He's here!!!!!!!

Aunt April here.

Baby G/G$/Garrett Thomas Hoffart is here!!! He arrived at 9:58PM on Wednesday, February 23, 2011. PTL!

Here's the story (or what I know of the story so far):

Emily went to school yesterday and was feeling sick (stopped up, achy, etc.) and was having some contractions. She and I were emailing back and forth at school during the day and she said that she was starting to wonder at what point she needed to go ahead and go to the hospital. Keep in mind, her scheduled c-section was supposed to be noon on Thursday February 24th. She decided she'd go ahead and stay home on Wednesday so she called her long-term sub to have her come one day early and take over her classes beginning Wednesday. She left school, picked up Wyatt from his babysitter and headed home.

Jacob, Sam and Mr. Conan had been working all day on the backsplash in their new & improved kitchen. As soon as Emily let Jacob know she was coming home with Wyatt and thought she needed to go to the hospital, Jacob and his crew started cleaning up and getting to a stopping point. Wyatt stayed home and played with Papa Sam while Emily and Jacob went to the hospital. They were sent home that evening and the plan was to have her rest and take it easy for the remainder of Tuesday evening and Wednesday...and still try to make it to Thursday to have Garrett. Jacob was scheduled to work Wednesday but due to Emily's situation went ahead and had his shift covered so he'd be home with Emily. I talked to her Wednesday afternoon as I was leaving school and she said she was about to lay down because she thought she had done a little too much. Jacob worked in the kitchen all day and she vacuumed the house and did some other things. She sounded extremely stopped up and congested...poor thing!

Side note - Wyatt currently is not saying Garrett when asked. But he DOES say G$! Pretty sure he doesn't really know that's just another name for his baby brother!

Papa Sam and Wyatt drove to CS Tuesday afternoon so that Emily and Jacob could rest and relax before the next hospital visit and/or before the baby's arrival. Wyatt has done really well while in CS without "mommydaddy" (which is said all as one word) and we've kept him pretty busy! He went to the A&M women's basketball game Tuesday night against tech, came to visit me at my school during the day Wednesday, and had a playdate with Jack and Cate Smith at Chic Fil-A Wednesday evening! He and I also made a special trip to Target to pick out a new "snuggy" (the little soft toy thingy that he cuddles with and goes to sleep with), Gold Fish and trail mix! Important stuff!

Back to the Emily part of the story...Emily and I had texted back and forth Wednesday evening and she told me that she just wanted to text, not talk on the phone, because she didn't feel well and was having lots of contractions that were pretty uncomfortable. We talked about all the stuff Wy had been up to, including having a cakeball and all sorts of other fun things! About an hour went by that I hadn't heard from her, so I while Wyatt and I were cuddled up watching Minute to Win It, I texted her to see how she was feeling. She said they were on their way to the hospital!

Jacob texted a little bit later saying that they had checked in and the nurse told them they'd have a baby tonight. This is where I'm not really sure of what happened from that point until when we got the picture and information from Jacob, but I do know that Emily's regular doctor was not on-call, so it was another doctor that delivered the baby. I'm guessing that everything went Ok and she's in recovery right now as I type (11:20PM).

Stayed tuned for more updates and information. I'll try to update as I get info and/or more pictures! Big Brother is asleep in his crib at Mia and Papa's house. We're all here in CS and will go to TW in the morning to meet and see Garrett!!!

Say a prayer for the Hoffarts! Especially for Emily as she recovers, Garrett as he acclimates himself, Wyatt as his world is about to turn upside down and for Jacob - not sure what specifically to pray for, but I'm sure he could use a prayer or two! :)

Update - just got a text from Jacob that said Garrett is nursing right now. Emily texted that she feels Ok but is starting to feel some pain so they're going to start getting the "good drugs" going! They took Garrett to have his blood pressure taken. She also said she feels tired. Hopefully they'll get settled and be able to get some sleep tonight at some point.

One more thing about his birthday - since he came on the 23rd, I'm excited to have another 23 birthday person in the family!!! I was all by myself (as a 23) for eighteen years before Matthew was born on October 23rd. And now we can add Garrett to Club 23!

More to come!