAITING for Tyler to make his arrival, labor FINALLY started on December 1st. Bad news for Grandma Arce, who assumed he would be born in November and had already purchased a November birthstone pendant for her Grandmother's necklace.  Good thing Kohl's has a good return policy.  :)

We spent the morning I went into labor together.  James was already off, so we got breakfast at our favorite, Lake Murray Cafe, then made a run to Costco and Babies R Us.  Before you think I'm crazy, labor started at 5:30 am, and it was really mild at the beginning- I have really long early labors.  We didn't leave for the hospital until 7:00 pm!  Lucky for me though, Grandma made it in time!

Here I am, literally the most pregnant woman in the WORLD.

 Once we got to the hospital, we discovered that I was already dialated to 5 centimeters. They rushed to get the room ready, but it really wasn't necessary- Tyler was in NO rush to get out.   

 

Just like with Keira's delivery, I went medication free.  I did learn an important lesson with Tyler's delivery.  Do NOT smile and greet the nursing staff.  They thought I wasn't ready because I would smile between contractions.  I really thought pushing was painful, until I tried to hold my pushes.  It was literally the most painful thing I have ever been through.
I'll spare you the delivery pictures.  Let's just say I went from this...

 to this!   All the work was worth it once we saw little Tyler James- weighing in at a whopping 9 pounds 13 ounces amd 22 inches!

  The best thing about drug free delivery is the feeling right after the baby is born.  I felt GREAT!

 James was exhausted- it's hard work trying to deliver babies- especially when our babies insist on being born in the middle of the night. 

 We were instantly in love!  What a sweet big guy!

 Because Tyler had jaundice, we had to stay in the hospital for an extra day and a half so he could stay under the lights in the incubator.  It was disappointing (we were definitely ready to go home), but the staff at the hospital were wonderful, and he progressed wonderfully.  He was so big, we had to perfectly position his little eye shields, or they wouldn't completely cover his eyes.  :) 

It was hard to keep him in there- all we wanted to do was snuggle him all day, but he had to stay in if he wasn't being fed or changed.  I definitely enjoyed his feeding times, it meant more snuggles. :)

Keira came to visit every day, and she loved holding her "brudder".  To Keira, his name isn't Tyler, it's either "my baby brudder" or "baby TY-ler".  She was so excited to finally meet him, and kept giving his kisses. 

 At first, Tyler wasn't so sure.

This picture is our first picture as a family of four!

 We had lots of visitors- Aunt Erin, Grandma and Grandpa Spry, and Dana and Praveena.  Other friends wanted to come, but because Tyler had to stay in the incubator, we decided to hold off.  You couldn't really hold him, so we had them come to the house, where they could get lots of snuggles in. 

Finally, after 3 days in the hospital, we were allowed to bring Tyler home!  His billirubin levels were getting better, and the hospital gave us a billiblanket to take home- it is just what it sounds like, a little blanket with lights.  We were so happy to get home, and got a warm welcome from Keira when we got there. 

 Keira was also very excited to open her first gift from her brother-

Her very own doll equipment set- a crib, car seat, carrier, and bouncer.  She loves it, and is so cute when she puts her babies to sleep in the crib.  She'll walk all over the house, telling everyone to be quiet, her baby is sleeping. 

Here is Tyler sleeping in his crib for the first time- the weird blue light is the billiblanket, getting rid of all the billirubin.  He only had to wear it for one night, the next day, his levels were normal.  :)

 

Grandma and Grandpa were at our house for Tyler's first night, and (thank goodness) Grandma stayed the week. 

 

It's hard to believe, but we're an official family of four, and we are in love with our newest member!