nathaniel david smoak

in no particular order. . .

abbie's just not too sure. . .

dr hargrove and david




holy cow. let me just say that this ride has been incredible. everyone says that they just sit and stare at their babies all day and i just thought, yeah. but i could just stare at him all day long. in fact, saturday 3am, we just had to stare and play with him and missed sleep because he was just so content to stare back so we exhaustedly fell back asleep after 6am. totally worth the sleepiness.
so in no particular order due to my in and out of baby love sweet haze, today i am so grateful for:

• nathaniel david smoak, june 2, 12:37am, 8lbs 2oz, 20.5in
• his amazing daddy who watched the entire c-section and didn't faint or throw-up!
• dr hargrove
• mia, the or nurse who prepped me and held me while i did the ugly oprah cry in fear of the spinal block
• dr phelps, the anesthiologist (sp), who promised me that i would walk afterward and was right but not only that, held my hand and told me he was crying when i couldn't hear because everyone else was cheering that he was crying. she encouraged david to watch and thank god she did. he got to see my uterus, tubes and ovaries!
• dr akom who assisted dr hargrove and laughed when i asked if something was burning and hargrove said, 'yeah - you.' his laughter was much appreciated.
• mia staying with me in the recovery room and helping me feed nathaniel for the first time when he was only an hour old. her gentleness with both - actually all 3 of us.
• all the people that were there to be of support to us.
• debbie being my nurse again. she was my nurse when i had carson and she was nathaniel's nurse for 2 days and mine for the last. it was a relief to have her there. she helped so much with our learning to breastfeed and answer every question my overworked percocetted brain could come up with.
• mom bringing me real food on wednesday.
• seeing david in scrubs!! wow - we brought them home so we can play doctor!!!
• percocet, anaprox, spinal blocks, morphine and all the other drugs i was able to enjoy while someone else took care of us.
• rabbit poop ice.
• kozy shack pudding i got with medication. wonderful.
• the little man, turtle tot, tootie, turtle, tot, nate, natedog, baby nathaniel
• poopie diapers
• purelan 100 for my boobs
• nathaniel's patience with me
• miss peabody's excitement meeting him and giving him his first bath.
• big blue eyes
• big 'ole fat cheeks! i chew on them all the time.
• answered prayers
• nathaniel biting dr. hargrove before he was a minute old!!!
• the two sets of twins born after nathaniel.
• the nursery nurses taking such good care of him.
• visits, flowers, food, balloons and cards that have shown up.
• keena putting up an 'it's a boy' banner on the front window.
• pants fitting better today than on thursday when we left the hospital.
• david cooking for me and feeding me fried green tomatoes while i'm feeding nathaniel.
• late night, early morning giggling with david.
• nathaniel sleeping.
• learning that when he's grumpy he just needs to be burped, changed or fed.
• nathaniel nathaniel nathaniel
• and you, my little 'it's a boy' banner, you!