Knox Sterling Jessup

He's here! And he's perfect, and we are in LOVE.



I know every baby is so perfect, but this is the real deal. He's perfection.

I've been blessed with great pregnancies, easy labors, and smooth deliveries. I'm one of those ladies that actually enjoys being pregnant. Other than a growing (and huge) mid section, I don't find much discomfort in my pregnancies (did not throw up once in all three pregnancies). With this third pregnancy, I definitely felt pregnant at the end when bending over presented challenges, and racing up my stairs winded me. But I kept teaching my fitness classes until I was 39 weeks pregnant, and enjoyed staying as active as possible.

Once again, I was induced. My mom bought her plane ticket months ago, and I kept my fingers crossed that baby would not arrive early. I started feeling tiny contractions a couple months ago. The doctor kept telling me by the time you get to your third pregnancy, that's normal, and by this pregnancy, you recognize what exactly those small contractions are. The last two weeks of my pregnancy, the contractions started to feel a little more intense (though not uncomfortable yet), and I started to think we might have an early baby for once. However, he stayed put, and kept dancing inside the womb to my Latin music for Zumba, and as our due date approached, I asked to be induced so that I could take advantage of the time my mom was here (it would be anti-clamatic for her to come, and no baby be here yet!). So my doctor kindly scheduled me the day before my due date, and Knox entered the world on Thursday, August 30 at 11:34 am, weighing 7 lbs 12 oz, and measuring 20.5 inches long. From start to finish, labor was less than 4 hours. The doctor had an 11:30 appointment, and my nurse called her, and told her she needed to come immediately. From the time the doctor walked into the room and suited up, to the time Knox took his first breath, we are talking 3 pushes and 5 minutes.



Above: Working on Knox's first burp after eating!



Above: Knox's first bath at the hospital!



Stone and Emerson anxiously waited for Knox's debut. They were SO excited. We explained the game plan to them the week of, and they were stoked. A friend from church (Jenny) came over at 5am to watch our kiddos. I've heard her say before she is not an early bird, so I was SO grateful when she said she'd come help so early in the morning. Another great friend, Julie, came by to pick them up for lunch, and watched them all day. Cliff then met up with Julie's family and my kids for dinner, and then the kids came to the hospital to meet their new brother. Julie then took them back home with her family, where they spent the night. My kids have always loved Julie, and of course, they had a great time with her family.


Above: Emerson doesn't seem too into the whole new big sister role, but she totally took a liking to it FAST.



By our 24 hour mark, I was ready to be discharged, we got the pediatrician's approval, and we were OUT.

 

 We got home, and the next morning, my mom came in.

I have been so fortunate to have my mom help me with each new born baby. She is the BEST mom I could ever ask for! And each time she leaves, tears are shed, and then the real adjustment period begins where Cliff and I are left on our own to figure out life with another child added to the mix. My mom kept Stone and Emerson so entertained, she cleaned, made yummy treats, and the thing I'm probably most grateful for, is her help in the middle of the night every.single.night. I'd feed Knox, then my mom would take him, burp him, change him, and put him back to sleep, so that I could go right back to sleep.    Our first night home, Knox was a champ. He didn't even cry during the night. He'd just get a little wiggly, making some puppy noises, and I would feed him. I actually had to work really hard at waking him up to eat during the night. We experienced a little fussy stretch the 2nd and 3rd nights, and since then, he's been a champ, again.

We feel so incredibly blessed to have him in our lives. It's amazing how much love you have inside of you as a parent. Just when you think you've given out all the love that is possible to even consume, you realize there will never be a shortage of love, and there's enough to keep going and going. He makes my heart so happy! I forgot how much I absolutely adore this newborn stage. Third time around, you realize how precious these early moments are, and you try to hang onto every single one of them. Just in one week, he has grown, his swollen newborn features have left, and we're starting to see his own little look develop. I'm hanging onto every single moment.

We LOVE you, Knox! Thank you so much for joining our family!

...stay tuned for his first photo shoot...