hospital pictures=)

we took a bajillion pictures in the hospital when we were having adam, and here are some of our favorites...

our last few moments as a family of 3, on the way to your school and then onto the hospital. about 30 seconds after this picture was taken, we were in the parking lot of your school and as daddy was getting you out of the car, i suddenly realized everything was about to change. my baby girl wouldn't be the baby anymore, our family of three was about to be four, my little angel's world was about to be rocked. i wanted to grab you and squeeze you and hold you until you made me let go. i felt so frantic all of a sudden but i knew daddy wouldn't let me lose it so i just watched you walk away from the car holding his hand. and then another contraction started and all of those sweet sappy thoughts were put on hold...

taking this sweet boy home!

Introducing...

Adam James Davis

December 4, 2012 ~ 9:50 am

7 pounds 4 ounces

20.5 inches

sweet baby boy,

you are 17 days old now, and you are perfect. the last two weeks have been filled with getting to know you and learning how to thrive as a family of four. labor was quick and funny. and painful. let's talk about those things:

quick: on december 4th i felt contractions start around 3am but they weren't too painful-i'd had contractions like that before and it was no big deal-i slept through many of them and felt no need to get out of bed. around 6am i got up and got in the shower, thinking i was getting ready to go to work. they started to become more painful and around 6:45 i called my boss to say i thought i was in labor but i wasn't completely sure, and that i'd go by my doctor's office so they could check my cervix and tell me if i should go to the hospital or if i could go to work. he laughed at me, and said to keep them posted=) around 7:30 the contractions were so intense that i had no doubt it was legit, so i told donnie that we needed to go to the hospital instead of me just going by the doctor's office. we dropped catherine off at school around 8 and got to the hospital by 8:30. my cervix was 8.5cm dilated when i got there (the exact number it was when i got to the hospital with catherine...interesting, yes?). we waited for my doctor to get there, and when she finally arrived at 9:45 she broke my water, i pushed for 2 contractions, and sweet baby boy was born at 9:50. it was fast and surreal and i'm so glad that part's over=) so in some ways it was similar to labor with catherine (i was able to do it naturally which was a ridiculous goal of mine, i did most of the laboring at home and was almost done by the time i got to the hospital, etc) and in many ways it was different (total labor from first painful contraction to delivery with catherine was 21 hours, and with adam was not quite 4 hours...it was definitely more painful there at the end with adam and i attribute that mostly to the differences in my delivering doctors-the one in virginia with catherine was soothing and calm and patient and talked me through every minute of it and that wasn't so much the experience this time...and the biggest difference was obviously that i got to hold my sweet baby and keep him with me after delivery-and bring him home with us 2 days later=)) i suppose we could spend a LOT more time talking about that last part but it's not really necessary. it goes without saying that we are so thankful for the fact that adam is healthy. that there were no complications whatsoever with my pregnancy or his birth. i can't begin to find the words to describe how overwhelmed with gratitude i feel about that. thank you Lord. i am forever grateful that your ways are beyond our comprehension, and that you are 100% trustworthy. you were good 4 years ago, and you are good today. "you give and take away, blessed be your name."

hilarious: it was no secret that i was wanting you to come a little before your due date. i just didn't want you to have to share your birthday with christmas. no doubt sometimes people would smoosh them together and give you one present for both, or your birthday would get overshadowed by christmas, etc. it certainly would not have been the worst thing in the world, but i was just hoping you'd come a bit early. so i looked at the calendar and saw that you would be 37 weeks, and therefore no longer preterm but fully developed and healthy enough to come on out, on december 4. the week before you were born i actually told several people "we just have to get to tuesday (december 4) and he's invited to come on out." lo and behold, you arrived on december 4. how compliant and punctual of you=) and i find it really funny and also really great.

incredibly painful: we already talked about that. labor is no joke-that's nothing new. it hurt like nothing else and i really do think that's more because of the way my OB did her thing at the end. no worries-i still like her. but during those last few minutes i was missing dr lucas like never before=(

it's been a sweet sweet time since we brought you home. the hardest thing honestly has been how guilty i feel over not being able to be with catherine like i was before. she actually seems like she's doing great, and it's really just a problem on my end, not hers. the day we brought you home catherine came down with a cold so i was trying to keep her away from you for a few days. it just broke my heart that she has been our entire universe for 4 years, and then all of a sudden not only am i spending almost every waking moment paying attention to a new baby and not to her, i'm also telling her she can't be a part of it. not letting her touch you, or get too close to you, etc...i've spent lots of tears over this and i want to cry again just thinking about it. catherine, one night after you fell asleep i laid down with you and held you and cried and cried and cried, praying that God would instill in your little heart how precious you are and how much we adore you, wanting you to know that you are so loved and that certainly hasn't changed just because our home life is turned a little upside down for the moment. thank goodness you were sleeping-i was a hot mess. but you got better and now you're allowed to be a part of us taking care of him and loving on him, and we still have to remind you to be so gentle with him and not lean on him when you give him kisses and not to move his arm some direction that it's not supposed to move, etc, but it all seems to be a little more cohesive and mama is happy about that=) you honestly haven't seemed super jealous or anything-the first few days you were so excited it was like you couldn't contain it...and you're still excited but in a much more calm and manageable fashion=)

