Jamison Lee Smith

The night before: one last profile pic!Jamison Lee Smith, born October 15th, 2008 at 3:27 pm. He weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs 15 oz and 21 inches...not far off the 9 lb estimate my doctor gave me at 33 weeks. And if we hadn't gotten started a week early from his due date, he might have broken the 9 lb mark no problem! He's my big boy.








Home at last! 2 days old:



So I guess I should give a little bit of our story. The night before he was born we wanted to spend one last night together and went to get some hot chocolate and watch a movie, but we only made it halfway through before we got too tired and went to bed. I guess the "parent" thing just hit us early! We woke up early Wednesday morning, got dressed and ready, and drove to the hospital. After a leisurely check in, we got situated in our delivery room and by 9 my OB came and broke my water. We waited for another few hours, and before my conractions even got out of the "ow" range, they decided to get me my epidural. After that, I couldn't feel a thing and we just napped and relaxed until around three, when I was dilated to a 9+. My dr. came in and before I knew it i was pushing for all i was worth! The little guy crowned really fast but after that kinda got stuck. I was told he had hair but after several more contractions we hadn't gotten much further. Keaton was a trooper, right by my side every minute, helping the nurses hold back my legs and encouraging me to keep pushing when i thought every blood vessel in my body my burst from the exertion. And then, he was here! They placed him on my chest and he was so beautiful! Keaton stayed with our baby as they took him to be cleaned and checked and weighed, watching him every second while they cleaned and stitched me up (unfortunately, I had a bad last-minute tear. It had looked like I was going to stretch with him, but he was just too big!)

The rest of the day was spent in awe--and a little bit of shock, we are actually parents!--of our sturdy little fella. He has great chubby cheeks and these charming eyes (when he decides to open them) and a dimple in his right cheek (my contribution, thank you!). Simply stated, he is gorgeous and amazing. It is absolutely stunning how you can love somebody instantaneously. I carried him for nine months, but this is so entirely different. He is ours, Keaton's and mine, a manifestation of our marriage, our unity...yet a separate, complete, beautiful little human being.

Welcome to our family, Jamison! We love you!