7 QT - New Baby!

Joining Jen at Conversion Diary for a day late 7QT.  And no pictures today because the computer I'm using doesn't want pictures, which is too bad, because I have lovely new baby photos, but... technology. ***Update:  Well, at least I could change the header!

1.

Felix Anthony was born Saturday, June 21, at 5:01 p.m.  During daylight hours!  He's our only baby to not be born when it was dark out.  He's just gorgeous, sweet, snuggly, happy, and wonderful.  We all agree on this.   

 

2. 

His head was transverse, so he took some sweet time coming out.  I went in at 5 a.m. at 6 cm and by 4 p.m. was...7.5 cm.  But my midwife was spectacular, Michael was a hero, and my support team was so helpful, so it wasn't as bad as all that.  And the tub!  I got to labor in the tub for some of it, which is just about the only place I want to be in labor.

 

3.

We didn't find out boy or girl before the birth, so the midwife said to Michael,  "Dad, do you want to call it?" The look on Michael's face when he said, "It's a boy!" with such surprise and delight is something I hope I never forget.  I guess we were both expecting this baby to be a girl, but he is most definitely a boy.

 

4.

Picture a sweet newborn baby boy... on a scale that reads 10 lb., 1 oz,  He's 21 inches long.  He is a big ol' boy!  And a big head, too:  14.5 inches in circumference.  Nobody was expecting him to be quite that large, least of all me.  Of course, as the people in the room were taking bets before he was weighed, my guess was 30 lb. (he was tough to get out), but I wasn't really expecting 10 lb.

 

5.

The next morning (Sunday) I went into septic shock, complete with high fever, crashing blood pressure, and all manner of medical procedures.  I was rushed to the ICU for care.  I got out of the ICU Thursday night and am on a medical floor of the hospital, still working on recovery and control of the infection that hit me.  Nobody is quite sure why this happened, because I had NO risk factors for this condition.  Felix went home with Michael on Tuesday, having been monitored for sepsis and found to be healthy, and having gotten his weight back up to 10 lb again (he has his priorities straight).  This is all about as fun as it sounds, and I certainly didn't expect to be spending his 1 week day at the hospital without him.

 

This is also why there aren't pictures -- I'm not on my usual machine and I can't make this one bend to my will. 

 

6.

Thank God for modern medicine and excellent health care workers.  And our parish priest who came to anoint me and brought the Eucharist.  And blanket warmers -- I think I might be addicted to warm blankets now. 

 

7.

We named him Felix because we really like the name, it means "happy" or "happiness," and there are  some really cool Sts. Felix in Church history.  We named him Anthony after St. Anthony of Padua, to whom we have a devotion.  When the kids came to see him right after the birth, Hannah asked me what his name meant.  "Happy," I said.  But she wanted to know what Anthony meant, too.  I didn't know, because we were thinking of the saint when we chose that name.  She went home and looked it up and told me yesterday when they visited.  Anthony means "beyond measure."

 

We named our baby Happiness Beyond Measure. 

 

I try to remember that as I work on my recovery. 

 

And I would like to ask for your prayers for my full and swift recovery.  I can't wait to get back to my family.