Week One (Recap)

You were amazingly easy to give birth to, Tate!  I told our doctor with a birth like yours, I’d be okay with doing it, oh, five more times!  He grinned and said that’d be okay by him.  Not to worry, you won’t grow up in a family of ten kids or anything like that—mommy and daddy waited a long time for you, though we are hopeful that you may have one sibling (two if we’re REALLY lucky)! We both grew up with sibs—your dad in a family of SEVEN kids (wow!) and your mom in a family of two, Mommy and your Aunt Lauren. We want you to know the special bond that brothers and sisters have, but whether or not that happens we're so very thrilled with YOU.

You cooed the entire first day you were born.  All day long, little growly/mewing sounds that were a bit like a kitten purring. CeCe, Gramps and Chooch were each entertained and amazed by your constant vocals. It was really sweet and endearing!  Eventually the constant cooing stopped, and now you have quite a wide variety of vocal stylings with which to make your points understood. You aren’t using your voice constantly, but you use it effectively when needed!

CeCe and Gramps were at the hospital when you were born. Daddy was in the room the whole time and even cut your cord after you came out—he was very brave. He also kept you company while the doctors were running their tests to be sure you were okay. He put his big hand on your chest, and it calmed you right down. Chooch arrived the next day, and Aunt Lauren visited then too.

You arrived with a good amount of dark hair, huge hands and feet, slate blue eyes and a wonderful wail. These photos were taken on your second day of life, just before we took you home from the hospital.

You figured out nursing before mommy did. I was committed to breast feeding you and knew that we’d work things out eventually, but you were a little champ right from the start! You were hungry and ready to eat and grow. By the time we left the hospital (on Tuesday morning , after you arrived at 10:53 PM on Sunday night) you knew what you needed to do.

Dr. Stewart, the wonderful man who took care of mommy when she was pregnant with the triplets (your spirit brothers) and delivered you, also performed your procedure “down there” on your second day of life. Oh, why don’t we just call it what it is—the circumcision. Your daddy wanted you to have this procedure done; mommy wasn’t sure, but deferred to the guys given that the decision deals with equipment she doesn’t possess. If someone was going to be operating on you, though, you’d better believe I was going to be there!  Your CeCe and I were both in the room when the procedure was done, much to the surprise of several of the nurses (I guess moms and grandmas don’t often ask to be present, but if you were going through a potentially traumatic experience we weren’t going to send you in alone!).  One nurse handed me a box of tissues and said, “Here, you’ll need these.”  And admittedly yes, I did cry when you cried.  But overall CeCe and I did great as your supporting cast and Dr. Stewart was amazing—so fast and efficient.

As we were leaving the room where the procedure took place, a brusque older nurse was holding you and wrapping you in a blanket. You were still a little upset, and she looked down at you and said, “Now I know you’re upset, honey, but Dr. Stewart is the absolute best at what he does. And one of these days down the road, you’re going to be in the shower and you’re going to look down and you’re going to say, ‘DANG! Now that looks SHARP!’”  CeCe and I looked at one another and cracked up!  It was just the humor we needed to lighten the situation right up.  And you know what?!  Dr. Stewart IS the best at what he does. Just like that funny nurse said, I think you’ll be pretty pleased with the results some day.