Friday, June 19, 2009

On His Due Date

Today was the day my little Pookie was due. I completely expected him to be late or a least closer to his due date, especially since the Pumpkin was ten days late. But not this guy! He is full of surprises already. He was born 5 days early--almost 6 days early. (And thanks so much everyone for your well wishes!!!)

In honor of his due date, I thought I'd write down a few things about having a newborn, in particular this newborn.

I tried to start this post since this morning and have been trying to finish it the rest of the day, but having a newborn means that time frames go completely out the window and what a person wants to accomplish may simply not get done. Hopefully I will get this post out tonight.

We got home from the hospital on Wednesday. The time in the hospital was a blur, and now the time at home has been a blur! What is it about babies that makes time such a blur? Well, until they make even a couple minutes in the middle of the night seem like an eternity. I had a pretty good stay at the hospital this time, especially because of the Mother and Baby Suites they now have, complete with a chair that pulls out into (a very narrow) bed for Londo. When I had the Pumpkin, it was a shared room and husbands were not allowed to stay. That stay was very frustrating for many reasons, almost all of which were not a problem this time!

About the baby... If this baby's eyes are open, he expects there to be a nipple in his mouth. No kidding. I don't remember if this was true about the Pumpkin as a newborn, but it probably was. At this stage, it's not like they know much more than sleep, eat and poop. In fact, Londo just changed his diaper and I've got the babe attached to my nipple right now as he is falling asleep.

I mentioned in the previous post that he is squeaky. It's very cute. And in addition to his squeaking, he has the cutest cry. It's a staccato "Ahhh ahhhh ahhhh." When he is really upset, his tongue meets the roof of his mouth, changing the "ahh ahhh ahh"s to "laaahhh laahhh laahhh." I cannot describe how absolutely adorable it is! Now when he starts to get worked up, we say to him, "la la la."

And the best news so far? On more than one occasion, we have put him down when he's asleep and HE STAYED LYING DOWN AND ASLEEP!!! For 45 minutes to an hour! And now? He's asleep and I'm going to try putting him down into the cosleeper next to my side of the bed!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Announcing the Birth of the Boy!

I'm so happy to announce the birth of my son! He was born Sunday, June 14, 2009, at 12:38 in the morning. He was born by c-section after 19 hours of labor, which begun with my water breaking at 5:30 in the morning, Saturday, June 13. I'm recovering pretty well, but I am exhausted, as is Londo. I will write up the whole birth story at a later date.

He was born weighing 7 lbs 12 ozs, 21.25 inches long. He was born with a bit of brown hair, dark blue eyes, and such an absolutely adorable face and body! He is breastfeeding, pooping and peeing like a champ. He makes the cutest little squeaky noises.

The Pumpkin got to meet him yesterday, and she was thrilled. When she was first brought in, she saw the baby in my arms and said, "Look, Mommy! It's a baby!" I said, "Yes. It's our baby. It's our baby brother." And she excitedly repeated that. A little later, she quite insistently asked to hold him. Londo sat her in his lap and her brother was laid in her lap (though mostly being held by Londo). She kept saying to everyone, "I'm holding the baby!" Or some variation. Then, she did not want to give him up, and threw a fit when we finally told her that her turn was done!

Londo and I are so incredibly happy and excited to have the Pookie join our family. He and I will be heading home tomorrow or the next day. Where the house is almost ready for him.

Learning I Have Hypertension

This past winter, I discovered I have developed high blood pressure. This came as a surprise for me, since I generally had always had blood ...