Fallat Family: Sydney Nicole has arrived! :)

Sydney Nicole was born on 10/31 at 4:34pm at 7lbs 8oz and 20.5 inches. Consistent with family tradition so far, Sydney seemed perfectly content to remain where she was at all the way up to her due date. After several doctor's appointments where no progress was being shown towards Sydney's delivery we began to anticipate a late arrival.

We were pretty low key Friday evening (Sydney's due date - 10/30) and settled in for the night with a couple of milk shakes and of course a sundae for Tyler. Despite being exhausted Tyler fought going to bed so Mama went in and rocked him for a bit (anyone knowing Tyler knows that he NEVER allows this to happen), when I went to lay him down in bed he asked me to lay down with him. After a few minutes of laying quietly in the dark, he pushed on my belly and repeated "Baby Sister" a few times and fell asleep. This, too, was quite unusual as he never talked about his sister coming without prompting from Mama or Daddy. I am convinced that he knew she would be arriving shortly. A few hours later, labor began and Tyler was at Aunt Gretchen & Uncle Jeff's and Mama and Daddy were in the hospital by 7am.

We were admitted to the hospital and labor remained pretty erratic throughout the day but around 4:00 it was time to begin pushing. Sydney needed a bit of assistance arriving into the world as her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck causing her heart rate to drop at times. And at 4:34pm our beautiful, healthy, happy, and peaceful little girl arrived in our arms!

Sydney has such a sweet personality so far and loves being around all of the visitors that have come to see us. So far she is a snuggler which Daddy and I spoke about her before she arrived. We are enjoying every minute with her.

Due to our hospital policy in the midst of all of this "flu scare" children under the age of 14 were not allowed to visit us at the hospital, including siblings of the newborn babies. I was pretty disappointed to not be able to have Tyler come up and visit us and meet his sister at the hospital. We checked out of the hospital literally 24 hours after having Sydney and Tyler got to meet his baby sister at home.

Tyler spent a couple of days up at Grandma and Papa's house and Mama and Daddy enjoyed a quiet house and some bonding time with Sydney. He arrived home on Wednesday morning and within 10 minutes of his arrival I had my introduction of being a Mom of 2. Two dirty diapers to change back to back...and we haven't stopped since! ;)

Tyler has been a very loving and protective big brother so far. He always comes running to check on Sydney if she is crying and tells me to "pick her up" if she is laying in her crib. He loves playing with her fingers, petting her hair and "beeping" her nose. He helps with her bottles, finding her pacifiers, and likes to hold her for little chunks of time. We are working on the "gentle" aspect of this love, but overall he is doing a great job and being a big helper. I am still holding out that being a big brother will now help him be interested in potty training...but so far it is still just a dream.

Life this past week has been full, but we are loving every minute of being a family of 4. Now for some pics! :)