More on Andrew and the Rest of Us

Everything started with Andrew at 3:00 am on July 29th when my water broke. We scooped Susanna out of her crib and carried her to our very kind neighbor’s home where she became less and less groggy as the realization of what was happening dawned on her. We left her very excited and wiggly (she supposedly said “I am going to be so gentle” every thirty seconds) until, at last, she could calm down enough to drop off to sleep.

Andrew arrived almost five hours later at 7:48 am, and despite what I told my caregivers and husband in the last thirty minutes of laboring, I had a wonderful experience delivering Andrew. Thanks to those caregivers and especially Scott for all the support (he was an amazing help). And thanks to Andrew for choosing the hottest day in Seattle’s recorded history so we could all enjoy the hospital’s air conditioning.

My wonderful mother arrived at the hospital around 7:00 pm and left to get Susanna from another neighbor’s home around 9:00 pm, only to call us a half hour later asking where a flashlight is—the power had gone out (remember that it was the hottest day ever so they were without refrigeration, AC (not that they would have had that anyway) or even fans. That’s the true test of a mother’s love (that and dealing with a tired toddler) Thanks mom.

The three of us came home the next day and we celebrated Andrew’s arrival with a birthday party (it also happened to be my birthday). We partied at our apartment complex’s community center (it was air conditioned); here’s a picture of Susanna and three community center babies at the party.

The following Monday we made this picture of our family for Family Night. Scott’s nose (as well as mine) sort of take up our entire face, but we love it anyway. Susanna labeled all of the faces with our names, and she refers to it often.

Here are a few photos of the little guy.

Andrew, at this point, has olive skin and brown hair. He is bright eyed and gives sleepy smiles all the time (he even laughs occasionally!). According to yesterday’s doctor’s visit, he already weighs 10 lbs and 1 ounce. He doesn’t look particularly chubby but is a healthy strong boy with exceptionally long fingers, toes, and especially feet. He has so far been a pretty mild tempered boy: he sleeps, is soothed to a calm state well, and has an adorable (albeit very loud) cry. We all love him very much.