Absolutely Sweet Marie

Today is officially two weeks since Lillie was born and took up the space in our lives that we had used for sleeping and filled it full of baby things. She is really the cutest thing on the Earth, really. We are having a hard time deciphering who she looks like - she has obviously gotten the dreaded Volkmann nose, but other than that the jury is still out on her other features.
I have to go back to work for good on Friday of this week. Sally will be home until at least December, so although I can't be home all day, Sally can keep me updated on Lillie's daily hiccups, new facial expressions, and Judge Judy episodes.
Last night Lillie fell asleep on my chest and slept there for about an hour. Coolest thing ever.

Youth Oriented

It has been over a week now and we have decided to keep her. I have taken thousands of pictures, and have only left the house twice, each time rushing home as fast as I could. I have also decided to keep the beard forever as I am afraid she wont recognize me if I shave.
Yesterday we had a one week check up at the hospital, and she has already gained back half of the weight she lost after birth. She takes in over an ounce of milk at each feeding and is on schedule to be 5'8'' by 2021.
Look for more soon.

Everything In Its Right Place

We are home now and are slowly getting used to the transition from being D.I.N.K.s to being
those annoying people who carry pictures of their child everywhere they go, even when the kid is with them, believing wholeheartedly that they are the first couple in the world to ever give birth.
Sally looks great and has taken charge as if she has been doing this for years. Lillian is sleeping for about two hours at a time and feeding in between filling her diapers with the most fowl substance (next to Lutefisk) on the Earth. We are excited for all of you to meet her.
The whole hospital experience was a positive one. Sally woke up Mon night/Tues morn at 1am with contractions, and we timed them until 3:45am when we loaded up and dashed to the Hospital. On arrival we were greeted by an condescending, evil troll of a nurse who downplayed Sally's pain and until about 6am when the epidural was ordered. That nurse was replaced by a crew of nurses that immediately made up for the bad apple by being very calming and positive. Our Doc, who had not been selected to stay on for Jury Duty, arrived at 8:15 am and told Sal to start pushing. So, after 1 hour and 46 minutes of pushing, Lillian made a grand entrance and life has not been the same since.
Thanks for the calls, emails, visits, flowers and positive thoughts, they all helped all three of us through what was the best birthday I have ever witnessed.

Our Newest Aquisition

Introducing Lillian. 7 Lbs 7 Oz. Born 10:01 A.M.

Dark side of the Moon

Although today is the day that we have been waiting for, nothing has happened yet. We had a Dr. appointment this afternoon and not much has changed. The doc estimates that the baby is between 7 and 8 pounds and is situated head down and low. We made an appointment for next Thursday and another for the inducing on the following Monday just in case, even though the doc said it was very unlikely that labor would hold off that long.
Sally is still felling well - the picture above is a shot that I took of Sal's belly last Sunday night. For anyone who cares it is a double exposure taken with a Holga and digitally scanned with no manipulation other than a bit of cropping.

Names for today = Hugo and Anxietesha

W4 still 2

I hate to keep you all in suspense, but there have been no stork sightings over northern Minnesota. We went for a nice walk last night in the neighborhood, ate some more eggplant, drove down a bumpy road, and directly asked the baby to emerge. Sally even had "send off" from the knocked-up hippies yoga group on Monday.

Friends have been very kind lately with phone calls, gifts of food, and Tiffany even came over and mopped the floors on Tuesday. I had mentioned the Dr. appointment that we have for Friday - looks like we may make it after all. My co-workers have also been very nice putting up with me. I have gone from being described as "anxious" and "excited" to "ready" and "punchy".

Thanks for the comments on the blog so far - it has been fun. Hopefully Sally will create a post soon, and there are more pictures on the way.