Welcome to our family, baby Tyler!

What a miraculous gift from God!

Tyler Logan Jackson was born on Monday April 26, 2010 at 1:35am. He weighed 7lbs. 6oz. and was 19 3/4 inches long. We are all in love with him already...especially Paige! Her first reaction was "He is sooo little!" and "He moves!". I think she is surprised he is a real baby, not like the baby dolls she has been pretending with all this time. She is eager to hold and love on her "baby broder" (no 'th's yet), but let's us know often and usually while giggling that she does not want to change his poopy diaper.

As for me, I am so grateful to be experiencing the newborn phase again. I can honestly say that I forgot how sweet it is...or perhaps it just flew by with Paige because everything was so new and I was so nervous not knowing what to expect. So I am trying to savor each minute...his sweet smell, that sleepy limp body after each feeding, his little noises, etc.

As far as the birth story, it was all very quick. Tyler was due on Sunday, April 25. I had been 2-3cm dilated for almost 2 weeks and there were no signs of labor. My mom had come up for the weekend to help me with chores around the house and to entertain Paige while Chris was working. She went home on Sunday afternoon because there were no signs that Tyler would be arriving soon and there was bad weather on the way.

So, I started making dinner that evening and felt some minor stomach cramping starting around 6pm. Chris was home at 7pm and by then I determined they were light contractions so we started timing them. They were inconsistent, sometimes 13 minutes apart, sometimes more, sometimes less. So we got Paige to bed around 8pm and I took a shower and packed up my bag. I called my mom and sister to let them know that I thought this might be "it" so they both started heading this way...in thunderstorms. (My mom had only been home an hour and had to repack and drive back!) By 10:30pm, I knew we needed to head to the hospital so my neighbor Krystie came over until my sister could get here. When I got to the hospital and was admitted (probably around 12am), I was 6 cm and luckily they were not busy so they got me into a labor & delivery room very soon after that. The pain was getting pretty horrible so they checked me around 12:45am and I was already 10cm! I did get an epidural right before I had to push, which I was sooooo thankful for...and then after 4 sets of 3 pushes...baby Tyler was born!

To be continued...check back for more pictures soon!