the rescuing hug.

this picture is from an article called "The Rescuing Hug". the article details the first week of life for a set of twins. each twin was set in a different incubator, and one was not expected to live. a hospital nurse fought against hospital rules and placed the babies side by side in the same incubator. once they were together, the healthier of the two, threw an arm over her sister in an endearing embrace. the smaller, sick baby's heart rate stabilized and her temperature rose to normal. (you can read the full story, here)

this amazing story made me tear up and marvel at seeing the benefits of skin-to-skin contact, when needed the very most. it also made me think back to those first few days after baby noah was born, and the hours upon hours of us together, chest to chest. it was the most natural, bonding and amazing experience. almost like a magnetic pull, our two hearts pining for each other. we were told to put him in the hospital nursery at night - just so we could get some sleep. but neither cortney or i could bear the thought of it. our baby boy, our brand new baby boy, just hours out of the womb needed to be near us, and we needed to be near him.

even when we brought him home, he was almost never put down. babies so clearly give us the message that they want, and need to be held, and our boy is no different. there are numerous studies stating how important it is to keep mothers and babies close together after birth, and as noah has gotten older it has become so clear to me the importance of continuing the closeness, and the bonding that comes from it, well beyond their first year of life. there are so many days when i'll be talking to my mom, or to cortney on the phone, and i will hear myself saying...."noah doesn't seem to want me to set him down today". and for so many months, he would sleep nowhere but in our arms. i don't believe we raised him this way. i don't believe that we spoiled him. i believe that it is the most natural place for him to be. we still practice skin-to-skin contact in our home, whether its sleeping together, nursing, or a snuggle first thing in the morning. nothing beats his chubby little fingers around mine, or his arms around my neck. nothing is better than having him fall asleep in my arms. i can only hope that our sweet boy continues to want to be close to me, and to his daddy as long as humanly possible. we will do everything imaginable to encourage it.

read about the benefits of skin-to-skin here.

cuddle your little ones close tonight.

and have a good wednesday. xo.