i love walking by each room at night seeing both my babies sleeping. i feel so thankful and full of love. very cliche, but i'm not sure how else to describe it. an hour ago i was holding you, sweet adam, while you were sleeping and i just started crying thinking that you were my son, and that i will get to watch you grow up and see who you become and what you like and the expressions of your face, etc. (with the mention of all the crying, it stands to be acknowledged that i am obviously postpartum and hormonal and more emotional than usual).

here are some things i know about you so far:

~you like to snuggle (daddy is very happy about this one. i am too=))

~you like to hold hands-you always try to find my fingers to grasp onto while i'm feeding you

~a lot of times while you're eating you throw your top arm up over your face

~you make the absolute cutest noises when you're eating. or sleeping. i just like your voice=)

~you like your car seat-you fuss for about 5 seconds when i first put you in it, and then you fall asleep and stay asleep for as long as we keep you in there!

we love you so much. all 3 of us love you so much. we are so excited that you have arrived and that we get to have you in our family. we have about a bajillion pictures from the hospital, and whenever i find time to organize them, i will show you!

love you sweet boy-

mama

waiting for adam

this is the painting above adam's crib. it says "every good and perfect gift is from above", from james 1:17. catherine and adam's aunt nikki put up with me though months of dreaming of what i wanted the paintings in his room to say, and this is where we landed with the one that had a bible verse on it. it's a simple verse, and it's well known and you see it in a lot of places, but throughout this year of growing adam in my tummy it has come back to me time and time again. our sweet boy, we do feel like you are such a gift from our God who loves us beyond comprehension. for so many reasons. because you're healthy, because of the timing of you being added to our family, and just simply because God has chosen us to be your parents here on earth. He loves us so, and showers us with mercy and grace, and part of what that looks like in our life this year is being entrusted with a sweet baby boy, a son for us, a brother for your sister.

we are ready for you! we absolutely can't wait to meet you-to see your sweet face, to know if i'm right in predicting that you'll look just like your handsome daddy, to know when your birthday will be, to kiss these sweet feet that are constantly poking out the right side of my belly.

2012 has been a year for our family when we've felt God very close to us. and part of that is the tangible gift of you, our sweet boy. we love you so, and we can't wait to hold you in our arms.

well. we're still here.

haven't gone anywhere, just haven't blogged in over 2 months. things are good. catherine, you are the cutest. nothing has changed there. you're so much fun to talk to and your facial expressions and the way you move your hands when you talk cracks us up all the time. what a little lady you're becoming=) you're so excited about meeting your little brother, i don't even know how to put it into words. it melts my heart every time you talk about him. i know it'll be an adjustment and a tough transition for you, but i'm hoping that all the excitement and enthusiasm you have for little adam will work in our (and your) favor...you've been the center of our world for 4 years and of course it'll be tough to suddenly have to learn to share that with somebody else, especially when that somebody cries a lot and can't really play with you yet. but i'm optimistic=)

one of your newest quirks is that you repeat everything daddy says. really, what he sings. he starts making up songs in the car and you immediately sing the same thing. cute, and also terrifying=)

 i've had a list of about a bajillion things to get done before sweet adam arrives, and one of those things was to catch the blog up on the last few months of pictures. so here they are=)

you look like a little thug in your hat. i love it.

you had your first official haircut in a real salon a few weeks ago, and you were very excited about it!

you were still and patient for about 45 seconds, then you were a little wiggly and we had to remind you every minute or so to stay so still. it didn't take very long, and you did great, and this face shows how proud you were of yourself=)

you looking cute i your brave/hello kitty get-up.

my little sass machine.

you and daddy gathering firewood for our thanksgiving break party with uncle kelly and hazel.

our little merida trick or treating=)

talking to you while you were waking up from a nap=)

30ish weeks i think?

ready to go see disney on ice! you dressed up like merida and loved it=)

you and hazel at the pumpkin patch.

you abiding by the "only jump on the bed or the ottoman if someone is holding your hand" rule. and also this is to show my big 34 week belly.

