Merry Christmas!

We three made the trip to Alpharetta on Thursday and enjoyed a lovely Christmas Dinner with Caden's Meme and Papa, Aunt Ann and Ken. Caden was relatively well-behaved, but got a little cranky towards the end of the night. Fortunately we were able to enjoy dinner and I even had a glass of wine! Many thanks to Meme, Papa, and Ann for the lovely gifts!

Yesterday we gave Caden his first real bath! He was a trooper and didn't cry until we were all done and he started getting chilly. What a big boy!

Today begins what is sure to be an exciting week of College Football. Caden is looking forward to seeing his Hokies AND his Dawgs play January 1st. Thank goodness they're not on at the same time!

Our first walk!

Caden and I took the dogs for our first walk this morning! Thing have been a little rough the past couple of days - I think he's going through a growth spurt - and we wanted to get up and start the day on a positive note. So we got all bundled up and headed out! It was wonderful, and Caden snoozed in the Moby Wrap the whole time. Many thanks to our neighbor, Frances, for snapping a few pics!

Today was our first day using cloth diapers and so far I'm pleased with their performance - no poo anywhere it doesn't belong! I'll keep you posted!

P.S. - I know you're diggin' that homemade hat!

Last night Tripp and I hosted our Centering Pregnancy group for a reunion dinner. All four couples, new babies, and Susan came together for food and fellowship and it was awesome. It was fun catching up on each other's new lives, getting advice and sharing new-mommy and -daddy tips. Tripp and I genuinely hope to keep everyone in close touch as we move forward in this new adventure and look forward to many more get-togethers with our new-parent friends!

On Saturday, Meme and Papa came for a visit. We three will be heading to Alpharetta on Thursday for Christmas dinner - it will be our first trip longer than 15-20 minutes. I hope we survive!

I've updated the photo album - click here to see the latest photos of our little guy!

A few updates

We visited the pediatrician for our 2nd checkup on Wednesday, and Caden weighed a whopping 9 pounds 7 ounces! Many peds worry that breastfed babies don't/won't gain/grow as well as they would on formula, but clearly we have a strong growing boy! Otherwise the visit was uneventful - he's happy, healthy and thriving. We go back in 2 weeks to start his vaccinations.

Caden and I went to our first new mommy group today at Full Bloom. I have to say I was a bit overwhelmed by all the people - boy was it was hot, and loud. Caden was the youngest (by 4 weeks) so maybe we'll wait to go back until he's a little bigger and I'm a little less tired. Afterwards, we visited with Heather of Stylized Portraiture to choose our prints and Christmas card/birth announcements. I had no idea how difficult it would be, but after 2 hours I was able to pick out what I wanted. Of course, when he got home from work, Tripp vetoed my 8x10 print choice, so I'll be calling Heather tomorrow to switch it. I can't wait to see them all in print! Heather was kind enough to give us the proofs, so I'll be framing a few of them for myself as well!

Sneak Preview!

Click the photo to see a sneak preview of Caden's photo session!

Newborn Photo Session

Today Caden and I were visited by Heather of Stylized Portraiture for his free newborn photo session! I tried to schedule it during a time when he tends to be soundly sleeping, but how do you know such a thing when he's only a few days old? Three PM sounded like a good time when I made the appointment last Thursday, but when he was still wide-eyed at 2:45, I was beginning to worry he might crash the session. Fortunately, he zonked just minutes before Heather arrived, and was a perfect little sleeping baby for the two-hour shoot. The online proofs should be available tomorrow, so I'll send along the link as soon as I get it!

He's Here!!!

After our appointment Friday we expected to be waiting at least a few more days, but I woke up Saturday morning with contractions! Things progressed slowly throughout the morning, and because my water broke early, we headed to the hospital at 4:00pm expecting to need Pitocin to speed things up. To our surprise, I was already 5 centimeters dilated and well on my way to delivering our little man. After a few hours of bearable labor, a few hours of hard labor and a little over an hour of pushing, Caden Spiers Almy was born at 12:56am, Sunday, December 7th, 2008.

8lbs 8oz
21-1/4 inches long

We've been at home since mid-day Monday and we're all very tired. Dad has been a real trooper, and has slept the least of all, so remember him when you lay your head down tonight - he needs some rest. Updates to follow!

Click here for photos of Caden's first few days on the outside!

Still Waiting...

No baby as of Friday evening! We visited Susan again today, and the nonstress test and ultrasound were fine - we scored a 10 out of 10. No change in my cervix, and the baby may actually be a little higher then he was on Monday, which is a bummer, but we're going to do some walking and yoga this weekend to see if we can't get him motivated.

We'll be back to see Susan on Monday morning and if nothing has changed, we will most likely have the induction discussion. No matter how you slice it, we should have a baby by next Friday at the latest. The full moon isn't until December 13th, so if he's waiting for that, he most likely won't make it.

We need everyone to get out there and do a little baby dance for us!!

The Baby-Wait Continues...

We saw our midwife, Susan, on Monday. No change from last week - 0cm dilated, 50% effaced and "buttery" soft. We have an appointment Friday for a nonstress test and ultrasound. They'll hook me up to a monitor and listen to the baby's heartbeat for about 20 minutes to make sure it's strong, then take a look at him on ultrasound to make sure he's growing right. I really hope we don't make it that far, even if it is just 1 week past our due date. Susan is off Thurs - Sunday so we're hoping for something during that time - or SOONER! Maybe we'll head out tomorrow night for some eggplant parmesan...

The baby was less active during the last week and I was sleeping poorly over the weekend, but today he's been moving around pretty much all day and I slept like a log last night....good signs? I really want to believe things are moving along, but I also don't want to get my hopes up, so I'm trying to ignore everything. I've been knitting like a fiend and tomorrow I'll be sewing; two perfect baby-waiting distractions. I can't imagine being home with no hobbies! I couldn't go back to work either though - I'm having a tough time moving and having to sit at a desk all day was terrible for my body.

Tripp and I are both trying to "go with the flow" but we're getting a little impatient. He must be really happy in there!