The Long Journey: Holt Chadwick Long: A Baby Story

God granted us with the most precious gift on May 16th, 2012. Holt Chadwick Long was born at 6:15 pm weighing 7lbs 12 oz and 21.5 inches long. He is perfectly healthy and we are in awe of this amazing blessing.
Labor and delivery were not what I expected. Not that I expected it to be easy but I was
certainly not prepared for how bad it turned out. My body is very beat up from the delivery. There were several hurdles we had to overcome to get Holt here. However, I would go through it a million times over just to have him here and healthy. We are so in love!

We were scheduled to leave the hospital Friday night, but right before we were getting ready to walk out the door I had a fever spike. The doctors believed I had some sort of infection (not sure what but it could be a number of things). They gave me IV antibiotics to attempt to knock out whatever it was so it didn't progress to a more serious situation. I am just so thankful that God protected Holt throughout the whole process. He is as healthy as a horse. I am also thankful the fever spiked prior to leaving the hospital. Had I gone home, I most likely would have ignored the fever and it could had lead to unfavorable consequences. Although it was a very tough experience, the complications were outweighed by the joy we felt from the arrival of our precious baby boy.

All you want to do after having a baby is tend to their every need and be there for them. Physically I have not been able to do everything I would like, but Chad has more than stepped up. In the hospital Chad literally changed every diaper, swaddled Holt everytime he needed it, and helped nurse me back to health. Chad has been more than a great dad and husband and there is no way I could have gotten through all of this without him. I am so thankful that God lead me to him. Now that I am home and feeling better everyday, I am really enjoying being a mom and doing all the things mom's hope to do for their little ones.

Our moms have been a huge help. My mom has been so amazing throughout this time. She has taken care of me and helped me recover so I can tend to Holt. If you are anything like me, when you are not feeling your best, all you want is your mom. She has given me a lot of comfort and encouragement during this adjustment in our lives. She has also stayed here during the week so Chad doesn't have to get up during the night since he went back to work once we came home. Chad's mom was so helpful as well. She stayed at our house while we were in the hospital which was a huge relief knowing that someone was taking good care of our other little ones (Bully and Max) and our home. Simply said, they have been a big help to us and we are so thankful.

Holt is now 10 days old and is changing everyday. Of course we are tired from lack of sleep but I know this is just a season and I really want to soak it all in while it lasts. As promised I have posted a TON of pictures below. Enjoy! I will update soon.