we spent the night at grandmama's house a few weeks ago, and one of your favorite things to do there is take a bubble bath in her jacuzzi tub=)

you thought you were pretty funny looking=)

roasting marshmallows with uncle kelly and hazel.

at the christmas tree on the marietta square

you are so precious to us sweet girl. i'm feeling all emotional about it and wanting to put into words what you mean to us-how much we are cherishing this last little bit of time where it's just our family of three. and of course i don't know how. but we do love you. so so much. i'm gonna go upstairs now and just kiss you all over your face while you sleep.

our house is decorated for christmas, most of the christmas shopping is done, maternity pictures were taken by my lovely and talented sister-in-law elaine davis last week, and now we're just waiting on our sweet buddy.

bring it on.

good news=)

hi there sweet little girl of mine-

good news. that's an understatement, by the way. your upper gi looked good and you don't need surgery=) the radiologist didn't even finish the entire series of images because she was so not worried about what she saw. and the surgeon in atlanta agreed when he saw her report that we didn't need to worry, and we would just get another x-ray in a year and follow up then. like i hoped he would say from the very beginning=) we sent the x-rays and upper gi to your surgeon in charleston (because we trust him so much and like him a lot and always send him any imaging we get done for you..he took you so seriously when we went to him for surgery in 2011 that we always want his opinion) and after looking at it for a long time he thinks he sees a small hiatal hernia (that means a tiny bit of stomach that goes above your diaphragm, but it is not a recurrence of a diaphragmatic hernia), but there's still nothing to do about that unless it starts causing a problem. he asked if you were having any reflux symptoms (a sign that it could be causing problems), which you are just a little bit if you eat a lot, fast, but i just give you a tums and have you slow down eating and it gets better. and they agreed that we can continue doing that instead of surgically repairing it=) and he also recommended that we get an x-ray in a year and follow up then. so we are very very VERY happy about all of that=)

i've thought briefly about why this little question mark and threat of surgery came up. very briefly, mind you. i don't generally dwell much on these types of questions. but i ended up thinking about how for those few days where we didn't know, i was thinking about you like you were so fragile again. i had to be very intentional about what i do with my anxiety as it flared up. and most of all, i had to remind myself over and over that you aren't really mine to begin with. and that God loves you more than i ever will, and is and always will take such good care of you. that you are in His hands and there is no better place for you. that you are a part of His story, and i am forever humbled by that. and so thankful. and that is the only thing that helps me be ok with the possibility of surgery, and honestly the possibility that you might not live until you're 90 years old. i know there's no major threat that with another surgery you wouldn't survive it. holy moly this isn't fun to type out or to think about directly. but it's important for me to acknowledge, in order for me to continually hand you over to God. to hold you with a loose grip in the palm of my hands. i want Him to mold you and use your life as He chooses. this is a jumbled mess of thoughts, and i'm not even sure it would make sense if i went back and read it.

in summary:
-yay no surgery=), and
- i was reminded that you are God's, not really mine, and that in life or death or sickness or health He is in charge and holding you close and there's no other place i'd rather you be.

so there's that! your brother is a maniac. wiggling all over the place and making me feel like i'm on a roller coaster. can't wait to meet that sweet little muchkin, and to see you as a big sister. you're gonna be the best, and he's so lucky to have you. today you told me that you will push him down when he turns 3 because you would be playing and it would be fun. you saw your 4 year old friend at school do that to his 3 year old little brother today, so that's where you got the idea. we had to have a talk about that, and you've since changed your mind about pushing anybody being a good idea. =)

that's it. mama's sleepy. goodnight my sweet precious thing.

mommy

ultrasounds and possible surgery

bad news first. catherine had a follow up, routine appointment with the surgeon in atlanta like we always do every 6 months. i honestly expected him to say don't come back for a year, everything's fine and you can spread out the time between appointments now. but the x-ray we had gotten the day before (again, routine) showed something he's worried about, and catherine will get an upper GI wednesday to help decide whether or not she needs another surgery. during the appointment i said "did you see the x-ray" to the surgeon and he said "yep-it's worrisome" and i can't describe what happened inside me when i heard him say that. i don't really want to talk about it and i'm rushing through this part of the post because i don't want to talk about it. and i'm also pretty confused about it. i saw the x-ray compared with the one from february and in both there is a little area right where her diaphragm patch is where it's elevated into her chest a tiny bit. this was also the case on her post-op x-ray in june 2011 the day after surgery in charleston. but the difference in the one from last wednesday is that, before it appeared solid or fluid-filled, and now it appears to be filled with air. so they don't know if it's stomach of intestine or colon or what, and this could be a problem. catherine sweet girl, you are completely asymptomatic and of course it's impossible to imagine surgery, again, when you're doing so well and having no problems. but if it is bowel in your chest and it twisted and became stuck up there and lost blood supply, this could turn really bad really fast, and it would be an emergency surgery and you would likely lose even more bowel at that point. so i hate this. it's a little confusing because it looks SO VERY SIMILAR to the x-rays from before and when the radiologist sent her report of the x-ray to my work, i read it and it said that it was the same as february's x-ray. she didn't notice anything worth mentioning that was worrisome. i know she's not the surgeon, and that i'm not either. but i sure don't want you to have another surgery. then we wonder do we do this now before adam comes or do we wait until next spring/summer and do we do it here in atlanta or do we go back to charleston where dr hebra is since he's been in there before and he knows your anatomy and history, etc??? i want to scream a little bit. and take you far far away and forget about any of these possibilities. and i'm going to stop talking about it now so i can maybe stop thinking about it.

