Christmas fun!

So these pictures are a little out of sequence with the previous posts, but the day after we got home from the hospital, Dave took the boys down to the fire station and picked out a Christmas tree. That evening we had so much fun decorating - cradling a newborn, and watching the excitement in our boys as they found the "perfect" place to hang ornaments...definitely moments to savor.

sooo excited

getting to work!

And then the boys decorated cookies with Grandma Kathy....

cookie face

Caden hardly got his cookie decorated before he started inhaling it

eventually Caden just stared eating the frosting off the knife - Grandma Kathy thought it was funny. That boy can eat his sweets!

Will enjoyed listening to 4th's Sunday morning service by the Christmas tree with Grandma and mom

first visitors

Will, so many people have been excited to meet you, and help welcome you to the world! Here's a few pictures of some of your first visitors:

Grandma Dee Dee couldn't hold you in the hospital because she was sick, so she couldn't wait to get her hands on you.
Kaleigh and Hunter couldn't get enough of holding you

Uncle Chris was excited to finally meet you - he was also sick while you were in the hospital

Emmy was excited to meet you too ;)

Some of our favorite ladies from 4th came by - Kathy Lofberg...

Arlean Campbell

and Melissa Carder

The Johnson ladies

Sparky!

The Schick's

The Stanley's

and finally, Grandpa Jack arrived!!!

a few firsts

A few "firsts" to record in week one at home. Will's first haircut - the above picture is just one of the piles of hair we collected. Pretty impressive for a newborn!

And then the first bath. Grandma Dee Dee, Grandpa Jerry, and Grandma Kathy all got to witness the action. He was happy until we had to take his clothes off :).

going home!

By Wednesday, we were SOOO excited and ready to bring Will home to meet his brothers. They greeted us at the front door with big smiles. Andrew was sweet and a bit reserved, while Caden immediately wanted to rock and kiss him - they were so cute. The transition home was been really smooth. While we're a bit tired and "hazy", having Grandma Kathy here makes all the difference. She's amazing at being able to swoop in and manage the home so mom and dad focus on baby and time with the boys.

ready to go!

All the boys!

sweet Caden

proud big brother

first days

Having a c-section meant several more days in the hospital. I have to admit that initially I was extremely sad to be away from my other little guys for so long, but it ended up being wonderful to have quiet time with Will. The recovery has been a little slower for mom, but we are totally soaking up these sweet days with a little newborn - we know how fast they go! Here's a few pictures from our first days at the hospital, and some of our sweet visitors (a few got away without having a pic taken!).

little toes!

escaping foot
wake up Will!cuddle time with daddy

Tia made a surprise visit from NY!! Because my labor was so long, she was able to pack, board a bus, and arrive at the hospital several hours before he was born. It was SUCH a joy to see her walk through the door :).

Dee Dee and Monie!

Aunt Ginnie!

The Choi's!
And finally, Grandma Kathy arrived on Mon evening. We were SO thankful she was able to come a day early and help with the boys so Laura could have one more day to recover at the hospital.

William Walker O'Connell

December 5, 2009

11:35 pm

7 pounds, 8 ounces

20 inches

We are so thankful for the safe arrival of our precious William - and still can't believe he came 10 days early! He decided to make his entrance a little more exciting than his brothers - is this an indication of what's to come?
So here's the story - I started to fill a little "different" last Thursday, which turned into regular contractions on Friday evening. The contractions were getting stronger and were consistently 3-4 minutes apart for over an hour, so we called the doctor and headed to Sibley. We were checked in by 2am - contractions continued to pick up, my water broke on my own at 3. Contractions started getting more intense about 8am, I was 4.5 cm dilated, so asked for the epidural around 10. Then my labor started stalling, the epidural guy arrived, I went ahead a got the epidural since that has helped speed my last 2 labors along (and wanted it in case we needed petocin). To make a long story (and day) short, nothing was happening all day (even though it looked like I was having contractions), so finally they started me on petocin at 7pm. After 2 hours on a good level of petocin (and really strong contractions), baby wasn't moving down, and I was bleeding a bit too much (his heart rate was great though). They gave me 1 more hour to see if I'd progress, and nothing happened, so decided he had to be stuck on something and did a c-section. My doctor was never was able to figure out why he wouldn't drop - said I was quite the talk of labor and delivery, and that I am a complete mystery (since my last 2 labors were so fast and smooth). Anyway, the c-section went extremely well, and Baby Will has been a champ. So far he's extremely healthy..and we're very smitten :).
We head home from the hospital tomorrow, and are very excited to introduce Will to his big brothers. The boys haven't been able to visit the hospital - no one under the age of 18 is allowed to visit for the duration of this flu season. This has been very sad for momma, but I HAVE really enjoyed this special alone time with Will. :) We'll post pics of the family reunion soon!

big mama

We've now hit the 38 week mark - I can't imagine getting ANY bigger. It's hard to capture the fullness which is my belly right now, but here's our attempt: