Jacob Joseph Dawson

Short story short: Started labor in the middle of the night on Friday (22nd) and by 12:30 we were at the hospital for me to receive my antibiotic for Group B strep (if you know what that is, then you know why that's important; if not, then it's not that important). I was 6cm upon arrival- Praise God!! 3:31pm, out he came. It happened so fast that we were unable to inform our family/friends of the progress until it was all over. I will also say that he was born naturally, and I will spare you any further details in that.

We are so grateful that Jacob was born on the FIRST feast of Blessed Pope John Paul II since his beatification back in May. This man, though he is John Paul's namesake, is a beloved, beatified, and holy man whom our family loves and asks intercession from quite often.

Our prayers for you were fervent and we are honored to have been able to intercede for you- our family and friends. Thank you for your prayers as well. He is beautiful and healthy and we are so happy to have him join our family. Just before I delivered Jacob, David (in an effort to help me refocus for a contraction, he told me that Andrew was praying for us - Andrew is the baby that we lost last November- and I wept. Looking back, I am a bit surprised that even in the of the pain of delivering the child coming because Andrew was NOT coming, I wept at his loss. He was with us through all of this, and he is our family's little Saint.

Here are a few of the pictures with our camera (whose batteries went dead right after Jacob's birth). When more come from the other cameras I will post. For now enjoy- drum roll......... JACOB JOSEPH DAWSON






(Our precious friends Carrie Chaumont and Fr. Nathan Long are Jacob's Godparents)

We're home! We're healthy! The Dawson's are a family of five!! I will post pictures as soon as possible.

Jacob was born at 3:31pm on Saturday October 22- the feast day of our beloved Blessed John Paul II. Jacob was 7lbs 12 oz, 20 3/4" long. Great set of lungs. John Paul and Therese are doing well with him so far... Therese is very interested in this nursing thing. More on that to come.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers, we were praying for you as well. Praise God for a healthy deliver and a healthy new son.

I should also point out that David Dawson is the best husband and labor coach and post-partum companion ON THE PLANET.

Cute Kids!

A few shots of the kids before they greet their newest addition.


Therese went on a bike ride with Daddy for the first time- mostly because we had to wait for the helmet to fit.



John Paul at this birthday party- I love this little man!


D-Day (Due day) in T - 16 days.

St. Therese

Happy Feast day of St. Therese - we love her so much and are so grateful for God's work through her little way. As I think of what I appreciate in St. Therese, I realize it is all wrapped up in HUMILITY. In light of this thought, I wanted to post a litany that helps us all to receive the humility to brought her to sainthood:

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being loved...
From the desire of being extolled ...
From the desire of being honored ...
From the desire of being praised ...
From the desire of being preferred to others...
From the desire of being consulted ...
From the desire of being approved ...
From the fear of being humiliated ...
From the fear of being despised...
From the fear of suffering rebukes ...
From the fear of being calumniated ...
From the fear of being forgotten ...
From the fear of being ridiculed ...
From the fear of being wronged ...
From the fear of being suspected ...

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I ...
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease ...
That others may be chosen and I set aside ...
That others may be praised and I unnoticed ...
That others may be preferred to me in everything...
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…

36 weeks and 2 days...

...but who's counting.

Not much to report, except that I have no knew pictures to show you and I can't find John Paul's all-too-important toy train named Spencer. I wonder if I'm the only one who prays about finding her children's toys... feels a little silly. I'm heading to the park to see if he's there. I feel like this is what happens when people lose their pets.

Spencer? Oh Spencer!

A little date...

Wonder what this is about?

After a full day of giving into absolutely every nesting instinct (minus dusting), I headed to my OB for one of those completely unnecessary appointments. Blood pressure check, "belly check", good heart rate on the baby, nothing to report on my end, thanks, see you in two weeks. So superfluous.

At about 4:30 I began to feel some contractions- not weird, it happens all the time now. By 5:15 as David is loading the kiddos into the van to head to daily Mass, they are every three minutes apart without fail, they are relatively intense, and I am nauseated. David heads out to Mass solo and I stay home to twiddle my thumbs and count my contractions. A quick call to the doc who says to "come on in" for a check. Sure. Come on in. To go through all the hooplah and walk out the door hours later paying for a needle and some saline with a bedrest order. No thank you. I'm staying right here!

Around 7:30pm, after a meeting David had, he brought John Paul and Therese to my parents (did I mention what a gift it is to live in the same town as my parents?), David and I stood in the living room praying about what to do... to the hospital we go.

It was quite a time. I really enjoyed the alone time with David, he read magazine articles to me and we had a great time as my contractions got closer together and more intense. Did I mention I am 34 weeks- too early to be doing this? Any way, after some fabulous "checking" of my dilation (I've decided not to describe this lovely part any further) the doc ordered a bag fluids via IV. More reading and laughing together (it was turning into a little date) and a fantastic nurse (Leah at Gautier campus if you're wondering), by 12:30am the contractions has distanced themselves and had become less intense. The end. Not even an order for bedrest (I just love my laid back doctor... David Darbonne... no relation.

We were home by 1am. We slept until 9, and now my children are napping, so I think I will join them. A nice little story for your afternoon. This little man will be hanging out a little longer... oh... did I tell you it's a boy?

Night Night.

An unexpected gift...

So much has been happening these last weeks at the Dawson house. I'll spare details, except to say: a child with fevers, acid bumps, night waking, and a 33-week pregnant mommy.

BUT>>> David and I have been married for 4 fantastic years on the 8th! Praise God for my precious husband!

And the reason for my post...



My sweet friend Nichole Lanthier came to the house with this! A bag FILLED with cloth diapers, inserts, wet bag, diaper pale, and detergent! David and I have been praying about starting cloth diapers... buying diapers for 3 is too many. We had no way of getting these diapers, and knowing this, Nichole (in her own way, which I'll never know) got a hold of enough cloth diapers for both Therese and for the new baby! Thank you Lord for gifting us with precious friends!