Welcome Home, Brock Alan Jordan!

As hopefully all of you have heard by now, we welcomed our little baby, Brock Alan, Thursday morning at 7:13. He weighed in at 7 pounds 15 ounces, and measured at a nice, long 21 1/2 inches. Mom started out with some early labor Wednesday morning, and as the day progressed she was pretty sure it was time! But after a trip to the hospital, we were sent home, told that yes, we were in labor, but Mom was not making enough progress at the moment. Mom and Dad were not home for more than a hour when her water broke and we were on our way back! Things really got going then and Mom was able to handle the labor until about 3am and then she broke down and asked for the epidural. Boy was that fabulous! Mom, Dad, and Grandma Wyckhuyse were able to nap for a little while until the nurse and doctor started expressing a bit of concern for Brock's condition. Each time Mom would have a contraction, Brock's heartrate would drop down a little bit lower than where it should be. So the doctor presented the idea of a C-section and said they would monitor Brock's condition for a little bit longer before a decsion was made, but they wanted us to know that it was a strong possibility. But fortunately, he hung in there, and his heartrate went up again. So by the time Mom was ready to push, the doctor said we could proceed as planned. Whew! Everyone was so impressed with Mom's fabulous pushes and after only 40 minutes, we had a baby. As Grandma Wyckhuyse explained it, after his head was out, the rest of him just kind of fell out! We discovered the reason that his heartrate would drop during contractions was because his ambilical cord was wrapped around his neck once, but the doctor had it under control and fixed the problem before we even had time to worry about it. Of course, as Mom and Dad looked at our new baby, they couldn't help but be amazed at the little miracle we had just taken part in! And Dad and Grandma were just so amazingly supportive the whole time, Mom could not have asked for a better support team! Shortly after Brock was born, we found out that our friend and neighbor, Tia, was just around the corner from mom with her baby girl who had arrived the night before. So, Mom and Tia had fun going back and forth throughout the day to visit with each other, and hold each other's new babies! Brock passed all of his newborn tests with flying colors and we are all so happy now to have him home with us. We are all doing well, and Ella is so happy to FINALLY have her brother. She loves to sit and hold him, give him kisses, brush his blonde hair, and help in any way that she can. Last night, Mom was feeding Brock and was supposed to be singing Ella bedtime songs, but she was falling asleep! So after a few minutes, Ella decided she ought to take over and began singing lullabies to Brock. It was so cute and almost made Mom cry! Words cannot express how happy and gratefull we all are, not only for our new baby boy, but for Ella and for the joy that she brings to our family every day. Thank you again to all of you for your continuing love, support, and well-wishes. We are so blessed to have so many people to share our joy with. A big, giant thank you, to Dad, for being an amazing support to Mom before, during, and after the whole labor and delivery process. He is taking such good care of us all! Another big thank-you to Grandma Wyckhuyse for being there with us, and one to Shelene for sending out pictures to everyone right away. We love you all!