Talmage Elliot Spear

Yesterday my brother and sister-in-law came to visit. I love having an apartment big enough to entertain at least part of my large family. While they were here, my sister-in-law took pictures of Talmage.








Thank you Kristin!

Daniel and Kellen had a jam session while Kristin and I were feeding our babies and taking pictures.

Introducing...

Our new family member!

Talmage Elliot Spear was born on August 20, 2011 at 3:30 pm. He measured in at a perfect 7 lbs, 20 in. We're grateful for this new little spirit we have in our home and the joy he is in our lives. There is nothing more challenging and rewarding than being a parent. I still can't believe that this little guy has been living in my tummy for the past 9 months, or that I could love him so much, so quickly.

I had a long hard labor (with 1 1/2 hours of just pushing). I admire you women out there who can do it naturally. For me, I was planning on doing it natural the whole time, but when the time came, the pain was so intense and my body wasn't dilating that it made me discouraged. An epidural never sounded so good. When I got it, I felt amazing (well as amazing as you can feel while in labor). In the end, although part of me feels like I'm a failure, I'm glad I got it because I could enjoy the experience. I was able to talk and joke around with the nurses and my husband. When the time came to push the epidural was no help, which was okay with me. I wanted to be able to feel that I was pushing and making progress. Anyways, long story short, we got our little baby here safe and sound.

This is me, clearly after the epidural.

21 hours from the beginning and this is the end result!

He has the weirdest looking head I have ever seen. Here is a shot of his face.

These are the two loves of my life:

Talmage had to stay an extra day in the hospital because he had low blood sugar. It broke my heart to see him hooked to an IV and not able to hold him and feed him whenever I wanted to. The first week of his life has been a struggle to get him to eat enough, stay awake, and make sure he is gaining weight. Today, I took a huge sigh of relief when the doctor said he had gained 3 oz. since his last visit and he looked healthy. Thank goodness! We're so proud of our little man.

Graduation!

Graduated!

My mom took this picture because she wanted to show what my next career step would be...

My wonderful husband that I owe a lot of my success to. I couldn't have done it without him.

And here is a shout out to my Dad - he believed in me when I didn't, he gave financial and spiritual support in my schooling, and he helped me get into my program at the Y. Thanks Dad!

Mmmm...

I want a baby. Especially after this weekend seeing my sister enjoy her new baby. There is nothing in this world like a new born. Last night Daniel got pretty excited for our little guy to come out. It made me excited to see him so anxious to hold our baby.

I'm full-term now, which means he could come anytime, and while I'm really hoping he'll come early, I think he may just stay in there longer. We'll see. My midwife doesn't think I'll go over due, but so far, looking around at my family and friends, it seems like most people always go over on their first.

Any suggestions or pieces of advice from you mothers out there on what to take to the hospital, or what you wish you would have known for your first baby? I'm all ears.