Xander Charles!!

Alexander Charles Welch is here!! He was born on Saturday May 21st, 2011 at 3:01am weighing in at 7lbs 4oz and 19 1/2 inches long.

We went in to the hospital on Friday expecting to be induced and for everything to go smoothly, but God once again wanted us to make sure we knew HE was in charge of that, too. The induction started at 3pm and after a few hours of not really feeling much in the way of contractions at all the pitocin was turned up, but after 11 hours I was still at a 5 and the contractions were right on top of each other with out much of a break for me to catch my breath. And so I decided that I was ready for the dreaded epidural. For those of you that don't know, I am NOT a needle person. They frighten me. I am petrified of them. And all for no reason at all. I have always had kind dr.'s and have never had a problem at all. So the thought of having an epidural to me, was more frightening than having a baby without pain meds. That's how irrational this fear is. The anesthesiologist was called and came in and cleaned off a spot on my back to place the needle was reaching for the needle, and then ... Voila! Xander was ready to make an appearance and within 10 minutes he was here and in our arms! He objected to his new surroundings immediately and cried the whole time he was being examined, weighed and measured. We had no doubt of his strong lungs right from the start.

His first days home were very bumpy and we can say in all fairness that he had his days and nights mixed up. He did lose weight at first and through much weighing and reweighing discovered that he was just not getting enough at each feeding, so we decided to supplement with formula that in true Welch style we have termed his Weight Gainer 2000. He loves it and everyone loves to help out by feeding him and taking part in his gaining weight and getting stronger. There were shouts of joy and much rejoicing when he gained 6.6 oz overnight and everyone had been a part of it. God is good!! I have always been a breastfeeding only gal, but it seems that God is using my sweet boy to destroy that ridiculous soapbox. Who knew?! For truly what is more important, having a healthy and happy little boy or letting him die on my stupid soapbox? When Who is that one that sustains him? God alone! And truthfully, I was formula fed and Voila! Hows that for your paradigm of hope? LOL. Wow.

He is almost 2 1/2 weeks old and has been loved since day one :) Nolen loves to hold him and talk to him and he dearly loves listening to Nolen's voice. Emma will take him and sit with him in her room and just tend to his every need, she is such a wonderful helper!! Mia has asked at every moment to hold him and take care of him. Ty loves to give him hugs and talk to him, but is nervous of too much holding, since he is so small and squirmy :) Nadia treats him like one of her stuffed animals and will hold him for hours, get diapers, throw them away BUT her specialty is picking the morning outfit. She loves being Xanders fashion consultant.

Well, all to say he has been a cute and snuggly joy to us all and we are so thankful to God for this little blessing!!