Newborn Photo Session

I am so lucky to have a photographer for a husband! He had taken adorable newborn photos when we brought Victoria home, and I was looking forward to cute pictures of Alexander as well. He was five days old (same as V) when these photos were taken. Matt set up a mini studio in our living room, but as it was a cold, gray January day, we just couldn't get the room warm enough for Alex to be comfortable. So, we packed everything up, and squished everything into Alex's bedroom, where we could turn the heat up and close the door to get it nice and warm. I'm so excited to share these photos. We wondered whether we should wait to share them until after we mail the birth announcements ... but I just am not that patient. So, here are a few of our favorites from Alex's newborn session:

At the end of the photo session, Piper jumped down from the dogs' napping spot on the bed, and wanted to lay next to Alexander. So cute!

Babymoon

I know this isn't the normal understanding of the term "babymoon," but for me, the first couple weeks with a new baby are indeed a honeymoon of sorts. There's no tropical beaches and definitely no wine ... but there are moonlit walks (even if just down the hallway), late night "meals," lots of time spent snuggling in bed, and all the ups and downs of getting to know a person you just committed your whole life to. This early time of bonding with a new baby fills you with overwhelming, unconditional love unlike anything else!

Alexander is nearly two weeks old now, and Matt has had these two weeks off from work as well. Victoria has stayed in daycare three days a week and been home with us the rest. The time has flown by for the whole family. Here is a little of what we have been doing ...

Mommy adores new-baby snuggles. If I didn't need to sleep or eat, I could happily spend my entire day holding Alexander against my chest and listening to him sleep:

He loves snuggling with Daddy too. There have been many times Daddy's snuggles have calmed Alex when he is upset or unable to sleep. This photo was taken at a McDonalds where we killed time between a couple doctor appointments: 

Victoria adores her baby brother. It's wonderful how she always says, "hi, baby brother." She really wants to help. Sometimes this works out for us -- like her throwing diapers in the diaper pail -- and sometimes not so much -- like wanting him to wear two hats or putting all his blankets on top of him. She finds toys in his closet to bring him, and every time he cries she says, "baby needs pa-fier" (pacifier). We've tried to explain to her that we aren't giving Alex a pacifier yet, but if we did, I'm sure she would be the one to always give it to him. Yesterday on the way to daycare she asked four times, "baby daycare too?" She can't wait until Alex can stay at daycare with her. In the meantime, she settles for things like laying next to him on the floor while getting dressed in the morning:

The dogs adjusted surprisingly fast. When we brought Victoria home, they seemed a tad jealous and very unsure about our new routines and where they fit in. This time, beyond the original introductions (lots of sniffing and tail wagging), they have been pretty nonplussed about a new baby. Piper learned pretty quickly that getting out of bed at two in the morning does not get her a trip outside. Hannah, as ever, is happy to follow mom around the house. In fact, one night I woke up to discover she decided to use the nursing pillow to her advantage ... as a bed!

The dogs are happy that they still get fed on time, still have their cozy beds at night, and enjoy running outside. They probably have a little less one-on-one time with mom and dad, but we do try to give them attention when we can, which often means multitasking:

We've tried to do some fun things with Victoria on the days she is home with us. Here she is painting with Mommy:

So focused!

And one day at her easel, she figured out how to trace her own hand with a marker. We've been doing this for a couple months, but it's always been an adult doing the tracing. She was so proud of herself! She started yelling right away, "I did it! I trace my hand!"

Often when I feed Alexander, she and Daddy join us on the bed for games and puzzles on the iPad.

And one day, she wanted to "snuddle Daddy" at naptime. When I came back to check on them, both were sleeping -- Victoria didn't move for two hours. Being a big sister is hard!

Here is one more picture of our cute little boy, all dressed in fleece and a warm hat. He is a January baby, after all!

Our Hospital Stay

After Alex's birth, the rest of our hospital stay was spent getting to know our little one and introducing him to the rest of the family. 

There was a lot of time for baby snuggles. I just couldn't get enough of snuggling with him!

On Sunday, the day after he was born, he had his first bath.

Sunday was a very full day. The pediatric orthopedist stopped by to check out Alex's feet, and suggested we follow up in the next few weeks with a pediatric orthopedist to see whether simple stretches will straighten them out, or whether casts will be needed.

We had the most amazing nurses. Many of them worked multiple shifts while we were there, so we got to know them very well. Great care and friendly faces made the stay very memorable. We felt that, probably because we were second time parents, they trusted our instincts more too.

