Samuel Hudson is Here!

Samuel Hudson arrived safely Friday, 8/15/14 at 7:56 a.m. weighing 7 pounds even and measuring 20 inches via repeat C-section at 37 weeks 1 day.  He is amazing.  It is still surreal.  We are so thankful to God, to you all, to our family and friends, and to the many people who prayed for him before he was even conceived.  Take heart in hope, friends.  There will be dreams come true in this life!  And so much more in heaven.

Samuel means “asked of God”, which he certainly was.  I think the meaning is perfect.  Hudson is Luke’s middle name and Josh’s mother’s (who died in 2005) maiden name.  It was Josh’s suggestion to give Samuel the same middle name as Luke.  He said he wanted there to be something concrete that will be a reminder of Luke even 20 years from now.  I would not have thought of this myself as I thought Luke’s first and middle name were his alone, but after Josh explained his view on this, I loved it.  It feels perfect.  I treasure his name as I do Luke’s name (finally! 😉 ) He will eventually go by Sam and probably many other cutesy names between.  So far he has been called poop monster (more on that later–wow!), butternut squash, Sammy Cakes, little miracle, little squeaker mouse… He has a lot of light colored hair like Luke did and looks a lot like him, Josh and I and the nurse who was with us both times all think.  That makes me happy.

I have a ton more to say and will post again soon with more details.  It is completely wonderful, but also very emotional, overwhelming and still the bittersweet road you all know with many reminders of Luke’s loss and absence.  There were tears of sadness at the same time as our hearts swelled to bursting with joy.

We got to go home from the hospital last night.  Here are some pictures:)