Beach Baby Johnson: Our Family Has Grown by Two MORE Feet!!!

Welcome James "Tucker" Johnson

While it was a surprise whether this baby was going to be a boy or a girl...in my heart of hearts I thought it was a boy all along. Sure there was always the excitement to think it may be a girl but when he was actually born and the OB said to Chris, "tell her what it is"...I was not shocked to hear "it's a boy" but instead pretty excited. I am thrilled for Wesley to have a younger brother to play with and can't deny that it will be easier since we have so much "boy" stuff already. I think Chris was more suspicious that it was a girl-probably because I complained a lot more during this pregnancy. I feel I carried the same but it was a bit harder on me which is no surprise.

James "Tucker" Johnson entered the world with haste and I still can't believe how the day played out . Chris and I both went to work on Wednesday, August 6th and took Wesley to Mrs. Sheila's just like any other day. About 10am I texted Chris to let him know I wasn't feeling well but that I wasn't totally sure if "this was it". I stuck around work for a bit longer and then told my boss, Matt, that I wasn't feeling great and thought I would head out around lunch time and monitor the situation from home. I requested that he keep quiet about it. The last thing I wanted was to go to the hospital and be sent home! At about 11:25 I sent my last email and headed out the door. All along I have been pretty worried about leaving unfinished business for my colleagues. My job gets really busy this time of year so while I know I have great people helping me out, I don't like leaving them with a lot of work. At the same time, I didn't want to be at work when things really started progressing.

When I got home I had several things I had to do to get ready. Luckily my bag was packed but there were other things like, packing an overnight bag for Wesley in case he stayed with Sheila and Kiki, leaving a check for the maids (they were coming the next day), packing some snacks for Chris, straightening the house-my parents would be coming, all while starting to feel more intense contractions with less time in between. Chris left his office about 12:15 and got home about 12:45. He had a few things to grab and then we headed for the hospital. Luckily we are very close and arrived at 1:15. I called my parents and said "don't come yet, I want to make sure this is it."

I was put in the triage room for all of 15 minutes which was how long it took for them to confirm I needed to get to the labor room. When I arrived at the hospital I was well on my way and there was no way I was being sent home. I requested an epidural which in essence was really too late as I ended up delivering Tucker at 2:32, just an hour and 15 minutes after arriving at the check in desk! There was an above average/record number of babies being born on the same day so the OB almost didn't get to my room in time. It was slightly chaotic but over before we knew it. Chris and I kept looking at each other in disbelief that we had a beautiful new son and that we had both been at work not even 3 hours before!

My parents arrived very quickly (Chris had texted them and said it was time) so it was great to see them. They were also very helpful and stayed with Wesley while Chris and I were in the hospital. Sheila and Kiki brought Wesley home from daycare and brought him to the hospital for his first visit. Wesley was pretty excited about his new little brother although he wanted no part of the "I'm a big brother" sticker that he received from the maternity guest check-in. He wanted to hold Tucker and there were lots of people taking pictures of us. After a few minutes he simply said, "I'm done" and wanted Tucker to be removed from his lap. Ever since he has asked to give kisses, offered stuffed animals, and has been overall very good with his new little brother. He comes home from daycare asking "where is my baby?". I know I was more worried than I should have been for Wesley. While we have had a few meltdowns, overall he has taken pretty well to being the BIG brother.

Mimi and Pops stayed until Friday afternoon when we came home from the hospital. We have been enjoying Tucker ever since and rolling along pretty well with two boys!!

Introducing.....