Fulton's Arrival

Here's a quick (not really, sorry for the millions of pictures) post about our little man's arrival. Like I said in the earlier post, things began at school and moved quickly from there. We checked into the hospital at 12:30 and the fam arrived shortly after to visit for a bit. This was after the epidural, because before that I was starting to get a little violent and probably would have thrown that camera across the room if someone had suggested a picture. Yay for pain meds.

My water had already broken when we arrived, but I was only at 3 cm, so pitocin was started and a little under an hour later, we were at a 10. Stinky part was, I pushed for over 2 hours and the poor little guy was just so big, he was struggling to come into the world. Finally, with a little help from the doc, he arrived at 8:34 pm. Here he is just minutes old.

My sweet little man was just perfect! They immediately encourage skin to skin contact, which was great... took my mind off the fact that I knew there was some serious damage to the southern region and the doc was having to get the duct tape out to fix me.

This little guy weighed 8 lb, 8 oz and was 20 inches long. He has a head full of dark hair with one blond patch on the top side. It's a unique little mark. Matt did an incredible job encouraging me the entire time, holding one leg and taking pictures too. Super dad!

The fam was so patient to wait forever on us to get to my room so they could meet the little guy. Everyone had to take a turn snuggling with him.

His room was all ready for him!

Over the course of the next few days, Fulton had lots of visitors. I'd like to think these people came to see matt and me, but we know the truth. The fam is absolutely awesome and didn't leave our side. They are a huge help. Fulton got to meet 2 of his great grandmothers, one of his great aunts and uncles, and lots of our sweet precious friends who love us dearly enough to take time to come see us.

Sister brought Fulton his first birthday cake and since the little guy can't eat sweets yet, we enjoyed it for him. He loved it though.

Mom and Dad (also known as KK and pops) stopped by on their way to the AL game and Fulton was already suited up and ready too. He just couldn't seem to find his shaker.

We enjoyed the day visiting with friends and watching lots of football. Fulton kept falling asleep through most of the games, but we filled him in on all the scores when he woke up.

I love these sweet toes.. I cannot get enough of them.

We were finally able to go home Sunday morning and we took a quick family picture before loading up the car.

Little guy was probably nervous he was having to come home with these 2 crazies who have no idea what they are doing. God's grace and mercy are sufficient and we pray every day for wisdom to raise this precious child.

Mom and Dad were so gracious to come up the hospital that morning and help us get ready to go, while sister had lunch ready at our house and did a little decorating to welcome us home. We were all squinting a little because we hadn't been out in the sun in a few days.

And the decorations didn't stop outside... he forever has this fabulous birthday banner to use for his parties!

We ended our first day back at home staring at this sweet little face. Oh how blessed we are!! We survived our first night at home last night and lived to tell about it today. This is just an amazing experience and journey that God has allowed us to take and we are savoring every moment of it. Happy Birthday Fulton!!