the tadje family: Graham Nathan Tadje

Our sweet Graham Nathan Tadje arrived Sunday, March 13th at 12:21pm. He weighed 7 lb 12 oz and was 20 inches long. He is perfect in every way and we are already so in love with this little guy! And it's surreal that we have FOUR kids now!

His delivery was my easiest delivery by far. It was a pretty routine induction, but I'll write a little of the delivery story on here so it's recorded.

Nate and I went to the hospital early Sunday morning at 6:30am (but it was daylight savings so really it was like 5:30am!) My parents and Becca kept our other three kids overnight at their house so Nate and I didn't have to worry about them in the morning. I slept maybe two hours the night before the induction because I was a little too anxious and excited to meet our little guy. :) But anyway, soon after getting to the hospital, I got hooked up to an IV to start fluids and an antibiotic (because I was positive for strep B this time around). And an hour or so later, the nurse started the pitocin. Once the contractions got a little uncomfortable (about 2 hours after I was started on the pitocin), we called the anesthesiologist to give me my epidural. The anesthesiologist was great and the epidural worked like a charm. Dr Ollerton broke my water soon after that and then Nate and I just hung out in our delivery room for a while. It's always awesome to be in "labor" but feel no pain. Epidurals are the best invention ever! :) The nurse came back around noon and checked me and I was dilated to an 8. And then she checked me again after my next contraction and I was a 9...so she paged Dr Ollerton that it was go time. He came in soon after and checked and I was dilated all the way and ready to go. He quickly suited up and before I knew it, it was time to push. Nate timed it and I pushed for 43 seconds...one push for his head and one push to get his shoulders out and little Graham was born! After such a hard pregnancy and the placenta previa scare that I may have to have a c-section, I was convinced the delivery would be hard. But it ended up being the simplest, easiest delivery yet! And the recovery was just as quick and easy this time around too. And Graham is perfect in every way! It is such a miracle to get a baby here and we feel so blessed to have a healthy baby boy! He reminds us so much of his two big brothers and of Callie too. He is so loved already!

After we settled into Mother/Baby, the nurse gave Graham his first bath. He was NOT a fan! But they did the bath right in my room (the other kids all had their first baths in the nursery) so it was fun to be a part of it this time.

Sunday evening, my parents brought our other kids to meet their baby brother. That was probably the sweetest moment of all - watching the kids light up as they met their brother for the first time. There is nothing quite like sibling love! The pictures say it all :)

Callie was ecstatic as you can see from her smile! She loves babies and especially "Bay Gam" (baby Graham) as she calls him.

The boys were so anxious to get their turn to hold Graham too. It was so sweet watching them...and having all four kids together for the first time!

My parents, Diane, Becca (my sis), Becca (Nate's sis), the Brewers, and Steve & Rayane all came to visit us in the hospital. I got pictures of most people holding Graham.

We stayed at the hospital for 2 nights (they wanted to make sure Graham didn't catch strep B). The first night Nate stayed with me and the kids slept at my parents again. And the second night, Nate went home to be with the kids so it was just me and Graham. American Fork hospital now encourages moms to have their baby sleep in their room the entire time (instead of sending them to the nursery). That was different than when I had my other babies so I felt a little sleep deprived being up a lot of the night with Graham but I also loved having him next to me the entire hospital stay.