Liam's here!

How to begin this post? Words will never be able to fully describe the utter joy of Sunday, September 13th. I suppose I'll start with the beginning.

I woke up between 3 and 3:30 a.m. and asked Geoff to start timing my contractions. We were waiting for the consistent, "5 minutes apart for an hour" contractions the doctor and all the books said would be the time to leave for the hospital. Well, this "pregnancy overachiever" (remember that nickname from the doc?) just kept getting hers closer and closer together. At 6 a.m., Geoff called the doctor, and after we had some coffee, walked the dog, and a slight breakfast, we were at the hospital by 7 a.m. I was quickly admitted, and Geoff and I were again expecting the traditional long wait of a first-time labor. Yet again, we failed to meet those expectations. My doctor arrived a little after 8, I began pushing a little after 9, and William Davis was born at 9:28 a.m. (Geoff got to announce to me that he was a boy--that was AWESOME!)

I was in labor a total of 6 hours--amazing! (The nurses joked that Geoff would have to deliver our second child!) He weighed 6 lbs. 12 ozs., and was just over 19 inches long. Geoff, Liam, and I were able to hang out a good hour, just the three of us, and that hour will be one of the most precious of our lives! Here is our first family photo (and then one when we're not so scary looking)!

Casey and Cassie were the first visitors on Sunday, then Uncle Colin and Aunt Steph arrived, and finally "Mims" and "Grandfather". On Monday, Dani came by to see us. Everyone was so in love with Liam instantly, and who can blame them? Just look at that sweet face!

The first week has been wonderful. Liam is a good baby, only fussing when he needs to eat or be changed. Geoff is a wonderful partner in parenting--he does all the nighttime changes and most of the daytime ones too. We figured if I'm in charge of Liam's food intake, Daddy can handle the output ("but don't get too comfortable with this arrangement", Geoff has just reminded me)!

We promise to send pictures by e-mail in addition to posting them here. Our love to all!

The Howard Family