We welcomed Theo Mitchel on September 10th, 2015 at 12:26pm. A head full of dark hair, beautiful blue eyes, and a fierce cry as he took his first breaths of life into this world. Theo has made us a family of four. A mom & dad to two sweet boys.
For nearly two years we prayed for a second addition to our little family, and we will never forget the feelings of happiness, shock & excitement when we found out that Holden was going to be a big brother!
The first half of my pregnancy was pretty rough, but soon I started feeling better and the last few months flew by! We were able to keep the gender a secret from family & friends, but we did share the news with Holden in a special gender reveal. However, he was still convinced that he was getting a puppy!
When our first, Holden, was born, we went through so much: 18 hours of labor, an emergency c-section, baby flown out of state right away, a heart defect, a 3 week stay in a Minnesota children's hospital, a lot of scary moments. Nothing was "normal" or even close to what we were expecting as far as what we would go through having our first baby. So this second time around, the circumstances were right for us to schedule a c-section.
Everything is so different knowing { for the most part } what's going to happen at your child's birth. We woke up on the morning of September 10th, took Holden to his 3rd day of preschool, went home to shower, grabbed our hospital bags, and had my mom drop us off at the hospital. It didn't really hit me until we hopped/waddled out of the car onto the sidewalk and my mom was about to drive away: We were going to have baby in less than three hours!
The next two hours were full of nurses, needles & waiting for our turn in the operating room. Waiting. That was the hardest part. My body was shaking, nervous, full of adrenaline. Once I was in the operating room and everything was ready, I was so happy to have a friendly face checking on me { a sweet friend from church, who works as an anesthetician at the hospital, held my hand and talked to me while I waited for Michael to come down with the nursery staff. } I remember the moment Michael sat down near me. I started crying out of pure happiness. He'd be right next to me this time - his hand stroking my head, telling me how good of a job I was doing, reminding me to breathe, reassuring me. I'm so thankful God blessed me with such a strong, loving man.
Our amazing OB worked quick, keeping me at ease the entire time, and pretty soon I heard her say "Here he is!" With that simple phrase we heard the sweet, loud cry of our baby boy. Michael and I both looked at each other, smiling so big, indescribably happy that the moment we'd been waiting so long for was finally happening.
Soon, the nurse brought him over and placed him in Michael's arms. That moment, seeing your husband become a daddy { even for the second time } is one of the most beautiful moments. He cradled our sweet boy in his arms and we just stared at him, smiling, looking at each other in amazement. This is our baby. He's here!
The next few days in the hospital were such a beautiful time for us with Theo. We didn't get this time with Holden. A few times a day I would just look at Michael and say "This is so amazing." And it was. Beautiful & amazing. The days and nights in the hospital were filled with sleepless little struggles of nursing & healing, visits from loved ones, and most importantly, a meeting of two brothers!
When Holden met his baby brother for the first time, my heart ached with joy. Michael took this adorable video of the moment the boys met:
I mean, does it get any sweeter than this?! Holden is such a gentle, loving soul. God has blessed us with such an amazing big brother for Theo. Holden continues to melt us with his love for Theo.
We are loving this beautiful season of life that God has blessed us with. Welcoming home a second baby hasn't been without its struggles, but it truly has been a wonderful experience! We can't wait to watch the boys' relationship continue to grow. I'm sure we'll be dealing with lots of mischief in the future! Theo is 4 months old already { where does the time go?! }. His personality is starting to develop and gosh, it's just the sweetest thing! Michael & I still have moments when we look at each other and say "Wow. God is so good!"