The highlight of Sunday was introducing Victoria to her baby brother. Grandma and Grandpa brought her to the hospital. Matt met them at the parking ramp, and Victoria, seeing her daddy through the glass doors, started squealing and yelling "daddy, daddy, daddy!!" She ran straight into his arms and gave him a big, long hug. On their way into the hospital, Matt explained to her that they had to go wash their hands and then she would get to meet her baby brother.

Sitting on the hospital bed, I had made sure Alex was in the bassinet so Victoria wouldn't feel jealous. Two nurses, excited about seeing my baby girl meet her brother, were watching and told me when she was headed down the hall. I saw her cute little face poke around the door, and held out my arms to her. I was surprised (but not unhappy) when she didn't need to come hug Mommy. She hesitantly walked in (somewhat shy around the nurses) and scanned the room looking for the baby! Matt lifted her up to see Alexander in the bassinet. She wanted to look at him, say hi to him, and sit next to him -- at one point I was going to hand the baby to Matt so I could give one-on-one attention to Victoria, and she yelled, "no, baby here!" I loved that she was so excited about the new baby.

Alexander gave Victoria her very own necklace, with pink beads and crystals and a charm that says, "Big Sister."

The nurses gave her a sticker that said Big Sister too. Also, sitting on the bed behind me, you can see the afghan I knitted for Alexander, which I finished while we were in the hospital (I knew there would be some down time in between baby feedings, after all).

Of course, Victoria also missed Daddy's iPad, and was happy to sit next to Mommy and Alexander playing games too.

We got a picture of all four of us. We told Victoria to say cheese, and she played the part of the big sister by saying, "baby cheese!"

Then she started to announce, "baby brother!" We got this picture as she was making this announcement.

Also on Sunday, Adam and Megan came to visit! 

Monday dawned just as cold as the previous day ... arctic air had descended on Duluth, and we knew we would have to be careful to keep our little one warm on the way home. My aunt Jeanne stopped for a quick visit, and the rest of the morning was spent finishing paperwork and discharge instructions.

We got Alex in the car seat. He cried for just a minute and then settled down (much more quickly than Victoria had!). Once Daddy warmed the car, we were headed home.

Thanks, St. Luke's, for a great hospital stay.

Alex's Birth Story

I knew my doctor planned to strip my membranes at my appointment on Friday. Baby was so low and pushing so hard that I felt a little nudge from the doctor would be all that it took to send me into labor. I posted on Facebook that it would be a good weekend to have a baby. I told my coworkers I wasn't planning to be in the office on Tuesday -- they didn't believe me, and I kept seeing meetings added to my calendar anyway. I'm not always right, but in this case it's comforting to know that I knew what my body and baby were telling me. Friday evening, I was feeling what looked like cramps. On the way home from dinner out with Matt and Victoria, I felt a quick surge that I thought might have been a quick contraction. By the time we were putting Victoria to bed, the rhythmic contractions had begun. I laid down and started timing. We alerted my on-call parents, who decided that, to be on the safe side, they would head to our house and spend the night. Matt finished packing bags and I started texting updates to our doula, Sara. After a warm bath, some light sleep, and a phone call with Sara, we decided to head to the hospital. 

I notified the Birthing Center and had to laugh when I hung up the phone. With Baby #1, they had asked questions about timing and duration of contractions, given advice on how to make sure they were real contractions, etc. This time around, after getting the basics they simply asked, "is this your first child?" I said, "no, second," and they just replied, "ok we will have a room ready for you!" Sara was right - they don't doubt second time moms. 

It was a much calmer drive this time around than with V -- with her I was completely dilated and wanting to push during the drive, but this time I could pretty much relax. At the doctor's office earlier, I was at 2 cm. By the time we got to the hospital, I was at 4. Yay, progress!

All checked in at the hospital

The rest of the night and early morning was spent resting between contractions. I dozed a little, and as the morning went on enjoyed chatting with my companions and an endless stream of HGTV. My doctor came for a visit in the morning. I knew she wasn't available to deliver a baby on Saturday, which was disappointing, but it was so nice of her to come to the hospital just to check on me. I was really nervous about having a resident and unknown doctor around especially when both were male -- exactly the thing I had wanted to avoid with my delivery. I had to trust my doctor when she said I was in good hands, and just tell myself that with Matt, Sara, and nurses that I genuinely liked, I would be ok. 

Breathing through an early contraction

Matt and I took walks up and down the hallway. The nursery just down the hall provided the perfect excuse to walk … I totally wanted to check out the cute babies and try to imagine what ours would look like. The first time walking by, I found myself thinking not of the baby to come, though, but of Victoria when she was a little baby. Realizing how fast she had grown, reminiscing about her as our precious little newborn … the hormones kicked in and before I knew it I was walking back to our room sobbing. They were good tears, of course, and provided a different type of relief from the contractions.

