Pictures

The puffiness in William's face was better the second day so I took some more pictures. Here is the little guy with his eyes open:

He has the biggest newborn hands I've ever seen. Joel is convinced he'll grow up able to palm a basketball.

My babies like to be born with plenty of black hair. Everett and Ashley had thicker hair, but William has lots of hair all over his body to compensate. He even has it sprouting on his ears, shoulders, and arms. You can't really tell in this picture, but the sides of his forehead are covered with hair, too! The child is a bruiser, and we love him dearly. I started calling him "little bear" in the hospital, but I don't know if it will stick. Right now I'm just trying not to call him Everett.

Proud Dad

Proud Everett

Proud Ashley

Ideally, I would have liked to go home from the hospital Sunday night, but I was willing to stay an extra night for William's sake. I was hoping we could go home first thing Monday morning, but no such luck. The hospital needed William to stay so they could send the 48 hour post-birth blood work in to the state. Even though I was antsy and ready to get on with my life, I decided it was a good thing he and I had an extra day to spend together. I gave him as much skin-to-skin contact as I could.

My favorite way to hold newborns: laying on his belly with his head snuggled right up against the skin of my neck and collarbone area. This is how we looked the majority of that last day. It was wonderful and peaceful, and despite my anxiousness to get home, I really enjoyed being able to do this without interruption.

Now we're home and doing well, and it has been really nice to get back to my normal life. I have my wonderful mother and sister out here to help me, so I get to enjoy all of the fun parts of my day and few of the routine chores. It was great to spend time with Everett and Ashley this morning and it is nice to feel self-sufficient again.