grayson reid

Grayson arrived on April 2nd at 7:53 p.m.  "For this child we had prayed..."  We hoped and wished for months to get pregnant, so when we learned that our baby would be a boy we were totally ecstatic! After a long pregnancy filled with physical discomfort, stress, anxiety, and a feeling of being overwhelmed that I just couldn't shake, we experienced several very real, but unfortunately false alarms...

...but Dr. Fowers decided it was time for this baby to come.  Labor was quick, but riddled with anxiousness: meconium was in the sac, which meant a respiratory therapist would be checking Grayson out immediately after delivery, and his heart rate kept dipping so I was given oxygen.  It wasn't long after this that it was time to push.  A handful of pushes later I realized something felt very different.  Dr. Fowers encouraged me to push harder as Grayson's shoulders were stuck, and he asked the nurse to get a step stool to give her leverage to push with all her weight on my stomach to get this baby out.  

Several minutes later Grayson Reid was born.  He was quickly ushered off to have his lungs checked when Dr. Fowers asked me to remind him how big our girls were at birth.  He replied, "Wow. He definitely has them beat.  That's a big boy.  I'm sticking around to see how big he is!"   

He was 20 1/2 inches long and weighed in at 9 lbs 10 oz!  He's stolen our hearts, and we love him SO much!

 {we love those chubby cheeks}

 {this picture shows his facial bruises, but he also suffered bruises on his back, right arm, a nipple and even on his little testicle!  He also broke his right collarbone, but took it all like a champ}

 {aww.  love him.  he was so quiet in the hospital and cried really only when he pooped a lot and had a super sore bum!  he slept more than either of the girls, but was and has been by far our noisiest sleeper}

 {What a sweetheart!  When the girls came to see him for the first time I unwrapped him so they could see all of him.  At the sight of his umbilical cord clamp, Berkley said, "Cover him back up now, Mommy." It was funny}

 {proof of his chunky butt}

 {darling}

 {don't you just want to kiss those cheeks??!! we do every chance we get}

{I adore this photo.  This was the first time the girls met Grayson.  How incredibly sweet!  Love all three of these babes}

{Big sister Chloe holding Gray for the first time}