Chilling at home

Resting with Dad. Being a baby is tiring!

Looking cute in the sun with wrist rattles.

I don't like baths!!

Resting with Mom.

Other hospital pictures

Just after they dropped us off in our hospital room. His newborn rash has since cleared up.

A big yawn!

Dad on diaper duty.

Dad and Zach, bonding in my bed (note the hand in mouth, yet again).

Dressed for the big ride home. The tort lawyer in me has to chuckle at the size of the warning label on this seat. It is half as tall as Zach!

Bilirubin, bilirubin, go away...

Zach has been having some minor issues with newborn jaundice. We had to take him to have some blood drawn to test his bilirubin levels (they were below the danger zone, thankfully). He was not a fan of the test, and let the clinic know by peeing all over the exam table. That's my man!!

Our pediatrician told us to sit with him in indirect sunlight to bring the levels down. Since the sun was bothering his eyes, we outfitted him with the only appropriate sun-blocking headgear.

Welcome to the World, Big Man

Zachary Thomas was born on August 31, 2007 (three days past his estimated due date), at 8:32 a.m., weighing in at 8 lbs., 8.4 oz. and measuring 19.5 inches long. As I am notoriously late for everything, I should have known better than to think any child of mine would arrive early or on-time. At my last appointment, the doctor said he didn't think Zach was more than 8 lbs. Zach had other things in mind.

Zach decided that he wasn't into the whole labor thing, so he arrived via unplanned c-section.

Here I am, right before the start of surgery, thinking about (1) how much I love the epidural man and (2) how afraid I am of needles. I did not expect to be strapped to an operating table 5 hours after we arrived at the hospital.

After he was delivered, the doctors forgot he was a "surprise" baby, and it took them a few moments to tell us whether he was a boy or a girl. The doctor here is trying to give us a first look. Since I was strapped down onto the table, and the doctor was holding him quite low, I couldn't see much.

Jason was a trooper and was there for everything. He even peeked around the curtain at one point. Here are my two men, shortly after delivery.

The first family picture.

Day 2

Mouth, meet my hand. You'll become well acquainted over the next couple of years.