Home Alone

Yesterday was our first day at home with no help from grandparents, brothers, or sisters (although Mary brought us dinner, and it was very nice).  The day went very well.  

Linda did all the work, Guy slept when he wasn't eating, and I cleaned the house.  Lincoln went back to school and got to share photos of his baby brother with his friends.  He is the third kid in his class of seven to be a big brother!

In other news, the night Guy was born the big maple tree in our front yard was blown over by the crazy winds.  Luckily (for us) the tree fell into our neighbors' yard and driveway and not towards the house.  It was completely blocking the street, but there was no damage to anyone's property.

We found a tree service that would clean it up quickly, and they spent most of the day yesterday sawing, hauling, and grinding.  Lincoln had fun watching them put the big pieces into their massive grinder, and we were impressed that they removed every speck of the tree - not a single twig was left in our yard. 

Photos from Guy's First Days

As promised, here are some photos from Guy's first few days:

Here's his first "official" picture.

This is the photo I took of Scott shortly after Guy was born.  Aren't they cute?

This shows his weight. (8 lbs. 4 oz.)

And here's the whole family!  Lincoln was very excited about meeting his little brother, and enjoyed spending a couple of days being spoiled at home by both sets of grandparents (more pictures of that coming shortly).

Guy's Story

Well, Scott and I are home from the hospital so I thought I would share some more details about Guy's birth.  First, the stats:

Name:  Guy Phillip

Born:  December 26, 2008 at 10:29 pm

Weight:  8 pounds 4 ounces

Length:  18.5 inches

The Details:

I had my first contractions on Friday morning (December 26) around 10 am.  They were very irregular and not very intense, so we just continued on with our day's activities.  My parents were in town for Christmas so we had breakfast and lunch together.  I also took a trip to Target with my mom to get some last-minute Christmas gifts.  I was still able to walk and talk through contractions so I assumed we had lots of time.  My sister and her family came over for dinner that night.

After dinner that night Scott and I took a couple of walks around the block to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather.  My contractions were still irregular and spaced around 8-15 minutes apart, so again we assumed that we had a lot of time.  At around 8:00 pm Scott called my doctor and the on-call doctor advised us to go to the hospital.  Scott put Lincoln to bed and we headed to the hospital around 9:00 - still assuming we'd be in for a long night at the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital at 9:30.  I had a few intense contractions on the walk from the emergency room (after hours) entrance to the birthing center, and I took a brief pit-stop at the bathroom on the way.  When we arrived at the birthing unit we discovered that the doctor we talked to had not informed the hospital that we were on our way, but luckily my doctor was already there with another patient.

We arrived at the room a little after 10 pm.  The nurse hooked me up to the fetal monitor and said that she would remove the monitors after 20 minutes so I could walk around.  I was measuring around 6 centimeters.  Since we were planning an unmedicated birth she brought a birthing ball and went to have my doctor sign the papers authorizing that I would not receive an IV.  I then proceeded to have the most intense contraction I have ever experienced (very unpleasant - I do not recommend it!) and felt the urge to push! 

Scott rushed out to find a nurse, and when she came in she confirmed that the baby was about to arrive.  She told me not to push - which was pretty much impossible, and Scott had to help by opening the packet of "delivery" instruments as she found the doctor and some other nurses.  They didn't have time to set up the bed for delivery - as my doctor sat down I had two big pushes and Guy was born!  It was all very intense and definitely not the delivery I expected - we weren't even checked into the hospital until Guy was over four hours old - but I got to spend the night with my baby instead of in labor.

The family's all at home now, and we're all having fun getting to know each other.  The next post will have more photos!

Well, that was fast

We have a new baby. Here's how it went.

8:00 pm - Call doctor
9:30 pm - Arrive at hospital
10:30 pm - Guy Phillip enters the world

Linda did a great job. This time instead of pushing for 2 hours, she
had to hold the pushing back until the doctor arrived.

The full details will be coming later.

Tonight's the night

Well, we think this is it. Linda has been having sporadic contractions most of the day today, and they've recently become more regular and intense.

We've put Lincoln to bed, done a couple of walks around the block, and called the doctor. We'll be headed to the hospital soon, and won't be coming back until we have a new baby boy. (Grandma and Grandpa are staying at our house with Lincoln.)

I tried to tell Lincoln that he'll wake up tomorrow a big brother, but I'm not sure it sunk in. We think he'll make a great big brother...and he gets to start soon.

That's all for now. More to come...

A Moonlit Ride...

Still no baby, but Scott and I are looking forward to many more scenes like this one, where Lincoln decided to take a break while I was changing his clothes and take his truck for a ride around the house.

Lincoln loves running around in just his diaper, and has many fancy diaper-only moves including the "sumo squat", the "crazy frog-hop", and my personal favorite, the "scream and run away as mommy chases me with a t-shirt".

Another quick update

Well, another day with no new baby.  We're trying to enjoy every peaceful night to its fullest because we know they are numbered.  I'm also anxiously grabbing my phone every time it rings to see if it's Linda.

At this point, we're hoping he can wait until after Christmas so everyone will be here and Lincoln can have a fun Christmas morning at home.  I guess it's out of our hands.  We'll keep you posted.

In other news, Lincoln got his first real haircut recently.  He was looking a little ragged, so we took him to a Great Clips by our house.  We weren't sure what to expect, but he did great.  I think he really liked it.  Here are a few pictures.

No news is...good news?

No new cute photos for this post - just an update to say that I had my 39-week appointment today.  I am just a little less than one week from my due date!  Of course, that means that we're less than a week away from Christmas, too.  Most of our shopping is done, and thanks to Lincoln's help everything is all wrapped and under the tree.  I think Lincoln is very good at keeping the gifts a secret, too - every time I ask him what Scott has wrapped for me he says "books", so either I'm getting a lot of books this Christmas or he's learned the fine art of subterfuge.

Just a quick update...

Since Linda's due date is getting near and people have started asking daily, I thought I'd give you all a quick update on the baby situation -- there's no new baby yet.  We'll keep you posted.

Christmas is just around the corner

Christmas is less than two weeks away, which means lots of excitement at our house.  Lincoln got to meet Santa Claus for the first time at a party at my office.  He was really excited up to the point when he had to sit on Santa's lap.  Then he was more stunned than excited...although he didn't cry.  Here's proof.

The other excitement is the pending birth of baby #2.  Linda is doing very well but is certainly ready for the pregnancy to be over with (especially when she's got to walk to work on the icy, sub-zero streets). I think we're as prepared as we'll be, so now we wait.

P.S. I've got the blog hooked up to my new Blackberry, so there will be up-to-the-minute blog posts when the action begins.  I have assured Linda that she will get top priority over the blog posts while she is in the labor.

T - Minus 2 Weeks

As of this Thursday I will be 38 weeks pregnant, so the clock is ticking! Lincoln was a week late, but I'm getting everything ready at home and at work just in case "baby brother" decides to arrive early.

We've warned Lincoln that babies don't sleep all night, and as you can see he's making sure to store up his sleep. I'm not so sure that he'll be much help during those 2am diaper changes...

Back from Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.  We travelled to Lincoln to celebrate with my parents for the weekend, and Scott's parents visited on Thursday evening and Friday.  Lincoln had a great time with both sets of grandparents, and even got to sleep in a Big Big Bed.  This trip was our last official trip as a family of three...the next time we take a long car ride it will include two car seats in the back!

Here is a Thanksgiving photo of Lincoln and his daycare friends.  Lincoln really likes his "school" and can name all of his friends in the photo.   We're amazed that the teachers managed to round up nine 2-year-olds and make them sit still long enough for a photo.