Last Monday the 19th I went in for my last check up. We were told everything looked good and we set up my induction for Wednesday morning. Since it would put me just a couple days shy of 39 weeks (and she's not allowed to schedule an induction without a good reason before 39 weeks) she did a couple quick ultrasound pics to sort of justify the induction.
We had a great day on Tuesday. Glenn stayed home from work and we just played all day as a family. We took Tate to Jumpalooza, did a little shopping, and played at home. It was the perfect last day together. Then at 9:30 that night my doctor called and told me that the hospital wanted official ultrasound pics to justify the induction and the ones she took wouldn't cut it so...she told me to just come into her office the following morning and she'd break my water and send me over to the hospital. My doctor is the absolute best. She felt comfortable with my baby's development and knew she was going to be out of town and wanted to make sure I was taken care of so she just made it happen. I love my doctor. The last few weeks of pregnancy were so much easier because I knew how long I had to last. I knew that I didn't have to worry about planning to have Tate taken care of spur of the moment, I didn't have to worry about giving birth on Christmas day, or of having an enormous baby, because she was comfortable with him coming a little early. It was perfect. Man, do I love having a plan!
We dropped Tate off with our friends the Dursts at 6:30 Wednesday morning and went to our doctor's office downtown. She took us back to an exam room, broke my water and then asked, "So, what time should we tell them your water broke? How about 6:15?" Then she walked us over to the hospital where she had some patients to check up on. It was hilarious.
We went to the labor and delivery floor and met our darling British nurse, Jillian. She was a crack up the whole time. So sweet, very straight forward, and funny. What a darling. She confirmed that my water had broke. At this point my doctor came in to check on me and she said, "So when did your water break?" I had to stifle a smile and thought to myself, "Well, you should know doctor, since you did it." But instead I replied, "At about 6:15 this morning." I got started on pitocin at 9 am and about 20 minutes later I started feeling some pretty good contractions. After an hour they were quite tough, and long, and only 2 minutes apart. I got my epidural 15 minutes after that and it was great from then on! Glenn wrote sweet letters to our boys while I tried to get some rest. Jillian took it upon herself to help us decide on a name for our little boy. We had it narrowed down to 3 but just couldn't decide between them. Finn, Kellen, and Brennan were our finalists. She immediately eliminated Brennan as his initials would be B.M. and she wouldn't have that. Then she wrote down Finn and Kellen on a paper towel and asked every person who came into the room what their opinion was and marked it down. After a couple of hours there was only one mark under Kellen (Glenn's vote), and 8 or 9 under Finn. I don't know if that's what changed Glenn's mind about the name or if he decided it wasn't so bad after all.
Jillian checked me at about 1:30 and said I was complete. Seriously, everyone should have an induced labor WITH an epidural. The whole process went so much faster AND I didn't feel the pain. Awesome. She paged my doctor, I pushed through 4 contractions, and little Finn was born. It was wonderful. Glenn and I kept looking at each other saying how we couldn't believe how fast it went. It just flew by.
Little Finn weighed 8 lb. 2 oz and was 20 inches long. 
We think he's darling and feel so very lucky to have him. Glenn and I were reminiscing last night and remembering how last year at this time we wondered if we'd ever have more children. And now here we are with another little boy. We feel incredibly blessed to have him and love him to pieces. 
We think he's darling and feel so very lucky to have him. Glenn and I were reminiscing last night and remembering how last year at this time we wondered if we'd ever have more children. And now here we are with another little boy. We feel incredibly blessed to have him and love him to pieces. Glenn went to pick Tate up from the Durst's and brought him to visit us at the hospital. It was so great to see him. I have a friend here who warned me how big Tate would look after having a new baby. She was right. He seemed to have grown and gained 20 pounds since I saw him last just that morning. He looked enormous! So grown up and so sweet wanting to hug and kiss his little baby brother. He loved seeing his tiny nose, his tiny feet, and his tiny ears and fingers. It made my heart just melt to see him beam at his little brother. 
Then Glenn took Tate to spend the night with the Johnson's so he could stay with me in the hospital. It was nice to have Glenn there but it was hard to know Tate was with someone else for the night. I knew he'd be fine and have a great time with them but I wanted him with us so badly! The time in the hospital went so fast. It was a great hospital. Good food, most of the nurses were nice, and I was able to spend plenty of time resting and staring at my new baby. Tate came to visit again the next day and we spent some time snuggling, watching Tangled on TV and playing with the buttons on my bed. Very exciting.
It's been a crazy week. I can't believe little boy is already a week old. I have so much more to record but it will have to wait. I'm going to take a nap!
I'm going to do weekly picture postings of my little babe again. It's so fun to see him grow week to week, and it's an added incentive to make sure I get the camera out at least once a week! So here's our first picture Wednesday: our little one week old Finn.
It was awesome. Tate was excited all day about going to a party at Daddy's work and he was not disappointed either! I thought it was pretty amazing that his work would throw him a shower to celebrate our second baby boy. It was SO thoughtful and Glenn just ate it up. They gave us this huge wrapped tower of diapers and wipes and even got a new dump truck for Tate. 
It was really fun and so sweet!
Thanks Newfield!
He loves it and it's super fun to watch him just stare at it and then push all the buttons on the remote to make it go and whistle and such. 
Last week our little community had their winter festival and Glenn and I, keen not to miss out on a good/free time, checked it out. Our community is awesome. They have fun festivals and family events all the time and this one didn't disappoint. They had a petting zoo. This time Tate was more intent on bothering the animals by pulling their tails (poor little piggy)
and checking out what kind of food they were eating 
to pay much attention to the animals. They also had a horse drawn carriage, a trackless train 
AND camel rides. We couldn't miss out on that! Glenn wouldn't let me ride with Tate...but the boys had a good time. 
I wasn't sure how Tate would feel about climbing on a huge hairy beast but he ate it up. 
He calls them "canamals" and he still talks about how he got to ride on a canamal. 
balloon animals, a hula contest, (this is what happens when mom and dad can't tell Tate "no" and he wants to see us hula)
and of course, a chat with the big guy. Tate was a little hesitant at first but warmed up quickly
and was soon chatting Santa's ear off about the train and bicycle he would like to have.
A gorgeous sailboat quilt that Nanna made for Tate's new big boy bed. (In the picture he's already hiding under it and asking me to come find him.) Tate's been in his bed for a couple of weeks now but just sleeping under a sheet and some of his little blankets. He's THRILLED to have a big quilt just like mom and dad's bed. Now he can play "cave" and hide and seek in his own bed under his own blanket! He calls it his sailboat bed. 
He absolutely loves it and so do I. I love the fabrics and the colors are just perfect for my little boy's room. All of the time that went in to piecing all those sailboats together is just plain incredible. It's an absolute treasure. And I love that my mom made it for my little boy. 