Welcome Leo Joseph Morris

He's Here!!! Our gorgeous little boy! Leo Joseph Morris arrived on Thursday, March 27 at 8:16 a.m. and he is healthy, happy and completely adorable. Sorry I haven't posted sooner, but I am sleep deprived and so busy with our new little guy. I promise to get more photos up here soon, because these really don't do Leo justice. He is, in our eyes...perfection.

It all started when Joe and I went in for our 38-39 week appointment with ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that Leo was measuring comparable in size to a baby of 34 weeks gestation, which meant he had fallen way behind with his growth. At our last ultrasound appointment, which was at 26 weeks, Leo had measured at the 50% for his age, so something had obviously gone wrong. Next they checked my amniotic fluid levels, and unfortunately, they were dangerously low. Dr. Davis, who was the doctor on call for my doctor, Dr. Barrett, had to break the bad news to us. He explained that my placenta probably hadn't been functioning effectively for a while and that Leo needed to be born right away. We went home, grabbed our things and headed for the hospital. It wasn't an emergency, but action needed to be taken soon. He ordered that a test be conducted that would determine how Leo dealt with contractions. Once at the hospital, we had an awesome RN, Candace, who administered Pitocin. The goal was for me to have 3 contractions within 10 minutes to see how well Leo dealt with them. When a baby has low amniotic fluid, they are put under more stress and therefor have a difficult time with the contractions. Well, our little man did not like contractions one little bit. Every time I had one, his heart rate dropped and that meant only one thing.... a scheduled c-section for the next morning.

The next morning, they prepped me for surgery and everything went great! Leo arrived at 8:16 a.m. and weighed 5 lb. 7 oz. and was 16.75 inches long. Yes, he is small, but he is extremely healthy and is the cutest baby I have ever seen. I plan to write a more in-depth account of the delivery and my stay at the hospital later, but for now, I must keep it brief.

Having Leo has been the most amazing event of my life. The love that we have for him is infinite. He brings us pure joy and it has been wonderful watching Joe fall in love with our son.

I have been feeling good too. Sometimes I forget that I just had major surgery, so I am trying to take it easy. Of course, we are both exhausted, but it is those moments when Leo just stares contently at us that make it all worth while. I am just so proud to be his mom and can't imagine life without my little angel.