We’ve been home from the hospital for 48+ hours now, and so far everything is going as well as can be expected - truth be told, better than I expected. Leah thus far is a much more laid-back baby than Ian was, pretty content with sleeping a lot, eating a lot, and occasionally waking up long enough to look at the world around her for an hour or two, and then drift off back to sleep. I’m sure this will change, but for the moment, it’s pretty pleasant.

The hospital gave us the go-ahead to go home about 2pm on Wednesday, after both of the doctors had checked out mom and baby, and with some help from Shawna’s parents, we hauled out all of the stuff, and drove on home. It was a warm and pleasant spring afternoon, so after getting home, we hung out in the back yard for a while, enjoying the sunlight and first few blooming things of springtime. (Which, unfortunately, seem to be dandelions and violets in the back yard.) Ian played on his slide and showered his new sister with kisses, and Leah lounged on Mama and Dad’s lap, content to soak up the sun. However, being springtime in Missouri and all that, after an hour or so, it clouded up as thunderstorms rolled in, so we headed inside to introduce Leah to her new world. (Unfortunately, this also coincided with me discovering that my almost-2-year-old digital camera had given up the ghost, so I missed out on some good photo opportunities, until I went and got Shawna’s camera instead.)

(more…)

Leah (and Mom) are doing well; Leah has spent much of the past 24 hours sleeping, but did wake up long enough to eat her first good meal around 11:30 this morning, and has eaten well a couple of times since, when we could wake her up enough to consider eating. Mom has been trying to spend much of the past 24 hours sleeping, but it seems that about the time she starts to drift off, someone comes in to poke, prod, or measure her, or visitors arrive, so sleep has not happened as much as she would have liked.

Grandma and Grandpa brought big brother Ian to visit yesterday afternoon, but Ian was very suspicious of the little thing in Mama’s arms. During today’s visit, Ian was more curious and less suspicious, however, and at least leaned over to examine her a couple of times while Grandma was holding her. Great-grandma Nave, Shawna’s cousin Cassie, and Shawna’s aunt Vicki also came to visit today; Leah slept through most of the visit, but Great-Grandma was happy to hold her while she slept. Otherwise, it’s been a very quiet day, I think we’re all looking forward to going home to sleep in our own beds tomorrow night. (At least at home there aren’t people jostling up and down the halls all night and calling the nurse to the next room every 20 minutes.)

Leah looks a lot like Ian did at 1 day old, but honestly, most babies do. Shawna’s and her mom claim that they’ve seen a dimple - I haven’t caught her smiling enough to tell yet. She has the same long, delicate fingers and toes as Ian, and her legs are long and skinny too, if she’ll actually stretch them out. She likes to stay bunched up in a little ball - I guess if you’ve been that way for 9 months, it just kind of becomes habit. I’ve taken many more pictures, which I’ll post once I get home and have a better network connection. For now, I’m going to try to get some sleep, though.

Please welcome to the world Miss Leah Claire Ferguson.

Born: April 21, 2008 at 12:22pm at North Kansas City Hospital
Weight: 7 lbs 8.8 oz
Height: 21 1/4 inches

Mama and baby are both resting happily after a speedy delivery.

Currently, the update is…there is no update. At the doctor’s office Friday, the doctor said it could be any time, but that time has yet to arrive. A mostly-relaxing weekend has passed, and nothing has changed; if nothing happens between now and 4 am Tuesday, we’ll be heading to the hospital in the wee-wee hours on Tuesday so induction (inducement? … the giving of the magic drugs) can occur.

In other notes, Ian and I planted tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, herbs, and flowers yesterday in our backyard planters and little garden area. I’m giving one more try at a garden in our backyard, and if the results are abysmal again this year, I’m calling it quits. (Note that I said nothing about the front yard - though odds are we’ll be looking at selling the place by gardening time next year.) I’ve moved the garden spot to yet a 3rd location, that gets … different sunlight. Our back yard has limited sun, and is partially overhung by a black walnut tree, neither of which is conducive to gardening. If I didn’t think it’d make the neighbors hate me, I’d just plant sweet corn in the front yard, which would be perfect for it. Ah, well.

Ian’s second birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and last week we finally got the prints back from his 2-year-old photo session at the Sears photo studio. Some of them came out really well, and some not-so-well, but he’s still a frighteningly cute little boy (and he knows it). One of my co-workers said he should be in Baby Gap ads. The rest of the photo set is in the gallery - if you want prints, and I haven’t already sent you some, let me know.

I set this site up almost 2 years ago, just before Ian (Monkey #1) was born. Unfortunately, I have an amazing inability to actually sit down in front of a computer and choose which of the 37 different things I want to do I should actually do, and thus I usually end up either surfing the web or doing something for work, when I should be paying this page attention. As a result, this blog (I still hate that “word”, but use it grudgingly) has gone un-populated … until now. On the cusp of the birth of Monkey #2, I think now is a good time to start actually putting some things out here for the friends and relatives that I spend far too little time communicating with via other means.

For those of you who don’t know, today is the official, doctor-sanctioned due date for Monkey #2, though, since these things are always an imprecise science, it’s looking like it probably won’t be today, and thus the waiting game continues. Fortunately, despite what Shawna claims are my best attempts otherwise, we’ve finally achieved some level of readiness, as we have a room ready, most of the rest of the house cleaned up, old toys dug out of storage, and at least a couple of bags of newborn diapers purchased. Of course, the world being what it is, there are a number of things throwing monkey wrenches in the “relax and wait” plan - Ian having an ear infection, me having some minor medical issues, and Shawna’s grandma being sick, but, well, life isn’t always convenient.

Anyhow, that said, watch this space - I’ll try to to update this page as soon as we have news, and keep reading as we make our way through this next life adventure.