Attack of the Incredible Growing Baby

We've hit the 2-week mark with a bang. A recent weigh-in at the health unit puts Sophie at 7 lbs 10 oz, which is a one pound gain since her birth!...which would explain the mad feedings and the extreme fussiness in the middle of the night. Michael goes back to work tomorrow,which is making us a little sad, but he gets to come home for lunch everyday and Michelle might actually take afternoon naps. When Michelle asked Sophie if she was going to be nice to mommy when daddy's back at work, she responded by spitting up all over Mich's chest and arm. Nice! So we begin the next stage.

Sophie's 1st week

We made it through our first week of parenthood relatively unscathed, although we have now experienced both the pee right when we're in the middle of changing a diaper and the projectile spit-up on daddy whilst cuddling on the couch! I know it's early, but Sophie's been pretty good to us so far, and I'm getting used to being sentient at 3 am. It's kind of funny to see our drying rack loaded with diapers on a regular basis, too. Thank you to everyone who came to the "meet-the-baby" on Sunday. Once the weather cools off a little, we hope to be out and about more. We have made it down Whyte Ave a couple times this past week to introduce Sophie to her neighbourhood and the surprising amount of people we know. Today, Sophie took her dad out for his birthday, and we treated ourselves to take-out and video rentals. Ah, life in the parental fast lane!

I've Arrived!

After many months, and 37 hours of labour (sorry, mommy!) Sophie Lucille Papineau-Couture has made her appearance! Sophie whipped into this world on Sunday July 16th (her due date) at 4:44 pm. She was actually delivered by the nurse, because after putting everyone through all those hours and trips back and forth to the hospital, she quit messing around--25 minutes of pushing, and arrived 2 minutes before the doctor got there! She weighed in at 6 lbs 10 1/2 oz (3010 grams) and 20 1/2" (52 cm) long. Everyone is doing great, although Mich and Michael are still exhausted...I guess that doesn't go away. We can't quite figure who she looks like, although she has her grandmother's giant Dutch hands and feet, and Gene Simmons' (from Kiss) tongue. So far she likes being where all the action is, usually only settles down for her Dad, and takes her time eating, which means Mommy will probably watch every movie in the apartment over the course of breastfeeding.

We are EXTREMELY grateful for all of the support and generosity everyone has given us...we are without words (something that rarely happens...)

We also want to say a special thank you to Michelle's mother Louise who was with us every step of the way even opening her house to us during the labouring process. Also we want to thank Michelle's sister Lisa for giving Michael some well needed recharge breaks during the labouring process.

For pictures you can visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmpeanuts

Love,

Michelle, Michael and Sophie

One week (+/-) to go!

We're in the final stretch now, and we've done everything around the apartment I wanted to get done before baby comes. We will have a "meet-the-baby" party/shower at my mom's shortly after the arrival, which we'll let everyone know about (those of you who like to change your phone number/email on a regular basis, please let us know). We'll also have a birthday cake for Michael then, since he is generously sharing his birthday week with baby. Not much more to report...next post should be the "big one"!

Waiting for our little monkey

Happy Canada Day, everyone! I'm finally finished work and now comes the 2 weeks or so wait! I managed to make it to almost 38 weeks at work without going into labour, and I had a lovely spend-off from all the doctors and the office ladies (thanks again). We're essentially ready: labour bag is mostly packed, the cradle is good to go, and we have diapers, so I suppose that's as ready as we can be. We have a couple girls' names picked out, but haven't settled on a boy's name yet (we welcome any suggestions). I found out you have 10 days to name the baby, but hopefully we leave the hospital with baby and a name. We have a list of people to call, but please let us know if you want to be woken up with a phone call. Otherwise we'll wait for a reasonable hour.
We'll keep you posted with any changes but I have a feeling I'm in for the long haul!