Loyal James Frank Keever

Our newest addition arrived, right on schedule, at 8:23am on December 10th.  He weighed in at 8 pounds 7 ounces and we were told he was 19 inches long. Come to find out, he was actually a lot longer than that...he was measured wrong. Oh well!

Josh and I were up early that morning.  We had to be at the hospital at 6:30 and we were scheduled to be the first case in the OR.  I was a nervous wreck...I think I concealed it well, but I was definitely jittery.  Josh was excited but I'm sure he would say it was a morning of anxiety for him too....I mean, we were about to be the parents of three children! And I was about to undergo a surgery! Did I mention how huge I was the morning I delivered?

The surgery went great! Although they had to do my spinal twice, which was quite painful.  When it was all said and done, we had a healthy and perfect baby boy!  I have never been so relieved to get something over with in my life.

While we were in the hospital, my mom and dad took care of Wyatt and Reagan for us...God bless them. I know the kids just wore them out! Especially my mom....she was running them back and forth to school and the hospital for visits.  The day Loyal was born, my parents dropped both of the kids off at school and then came directly to the hospital to meet their newest grandchild. At lunch time they headed back to get Rea and waited until picking Wyatt up from school at three before coming back.

Seeing Wyatt and Reagan meet their brother for the first time was so precious. They loved him instantly and Loyal instantly recognized their voices. Every time one of them would speak, he would try to look around and find them.  Melted my heart!  Reagan had a hard time leaving me at the hospital. I think it was a mixture of missing me and being upset that mommy was hurting. She was a brave girl, though, and Nana eventually coerced her into going home. (It was a daily battle). My dad had to leave mid-week, but I was so thrilled that he got to be there to see Loyal enter the world.

We spent just shy of three days in the hospital and then they sent us home. It was nice to get home and start to develop a routine. Mom stayed with us for one more day and then she had to head back to Alabama. After she left, Josh took the next week off of work to help me get used to having all of these little ones around! At the time, Loyal was waking every two hours to eat....we were exhausted!!! So glad we've gotten past that stage. Although I already miss that precious newborn baby that he was...