Gavin

From June 2015 to February 2016, we reserached everything we could related to babies.  What to name them, how to feed them, how to calm them, how to sleep train them, when to take them to the doctor, how quickly they grow, when they get their teeth, how to save for college, and which baby registry items are essential (and which items you can live without).

While we were preparing for the addition of a baby, that baby was growing from our "jellybean" into the baby that would make us a family of three - Gavin.  For the most part, my pregnancy was uneventful and very smooth.  I experienced some lightheadedness and the typcial discomfort in the third trimester, but was thankful to avoid some of the more serious and impactful side effects of pregnancy.

I started having contractions several days before Gavin was born.  We went to the hospital twice and were sent home twice to wait for the contractions to become even stronger.  But on the evening of February 15, my water broke and we knew that we wouldn't be sent home this time!  We took Mia to Nana's house and drove to the hospital, wondering if we would be leaving with a son or a daughter in a few days.  

After a fairly long labor, we were blessed to meet Gavin Eric Thorsen.  He was born on Tuesday, February 16, 2016 at 10:17 am.  At birth he weighed 8 pounds, 7 ounces, and was 20.5 inches long.  When he was born, his dad said, "It's a boy!" with tears in his eyes and the biggest grin on his face.  It felt like we had been waiting forever to meet this tiny human.  

We spent the next few weeks introducing Gavin to family and friends.  Eric stayed home from work for a week and I stayed home with Gavin for 12 weeks.  When I went back to work, Nana took care of him because I only had 14 school days before summer break.  Gavin started going to daycare at the start of the 2016-2017 school year.  

I was blessed to have felt healthy throughout my pregnancy and Gavin's infancy.  I took medicine daily, went for infusions every 8 weeks, and didn't spend a lot of time thinking about Ulcerative Colitis in the meantime.  We even started talking about having a second baby (eventually) after Gavin's first birthday.  Even then, we were dreaming of a sibling for Gavin and another baby to multiply our family's love.