Our stay in the hospital

Harvey, all bathed and swaddled and ready to head to our room

Daddy finally gets his turn

Our first family photo

Smitten

Harvey and the "new" big sister, Jo
Jo's funny comment, "Look at his tiny haircut!"

Harvey and his oldest sister, Abbey.

It was definitely LOVE at first site

VISITORS:

**Monika, Karma, and Britny had just gotten back from a girls trip, celebrating Britny's 30th birthday {Harvey missed being born on Buzzy's birthday by 1 hour and 46 minutes!} It was fun to have them here to see Harvey so new.

** Grandpa Lester and baby Harv {Grandpa was the one who stayed home with the girls Saturday night so my mom could be there for the birth}

** Grandma Ester

**Kelly, Jessi, Adde, and Ezra came for a visit
Ezra's funny comment: Jess: "What's his name, do you remember?", Ezra "hmm...Hoyt!"

** Papa Dean: Harvey's name sake

** Gramz

We stopped taking pictures of the visitors after that...don't know why. Other hospital visitors included Kyle and Megs, Broc and Ju, Chad, Brooke, and Kids, Mickell Westbrook, Chelsi Starks, and Tami Ence.

Sunday morning, we got moved to postpartum at about 4 AM. RJ and I were both pretty exhausted at this point. Harvey was calm and content from the get go. Even at birth he hardly cried. We were happy to hear a few good squeals from him after delivery, but they didn't last long. All through our skin to skin, he was so content and sweet. He nursed a little and then he was out for the count. BUT boy was he NOISY! It was hilarious. That first night {or rest of the morning}, he made all sorts of funny noises. The nurse even took him at one point to check his O2 levels because she was worried he was struggling to breathe. NOPE, he was just noisy! So, anyway...that made for a pretty much sleepless night.
We had a relaxing morning, just enjoying our baby together. I got checked out by Dr. Ott, first thing that morning. I was still really numb from my epideral so he told me not to plan on going home today {I wasn't...I was going to try to enjoy my hospital stay this time around}. Even after the epideral finally wore off, I was feeling pretty great. The worse pains for me were the "after" contractions. They were worse than actual labor! Dr. Kaddu came and checked Harvey and he checked out perfectly {such a good boy!}. RJ snuggled Harvs while I slept through the first session of conference.
My mom and dad brought the girls in around 12:30 and they met their baby brother, after 9 long months of waiting! They were smitten. Love at first site! It was so fun to see their tender, nurturing sides and the instant love they had for their baby brother.
All the while, Harvey had barely made a peep. He was EXTREMELY sleepy. He was going on a good 6 hours since he had eaten, and waking him up for it was definitely a task! I held him skin to skin and that worked to help him become interested. Then six hours later, the lactation specialist came in and awakened him too {she was all business, she was NOT letting him off the hook--he WOULD eat!} But I was glad, I didn't have it in me to wake that exhausted baby!
We had quite a few visitors throughout the day, and it was fun to show off our sweet baby boy. By the evening, I was feeling pretty exhausted and a little overwhelmed {birth and no sleep will do that to you} I was starting to stress about RJ leaving for the night. He was going to go stay with the girls. I started having flashbacks of my stay in the hospital with Makayla. That second night was when the blues hit me hard, and I sat up and cried most of the night. RJ and I had about 30 minutes alone together, before he headed home. We said a prayer, and thanked Heavenly Father for this perfect little son in our lives. And, of course, the crying started. I was feeling really nervous. I cried with him for a minute and then he left for home.
After he left, I actually felt great. I snuggled and fed my sweet baby, and really enjoyed some alone time with him. We slept, off and on, until about 2 AM, when I decided I would send him to the nursery. I knew this was my last chance to get some good sleep before heading home. { I have NEVER sent my babies to the nursery before, so I was VERY nervous} They assured me he would be well taken care of and off he went. I slept wonderfully until about 6:15--who knew how good 4 hours of sleep could feel! I called the nurse to bring my baby back and what felt like an eternity later, he was back in my arms. {I didn't know at this time, but they were doing his jaundice/PKU test.} It took them like 15 minutes to bring him back in. Of course, during these 15 minutes, I'm a basket case thinking they had lost my baby and were frantically going room to room to find him. I even called the nurse again to make sure they hadn't forgotten I was STILL waiting for my baby! It was a relief to have him back.
Dr. Kaddu came in at 8:00 ish to take him for his circumcision. I was hoping/praying that RJ would've made it back for this part {I had heard the horror stories} I called and he wasn't going to be able to make it in time. So, I took one for the team and walked down with my baby and sat by him while he had it done. The nurse was darling and soothed him so sweetly the whole time. And, I have to say, it wasn't nearly as bad as I had imagined. He took it like a champ! He was "out for the count", pretty much the rest of the day {they said that was to be expected} Thus another day of not eating very much...
Jaundice levels came back at LOW risk {a first for one of my children}, I watched my required videos, and was officially checked out by 10:00 AM. So, I got myself and Harvey dressed and ready to go, and we waited for RJ and the girls to get here to pick us up.