william hudson broderick

baby b is finally here!!

We had a semi-false alarm on friday night - 7/29 - at about 10:30. I started contracting, every 5ish minutes, lasting around a minute +, consistently for over an hour -- they told us to come on to the hospital. We took our time and showed up close to 2am, only to head back home around 3:30 and wait out the 'early labor' at home. My Mom, Dad and Sister were already loaded up in the car and made the 6 hour drive through the night - just in case!!

Here we are headed into the hospital - wondering if we were having a baby that night or not!

After 2 more days of consistent contractions, a weekend of waiting, wondering, hanging out with family, walking, swimming....we called the OB Monday morning to see what we should do. They said, once again, to come on in to the hospital. 

This time I had progressed and we were admitted that morning around 10:30 on August 1st

Here were are...getting closer!  We hung around for quite some time, until close to midnight when it was 'time' for B's arrival!

and....

It's a BOY

(we were right!!)

William Hudson Broderick

7lb 13 oz

21.5 inches long

born at 12:28 am on August 2nd!

Hudson was nameless for a while - but by the end of his birthday (we had almost 24 hours to think) we were determined to have a name!

proud momma

and a proud daddy

first family photo at around 2 am - after a loooong day!

Hudson's birthday was celebrated by our family and friends who had to drive and fly from near and far to wait for his arrival. He is so loved :)  and we are so grateful to have family and friends that will sit in uncomfortable waiting room chairs for hooouuuurrrs on end for us and him!

ahhahahaha...squishy face. i couldn't help it. 

We got to head home on the 3rd with our little man

 Eloise met her brother as soon as he arrived. She was definitely not too sure about him at first - he was screaming and she just couldn't figure out what he was. Now when he cries, she comes running, licking his toes and cries with him - such a good little mama

Hudson at 2 days old 

 his daddy had to go to work at an out of town clinic and we missed him so much

 -

and he got his first bath - that he was NOT a fan of

Hudson at 3 days old

We had his first pediatrician visit Friday morning and everything checked out perfectly!

We've taken over 500 pictures. I spared you. Don't worry, I am sure this is only the beginning of my photo dumping :)

birmingham baby shower

On our pit stop in Birmingham we had the most beautiful baby shower, hosted by wonderful friends and family at my Aunt Gail's house. The decorations were amazing (thanks to the oh so talented mary liz ingram and her tiny clone, MC) - the food spread was every bit of my FAVORITE foods - I mean these people didn't mess around. S'mores (yes...tee-tiny delicious s'mores), yummy watermelon salad, cucumber dip, chick fil a nuggets, sausage cheese pinwheels, bruschetta made by chef Stebie, brownies with symphony bars in them...the list goes on and on...

and yellow cake with chocolate frosting

you may think this came from some fab bakery in birmingham - well it did - it's called my sister's house! :)

all of the top edge looked like little bees with wings and stripes - I am always amazed at the things she can think up...

Guests were greeted by the tiny hostess, Mary Clare. She perfectly directed each person on the 'what to do's' - a guessing game on what Baby B will be? - a well wishes jar for Baby - and a place for each person to make a bee finger print and sign the painting to hang in the baby room (of course, once again created by my thoughtful sister)

 

and what's a real party without a head injury??? Leave it to little Patty to smash his head into something. Good thing there was a Pediatrician and multiple Ped's ER nurses around for it! No worries, he recovered in no time with zero stitches needed

me and my sissy

and I was so happy to see BB!

mama and her side kick

a fully recovered Patrick

and a big thanks to Aunt Gail for letting us all bombard her house!

 Yoder came!!!! 

high school friends photo - I can't find the one with Brad and Jeffrey proposing to each other?? It would've been a good one to post

We had such a good time and were so thankful for all of the time and effort everyone put into the party. Thanks to them we can now get the baby home from the hospital in a car seat!! We were planning on leaving the baby to grow up in the L&D unit since we were infant seat-less. Oh well, guess we gotta bring it home now....

leaving st louis

 I was looking through a photo album I made that had pictures from Pat and my first trip to St. Louis - the zoo, the arch, the brewery, forest park....and here we are 3 years later - fellowship is complete!

It's amazing how quickly time goes by. I remember wishing those 3 years away when I first left friends and family in Birmingham. Then we started the countdown of the last months and weeks in STL and I was wishing for time to stop!

We made so many wonderful friends and memories during Patrick's Fellowship. The last days were spent partying, saying 'see ya later' and doing some of our favorite St. Louis things.

goodbye at SLCH ER

Goodbye at Craig's - complete with a Dora pinata and amazing dress up stuff

Goodbye and 'you survived fellowship' at Dr. Johnson's house

as Seth (right) put it:

the Puerto Rican, Irish Whitey, and Texan Jew

butterscotch pudding at Atlas - just a short walk down the street from our condo - delicious

And then the movers came - just like that our house was all boxed up, loaded onto a truck and our time in our perfect little home was over!! Bittersweet is the only word that comes to mind!

Sanmit was so kind as to bring coffee and bagels on the morning of the move after being on call all night - we made such amazing friends!

Empty house!! 

I think this face summed up how I felt pulling out of our parking lot - only a few tears were shed :)

Off we went!! With a late start -- 4:00 pm -- and an 8 hour drive ahead of us to get to Birmingham

Eye spy......   a sophie mophie!

Alabama!!! Always nice to see the sign and know you're getting close!

Patrick kept saying "hope you don't have the baby in Bowling Green Kentucky!!!" Well - we made it all the way, baby-less. Phew! You better believe the MD and the RN did have a full copy of my OB medical records handy....you just never know :)