And then there were 4!

We are officially parents of two amazing boys!! The past few days have been a whirlwind but now we are settled at home and loving life. On February 13 we finally got to meet Jackson Eugene at 1:51pm. We've always loved the name Jackson and had it on our very short list of names we were thinking of for Max. Eugene is in honor of Justin's Grandfather Ed Harbin, whose middle name was Eugene. Max is named after one of my grandfathers, and we love that our boys will get to hear stories about their namesakes even though they will never get to meet them.

Our handsome boy sporting his Valentine's Day hat:

The week of Jackson's birth was filled with drama, lots of boring waiting, and then worry about the incoming snow. Although I wish some things hadnt happened, its our story and I love that it was another adventure for us. 

I was scheduled to be induced first thing on Thursday morning if I did not have the baby on my own by that time. I planned to take off Wednesday, relax and prepare myself at home so that I wasn't stressed and I was ready for the new baby. I LOVE to plan things, and this was a great plan. But its not what happened. On Tuesday evening, I was preparing dinner with the help of Max. He got his thumb stuck in a can of black beans and slit his thumb open on the lid. It was horrible and deep and Justin immediately knew it needed stitches. Poor Max was hysterical and I can't believe I didnt go into labor right then and there. I held pressure on his thumb as best I could to try and stop the immense bleeding and we hurried to the ER. The pediatrician and nurses were wonderful with Max (and us). Several hours, a bag of pretzels, half a bag of rice cakes, and lots of Giggle Bellies you tube music videos later, he had 7 stitches, a big bandage and a splint that he has to wear for awhile and can't get wet. We finally got home around 9:30 and spent the next day with Max trying to figure out the best way to help him not be in pain and not use his thumb. 

The final product... 930pm and a little loopy from meds:

Amongst all of this, we also knew the "biggest snowstorm of the season" was hours away and that we needed to be at GBMC at 7am the next morning despite the foot or more of snow that they were calling for. We made the call to book a room at the Towson Marriot, which would be a  5 minute drive to the hospital, but it meant dropping off Max at my parents house early for an extra night. I don't know what I would do without them! We dropped off Max with his bags of medicine, gauze, neosporin, and instructions. Thankfully there is no one else I'd rather take care of Max when he is hurt if Justin and I cant be there, then my own Mommy! 

After dropping off Max, we ran back to the house, double checked our hospital bags, and discussed how the next time we came home, we'd have our new baby with us. Its not even something you can wrap your head around. Justin's Mom and David invited us to dinner so we stopped on the way to the hotel and had a fun, relaxing, yummy steak dinner. It was just what we needed to take a deep breath and focus on what was about to happen. It was already starting to snow as we headed to the hotel and we settled in for a good nights sleep. 

Morning came fast! We got up at 630am to over a foot of snow and knew we'd make the right decision to stay in the hotel that night 

Ready to go!

We were pretty much the only people on the road except for the snow plows, but we had no problem with the short drive and arrived in perfect time. 

Last pics of us as parents of ONE!

Finally a little before 2, I gave one push and we got to meet our big boy, Jackson! Weighing in at 10lbs 8.8 oz, our Doctor and nurses were astonished at what an easy birth it was and said they'd never seen anything like it. I don't know any different, but I'm definitely thankful! 

Jackson meets Mommy!

I love this picture : ) Thanks to our awesome nurse who grabbed our camera and started snapping pictures as we obsessed over Jackson!

After plenty of Mommy snuggles and getting cleaned off, Jackson finally gets time with his Daddy!

Thank you to everyone for your congratulatory phone calls, emails, texts and facebook messages! We feel so loved and can't wait to share Jackson with you. We are so in love and will share more pics soon- including Max meeting his new brother : )