Introducing Emory

With no further ado, we are thrilled to announce the arrival of the most precious son we could ever imagine, Phillip Emory Harris III.

He was born Saturday, April 16, 2011 at 12:09 PM weighing in at 6 pounds 12 ounces and measuring 20 inches in length.  Absolutely perfect!

So far, he's an incredibly wonderful baby.  He only cries when we're changing a dirty diaper.  After conquering a bout of jaundice, he has done so well eating and sleeping.  In fact, Mommy and Daddy have to wake him up to eat otherwise he'd sleep right through.  We're working towards getting back to his birth weight because jaundice caused him to drop down too much.  He loves Kangaroo Care time with Mommy and Daddy.  However, when they have to be productive instead of snuggling a good swaddle is all sweet Emory requires for a nice long nap.

Emory loves napping on Daddy's chest.  He's nice and warm!

He is a tiny little man, but he weighed almost a pound more than they estimated on Friday before I was induced.  So praise the Lord, he was able to regulate his own body temperature and did well breathing alone.  They told us that he'd probably need a few days in the NICU on Friday, but Saturday he did so well after being born that he was able to stay with us the entire time.

His first outing after coming home was back to the lactation consultant and NICU nurse.  He wore his favorite outfit (obviously picked out by Daddy with Clemson's colors in mind).  He weighed in at 5 pounds 15 ounces because jaundice was making him sleep and not eat much, but we got a new feeding schedule and packed on an ounce a day since then. 

We spent snuggle time in the shade outside to get the jaundice out of his system.  Fortunately, it's been fairly nice weather lately so the time has been quite enjoyable.

Once he started feeling better, someone decided to wake up and "talk" to us a bit during the day.  He loves to keep his hands in his mouth, so listening to him is amusing. 

Daddy had to go back to work on Monday.  We were sad to see him go, but he gets to come home and cuddle.  This is how Mommy found us the other day.  Even Mason gets away with more when Emory's around.  (Mason also cries when Emory cries, guards him from everything and everyone, and follows Emory and his carrier around the house.  He's a good guard dog.)

Emory's had a busy second week of life with lots of appointments and newborn pictures.  He's catching up on some sleep this morning.  He's excited to meet everyone soon!  Until then, sweet dreams!