It’s hard to believe that it has already been three weeks since our precious baby boy, Liam Michael Reeves, entered this world. On May 19, 2021 at 12:19 pm Liam came in screaming weighing a whopping 8 pounds 12 oz and 21.5 inches long. From that moment, our lives have been forever changed and we are loving every minute of getting to know his big personality.

I really wanted to give birth naturally, but my entire pregnancy doctors and nurses talked about how big my baby was going to be. I really didn’t know what to expect since this is my first pregnancy. I went into each doctor’s visit with an open mind and a willingness to change the “plan” if needed. Each visit and ultrasound Liam was weighing above average, and I was getting super nervous that if he didn’t come out soon we would have to be scheduled for a C-Section. 4 days before my due date, we went in for my last doctor’s appointment with the mind to change the “plan”. We told the doctor that we were open to being induced in fear that waiting would result in C-Section if he kept getting bigger. With this induction I felt the need to switch the script and not only get induced but get the epidural. (We’ll try naturally if we decide to have another kiddo in the future!) We scheduled the induction for the day after his due date in hopes of him coming on his own in the next couple of days, but Tuesday came and Liam still wasn’t here after bouncing, walking, and doing everything possible to try to get him out.

Tuesday May 18th at 9:30 pm, Chad and I loaded up the car with our hospital bags and headed to St. Francis Hospital. When we got there, we got settled into a room they hooked me up to IV’s and gave me medicine to start the process. We were so excited, and I struggled to sleep with the day to come. At 4 am they came to give me a second dose of medicine and the pain was getting more intense so they gave me medicine to help with pain that gave me a good 4 hours of sleep also. At this point I was only 1 cm dilated, and feeling like this would be the LONGEST LABOR. I told the nurses multiple times that I NEEDED this baby out before lunch because I was already starving.( I have to give the hugest shout out to all of the nurses that tended to me and to Liam during this stay. They were the most wonderful people and helped us so much through the birth process and our first few days as parents.) At 7:30 am the nurses came in to start my Pitocin drip, I received the epidural, and my doctor came to break my water. At this point, I was at 6cm which was a HUGE blessing. With the pitocin I was progressing 1-2 cm every hour and I reached 10 cm at 11:40am. The 20 min waiting on my doctor felt like the longest 20 min of my life. We started pushing at 12:00 pm and after only 5 rounds of pushing, Liam came out at 12:19 ! Our little boy was here!

I wish I had the words to describe the feeling of seeing him for the first time, but no words seem powerful enough to describe meeting your son. I will say that I felt pure joy as I watched the doctors hold him up, Chad cutting the cord, and if I’ve ever felt the presence of Jesus it was in that room. As he laid on my chest for the first time, I couldn’t help but be in complete awe of this child that God created for me and Chad to love and raise. Miracle. That’s the word that kept crossing my mind over and over. It was a miracle that this tiny human grew inside of me for 40 weeks and was now in my arms. Even now, three weeks later, I replay his birth in my head over and over in my mind. It was a miracle that I will forever be grateful for. To experience birth, is to experience the work of God.

Now that Liam is here, Chad and I are enjoying every minute of being parents. Even though we are a little sleep deprived, googling random questions 24/7, and still learning to give ourselves grace, We are also cherishing this time with our newborn and know this stage doesn’t last forever. God is so GOOD!

Here are some photos from the first few days of Liam’s life, the captions will give insight into a little more of our birth story. Alot of them are phone pictures because we tried to document as much as possible but also live completely in the moment. I can’t wait to continue to document his life through images and share them with you all a little at a time.

Also, be sure to check out the birth video at the end documenting our hospital stay and coming home to introduce Liam to Bells Roux!

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XOXO,

Brittany