I’ve posted it on the other site as well, but let me say once again how grateful I am to Chad Sellers for setting up and hosting www.bf2k7.com.  It’s been so fun and I look forward to more adventures on our new site!

So now that I’m not completely anxious about his health, let’s check out some Baboo pics…

His first visitors were Gen, Drew, and Ethan “Thor” Sogn who brought us a scrumptious lasagna dinner on our first night back.  Check out Ethan eyeing little Brooks here.  I’m sure Brooks is also eyeing Ethan’s awesome Cookie Monster suit but it’s hard to tell for sure.

And here we have Grandma (Seth’s mom) and Seth checking out the Brookster.  Lots of checking out going on these days.

Last night, Kathy and Joel brought us a warm and hearty dinner of chicken and dumplings.  So yummy!

And finally, here’s our little 7 lb 10 oz boy now:

Speaking of the birth of the child I did have (BROOKS), I thought I’d provide a quick sketch of our hospital experience for the so-inclined.  I will not be offended if you stop reading now, although it’s not going to be gross or anything! 

I really meant to update the blog one last time before going to the hospital because the story actually took one more turn after my post about the induction getting put off until 6 AM Tuesday due to lack of beds.   It turns out that BROOKS really wanted to come on the 15th so he decided to get things jumpstarted himself.  I started having contractions around 1 AM so we ended up getting to go to the hospital before 6 after all.   We got there about 3:30 and while many of the rooms had cleared, they had not been cleaned yet.   Apparently this week has been crazy for births here.

Anyway, here’s the scoop:   I ended up getting an IV and pitocin around 5 AM even though the contractions had started already.   Nothing was too bad for awhile…but then I started feeling what thankfully was the only real pain of the day.  I probably had about 1.5-2 hours of yucky contractions made worse by the fact that they felt very much like they were in my back.  Thankfully (and miraculously), when the doctor checked me around 8:30, I had progressed enough to get an epidural.  The anesthesiologist (whose name–seriously–was Dr. Payne) was already on the floor and I was getting me some drugs by 9 AM.  After that, I felt just fine and was unaware of any contractions.  By 1:45, I was 9 cm dilated and we could get on with things.  I ended up pushing for about an hour and 45 minutes and there he was!  (BROOKS)   The whole experience was really so much better than I feared and I am so thankful that it went smoothly.  

Later that evening, we got transferred over to the Maternal Child wing where we stayed until yesterday just after noon.  We took advantage of the nursery but also spent some time hanging out with BROOKS.   He was so amazingly quiet the first 24 hours that this recent discovery of lungs is probably more stressful than it would have been if he’d come out crying!    So we’re off on this adventure called parenthood, already sleep-deprived and constantly confused by what to try next.  Only 18 more years to go!

Thanks so much for all the well-wishes and prayers!

Anyway, he’s starting to squirm in his sleep so I should probably attend to my new duties (internet no longer can take precedence!!)  Just wanted to post a few pics.  More narrative to come later! 

21.5 inches

8 lbs

Mother and son are doing great! Pictures and further updates forthcoming, so for now imagine that he looks like this:

Geoff will post birth info on this site as soon as he can after we have news. 

I’m pretty much a big wimp who has never been a patient in a hospital so the fact that there is now a DATE and TIME is making me a bit nervous.  Please excuse the blatant neediness, but any positive thoughts would be gratefully appreciated.  This prenatal blogging journey has been so fun and I am ever thankful to you for humoring me in your reading of my thoughts.  

Lovies to each of you!  And if anyone has any suggestions on what to actually DO with a baby, let me know.  We have no idea…. 

We received a fabulous present the other day from Seth’s brother, Matthew: SIX kinds of cheese (plus a beef stick!) from his recent trip to Wisconsin!  The Green Bay game put us in the mood to eat some of that so we ended up having nachos for dinner made with a mix of the Colby and the “Mousehouse Jack.”  Mmm….nachos.   And we tossed my preference for homemade treats aside and made Seth a yellow box cake for snacking.  As Sheils pointed out, “cake mixes are SO much better than they used to be.”  I must admit that the golden fluffiness was pretty darn good.

I bet you all now wish Baboo would show up as much as we do so you can stop hearing about food and football!!