Graham is here!!!

Williamson Graham Lott

January 5, 2009 3:36 PM

7 pounds, 2 ounces 20 inches

Our baby is here!! This post has been a long time in coming because I wanted to wait until I had time to sit down and write out Graham's "Birthday Story" in full (warning: it is REALLY long), and since time has been a hard thing to come by these days, our little guy is 4 days shy of a month old right now...so hard to believe! 

Williamson Graham Lott, "Graham," was born on Monday, January 5, 2009 at 3:36 PM at REX Hospital in Raleigh, NC. As with Kate, I was scheduled to be induced at 39 weeks because of the blood thinner I was on to prevent blood clots. My mom and brother came in to town on Sunday to help us get things together and to be here to watch Kate should we get the call to come to the hospital in the early hours of the morning - which we did!! We were told to expect a call anytime after 6:30 that morning, but the phone rang at 5:30 and the nurse asked us to be at the hospital at 7:15! So I took my time getting ready and Kevin and I headed out the door to get down to the hospital, completely underestimating work traffic, and spent the drive praying that we'd get there on time so they didn't give away our room. Thankfully, we pulled up right at 7:15 and were seen right back to the room to get things started. I should add here that this week (and the week before) Kevin, Kate, and I had been passing around an awful cold (an ear infection for Kate and bronchitis for me). I had just caught it 3 days earlier and the day of Graham's delivery was the worst possible day for it - I couldn't even breathe! Not to mention that this meant we were leaving a fussy daughter with family and friends for 3 days and bringing a newborn baby home to all kinds of germs...so I was worried they were going to see how sick I was and send me back home. Thankfully, once again, they let me deliver, but I regret that my head was in a fog most of the day as I was fighting to try to ignore one of the worse colds I've had in a while. Anyway, all that to say that these details might be a little fuzzy, but from the best I remember I was 1 1/2 centimeters dilated when I arrived, but the baby hadn't dropped at all. Dr. Groff was the doctor on call when I arrived and started me on the pitocin (spelling???) at 9:15 AM. It took a while for the labor to really start and I don't think I got the epidural until I was around 3 centimeters at close to noon (?) that day. In the meantime, Dr. Watson replaced Dr. Groff as the doctor on call and after I got the epidural I began dilating quickly, although it took a while for him to drop down any. Kevin's parents had arrived around 10:00 that morning and at about 1:00 our friends Kacie and Ross so graciously relieved my mom and brother so that they could head down to the hospital. It wasn't long after they arrived that I hit 9 centimeters and began to feel the need to deliver this baby! Lorren barely made it in to say hi before it was time to deliver and we realized my dad and Kevin's sister weren't going to make it in time (they couldn't get there until 5:30 because of work). My mom, Kevin's mom, and (of course) Kevin remained in the room for the delivery. By the time all was set, the nurse went ahead and called in Dr. Watson before I even pushed once because he was already ready to be born! I think I only pushed 4 times before Graham was born at 3:36! He was the most beautiful thing I've ever laid eyes on (with only his sister to equal him). I don't think I'll ever get over that first moment when you hear your baby's cry, see him for the first time, and they place him up there in your arms...even if I had 20 babies! :) God is SO gracious to allow us to be part of the creation of LIFE - these moments are truly the absolute most beautiful life has to offer!! I'm sure all you moms know that I could go on and on about this, but I'll make myself move on. :) Graham weighed in at 7 pounds, 2 ounces and was 20 inches long. We thought his hair was dark at first, but after a bath we realized it was some "strange" mixture of blonde, red, and light brown. His eyes were also an interesting mix of blue and brown, which I guess I would call gray, thus starting his nickname from his Daddy, "Gray." We also thought he looked like Kate at first, but it only took a few minutes to realize he looks only slightly like her - more like Kevin, Kevin's brother, and my brother - but completely with a look all his own that can be called nothing other than gorgeous! :) Anyway, they moved us to a recovery room that afternoon just in time to meet my dad and Michelle. When we had Kate we stayed the whole time in our labor room because they ran out of recovery rooms, so this was a new experience for us! While I got settled with lots of medication for my cold and preventative measures for blood clots, our family spent time getting to meet little Graham. We did send him down to the nursery for the nights, but I was able to begin nursing him, which he did perfectly at (at least for a few days...). I felt SOOO different from when I had Kate and was up and dressed starting the next day, which made the whole experience at the hospital so much smoother! Kevin's mom brought Kate up to meet her brother that afternoon. She didn't know what to think of him, but had a fun time looking at him and exploring the hospital room. We had friends visit later that night and got ready to go home the next day. It took us a while to check out because the Dr. Inge was supposed to do Graham's circumsion, but had to do an emergency C-section. He did eventually get circumcised and we were able to check out around 2:00. The whole visit to REX (actually, the whole pregnancy) seemed like such a whirlwind and I couldn't believe we were actually headed home with our second bundle of joy - I STILL can't believe it and he will be 4 weeks old tomorrow! God has been so incredibly good to our family. We just ask that you join with us in prayer that our children will grow in the knowledge and faith of Christ and choose to serve Him faithfully with their lives - this is the only blessing greater than their births themselves and we pray fervently that the Lord will move in their hearts at an early age!