Early last Wednesday, A arrived! Officially one week overdue, he was apparently waiting for the perfect time. I (finally) had absolutely everything ready, my doulas had babysitters for the next day, I was finished my June events for momstown, and it was the summer solstice! Born at home in the water, he was 10 pounds and 5 ounces, 22 inches long, and had a 15 inch head circumference! He's a big boy! Labour was 6.5 hours long from my first contraction, and there wasn't much "building up" to it. Thank you so much to my wonderful doulas, midwife and husband. Without them, I am not sure I could have done it. He is a great little nurser, and loves to snuggle. I don't have time to write out the full birth story right now, but I promise that I will do so in the next little while. For now, here's a picture of A when he was only hours old!
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| I just love this little face! |
On a related note, I must say how appreciative I am of how helpful everyone has been. My mom was supposed to come up for the birth to take care of E while I laboured, but A did not wait for her. She arrived 2 and a half hours after he did. But she stayed for a few days, and her help was unexpected and very much appreciated. It was such a relief to have her here to help out with housework and the endless laundry as well as to have her here to play with E while we got to know this new little boy. I can't thank her enough for her help! Between her and the meal train that a fabulous momstown mama set up for me, the transition to being a family of four has been fairly smooth. Have you heard of a meal train before? If not, you should. A meal train is something that a mama from Texas introduced us to, and it is such an amazing concept. Basically, anytime a family is going through something big (new baby, death in the family, sickness, lost job, etc), you set this up and people can sign up to bring a meal each day for a set period of time. It has been such a help. Since last Friday night, we have had mamas take time out of their days to make and bring us a meal. We have had pizza, steaks, tacos and more. Some of it has ended up in our freezer for next week as well since we have so many leftovers in our fridge. Everything has been delicious. I am just overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness that these mamas have put in too, especially with E's issues with dairy. Cooking without dairy can be difficult if you aren't used to it! One mama even made up a little bag of candies for "nursing snacks" for me! I don't know how I will ever be able to thank you all for your kindness. Please know that we appreciate it and can only hope that one day we can repay you in some way!
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