Marie Is Born

We got the call the night before to come in for our planned c-section a couple hours later than expected. That is not necessarily a problem, but I must start with an apology for worrying those of you out there who wondered why no news had come out even several hours after when you thought the surgery was. For us, one thing led to another: Senia's feet were not regaining feeling as hospital staff would have liked, little Marie initially had low blood sugar which called for some extra testing, and probably the most important of all, mommy and daddy just wanted some quiet time with baby before turning our attention outward too quickly.

Senia is recovering well. No c-section is smooth or easy, but there have been no complications, and all has been made a bit better by things like (as everyone says behind the doctor's back) "he does such a good job" and "his surgeries make recovery so much faster". Senia is resting a lot, but makes sure to get up and walk around every once in a while, to keep circulation going and swelling down.

As for Marie, she is not the voracious eater we have had before. She seems to be getting more used to feeding and how the process works; it's hard when you have had everything pumped straight into you for nine months.

She is certainly big, being born just over ten pounds, but the bigger issue that slowed down the delivery, was that cute, little head...which is not so little. All of our children have had large-circumference heads for their size, and the doctor had more trouble than he was expecting when bringing her out. "OK, mom and dad, no more babies for you two till I retire." He was joking; it was nothing he could not handle, but certainly revealed a deeper truth.

We will be heading home tomorrow, Saturday. Just a warning, though, the rate of our previous Facebook activity is probably a good indicator of the future. In other words, don't expect a sudden stream of Marie photos, though we will certainly make sure to keep everybody updated.

We love you all and are thankful for your care and concern for us.