In Like a Lion

So, it's been an eventful week.  

Ice storms, snow days.

Oh, and this happened.

Yep.  Our little gift from the Polar vortex that slammed the country last week.  

The littlest man arrived a full two weeks before his due date in the midst of wild weather.  I guess he figured, being number 3 and all, that he'd better come in with a memorable birth story, and he delivered.  

I went into what I thought was false labor a week ago, Sunday.  

Guzzling water while teaching 2nd and 3rd graders Sunday school

 apparently does nothing to keep true labor at bay.

Neither does grocery shopping with your two favorite offspring and the rest of the metropolitan population,

 in anticipation of icy weather.

So, even though I was hopeful this was all a false alarm and I could finish up my testing and sub plans the following week, I sent up the Bat Signal for my mom to come on in town to watch the munchkins.

When I lay down Sunday night to rest up between contractions, 

I figured we'd be going to the hospital in the wee hours.  I should've known better.

A scant 45 minutes went by without a contraction, and then a monster one hit.  

I felt the baby twist (hard!), and a pop.  

Leave it to a third baby to keep me feeling like a rookie mom - my water had never broken before!  

The point of no return had been reached and Mike and I knew we were having a baby in an ice storm.

Once we got to the hospital, labor and delivery were textbook, despite a skeleton crew staff. 

Major interstates were shut down and roads were covered in black ice.  

About the time snow started to fall the next morning, I was getting ready to push.

20 minutes later, I was holding my tiniest man.

Mike is a proud papa, and handled everything with a stiff upper lip. 

Big sister and brother were so excited and proud to meet him.

Of course the hospital was full of interesting things for the big kids to investigate.

Will discovered that the bassinet at the hospital is just as fun as the shopping cart at the grocery store, when he wasn't repositioning my bed into all manner of wonky configurations.

Our first family of 5 photo.  

I kind of wish I didn't look like I'd been up for 48 hours.

Sweet lil' feet.

My view for 2 days.

Normally, I like to use up every second I'm allotted in the hospital, but I was itchin' to break free this time.

So, as soon as I could round up the troops, we were outta there!

This guy's not impressed with his first big adventure.

The kids are so interested in this guy, that I think we're going to need to invest in one of those clear plastic hamster balls to keep people out of his face and from discovering his fontanelle. 

He's a little freaked out by his siblings.

My view for the next 5 weeks.

Will has really risen to the challenge of big brother, watching over "our baby" every chance he gets.

Seriously, who needs a cat around when we've got this guy peering into the crib every time I turn around.

The preferred reward these days is not more iPad time or dessert.

Nope.

It's daps from the baby.

Every night, before he goes to sleep, Will asks me if my heart is bigger now that Teddy is here.

Yes, sweet boy, it most certainly is.