Flying By and Running Together...

W-O-W...has life just zipped by in these last two weeks for anyone else? It's hard to believe that our little Connor is already past the two week mark. It probably doesn't help that our nights and days are still running a bit together...catching naps whenever possible and keeping Connor on a good schedule (and burping him even when it takes and hour in the middle of the night-!). Thankfully he's catching on to the idea of sleeping longer when it's dark out--for the most part--and I'm slowly but surely getting "used to" waking up at least once to feed him. Grady and I both laugh about how easily we had forgotten having gone through this stage with Caitlin--surely she slept through the night from the beginning?? haha. Another shock is hearing myself say I have two kids...whoa! Sounds so...established or something. And grown up! I thought I'd feel so much more responsible or "on top of things" at least when I had two kids, but instead it's moments of being overwhelmed and general over tiredness and exhaustion so far! But I know it's worth it. And just look at that sweet face, who couldn't help but fall in love with it!!

Happy Lovey Day

Whenever Caitlin's being affectionate or especially sweet we've called it being "lovey." At first she wasn't quite sure about her little brother but the last couple days she's been lovey with him and it just melts our hearts!Happy "Lovey" Day from our family to yours!
doesn't he look dashing!
(his shirt says, "Kiss Me, I'm a prince!")

Alas, We Have a Baby in Our Midst!

Announcing: Connor Reagan Maass, born Friday, February 6th at 9:57am, weighing 7 lbs, 2 oz, 20 inches long. Born at home with our midwife, Rachel Knudson, attending.

We went to sleep on Thursday night just like any other evening but around 1:30am I woke up to contractions, which I was able to doze off in between until around 4. We called our midwife, Rachel, and things picked up from there!

Rachel arrived around 6:30 to my intense and frequent contractions. Thankfully I had used the two hours previous to get my last minute tasks done around the house, because by then I was happy to just rest during the breaks. Opa (Grady's dad) came by to get Caitlin around 7, and she knew it was a special day, saying, "Baby! Baby!" and even mimicking my vocal sounds during contractions (low "Ohhhhhh" sounds). Cute!Grady fills the pool (and looks pretty chipper for 4am, wouldn't you say!)

The pool was filled a short time later and I got in to help with the intensity of the contractions. The water helped me relax but a short while later I got out as the urge to push overwhelmed me and I found myself actually "overheating" being in the warm water. Labor is hard, heat-producing work!

After much more intensity, hard work, and a little over an hour of pushing, our son was born--right here in our bedroom and actually beside the birthing pool (in which we had intended to deliver! haha). He arrived at 9:57am, with a full head of dark, curly hair, all 10 fingers and toes and a loud voice to top it off! We couldn't believe this little one we had been waiting for for so long was finally here!Papa is ecstatic! (picture taken immediately after birth)

We spent the next hour resting together in bed with his umbilical cord still attached to provide the last bit of sustenance it could give. Then Grady cut it and almost immediately the placenta was "born," and in one piece! With Caitlin, some of the placenta had ruptured needing me to be rushed into a D&C procedure to prevent major blood loss and severe hemorrhaging. Needless to say, it was quite a relief to avoid history repeating itself!Cuddle time with Mama (and her great hair I might add)

Three hours later, after much cuddle time and a good nurse, Rachel did his newborn exam. He weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces, was 20 inches long, with a head circumference of 14 inches. He had great coloring (healthy pink!) and was alert and looking around as she continued examining him. How wonderful to have such a beautiful, healthy baby boy. (And not a day "overdue" if you ask the midwife-! ...unlike what the "numbers" said...!)
newborn exam

We finally decided on a name this morning: Connor Reagan. Not long after that Caitlin met her brother for the first time and was just sooo sweet to him! What a precious blessing.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers and thoughts during these past few weeks, we have felt their presence and blessing through this whole process (which includes waiting on his arrival in the past week especially!!). And get this: my contractions really didn't ever last "long enough" (never a whole minute as they're "supposed to") and even during pushing didn't come "frequent enough" (always five minutes apart if not longer-!) and these two factors are what concerned the doctor when I was in labor with Caitlin--enough that Pitocin (a synthetic hormone to increase both factors) was given as to "not put the baby in danger." Well now I'm proof that even with my irregularity a healthy baby was born--somehow--and even though it doesn't fit into how things "should" go, nature succeeded in the task at hand! God did design our bodies well, we just need to trust and know that. Praise him for his intelligent design and faithfulness in strengthening us in our times of need, can I get an "Amen!" :)

We'll post more pictures in the days to come, stay tuned!

Baby Brother

"Where's baby brother?" we've been asking Caitlin for some time now--most of the time she'll pat my belly, although she's also patted hers (and even Grady's, haha!) a time or two. But this past week it seems like she's especially grasping the concept of him being inside me, and also that he's a "baby." She's so sweet about it and I hope that continues when he's actually stealing the attention away from her-!sitting on the belly yesterday after our weekly meeting with our midwife

In Graph Form

Hilarious!

Our Family of Three's Latest Adventure

No baby yet! So on Saturday we went snowshoeing at a nature park in the area. Note to all expecting mothers (especially those relatively close and/or over their due date): don't rely too heavily on your snowshoes' traction on hills and packed snow and be ready for some reasonably sharp pain when your balancing muscles try to kick in but fail to engage (likely due to the extreme looseness due to your body's readiness to give birth or something). Yeah, that part I could have lived without-! Grady and Caitlin also had a rather dramatic run in with a steep river bank (thankfully the river was frozen and no major injuries resulted). But alas we all survived!Grady showcasing his snowshoes and a good shot of the 40+ week belly! (and Caitlin in her favorite sled!)