Meeting baby Gavin! This is one of the best moments of my life--with each baby I've had--introducing the new baby to their biggest fans-his/her brothers and sisters. And this time was no exception. Spencer, Rachel, Levi and Elizabeth are all so enamored with their precious baby brother.

Elizabeth loves her baby bro, but notice her grip on my fingers. This is all kind of scary for her, too. She knows somehow that things are changing, and that she doesn't have the same access to mommy right now. She is trying really hard to be careful for mommy's bandaids on her tummy--I showed them to her--but it is upsetting for her. She sat beside me on the couch all evening, with a glowing smile, but with tears in her eyes. It about broke my heart! She'll be OK, though!

First Family Photo!

Taking their first peek at his little hands.

WELCOME HOME GAVIN!

Tim and I brought our little guy home from the hospital last night, in the middle of a beautiful, thick snowstorm. The snow was gone by morning, but it made the drive home that much more memorable. Isn't the sign Tim made cute?! I was very impressed.

I was very grateful to have the blanket wrap that Rachel made for Gavin. He was toasty warm all the way home.

All ready to load up and say farewell to the nice nurses at Valley Hospital in Renton.

SOME HOSPITAL HIGHLIGHTS:

Gavin had lots of visitors from friends and family. I do not have pictures of everyone available--Grandma and Grandpa McDonald saw Gavin when he was just a few hours old. My sweet friends Kristin and Jana came, and even Uncle John was able to stop by on his way back from visiting his own wife and daughter in the hospital at Children's where they had to stay a few nights for testing. Hopefully Mimi and Mia are back home again by now!

Aunt Bethy came just in time to help us gather up our things, and get our precious cargo ready to leave the hospital and head for home.

I love this photo of Daddy Tim with his little man. It turns out Gavin is the third of three of our sons to inherit their Dad's olive skin and dark hair. "Tall, dark and handsome" is how we make 'em!

My precious baby.

Love this photo! My sister Anne and I hold our little bundles! Eve and Gavin are just 5 weeks apart! It is fun having a baby the same time as my little sister. I remember when I was newly married, Anne worried that all her older sibs would be done having kids before she got started. I'd say with 5 of us having babies within about a year's time has those worries washed away! :) On Tim's side, all 7 of the children in his family will have had a baby within 15 months of each other. Can you say, hurray for cousins!

I put this photo in for a little perspective--can anybody guess how this guy fit into my belly just a few hours before the photo was taken?

GAVIN THOMAS KOVACS - Our belated Christmas gift!!

We love the name we have given our son. GAVIN was a name that I intially thought of in reference to Christmas--as it ties to the spirit of 'giving'. While he decided to be born in January, we still loved his name, and besides, the Christmas spirit should last all year long! His name also means "White Hawk" and has noble connections to the Knights of the Round Table.

THOMAS is meaningful for us in several ways. It is the name of one of our ancestors on my Grandma Hallmeyer's side, who owned a castle in Ireland centuries ago. Thomas is also the name of our religious leader, our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson--a man whom Tim and I admire and hope our son will be inspired by and feel a special connection to, as he matures into his own personality!

The kids came bringing gifts for their baby brother! Rachel shows him the blanket wrap she sewed for him.

He's Here!!

Gavin at about 24 hours old

At 7 days past due, prompting potential nicknames of Pokey, Well Done and Burnt, our "little" bundle of joy has arrived! Weighing in at 10lb 5oz and measuring 21 inches, Gavin Thomas had Spencer nervous of being dethroned as Mommy's biggest baby, but came up a few ounces short.

This is sort of an optical illusion. Yes, he is big, but the nurse was pretty short, too.


Now, for those of you who really care about us enough to read past the weight and length numbers :) (actually, it is a long post, so we'll understand, but the best picture is at the end), the delivery went something like this:

1/2/2009
1:00am
Tim and Heather get to bed after wrangling the kids into bed following a fun New Years Day party night of dinner and games at Grandpa and Grandma Conway's house.

1:30am
Heather: Tim, I think I might be having contractions.
Tim: *rolls over*

2:30am
Heather: Tim, I really think I'm having contractions.
Tim: Do they hurt?
Heather: Some of them.
Tim: How far apart?
Heather: About 4 minutes, or maybe 10. I want to call the hospital.
Tim: Ok, you call the hospital, I'm going back to bed.

3:30am
Heather: The hospital said we can come in and I called the neighbor to stay with the kids.

4:00am
We check in at the birth center triage. The contractions are pretty consistent at 4 to 6 minutes, but not very hard.

4:20 - 5:20am
We walk every hall of the hospital that isn't locked. Twice.

5:30am
The doc says, well the contractions are closer (3 to 4 minutes) and a little stronger, so let's get you in a room and have a baby! We like our doc.

6:30am to 3:15pm
Pitocin, breaking of Heather's water and even the extreme helpfulness of Tim cannot get labor to progress to the point where delivery can occur. Heather is stuck at about 7cm dilation, although about fully effaced, and Gavin isn't engaging into the birth canal properly. Toward the end, his heart rate is dropping during the contractions. Heather, after battling through contractions like a trooper, finally decides the risks to the baby are becoming too great and takes the doctor up on her urging to deliver the baby by C-section..












3:30pm
We are in the C-section operating room. Our buddy John Paul, the anesthesiologist, with his medical school applicant shadow watching on, gets Heather prepped. Tim checks out the other side of the curtain occasionally and remembers what he likes so much about civil engineering. He is ok with the sight of blood, but is much more ok with the sight of soil, wood, concrete and steel.

3:48pm
Gavin is pulled, kicking and screaming, into the cold, cruel world and the comments of, "Wow, that's a big baby" begin. His dad now has the Winnie the Pooh song stuck in his head when Pooh is pulled out of the hole to Rabbit's house.

He'll be pulled and he'll be tugged,
and eventually unplugged,
we'll have a tug of war,
to open Rabbit's door...

We are especially thankful for the help and support of Mom Conway all day as Heather experienced a C-section for the first time.

9:00pm
We are noticing a disturbing trend. Gavin seems to be getting cuter by the second. Granted, most babies do that, but we fear he may have the ability to focus so much cuteness into such a small space that a quantum cuteness singularity will form and suck us in. Oops, too late. Sorry, been watching too much Heroes, I guess. Here he is, post-bath.