Garrett Parker Lyons

 Sunday, I went to church, came home and ate some lunch, sent my husband off to work at the "Reba" concert in Jackpot, and then went into labor.  Good times!  Hah.  Actually, I won't lie, it wasn't bad at all.  Just a few songs into the concert, and I called Parker and told him I'd had a few contractions, and that they were more painful than anything I'd experienced this pregnancy so far.  Not too bad or anything, but I told him he should probably come home.  By the time he was 10 minutes away from the house, I was wishing he were home allready.  The kids were needing fed, and not to mention fighting with eachother, and I was in pain.

We called Tresa and had her daughters, Shelby and Courtney come over and watch the kids until grandma and grandpa could arrive.  I was worried about coming to the hospital too late (which is what happened with Angie) and so we packed a bag and left the house around 7:45 PM.  My contractions were about 10 minutes apart.

When we arrived, we discovered I was dilated 7 cm's.  (Which was no surprise to me, because I'd been 4 cm's for two weeks!).  The nurses seemed so surprised at how calm I was, and about how well I handled the contractions.  Anyway.  The Doctor (Dr. Crandall) recommended that I get an interthecal instead of an epidural.  I was surprised at this.  I'd come so early!  (I'd only labored for about 1 hour at home before leaving for the hospital).  He said that I was progressing so fast, that an epidural might take too long.  I was genuinely concerned about having to deliver a baby without anesthetic.....so I asked the anesthesiologist for his honest opinion and recommendation.  And we went with the interthecal.  1 hour after it was administered, baby Garrett was born.  Not too shabby.  Labor was quick.  Less than 6 hours total. 

Garrett was born at 11:47 PM.  He was 8 lbs 10 oz and 19 1/2 inches long.  He has a full head of golden-brown hair.  I've never seen anything like it!  It's beautiful!  (My other kids didn't really have hair).  He is a wonderful baby!!  He hardly cries, and he eats SOOO much!  It's been crazy because he's allready SOOO big!  I have all these newborn clothes, and he's gonna out-grow them before he even gets to wear them all!  It's kinda sad to watch as a mommy.....I feel like he's allready too grown-up and he's only a few days old.  Like I've missed out on weeks of him being an itty-bitty neworn, and now he's allready this big.  I know these first few weeks of his life are going to FLY....and it's allready making me sad.  But he's beautiful, and I can't complain about anything.  My body is recovering quite well too.  Much faster than with the other 2 pregnancies. 

 My kids love their baby brother.  Angie has had her moments....she is a 2 year old after all.  But she loves her baby brother too.  She likes to hold him, and help me feed him.  She is very curious when I use the breast-pump....and it's slightly annoying.....but I suppose we'll all get used to it

 Baby Garrett looks a lot like his siblings.....but he has is own unique features too.  The most noticeable being his chubby cheeks and thighs.  My kids never get lots of baby fat, but Garrett DEFINATELY has more than the other tow....possibly combined.  He's got Caleb's chin, and Angie's nose.  And I like to call him my "little duck" because he's got webbed toes on both feet. 

My mom has been here helping me out so much.  Mostly she cooks and then cleans the kitchen. I can't even express how much of a relief it is.  I just don't know what I'm going to do once she leaves.  Parker has been home this entire week as well.  He has helped out a lot with the kids.  He keeps them distracted and happy.  I haven't had to do much yet......I hope I'm not too overwhelmed when I finally have to face life with 3 kids on my own.  So far, I'm just super sleepy and my body is still a little bit achy.  But I really have nothing to complain about.  My kids are beautiful, and I have an awesome family here to help me.