Announcing the Arrival...

of Nicholas Michael

born January 23, 2012

7 pounds, 2 ounces

20 1/4 inches

We've been home now for a full week and it's been amazing, exhausting, and kind of surreal. We're not biased at all, but Jason and I are pretty sure he's the cutest baby either one of us has ever seen. In fact, we're quite impressed with ourselves for making such an adorable little person.

Overall, the transition to parenthood has been good. As expected, sleep has been spotty... at one point last night I got about 2 and a half consecutive hours and that was the longest stretch since I went into the hospital last Sunday evening. Breastfeeding has been challenging, but I'm committed to sticking with it and I think it's slowly getting a little easier. At times I feel completely overwhelmed with the nonstop cycles of feeding, changing, and soothing to sleep, but I just have to remind myself to take it one day at a time-- or sometimes even one hour at a time-- and then it seems a little more manageable. Other times, motherhood seems like the most natural thing in the world and I can just sit and watch Nicholas, and his funny facial expressions, for hours.

Right now my mom is here staying with us, and it has been amazing-- delicious home-cooked meals on the table each night, a non-stop flow of groceries and help with household chores, an extra pair of hands to help soothe him when he's fussy (she's like the baby whisperer), and an experienced sounding board to bounce questions and concerns off of when I wonder if I'm doing this whole thing right. It's safe to say I would have been a disaster this week without her help. My dad will join us tomorrow for the weekend, and then they'll head home on Monday. I'm kind of dreading their departure, but we're fortunate to have a bunch of other visitors lined up to come visit in the coming weeks, including Jason's parents and both of our sisters.

Right now he's dozing in his bouncy chair (our most useful chill baby apparatus to date), and I'm trying to catch up quickly with emails and blogs, while mom and Jason finish up dinner. I'll post again soon with his full birth story. It's hard to believe I could forget any of the details, but I want to make sure I record them just in case.