good news. your 4 year checkup went great. my goal for you was to reach 30 pounds by the time you turned 4 and you made it. you were 30.5 lbs at the checkup which puts you on the 15th percentile for weight. this is a fact worth celebrating=) and you are 39.75 inches tall which puts you at the 50th percentile for height. your BMI is super low but that's no surprise. and it's on the chart so no worries=)

we had our 24 week ultrasound for your little brother last week and he looks good and healthy, measuring where he should and i think they kicked me out of the specialist's office=) (i don't have to go back for more ultrasounds unless something new comes up) here are some of my favorite pictures from the three ultrasounds we've had...

12 week ultrasound...profile and little 12 week alien face

16 week ultrasound

16 week alien face=)

it's a boy!

another it's a boy shot=)

beautiful 24 week adam. i love this sweet profile=)

sweet little foot that i can't wait to tickle and kiss

this is kinda blurry, but at the bottom is his face looking down and to our right, and above his nose and eye are his little fingers curling around his toes=) (the arrow is pointing to his index finger)

you're pretty happy that my belly is big enough for you to see that there's a baby inside it. you keep trying to feel him kick but i think you might be a little too impatient to really hold your hand there long enough=) the other day you said "mommy-i like your belly because i like your baby" and i thought adam would like to know that one day=)

today is the last day of basement work! the carpet is going in right this second and if they finish in time we will be moving furniture down there tonight! we can't wait=) daddy is excited for his soft carpeted man-cave and the new recliner we bought him today, and i'm honestly just excited to get the office/guest room furniture out of what will be sweet boy's nursery so i can set up his room! catherine i think you will be so precious helping me. and i'm imagining that i will find you in his room playing with his things or just looking at the sweet baby clothes that you always ask to try on;) you're little, but you're still a 4 year old and way too big to fit into a 6 month old onesie=)

i love you sweet angel. and i love you too littlest angel growing in my belly. i'm so thankful i get to be mommy to you two and daddy and i get giddy thinking about all these precious people that make up our family=)

mama

catherine turns 4!

sweet catherine girl-

we had your 4th birthday party this weekend and it was tons of fun! you got a new bike and helmet from me and daddy, new art supplies and pre-school learning things, and so much brave/merida stuff i can't even remember it all! here are some birthday party pictures....

wearing your merida wig and a blue tongue courtesy of the icing on your cake...this picture reminds me of the band kiss=)

seeing your new bike for the first time!

daddy had the job of getting "an official 4 year old picture" with his new camera. he got some pretty funny shots=)

my favorite=)

he took pictures of you dancing around for about 10 minutes=)

riding your new horse "angus" (merida has a horse named angus. so of course, so do you.)

you and cousin jackson

harper and knox!

catherine and grandypa

opening your merida wig!!! (look at that face. is there any question how happy you were to get this?)

aunt nikki rockin' the merida wig

grandypa is a goof=)

our little merida=)

another cake creation by aunt nikki=)

i love him.

sweet miley girl

the big boys had way more fun than the kids in the pool (daddy kicking the ball mid-air)

rolling down the grassy hill=)

uncle keith head-butting the ball

little addy=)

addy, catherine and gigi riding on angus

catherine, aunt nikki and aunt elaine playing with all the new toys after we got home saturday night

the after-party consisted of our poor family members coming over to put primer on our basement walls...this is a picture that i took from outside looking in one of our basement windows...i think grandaddy is vacuuming all the drywall dust away)

uncle nathan, uncle keith and daddy. poor suckers. (but now it's all primed, painted, and the ceiling started going in today!!! we're making more room for adam in our house every day=)

there you go sweet angel!! your 4th birthday party=) we are so proud of you and were so thrilled this weekend to be celebrating the life of our precious girl.

i love you baby girl. more than any words could describe=)

mama