Baby Quade's Birth Story--And Some Pleasant Surprises!
I know, every baby is special, every pregnancy is unique, and children are a blessing! But this time around, there were truly some pleasant surprises!
Here are a few fun facts about this amazing pregnancy and our precious baby, Quade Spurgeon Lia! Wait until you read about my favorite thing about him—it totally surprised me!
1. I was in SHOCK that I was expecting again for just about the entire pregnancy. It didn’t seem real and I just couldn’t wrap my head around it fully!
Checking In to the hospital!!
2. I absolutely thought we were having a girl this time. (But man, I’m glad it’s a boy—they are kinda my thing, you know?)
3. I had morning sickness for 9 months. It was so ridiculous and miserable that my husband, Guy, had to pull over on the side of the road on the way to DELIVERY so I could empty my stomach (which was already pretty empty since you can’t eat or drink for eons before surgery). So glad that part is over!
Quade Spurgeon Lia
4. We had considered the name Quade years ago—and it was a perfect fit for this little guy. What’s totally AMAZING and a GOD-THING is that we discovered later on that Quade is a Gaelic name which means “FOURTH.” Pretty fitting since he is our fourth son!! Isn’t that neat? It was clearly meant to be!
My first time holding my new son!! This was just moments after he was born!!
5. So, I know God is in control and Sovereign and numbers our days but I was a weepy MESS in the days leading up to my scheduled C-Section. I was scared. And nervous. Not my usual stalwart and trusting self. Can I blame hormones? Okay good. Let’s do that then.
6. Quade was born just before 1 PM on October 12th!
Proud dad!!
7. The first thing the nurses told me was…..get this…..it’s MY FAVORITE…...I haven’t shared this yet because it’s so special and fun to me….but, QUADE IS A REDHEAD! Someone recently told me that redheads are becoming more and more rare. My grandpa was a redhead too—so it runs in our family although we only have one cousin in the last few generations with red hair! It may not stick but I’m lovin his fair skinned complexion and strawberry blonde waves! (This was a double shock because he doesn’t have much hair and I totally imagined the whole pregnancy that he would have tons of dark hair, like his bro Oakley did!)
Love my little red fox!! Look at those locks!
8. I ended up staying in the hospital for 4 days (the number 4 seems to be a pattern here). My doctor is super conservative and strict with recovery which meant I couldn’t have anything to eat besides ice chips and a little broth until the last day!! That meant nearly 5 days without food! Not my favorite part of the experience.
We passed the time with lots of sweet cuddles and bonding time, just the three of us!
9. The nurses liked us. They told us we were their favorites and even fought over who got to take care of us. It was a reminder to me that kindness and basic courtesy are not so common these days and we don’t have to do BIG things to be an example necessarily. Just love people and honor them for the good work they are doing!
10. This is the BEST PART. You guys. Quade is a dream baby and a sleeper! Someone told me this is called a “unicorn baby” because he is so “magical” and “perfect.” He is also our “rainbow baby” so with all this talk of rainbows and unicorns, we are living a fairytale of sorts. We have never had a sleeper before! It makes me giddy, people!! Quade is growing just fine so we let him sleep at night now for one long stretch. He often goes 5-6 hours and then another 3-4 hour stretch which means we don’t feel like total zombies! Praise. The. Lord. He is not super fussy, eats like a champ (I nurse for nearly 2 years) and sleeps great. I had no idea babies could be like this! Goodness. I could do this again. No, not really. :)
Red Fox Cozy! A Perfect Fit for quade!
11. Each of my kids has a different animal blanket we call a “cozy.” Early on in my pregnancy I chose a RED FOX for Quade. How fitting is that for my little redhead? Of course, I have been calling Quade my little Red Fox and he seems to be totally okay with it. As far as nicknames go, Oakley (5) still insists on calling him “Sprinkles” as he has done from day 1. Let’s hope he doesn’t have a total identity crisis!
12. Quade is our biggest baby weighing in at 7 lbs. 1 oz. and 21 ¼ inches!
Man, we love this baby!
13. His big brothers are totally head over heels in love with him! They shower him with kisses, want to burp him, and can’t wait to hold him when they get home from school! Seriously, it’s heart-melting.
First time meeting baby brother! Oliver cried tears of joy when he first saw him--seriously adorable!!
and the love keeps comin!
Quinn is a big helper with quade and can't get enough of his little brother!
Oakley Loves "sprinkles"
14. I’m being careful about taking him out but I also want to live real life. That means that we finally ventured out a tad. Quade went to an outdoor kid’s dash run at my boys’ school that they were competing in and yesterday, we made it to church. I hadn’t planned to take him so soon, but I was missing fellowship and kept him with me in a baby room for the service. Felt so good to worship and be with “my people.”
Adorbs.
15. One of the things we are most thankful for is our friends from church and school as well as family. Each of the boys stayed at three different places during our hospital stay, and school friends took them to school and picked them up as well. It took a lot of crazy coordinating but so many were willing to help! We have had meals delivered to us and lots of lovely gifts and visitors who have cuddled our sweet little guy and made him feel cherished. We are deeply grateful for the generous hearts of our “village.” Man, babies bring an overload of JOY into our lives, don’t they? I’m savoring it all!
Two weeks have flown by!! How can he be this old already?
I’ll stop gushing now, because I could write a book about Quade Spurgeon Lia and how truly gifted we feel to raise four sons. Guy and I have so much to learn in this parenting thing and we often stumble and fail, but we also feel the enormous blessing of helping to shape them into grown men who love God and love others. We know that so many of YOU prayed us through this pregnancy and delivery and that has meant the world to us! THANK YOU for all your kind support, prayers, and words of wisdom! And thanks for patience as I took the month of October to go on “maternity leave” of sorts. Looking forward to connecting here on the blog more steadily in November!
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Happy Days....is there anything better than when they cuddle up in your neck?