Two weeks ago we welcomed our son into the world! It is still absolutely unreal to type those words!

We went to bed earlier than normal on Wednesday night the 27th. I remember waking up and going to the bathroom and then going back to bed around 2:30 AM. At 3 AM I woke up again thinking – wait – I already went to the bathroom – why is THIS happening! I went to the bathroom again and there was a HUGE crack of thunder and flash of lightning – and I said – Jared – I’m soaked! He said – WHAT!!! I asked him what I should do – should I call Johna?

You have to understand – on Wednesday afternoon I ran into Johna at Wal*Mart and we made lunch plans for Thursday. Johna said – that’s fine but we will prolly be at the hospital cus my guess for Fitzy’s birthday is tomorrow! So OF COURSE I had to call her at 3 AM and tell her that I thought my water broke! She said – well I guess you better call the hospital! In my moment of WHAT IS HAPPENING – I said – am I supposed to just let this leak everywhere on the way over? We haven’t put the car seat in yet! I have a bag packed – but do I have everything? What are we gonna do with the bubs? Jared’s parents are leaving in the afternoon till Sunday! I AM NOT READY FOR THIS!

I called the hospital and they said to come over! AHHH!!! I know that due dates don’t mean anything but I wasn’t due till the 5th of May! I was in shock that this was actually happening!!

We called Jared’s parents and his mom came over to stay with Schrute for the early morning hours. I called my mom, sister, and brother to let them know we were on our way to the hospital! Johna and Jared were my support system until Samm got there from NJ – just in time!

We got to the hospital after driving through rain, wind, and a crazy thunderstorm. The nurses met me at the ER door and we went up to the OB floor right into the birthing room to do paperwork and make sure that my water had broken. It had! I made my next round of phone calls to let people know that I would be having a baby within the next 18 hours! The nurse asked if I could feel the contractions – but I told her no. It wasn’t until a few hours later that I realized I WAS feeling contractions – I just didn’t expect them to be so mild – at the moment!

Johna came over and walked the halls with me until it was time to be hooked up to the monitor. At 8 AM my contractions weren’t progressing so they put me on Pitocin – which moved things right along! By 10ish I was 3 to 4 cm and when Samm got there at 12 I was reaching 7 to 8 cm. Samm and Johna switched out and before long it was time to give some practice pushes. I had Fitzy’s birth photographed by Bridget Reed – a FABULOUS photographer – and she spent the morning in the room with us! When it was time to practice pushing – I opened my eyes for one of the first times all morning – and looked around. Bridget was gone! I said – where’s Bridget? As soon as I mentioned her name – there she was – and I knew that I could practice pushing! Crazy the things you think about and don’t think about while you are in labor!

Jared and Samm were holding my legs and cheering me on – telling me to push and counting for me! Pushing was harder than I thought it would be – I couldn’t get the hang of it at all! Samm kept saying – his head is RIGHT there – you can do this! Jared was awesome – he encouraged me to no end! I pushed for about 45 minutes and then there was this miracle in front of me! Jared cut the cord and Samm took some fresh photos to text our family! As soon as Fitzy was out – I got a migraine and couldn’t see the right side of my vision – so I thought he was cute – at least the left side of him! Thankfully the aura went away pretty quickly. He didn’t cry when he came out – and I just needed to know that he was okay and then I zoned out! I really don’t remember much of anything after that until my parents got there!

Having Bridget in the room to photograph the birth was one of the BEST decisions I ever made – make sure to check out her slideshow here!

Fitzy was born on Thursday, April 28th of 2011 at 2:17 PM. He weighed 7 lbs 7.7 ounces and was 19.5 inches long! 7 is the number of completion and perfection – how AWESOME is that!! He looked so much like Jared when he first came out!

He is only a few moments old in this photo – thank you so much Bridget for this photo!

He is perfectly healthy and happy and so amazingly content! He hardly cries and eats ALL the time! He is a great sleeper and is just the cuddliest baby I have ever known!

Jared took the whole week off and just went back to work on Monday – we miss him so much during the day!

Here are a few shots of our days in the hospital!

OH MY WORD! JUST LOOK AT THAT FACE!!

My dad with his first grandson!

Momma and Dadda!

My Gramma Geiger and my cousin Vanessa!

Fitzy with Dan Fitzgerald – one of his namesakes!!

Oh sweet baby!

What a sweet baby boy!!

I took some photos during our first week home together too – not nearly as many as I thought I would but I was just so busy loving this little guy!

It’s TIRED in here!!

BE STILL MY HEART!!

My friend Jenn is starting a business – Janey Joy – which is where this BEAUTIFUL hat came from!!

And of course I had to include a few of our other baby!

Isn’t he BEAUTIFUL!

We still cannot believe that Fitzy is here in our arms and is ours! Thank you so much for the prayers during our labor and over the past two weeks! We felt them SO MUCH!!!!!