On March 21, 2014, our lives changed forever as we welcomed our son, Gavin Christopher into this world. The morning was a rush as I had to call the hospital at 5:00 am to ensure we were still on for the 6:00 show up time. We were. My bestie, Erika came over to help Claire and Mya get ready for school. She also dropped off Mya, while our friend & Claire's teacher, Ana, picked her up.
Chris and I rushed to the hospital, filled with nerves and excitement. We arrived in the Labor & Delivery ward a few minutes after 6:00 am and I was in the bed, being prepped shortly after. I walked to the operating room at 8:15 am, Chris was escorted into the room minutes later and at 8:53, we heard the beautiful cries of our son. It was a whirlwind.
Gavin weighed in at 3780 grams, which equates to 8 pounds, 3 ounces. He was 20 inches in length. His apgar scores were 8 & 9. He is absolutely perfect in everyway.
When I arrived in the recovery room, we immediately did skin to skin and I nursed him. He nursed like a champ, which was much of a relief to me. He hardly opened his eyes, but did squint with one eye open. It has since been his trademark.
The initial plan was to keep the girls in school for the day, but we couldn't resist bringing them to meet their brother a bit earlier. Chris picked them up and brought them to the hospital. They were over the moon excited to see him. Both kiddos held him and constantly commented about how cute he was or how little his fingers were. It was such a fun experience to live through their excitement of something so new and novel.
Chris stayed with the girls each night, while I tended to Gavin in the hospital. Thankfully, my recovery has been smooth and easy once again. Gavin slept as long as he was allowed, which was only an hour or two at a stretch through the first night due to nurses monitoring us. The second night was much better. He actually had a 4.5 hour stretch of sleep. I think he would have had several of those, but again, needed to be awakened to eat every 2-3 hours. We were discharged on Sunday at noon.
The transition home has been fairly smooth. The girls love him like no other and want desperately to hold him. The challenge lies in keeping time equal and ensuring they understand the guidelines. Sometimes they do better than other times.
Gavin is still easy, basically sleeping and eating all day long. I've resorted to sleeping in our lazy boy in the living room with Gavin on my chest simply because it is easier to get in and out of than our bed, which is too high. I hate feeling the stretching on my incision, so I am doing my best to avoid it at all cost. He loves to snuggle and hates to be put down in the rock and play or swing. He tolerates them for minutes at a time and right now that is fine. I am more than happy to snuggle this little guy. I am trying my best to soak it all in. This may be our last baby in this house.
He had a weight check on Tuesday, which revealed he lost another 3% of his body weight since leaving the hospital, rounding up the grand total to 11.5% lost. This is expected as my milk hasn't come in yet, but not good either. I now have to nurse him every 2 hours to see if that helps increase his weight. We go for another check Thursday morning. He was also tested for jaundice as his metered score was over 10. His blood test wasn't much higher, so he remains at "low risk." Again, something they'll continue to monitor, but nothing to worry about at this point.
Gavin is everything I prayed--beautiful, calm, easy going and a good blend of Mya and Claire. I think he looks alot like Chris, but at other times, I see features which resemble Mya more. It will be interesting to see who he looks more like. Thus far, he has my blonde hair, which I love! Now, if he has my green eyes, I'll be in heaven.
Chris and I look at each other and comment that we still cannot believe he is here and he is ours. Pregnancy is a strange journey. It seems to take an eternity to get to the point of delivery, but when you look back, it seems like a whirlwind. That's where we are. In complete awe that this beautiful boy is our amazing gift from above. He definitely makes the past 2 tear filled years, full of struggles and pain, worth the challenge. Gavin is so worth the wait and proof that prayers are answered.
Chris and I rushed to the hospital, filled with nerves and excitement. We arrived in the Labor & Delivery ward a few minutes after 6:00 am and I was in the bed, being prepped shortly after. I walked to the operating room at 8:15 am, Chris was escorted into the room minutes later and at 8:53, we heard the beautiful cries of our son. It was a whirlwind.
Gavin weighed in at 3780 grams, which equates to 8 pounds, 3 ounces. He was 20 inches in length. His apgar scores were 8 & 9. He is absolutely perfect in everyway.
When I arrived in the recovery room, we immediately did skin to skin and I nursed him. He nursed like a champ, which was much of a relief to me. He hardly opened his eyes, but did squint with one eye open. It has since been his trademark.
The initial plan was to keep the girls in school for the day, but we couldn't resist bringing them to meet their brother a bit earlier. Chris picked them up and brought them to the hospital. They were over the moon excited to see him. Both kiddos held him and constantly commented about how cute he was or how little his fingers were. It was such a fun experience to live through their excitement of something so new and novel.
Chris stayed with the girls each night, while I tended to Gavin in the hospital. Thankfully, my recovery has been smooth and easy once again. Gavin slept as long as he was allowed, which was only an hour or two at a stretch through the first night due to nurses monitoring us. The second night was much better. He actually had a 4.5 hour stretch of sleep. I think he would have had several of those, but again, needed to be awakened to eat every 2-3 hours. We were discharged on Sunday at noon.
The transition home has been fairly smooth. The girls love him like no other and want desperately to hold him. The challenge lies in keeping time equal and ensuring they understand the guidelines. Sometimes they do better than other times.
Gavin is still easy, basically sleeping and eating all day long. I've resorted to sleeping in our lazy boy in the living room with Gavin on my chest simply because it is easier to get in and out of than our bed, which is too high. I hate feeling the stretching on my incision, so I am doing my best to avoid it at all cost. He loves to snuggle and hates to be put down in the rock and play or swing. He tolerates them for minutes at a time and right now that is fine. I am more than happy to snuggle this little guy. I am trying my best to soak it all in. This may be our last baby in this house.
He had a weight check on Tuesday, which revealed he lost another 3% of his body weight since leaving the hospital, rounding up the grand total to 11.5% lost. This is expected as my milk hasn't come in yet, but not good either. I now have to nurse him every 2 hours to see if that helps increase his weight. We go for another check Thursday morning. He was also tested for jaundice as his metered score was over 10. His blood test wasn't much higher, so he remains at "low risk." Again, something they'll continue to monitor, but nothing to worry about at this point.
Gavin is everything I prayed--beautiful, calm, easy going and a good blend of Mya and Claire. I think he looks alot like Chris, but at other times, I see features which resemble Mya more. It will be interesting to see who he looks more like. Thus far, he has my blonde hair, which I love! Now, if he has my green eyes, I'll be in heaven.
Chris and I look at each other and comment that we still cannot believe he is here and he is ours. Pregnancy is a strange journey. It seems to take an eternity to get to the point of delivery, but when you look back, it seems like a whirlwind. That's where we are. In complete awe that this beautiful boy is our amazing gift from above. He definitely makes the past 2 tear filled years, full of struggles and pain, worth the challenge. Gavin is so worth the wait and proof that prayers are answered.
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Love ya, J