Little Clone?

From the moment that Jesse's parents came into the Labor-Delivery room, they exclaimed, "Jesse! He looks just like you!"

At that time, I'd only briefly glanced at Gavin as he entered the world, and only then because my OB had ordered in her gentle, no-nonsense voice, "Marilee, look up and see your son." He looked something like a grey-alien from the X-files to me, plus all I really wanted at that moment was for her to finish extracting that little alien so I could stop pushing my insides out. He didn't look like Jesse to me, at least not in that pain-infused moment, but then he didn't really look human either, so who could say?

The large NICU staff must have finally heard my voiceless plea because they whisked Gavin away to his little receiving table and did whatever it is they do to make sure that he was well and safe. I sort of hazily waved Jesse towards the kid and submitted myself to be kneaded and stitched, sending up a groggy prayer of thanks that God had stood by us, feeling at that moment that I could not have made it even one contraction more.

Eventually, Gavin came back and bonded with me "skin to skin," and I was pleased to see that five pulls with the vacuum had not made his head terribly cone-shaped, and they'd successfully rubbed him into a nice pink color. I was a bit amazed that any child of mine could be born with so much hair (I had bows taped to my head until I was two), and so when our family came in to meet the new Malott who'd taken his sweet time to arrive, I had to agree that Gavin looks a lot like Jesse. Good thing I think Jesse's so handsome!

Still, there are moments when I look at him and see echoes of my Nunn and Hulse bloodlines, particularly in his long fingers and toes and his little lips. I was amazed, though, when Amy brought pictures of Jesse as a newborn - if I didn't know better, I would truly swear that the pictures were of Gavin. I can't wait to see how he'll grow and change over the years!!

See for yourself: