Let's talk about packing the OTHER hospital bag! My best tip to get ready for baby #2 is by making a special hospital bag for the older sibling!! We packed a little bag for him to bring to the hospital when he came to meet our new baby. It had a set of stacking blocks, a new notebook & markers for coloring, a book, some stickers, and a book (Laugh Out Loud Baby). We also included a little snack for him to nibble on; it doesn't need to be a sweet treat- we did olives and salami, something that would last in his belly. After he was done checking out the baby and moving my hospital bed up & down, he opened up his bag and was able to just hang out while the rest of us ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the baby.
First Few Weeks
We've successfully made it through 3+ weeks as a family of four. I'm not going to talk about sleep because I don't want to jinx it ;) The little one is a trooper, as most second babies have to be. I've been trying to post daily photos on our Flickr site. Some of our construction is done - we've moved back into our room (see first photo!) and it's lovely!! We made the pom-pom mobile before he was born as one of the advent calendar activities! I'm very happy with how it turned out! And the green "bed" is a total IKEA hack that I made!! It's from an under-bed storage container that I added padding and bedding too!! Woohoo :)
Here are a few recent favorites.
It's a Boy!
We're thrilled to share some photos of our new sweet son, who was born 4 days past due, on Sunday, March 24, 2013. He clocked in at 8 pounds, 1 ounce and 21 inches in length.
Labor and delivery was painful, but smooth, kind of quick, and drug-free. My great husband and my mom were both there. Oh, and let's give a special HOORAY for midwives everywhere! Lin Lee at Bay Area Maternity & Women's Health was so helpful during labor. With her guidance I was able to deliver our son without tearing which is just about the best thing ever.
We came home on Tuesday and are adjusting to life with a 4 year old, a newborn, dog, cat, relatives, and major renovations inside and outside our house. We live in a glass house without a fence and a lot of workers- it's the opposite of private, but there's nothing I can do- so I'm just going with the flow. Would you believe our bed broke the night we brought our lovebug home from the hospital? And I have a stress fracture on my foot and can barely walk :) Life here is hectic, but we're taking it in stride and trying to enjoy every minute of it! I know things will settle down soon.
(We've decided to not share his name on the blog, as we've done with our older son.)
Baby Advent Calendar: Welcome Sign
Yesterday's advent calendar activity was to make a little welcome sign for our new baby. We picked up some cute scalloped cards from Paper Source and little sticker dots. My son wrote out all of the letters and did the stickers- I love how they're all little clusters!! Here are a few photos & a video describing our welcome sign!