It’s A Boy!

I’m happy to announce the birth of our SON, Benjamin Graves!

Ben was born 3 weeks early. My blood pressure had been rising over the last few weeks, and at 37 weeks pregnant the only way to cure high blood pressure is to deliver the baby. So on Tuesday, August 27th we were sent to the hospital to get induced. After 7 hours of labor, Baby G finally arrived!

What was it like when you found out Baby G was a boy?

Oh man! I would HIGHLY recommend waiting to find out the gender! The excitement of finding out whether Baby G was a boy or girl kept my mind distracted during the hardest part of labor. Bobby and I kept guessing up until the last moments. When the doctor delivered the baby I saw that it was a boy and yelled “It’s a BOY!” Then I looked at Bobby and (in shock) said “We have a boy!” For most of my pregnancy I felt like I was having a boy, but towards the end I had convinced myself it was a girl. So when Baby G arrived, I was so surprised and shocked!

How did you come up with his name?

Bobby and I struggled to find boy names that we liked. Benjamin was an early favorite, but I didn’t love it. We wanted a name that could be versatile for nicknames (Ben, Benny, Benji, etc) and something that wasn’t super common. After lots of research and discussions, we kept coming back to Benjamin. His middle name, Alan, comes from both families. Alan is my grandfather, dad, brother, and nephew’s middle name. Alan is also the first name of Bobby’s uncle and cousin. Plus we thought Benjamin Alan sounded good 🙂

How have the first few weeks been?

It’s been a whirlwind these past few weeks! The newborn “haze” is a real thing. Before becoming a mom, I didn’t fully understand how difficult it would be to continue with normal daily tasks. Every moment is dedicated to making sure the baby is fed, happy, comfortable, clean, and breathing. So the idea of eating, showering, getting dressed let alone keeping up on household chores, goes right out the window. It seems like you blink and it’s been 3 hours…or a few days!

Now that we’re 5 weeks in, I’m starting to feel like I can predict Ben’s sleep and feeding schedule. He’s also going 3.5-4 hours between feedings, so I’m getting more sleep at night and able to get some things done during the day. We’ve ventured out of the house a few times, so I’m starting to get the hang of how to coordinate the hot car/carseat/stroller/shopping bags fiasco. Overall, it’s getting easier and easier each day.

That’s it for now! Off to wash some bottles and change diapers!

-L