newborns

becks recently had his first photo shoot. we were hoping he would cooperate seeing as he was still pretty little but... he had other plans. i absolutely love how they turned out and these pics capture his personality perfectly!

we are just loving this guy more than words can say. he is such a great baby and is quite the cuddler. he is a little over five weeks and i can't believe that time has flown so quickly. we feel so lucky to have him in our home along with the sweet spirit that a newborn brings.

the birth

july 24th at 7pm we checked into the hospital to begin the process of being induced. i was a week overdue and SO ready to get that baby out. my plan was to have an unmedicated birth. we had taken the classes, read the books, and practiced everything you're supposed to. well... things don't always go as planned. after 24 very long and painful hours of labor with no drugs and no progress what-so-ever, the dr. decided that for the safety of myself and the babe, it would be best to do a c-section. daniel exceeded every expectation i had. he was there through everything and i know i couldn't of done it with out him. i was terrified of what was to come but held it together as we were taken into the OR. not more than 10 minutes later, our little Beckham Daniel was born. the emotions and feelings i had as i heard my little boy cry for the first time is something indescribable. all i had to do was look up at Daniels face and i knew we had a beautiful and healthy little boy.

Becks came out alert and ready to eat! he kept his tiny little hands right by his face and even when swaddled, he somehow managed to get them free. i'll never forget the first time i saw him. the most precious and beautiful thing i'd ever seen. i was instantly in love with his long hair, defined little nose and chin, and the dimples on both sides of his cheeks.

seeing how daniel reacted to him was one of my favorite things. he had a smile that didn't leave his face and he kept saying over and over how beautiful our baby boy was. i think it's safe to say that beckham had us both wrapped around his little finger from the moment we saw him.

as they wheeled me into recovery, we saw some familiar faces that had been anxiously waiting to meet their new grandson and nephew. both mine and daniels parents were there as well as my three younger brothers. to say that they were excited to meet him and finally see what he looked like is an understatement. i'm pretty sure they would have stayed there all night and just looked at him.

giving birth is truly a miracle. even though i had the entire thing planned (surprise! surprise!) and NOTHING went how it was supposed to, i have to say that i wouldn't change a thing. in the end i got what i wanted. and... it was all worth it.

six big ones

on july 27th daniel and i celebrated our 6th anniversary. the photo below pretty much sums up how awesome it was. daniel was with baby b for most of the day and then came back to be with his super attractive wife to enjoy a romantic 5 star hospital diner. we attempted to watch a movie after dinner but had to turn it off because i was laughing and it hurt my incision. after that the hubbie wheeled me down to the cafeteria where he enjoyed some fries and a grilled ham and cheese because lets be honest... the array of food that we were given just didn't fill him up.

the fine dining that IMC provided us. complete with sparkling apple juice. can you say classy?

in the end we decided that it was probably the best anniversary we had ever had. nothing fancy or overdone. just me and my guy hanging out and relishing in the fact that we were now parents to a beautiful baby boy. what's better than that?

daniel i love you more than ever. thank you for all that you do for our family and for hanging in there through all the ups and downs that life has brought throughout the last six years. you are the very best and i can't imagine life with out you.

loves- shan

nicu

our little guy was taken to Primary Childrens NICU about 12 hours after being born. this was a complete shock to us due to the fact that i had a very normal and healthy pregnancy and delivery. becks joined us around 10:30pm on Monday, July 25th and early the next morning the pediatrician noticed some abnormal colored spit up on the neck of his nightgown. about 45 minutes later, our little guy was being wheeled away into an ambulance with tubes and iv's.

i dont think i can describe the feelings that daniel and i had as we watched our little boy hooked up to what seemed like a million tubes being taken away so shortly after he had arrived. it was heartbreaking.

i had to stay in the hospital to recover from the c-section but daniel was able to go directly up to Primarys with beckham. i was so very blessed to have our families so close to us. between beckham and i there was a lot of running around making sure we were both taken care of. daniel was so strong and amazing throughout the entire thing. he always made sure someone was with me while he was away watching over the baby. i wouldn't have been able to go through it without him reassuring my that everything was going to be ok and to keep a positive attitude.

beckham was diagnosed with Necrotizing Enterocolitis, usually called NEC. It is a condition where the intestines become infected and can begin to die. The disease usually affects premature babies, although term babies may also get NEC. NEC can require surgery and if left untreated, has a high morbidity and mortality rate. pretty scary right? luckily becks didn't need surgery and was able to be treated with a seven day course of antibiotics and round the clock monitoring. he was quite the little stud with the nurses and everyone loved his sweet little personality. he had visitors everyday that came up to hold and love him while i was away. it was one of the hardest things ive ever gone through not being able to be with my baby and knowing that i was helpless to his situation. it was so comforting to know that he had so many others with him at all times and that he was being cared for by some of the best medical staff around.

each day he made more and more progress and 11 days after being admitted, he was given a clean bill of health and we were finally able to take him home with us!

our little family would like to thank each of you from the bottom of our hearts. we know with out a doubt that all of the positive thoughts and prayers on our behalf are the reason we now have our happy and healthy little boy home with us. we couldn't be more in love with this baby and are so thankful he is ours.