A Big Day.

For our small family today carries a lot of significance. Exactly one (ridiculously short) month ago today Charlie was born. We walked into the hospital, nervous and excited and happy. The moment he was born was one of pure joy and relief and total disbelief. I'm not sure if we still totally believe that he's ours, and that he's here to stay. We're having a lot of fun with him, and he gives us anxiety and stress, and we love him so much.



Exactly two years ago today Leland was born. That day we had been in the hospital a full day since my water broke. John and I and our parents and my sister Emily waited full of fear and anticipation of such a lot of unknowns. Would he live to see us? It was with relief that we heard him cry out, and with joy we spent several precious hours with him, and with pain we let him go. Leland taught us that we are not in control of everything, that this life is a journey for which we're only partially responsible. He taught us to love through pain and sadness and to enjoy what you're given and to make the most of life.




So today is a very big day. A flurry of emotions. Fortunately, mostly joy. I love you all my boys - John, Leland and Charlie. You guys are the best.

The Genetic Lottery

I've been meaning to do this for a very long time, but you know what happens in babyland. One minute it's Monday, the next it's Friday.

Inevitably when people see Charlie or see pictures they say, 'oh he looks just like...' (Mostly this is John.) It's natural, I do it with other kids. John and I of course pulled out the old photo albums to compare and contrast what we looked like at the same age. Seeing if that made it more obvious what traits he might have gotten or not from each of us. So I thought I'd post the pictures all together so you can all see what we saw. Here you go:

Charlie - 2 Weeks Old

Christie

John

Coming Soon...

Have I mentioned I think my baby is super cute?

I tried to get some nice 'profesh' pics of Charlie... the downside of doing it myself is that I needed a lot more hands. I'd try to place him and he'd squirm and move before I could get the shot. So basically Charlie was in quite the mood before I got anything done and we didn't have much time before he was just plain screaming and completely done with this shoot thing. Then he peed all over everything to just ENSURE that he didn't have to do any more pictures. Maybe I'll pay and go to someone else the next time!!! :) I'll post a few more after I get time to look through and edit but this one stood out as pretty darn cute.

Messing Around This Afternoon

Day six and we're obsessed with Charlie and also rolling with the punches. :) Charlie got jaundice he can't shake and gets to spend lots of time on a billi-bed, which he HATES. And in all the cruel irony in the world (adding up to the jaundice issue I'm sure), my child doesn't poop. Now I was just JOKING when I told people my kid wouldn't poop... I always wanted you to poop Charlie, you're stressing me out kiddo! Poop, kid, POOP!

This afternoon Charlie fell asleep on the bed with the sun coming through the window, to me, that spelled photo-op. This poor, poor child. :)

For the Grandmas on Missions

Ignore the baby voice in this video. I don't know why, but it's like impossible to talk normally when you're talking to a cute little baby! :) Grandma in Hungary wants the pics and videos to keep coming, so we're happily obliging. She gets to see Charlie on Skype, but she says the video quality is simply not acceptable. :) So maybe this will help Grandma.

And also, just cuz I'm now one of THOSE moms who think everything their kid does is adorable:

Baby Adventures

Charlie Thomas Heywood
Born: December 28, 2009
9 lbs, 21 Inches

I may at a later date give a better labor story, but for now I'll just say: It actually went VERY fast, and everyone keeps asking me in amazement if I delivered this guy vaginally.

Because of a lot of stupid red tape and beaurecratic type crap our doctor offered to keep us, by inducement if necessary from going into 2010 with the pregnancy. We were officially due December 31st. We got scheduled for a 'do it or else' date of December the 28th at the hospital. We arrived that morning, got started with pitocin around 10... it wasn't pushing me very quickly. By noon I hadn't changed, and she'd pushed the medicine up 3-4 doses and my pain was still at about a 1, maybe 2 if I stretched it. Then because I was very well efaced (90% before my last check up even) and had been far along (about 4 cm) for weeks, the Dr. showed up and broke my water. Well that is evidently the push my body needed. That happened about 1pm, and by 1:05 pm I was hit with a ton of bricks. Contractions that made my whole body shake with pain, going from a 1 to an 8 on the 'pain scale' over the course of a single contraction. So they quite quickly (but of course no where quickly enough) gave me an epidural (thanks to heaven) and when it started to take the edge off the nurse said, 'maybe I better check you to see how fast you are moving after all that pain'. She did, and she said, 'uh, you're at a 9 1/2, we'll be able to push soon'. No wonder those pains hurt so bad! I was sitting there thinking they were inching me from a 4 to a 5, and thinking, 'how will i survive a 9 to a 10 if I can't handle THIS centimeter! So we pushed, little (big) Charlie was good about not sliding back, so we had him within about an hour! He came out all pink and not gooey at all... weirdest thing ever! :) All I said was, 'woah, he's big'. And it's what i've been saying since!

Cute Crib

I had to post a picture of my beautiful crib. This crib was actually handmade by my brother in law (John's sister's husband). Cool, no? So I just got the mattress in and bedding washed and in and I thought it was cute and wanted to share.


Also, it pains me to have to explain this, but evidently there are quite a few who have serious concerns for me as far as any parenting skills I may have. So for their peace of mind I will add this: YES I KNOW STUFFED ANIMALS AND PILLOWS SHOULD NOT BE IN A CRIB WITH AN INFANT. They're just place holding people, cuz they're cute. I have read up on SIDS and have educated myself accordingly. You can now go back to wondering if I think it's appropriate to leave my baby unattended outdoors or if I have managed to remain unaware in my 28 years on this planet that babies poop, a lot. Thanks!