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