the rest of the hospital stay

We spent the whole first day snuggling with our little man. I was so thankful that all the different tests didn't happen on that first day and we could just enjoy him.

My mom brought the kids and James down to visit in the late morning, and it went really well. I was nervous, not knowing if the kids would have a hard time seeing me in bed, or be sad to not be with us, but they handled everything so well. Maddie was so over the top excited about meeting Levi and holding him. I'm so glad my mom captured a video of her cute little voice "Oh my goodness! He's so CUTE!" She was so gentle with him, and couldn't get enough.

Colter was a little nervous with my iv tube and being in bed, but he did hold Levi and also seemed really calm about him being outside of my belly. He was definitely most excited about the gifts that Levi brought. Levi was sure listening well when he was inside my belly.

He got his first bath around 9:30 that night, and also had a visit from our pediatrician who thought he was "just perfect!" He was definitely NOT a fan of the bath and turned bright red and screamed the whole time. Poor buddy..

Jessie and Kelsey came down that afternoon with delicious take out food from barrio. yum!

The night was a little rough. They don't have a nursery anymore, so he stayed with us the whole time. We tried our best to get rest, but when a baby is right there making lots of noises, it's a bit hard.

The next morning was a flurry of activity starting at 5 in the morning. PKU test, hearing test, heart test, visit from the OB, and then finally the circumcision. It left me feeling quite frazzled by the time we were ready to go home that afternoon. Not sleeping for 3 nights didn't really help things either.

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We arrived home, and were so thankful for the awesome care my mom gave our kids while we were gone. It was a bit of a bumpy afternoon, as I was feeling quite emotional/overwhelmed, and the kids were also feeling the change. We started doing shifts that night, and I was able to get more sleep than I had in probably all 3 previous nights combined. It helped so much.

We are so thankful for the village of people we have in our lives to make this transition into a family of five.