All Hail King Rocky

We are overjoyed to officially welcome Harrison (aka King Rocky) to the Davis Family Blog. Now, this mommy will REALLY need a mocha!

Harrison's arrival into the world was amazingly pleasant, especially compared to that of his brother and sister! My dad and Chad drove me to the hospital at 5AM Monday morning while my mom stayed home to keep Thatcher and Hadley. I had made the critical error of telling dad that my doctor is British, so I spent the next few hours fearing he would try to break out his AWFUL impersonation of an English accent. I checked in at 6AM, got loaded up with the IV, listened to the ipod, and joked with the med student who was taking my medical history (Med Student: "Have you used any recreational drugs during your pregnancy?" Danielle: "No, but I'm really looking forward to it once the baby comes."). They wheeled me into the OR at 7:45 with a "cut time" of 8AM. Thanks to the completely painless spinal block, I didn't feel a single tug, pull, or anything at all. Then, at 8:30, I heard him! He cried...loudly...and, unlike Hadley, he didn't stop. It was a beautiful sound, especially to anyone who has ever had a baby who did not come out crying.

It was through this haze of joy that I heard the doctor say, "Wow, he's a big boy;" but I was certain it was the drugs talking when I thought I heard someone say, "Nine pounds, nine ounces." After all, his 37-week ultrasound indicated he was weighing 7 lbs. 2 oz. To put it mildly, they were a little off on that one.

In another first, I was able to hold Harrison in the delivery room. I had barely seen Thatcher and (certainly) Hadley before they were whisked away, but they let Harrison linger. We took pictures, we talked, we discussed health care reform. It was great. I was also able to nurse him in the recovery room about an hour after he was born, which was another huge answer to prayer.

Because of the H1N1 outbreak, the kids were not allowed to come to the hospital at all during my five-day vacation, I mean "stay." Thanks to the spinal block, my recovery was a breeze; and I was ready to get up and get moving. Mom and dad took turns getting lost on the way to and from the hospital to keep me company, while Chad spent the bulk of his time wheeling, dealing, and manning the kids. Bless his heart. Plus, I had news coverage of the Tiger Woods scandal and the Salahi's crashing the State Dinner for India to keep me entertained.

Then, of course, there was Harrison. Thanks to his largess, he was a voracious eater from the start. I had always read that some women need to spend all day in bed, nursing their babies for hours on end to bulk up their milk supply. Never, until Harrison, did I think I would actually be one of them. Nursing him for 40 minutes every hour on the hour made me a convert. Like all previous Chad & Danielle productions, he had jaundice. Thanks to my plethora of milk and his prolific bowel movements, however, he did not require any lengthy interventions to get it under control. Well, sort of...but that's another story for another day.

I like to call this, "Blue Light Special."