Welcome Judah Matthew!

Adriel Booker

Hi friends. We’re so excited to introduce you to our son – Judah Matthew Booker! As expected, he is ridiculously cute:

He was born on Friday, September 30th at 10:15pm (eight days before his due date) after 20.5 hours of labor. Judah weighed 7.5 lbs and measured 19.5 inches. (That’s exactly a pound lighter and inch shorter than Levi was!)

I did great if I do say so myself. 😉 After seven days of on again/off again prodromal labor, I was exhausted already going into the big day… but was just so glad to finally make it into established labor. Bubs had turned posterior so I had some pretty intense back labor (which also might explain the week of on/off labor) but got through it by the grace of God and some incredible cheerleaders! Ryan was amazing helping me through the labor and delivery, as were my friends Katie and JP who supported us. I seriously had the best birth team ever and am so grateful!

Everything went according to plans and I got to have my natural birth (and VBAC) like I had hoped for with the lovely midwives that were on duty and assigned to me (Helen and Lucy – more heroes!). He came out with his cord wrapped around his leg, shoulder, and neck, but it was just a tangle – nothing too tight to worry about. Not only that but he also had his hand up with his head… fist-pumping his way into the world, no doubt excited to meet us! The highlight was getting to “catch” him myself as he came out. It was the most incredible culmination of all of the events of this pregnancy and birth… and it still makes my head spin when I think about how awesome that moment was.

I’m well now, just a little tired and sore like every other mom who’s recently given birth. 🙂 I had some tearing and grazing and stitches in a couple of places, but that seemed minor in the grand scheme of things. The whole experience was excruciating, powerful, and so beautiful. And… I now officially feel like a superhero. 🙂

Jude’s breastfeeding is going well and so far he has been very settled and content and peaceful. He has lovely skin, long fingers and toes, a cute pudgy nose, perfect little lips, and light blonde hair!

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div>Pediatric doctors examined him after birth and again today before we were released from the hospital. As far as we can tell there are no indications of Down Syndrome. We are relieved and grateful! There is still a small question mark around the issue of his kidneys so he will have an ultrasound in a couple of weeks to check it out further and just confirm everything is ok. We’ll also take him back to the hospital in two months to see a specialist for one more evaluation and to make sure he’s progressing normally from a developmental standpoint. We expect nothing out of the ordinary and left with very positive feedback from the doctors. What an awesome answer to prayer!

Levi doesn’t quite know what’s happening at the moment. He’s very sweet with Judah but probably doesn’t really understand that he’s part of the family yet. Surely he’ll figure it out soon enough, especially now that we’re all home together! Like any toddler, he’s interested in Jude on his own clock – kissing him one moment and totally disinterested the next.

One of our favorite moments so far has been when Ryan and I drove home from the hospital today – looking back to see two car seats full of our precious boys in the back seat. We’re very happy and it feels so right to now be a family of four!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of your prayers and support as we’ve journeyed this pregnancy. It’s been a wild ride, that’s for sure! We’re just grateful to now have our boy on the outside, safely in our arms. He is lovely in every way and we are absolutely sure he will bring joy to many.

Judah has a two-fold meaning: to call on the name of Yahweh and to confess, praise, or give thanks to God. Matthew means gift of God, which he is and has been since the moment we learned of his existence. We feel both his names are so fitting.

Again, thanks for loving and celebrating our boy so much! He certainly is a special one.

Love Adriel
Proud mama to Judah and Levi, and smitten wife to Superman himself (Ryan).

P.S. Yes, of course we’re taking a thousand photos… to be plastered all over facebook soon. 🙂