Week 2 Pictures

Sitting on the couch. Not so sure about the world.

So small at 12 days old

He loves looking at the ceiling.

Looks like a smile but I'm pretty sure it was a yawn.

One of Elliott's favorite spots - Dad's lap

First Bath

When Elliott's umbilical cord finally fell off, we gave him his first bath. He has a special bath bucket, though Jesse offered to donate a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket for the event.

He wasn't so sure about it at first . . .

But he was okay with it after a bit.

Week 1 pictures

Some pictures from Week 1:

Out for our first walk in East Aurora

Elliott's first ride in the MamaRoo. Thanks Poppy!

Relaxing (aka sleeping) on the couch with Dad.

First Outing - September 21

On Wednesday September 21, Elliott went to his first doctor's appointment, meaning we actually left the house. At five days old, Elliott is nearly back at his birth weight. His doctor said he's doing great!

Sadly, Grandma left today to go back home to Colorado. It was wonderful to have her here to meet Elliott and help us get through the first few days. Jesse and I were so grateful to have her hold him while we got much needed rest after the first two nights at home. We'll look forward to seeing her again soon!

Elliott Comes Home - September 18

We brought Elliott home on Sunday around noon. He wore his special coming home outfit from Aunt Holly.

Home!

Here are some pictures from the first few days.

Hanging with Dad on the couch

Lots of sleeping

Elliott Stafford Doren - September 16, 2011

At 2:30 am on Friday, September 16, 2011, I went into real labor. It was three days past my due date and I'd been having regular "practice" contractions for a couple of days. After two and a half hours of laboring on my own in bed and on the floor, I woke up Jesse at 5 am. We had breakfast, Jesse made a fire (it was cold - only 44 degrees!), and we watched a TV show while timing contractions. We called Lori, our doula, at 7 am to let her know that today may be the day. She asked that we call back if things rapidly progressed or in an hour, whichever came first. In an hour, things had progressed so we called back and she came over. With help from Jesse, Lori, and the sound of Love Actually in the background, I labored at home until 11:30 am. My doctor offered to check my progress at her office so we headed there. After scaring the receptionist (receptionist: "don't go into labor here;" me: "I am in labor!"), my doctor confirmed that I was well on my way (5 cm) and advised that we head to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at 1 pm and were barraged with what seemed to be 100 questions about my medical history and allergies. I still don't know why they asked if I was allergic to bananas and avocado! The nurse had to give her spiel about epidurals and other pain management options. She looked surprised when I said I didn't want anything and asked what my plan was. I pointed to Jesse and Lori and said, "you're looking at it!" Shortly after that, the midwife on duty said I was 7 cm. By 3 pm, I was 10 cm and ready to meet our baby. It was all worth it! Jesse and Lori were amazing. With their support, we were able to have the natural birth we'd been hoping for. After 14 hours of labor, Elliott Stafford Doren was born at 4:15 pm on September 16, 2011.

Elliott and me a few minutes after delivery

A family :)

8 lbs, 6.1 oz; 20.5 inches

Elliott was wide-eyed and alert after getting cleaned and checked by the nurses.

Elliott and Lori, our amazing doula

Meeting Aunt Holly, Uncle Ted, and Aunt Jen

Meeting Coco, Grandma, and Poppy

Here we go . . . !

We're really excited to have Elliott in our lives every day and keep getting requests for pictures. Instead of emailing or posting pictures to Facebook, I'm going to try a blog to share pictures and stories from Elliott's days and nights. This is new for me so no promises on regularity of posts or lengthy narratives. Most importantly, we'll use this blog to share pictures with Jesse when he goes to sea.

Elliott is now two and a half weeks old so I have some catching up to do! This fancy blog lets me change the date and time of posting so I've put everything in chronological order even though we're going live on 10/6/11.