At one point the resident came to check on me and asked, "how far along do you think?" I said 7 cm, partially to be hopeful and positive but also because trying to compare it with what contractions were like with Victoria, I figured that's where I would have been. He thought I was really funny and had to laugh at my positivity. I, on the other hand, felt a little dismayed when the actual answer was 5. Around midday, I was at 6 cm. What seemed like forever later, I was at 7. Matt and I continued to take walks around the birthing center. I tried sitting on the ball, but the first time I got lightheaded and started seeing stars. I was getting weak from lack of food. No matter how many grape Popsicles they offered, it wasn't going to get me through delivery. I started sneaking small amounts of food from our snack stash -- saltine crackers, bites of Luna bars. Matt reminded me to drink water constantly.

I hated not being allowed to eat, but the grape popsicles were tasty 

Sitting back on the ball, I felt myself start to shake. This time, I knew from experience it was transition. I didn't say anything but a short while later Sara noticed the shaking and said it meant I was at transition as well. I was feeling good and strong again, and positive about making it through. With Victoria, the shaking happened right before we left for the hospital and she was born less than a couple hours later. I felt I knew what was ahead of me. At my next check, the nurses said I was at a "stretchy" 7 cm but that they felt baby's head wasn't quite turned right. They suggested laboring on all fours for awhile. When we tried it, Sara said she felt this position was indeed getting the most effective contractions. Effective is good I suppose, but the pain was getting so intense I was starting to hate that position. I had to hold Matt’s hand (hold? I was squeezing for all I was worth) during every contraction at this point, and wouldn’t let him get too far. Matt and Sara kept giving me reminders on breathing, positive affirmations about how hard I was working and what progress was being made, and (my favorite) telling me to connect with baby and help him know that he was ok.

The contractions at this point were more painful than anything I had with Victoria. I no longer knew how to cope with them, and the pressure to push was getting almost unbearable. Breathing was making me light headed, my legs were shaking from laboring on all fours, I wanted to break down and cry. When they told me I was still at 7 cm, I knew there was no way I could continue to do this for another 3 cm. I asked for an epidural. They started me on an IV to prepare for one, and I signed the epidural consent form.

Here is where his birth story gets really interesting. For those squeamish about birth details, you might want to skip this paragraph. There was a shift change at 3:30, so our day nurses left and a new nurse, Cathy, came on board. She checked, confirmed I was at 7 cm, and added that there basically was a lip of my cervix still covering the opening on one side. She looked at me and said, “if you’re willing, with your next contraction I can try to push that cervix out of the way.” I was willing to try anything. At the next contraction, she worked her magic (it was painful for about 5 seconds) and all of a sudden I was completely dilated and ready to deliver a baby! If it wasn’t for Cathy, I’m sure I would not have had the natural birth that I was hoping for. They quickly called the doctor in the room and rushed in the delivery cart. Nurses gathered around, Matt held my hand on one side and Sara on the other, and at 4:04 pm I started pushing. Or, as Matt says, I “breathed” the baby out. There was so much pressure from my uterus that all I had to do was manage the pushing. Here again, pushing him out hurt more than with Victoria. The reason may lie in what everyone saw when his head came through. His right arm was wrapped around to the left side of his neck, where he was holding on to the umbilical cord, and he came out waving his hand up and down. He charmed everyone in the room with his little wave. With an elbow and arm sticking out, no wonder the cervix formed a “lip” around him and the pushing was more painful. Pain aside, though, it went fast. Seven minutes of pushing, and he was born at 4:11 pm! He was 6 lb. 9 oz. and 18.6 inches long. As I suspected, slightly bigger than Victoria, but not by much. Head and chest both measured 13 inches.

He was placed on my chest, where I oohed and aahed over this little miracle. Matt cut the umbilical cord (just like with Victoria, I didn’t even really pay attention, everything was such a blur). He turned a little purple, so was brought to the warmer where the nurses and Matt could work on him. I even heard his blessed little cries. 

Sara and I watched and commented on his little barrel chest. Victoria had really long legs and feet and hands that seemed really big; this little boy, though, seemed evenly proportioned. He has a perfectly round little head and the softest baby hair. His feet are turned inward; we were later to find out this was simply because of a lack of space in utero (seeing a pediatric orthopedist is on the agenda in the next few weeks). As the nurses worked, they assured me he was doing well, and the doctor and nurses delivered the placenta and added a couple small stitches. Matt brought our little boy over, and laying naked on my chest, he snuggled with Mommy and had his first feeding. There is nothing in the world that can compare to those first snuggles.

 Sharing the news with my parents

We are totally in love with little Alexander Earl. 

And this is just the beginning of his story.