Welcome Fletcher!

On Sunday, April 10, we welcomed our son, Fletcher James Nance into the world.  He weighed in at 8 pounds 6 ounces and was 21  1/4 inches long.  He has a strong resemblance to Barrett when he was a baby, but he also has a full head of light brown/blonde hair.  It is the first thing everyone comments on when they see him without a hat.  He has strong lungs and cries loudly when he is not happy; in fact, he was yelling the second he took his first breath of air.  He didn't have to have his mouth suctioned out or anything.
 

While he is the smallest of my three babies (Audrey was 8 pounds 10 ounces, and Barrett was 8 pounds 12 ounces), he is eating just as well as either of them did.  He is acing all of his tests at this point, and he can already lift and turn his head.  He must know that he has a rowdy older brother with whom he'll need to be able to hold his own. 

Given my last two child delivery experiences, everyone, including me, expected this labor to be quick and easy.  Unfortunately, we were all wrong.  This time it took longer than both of the other 2 combined at 13 hours.  Still not terrible, but it made for a long sleepless night.  I still made it through without any medication, but admittedly was second-guessing that decision toward the end.  My husband is a rock though and supported me in getting through it.  And God was there with me reminding me that when I am not strong enough on my own, his strength will carry me through. While it was harder than expected, it was totally worth it to deliver a beautiful, healthy baby boy.  On a positive note, I actually got to make some good use of the fancy birthing suite I was in here at Mercy Hospital. 

Audrey and Barrett are enamored with their baby brother.  It took some convincing for Barrett to believe that his name was not Vladimir (which Barrett pronounces Bladimir).  They got to meet him for the first time yesterday morning.  The first thing Barrett asked was how Fletcher got out of my belly; I responded by telling him that I pushed really hard with my muscles, but provided no additional details.  As soon as Audrey saw Fletcher, she wanted to unswaddle him so she could see his feet.  It was so amazing to see all three of them together though.  As excited as I was to have a third child, seeing the three of them together is even more amazing than I expected.  The entire time the older kids were here, they were constantly wanting to hold Fletcher, touch him, or at the very least be as close as possible to him.  I know they can't wait for us to come home tomorrow.  I just hope the excitement and novelty lasts for a while.