Wednesday, September 30, 2015

6 Months!!!

We have been a family of seven for 6 months!!! I am completely unsure of how that could possibly be true because I think all I did was blink (and do laundry!)!!

 These months have flown and they have been so sweet!! Wellington is such an answer to so, so many prayers! He is a dream little guy! Pure joy with no fuss! He is easy going, happy, chill, but totally engaged and takes on the immense amount of loving he is dealt with joy!!!

His birth story (which I did write 90% of after he arrived, but never got around to sharing :)).

After a pregnancy filled with a lot of pain from a separated pelvis,keeping a way too busy schedule and all the demands of life, I have never felt so ready to meet a child. We had picked the March 20th to be the end all if this content little one wouldn't come on his/her own and we were all ready.

I woke up having contractions and I knew with or with out inducing that would be the day! We had an appointment to be induced and headed to the hospital early in the morning. We arrived, had one dose of meds and my contractions had kicked in pretty strong! At 8:30am my doctor who I adore and who delivered all of my kids, came in and broke my water! I wanted to do it without any drugs, but Stennson's delivery had been so traumatic that I was totally second guessing my ability to do it. But, after my water broke I knew it was going to go quickly and so I fought hard to just keep the course and forego the drugs! Which sounds like a good decision until you're an hour in!!! But, overall labor went quickly. So quickly that if my nurse had not had the foresight to page the doctor early she would have missed it all together! He was in the right position for delivery, which calmed my heart. I did break my tailbone during pushing. 5 for 5 on that one :(. Still feeling the effects of it 6 months later, ahh!!  But, moments later I pulled him up on my chest and was the first to see that he was a BOY!!! Wellington Lee Shatto! We were thrilled to have a third son! What an amazing gift!!

 He was born at 10:01am ... and even in my pain induced fog I knew something was wrong. I had watched as my doctor counted to three as she took the cord from around his neck. The cord had wrapped around his neck 3 times and as I pulled him up on my chest he was blue. The nurses were amazing and calmly took him immediately. I kept asking why he wasn't crying and they worked on him and paged the NICU team. But, before the team could even arrive he started to breathe and let out his first cry. It was the best sound I have ever, ever heard!! He really bounced back very quickly and after about 15 minutes of evaluations Matt got to hold him and then he was back in my arms. I sincerely don't think I've ever felt joy like that moment.

His name... Wellington (We call him Wellington, Wells, or WellsLee), is purely just a name we liked and fit well with our other names. We struggled to find a third boy name we loved as much as the other two, but in the end I think it's perfect! Lee... is after my dad. It's my dads middle name and he is one of the greatest men I know. It's an honor to name him after my dad. Having Lee as his middle name also gives us the nickname "Wells-Lee" which is what a lot of our kids call him often.

We had decided that morning that we were not going to tell anyone he had arrived until our kids had come to the hosptial and met him! It was a totally different experience having a baby with kids old enough to understand vs. all little and we wanted to include them in this magical day as much as possible!

 My parents had the kids for the day! I called my mom and told her "our baby had arrived and asked them to bring the kids at 1pm." and gave her no other information!! Matt and I then got 2 hours to just be with Wellington! Even with all the pain (tailbones are no joke!!)  they were two of my favorite hours. Wells sat wide awake the entire time. Not making a peep, but just snuggled in, looking around with these huge, beautiful eyes. We feel in love instantly!! I would have thought that the 5th post delivery would have been the most chaotic, but choosing not to make any calls made it the sweetest for me!!

1pm our kids walked in the room and the joy that filled the room could have knocked the walls down!! It was one of my favorite moments!! They came in and we had him wrapped in the generic hospital blanket! We got to tell them in person that it was a BOY and introduce them to their brother! It was a wonderful hour of becoming a family of seven!! Wells is so LOVED!!!!!

A few of my favorite birth pictures... I could have picked a lot, there were so many sweet ones!

First moment I got him...







Nearly 12 hours to the minute after Wellington arrived we had the fun SURPRISE of welcoming a niece/cousin!! Brooklyn Belen Jonker was born in the same hospital (a month early) and we got to have rooms right next door. Such an awesome gift!! This is at 7am the morning after they were both born! Love them and the story they will always share!
 
What a treat to share in this memory with my brother John & Kelly!! 
We went home the afternoon after he was born!! This sweet boy didn't make a peep!
 5 times he's carried our babies home!! Such an amazing gift we have been given!
 This face makes my heart melt!
 All ready for bed!!! 5 kids!!!!