#1 of 2 babies that
will join our home in the next few weeks has arrived!
Aleki William Bradshaw
We had 10 days from the time that we found out about baby
Aleki to the day he was born. It was a busy ten days too! We spent hours and
hours in stores and online researching strollers for twins, bottles, baby
carriers, etc.
The whole idea of having him come to our family was a bit
surreal. We were going to have baby! Well, two babies!
Family and friends continued to show an outpouring of love.
They offered excitement, gifts and plenty of advice. Lady Hiva and I were able to use what things were given to us
and supplemented them with a few things to have a make-shift nursery. We were
finally ready for him to arrive!
And then we waited. And prayed. And waited some more.
He was born on Tuesday and we were able to go see him on Wednesday.
We cannot describe the feelings and love that we both felt as we stood there
and watched our little son being prepared by the nurses for the evening.
He had his little “Stats Chart” above his head and I leaned
in closer to see if my eyes were failing because I thought it said that he was
5lbs 9oz! That couldn’t be correct. That is so small he was a full term baby.
But sure enough, even with my head close to the chart it still said 5 and a
half pounds! CRAZY! In my family an average baby is 7-8lbs. For Lady Hiva’s
family it is a bit more. As proof, Lady Hiva’s cousin gave birth yesterday to a
baby that was double and some the weight of Aleki!
Being introduced to Aleki for the first time...this was a very tearful moment |
We had to leave him overnight and come back to get him the
next morning. It was hard to leave…but it gave us a chance to go through
Vaitafe’s cloths that he was never able to wear so we could find some preemie
outfits! 5 pounds! Our baby is a little doll.
Wearing Vaitafe's preemie outfit that Vaitafe was never able to use |
Yesterday the time for discharging him from the hospital
couldn’t come any faster. We were both so excited. We made it to the hospital
and spent the next hour with the nurses learning how to be parents to a
newborn. We had some very engaging conversations about us having a newborn but
Lady is still pregnant…haha.
When the nurse asked us which one was going to change the
diaper, Lady didn’t even hesitate “Dad!” HAHA…OK, sounds good.
Mommy holding him for the first time... |
On our way home |
Madre and Kell were here for a day with Heather’s kids. It
was so fun to have them come over for the rest of the day and see Aleki. They
were SO excited. Each one of them wanted to have turns holding Aleki. The
practiced his name over and over until they had it committed to memory. They
were also thrilled about the fact that Lady Hiva is still pregnant and that Tau’aho
will be Aleki’s baby brother.
Grandma gets to hold her newest grandchild--although he will only hold that title until his brother comes |
Grandpa too |
One of the things that Heather, Lady and I all said at
different times is how much Aleki looks like Vaitafe. If you look at our photos
with Vaitafe you could think they were the same baby. In fact, someone found an
old photo on Facebook of Vaitafe and “liked” it so about 50 more people did
too! HAHA…if they would read the comments they would see that it was a 3 year
old photo…some of them still didn’t know about Aleki and assume that Lady gave
birth. It is funny to see their reaction when they find out.
Lady Hiva and I went to bed full of love and thankfulness. Neither of us wanted to be too far from Aleki. He truly has our love. We are grateful we have been blessed with the chance to welcome him to our family even as crazy as having him come at the same time as Tau’aho. We cannot wait to have them together.
Here are some long awaited photos that I promised you all.
But don’t worry, I think Lady Hiva and I may be those parents who post photo after photo of their baby because it is
the cutest baby in the world so there will be more to come.
Congrats!! He is perfect!
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing sweeter. Congrats to both of you!
ReplyDeleteHe is so so beautiful. I've cried buckets! Now I need to meet him! Congratulations, Dustin and Hiva!! 'Ofa Atu!
ReplyDeleteSo little and adorable :)
ReplyDeleteI a so excited for you and Lady Hiva, you will be the best parents, congratulations!!
ReplyDeleteHe is gorgeous! Congrats to all of you So happy for you!
ReplyDeleteDustin and Hiva,
ReplyDeleteI am sooooo happy for the two of you. You deserve to have the best Heavenly Father has prepared for you! Aleki is so perfect, can't wait to see his brother! May you continue to be showered with the greatest blessings of all.
'Ofa atu,
Crystal
he is so adorable. and what an incredible story. Congrats my friends. Much love and aloha to your new little family!
ReplyDeleteI am sooooo thrilled! You're journey to this point has been incredible and I am so proud of you. Congratulations on this 1st new addition and I am so excited for the 2nd new addition to be here soon. :)
ReplyDeleteAleki is beautiful and you're all so blessed to have each other.
He is so cute and he was born on Malakai's birthday! What a joy to have your son with you and waiting for your other one. Congrats to you both. I love having my twin girls so you will love having your boys.
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is...my heart is so full. I believe this journey is the perfect example of
ReplyDelete"Faith in the Lord, is Faith in HIS timing." You have both faced so many hard things. You have been great examples along your journey. I am so very proud of you both. I am so excited about Aleki, and I agree with Hiva, when you hold him, he you can feel his wonderful spirit and know he is Home!!!