Thomas Tidbits...: Introducing Fisher Boyd Thomas

And just like that... we're a family of FOUR! Fisher Boyd Thomas joined our family on March 6, 2014 at 3:38 am. He weighed in at 7 lbs 12 oz and 20.5". We were instantly smitten with our beautiful and healthy son!

I actually had 2 days of false labor before the real labor began in the middle of the night. 4 hours of labor and 7 minutes of pushing later, along came our little charmer. It certainly beat the 14 hours of labor and 4 hours of pushing with Eleanor. Justin and I were stunned at how quickly everything happened. My only regret is that my epidural didn't set in until AFTER Fisher was born.

Brother looks a lot like Eleanor as a newborn but has blonde hair and long fingers and toes (no extra phalanges or skin tags like me and E). While Eleanor was an energetic being from the moment she was born, Fisher is super reserved but very particular. He's a lover and is happiest when he's being held and sleeping. I can already tell that he's going to be our sensitive child;)

We were so lucky to have our nanny (5th family member) stay with Eleanor while we were in the hospital. We were anxious for Eleanor to meet her baby brother as soon as she woke up the morning he was born. Laura brought her to the hospital, and we were so proud at her reaction... sheer joy and pride with her new big sister role. Honestly, I'm not sure there's anything sweeter than seeing my two children together for the first time. Eleanor insists on constantly kissing him and snuggling with him, and whenever she's away from him for more than an hour, she dramatically exclaims, "Oh brother, I MISSED you!!"

So far, the transition to life as a family of four has been fairly smooth. Mostly, in part, to the non stop food delivery from family and friends. AND Nana being here to help with various kid wrangling/cleaning/cooking and Aunt Katie arriving on Wednesday to do much of the same. I think it's fair to say that parenthood mellowed me a bit, so the second time around has been easier. Less anxiety, lower expectations, more help!

Justin took a week off of work, which has been so helpful. We plan to soak in his last few days of paternity leave with some basketball and SXSW.

Thanks to everyone for the calls, emails, texts, gifts, etc. Excuse me for my delays in responding as we navigate this new chapter, but know that we are incredibly grateful to have such an amazing support system!

PS - For those of you who are wondering about the name... We really wanted to incorporate Fisk (mom's maiden name) into our son's name, but Fisk Thomas didn't really work phonetically. So, we looked up the meaning of Fisk, which is "Fisherman." Hence, Fisher. And Boyd was Justin's maternal grandfather's name. Though I didn't have the pleasure of meeting Boyd Manning, I've heard so many wonderful stories about his character, and we're proud to have our son share his name.