Finn at 1 month

Finn is now one month old! What a joy he has been! It’s still weird to say that I have a son and that I have two children (plural!)

Finn has met some grandparents so far, with more family coming throughout the next few months. Within a week and a half old, he gained a pound and has been off to the races since then. He’s shown good head control on tummy time and has officially rolled from tummy to back already! I thought it was a fluke around 4 weeks, but then he kept doing it while on tummy time during the last week. It’s not coordinated by any means, I think he just accidentally whips his head up and over and then kicks his legs out of frustration until he’s on his back. But I’ll count it!

He seemed to find his voice pretty early given his high pitched screams and shrieks and very loud cries. But we’ve learned how to calm him pretty quickly by swaddling. He wakes twice a night to eat, but lately he’s showing signs of not being fully awake so I’m almost having to wake him to eat. So I think we’ll start to see longer stretches out of him soon. He’s a loud sleeper, as newborns tend to be. He grunts and thrashes around which wakes this light-sleeping mama up constantly. So needless to say the nights are long for me. Luckily, I have a husband who doesn’t need much sleep and I can hand the baby off at 5am and grab another hour or two of sleep before he heads to work.

Finn’s eyes are starting to lighten and his hair is almost reddish – we’ll call it strawberry blonde. Harper loves to kiss his forehead and doesn’t hesitate to tell me to put him down when she needs me to help her, bossy lady! 🙂

Enjoyed a visit from his Grandpa!

siblings

These two are the cutest. So far, Harper isn’t very interested in Finn, but I know that will change as he gets more interactive. She does like to give him kisses and wave “Hi Finnegan!” She does not like when we call him Finny (she says “No, Finny’s at school” but she’s referring to her friend Finley.) Sometimes when I’m holding him as he fusses she’ll say “Put him in the swing, Mommy.” She’s still getting used to me splitting my time between the two of them, but she’s handling it well and his crying doesn’t faze her. When she comes home from school, she knows to immediately wash her hands before coming to find him. I will love watching these two grow closer together.

Finn at 2 and 3 weeks

Here are a few pictures of Finn from weeks 2 and 3. His eyes are starting to lighten up and his hair is strawberry blonde, almost red in some light. (Again, thanks to Tod for taking some of these pictures!)

So far, this is my favorite face he makes. It’s like he’s puckering up for a kiss, the little flirt.

when brother sleeps, sister plays

The hard part about being busy with a new baby is missing out on fun with my girl. While Gram and Tod were visiting, Harper got plenty of playtime while I was busy with Finn. Tod took all these photos and from the looks of it, I think Harper had a little bit of fun. 😉

Gram brought Harper her very own umbrella. It was cute to hear her say “I have an umbrella!” and try to open and close it herself.

It was so nice to have Gram and Tod visit – Harper loved having playmates!

Easter 2015

Easter weekend started out with Gram and Toddy visiting to meet Finnegan. Harper had an Easter egg hunt at school, so Drew, Gram and Toddy went and Tod snapped these pictures.

Then on Easter morning, the Easter bunny left goodies in the kids’ baskets! Finn was too sleepy to notice.

But Harper loved all her goodies!

And Gram made Harper a bunny-shaped pancake!

It was too wet and cool outside to do an egg hunt, so we hid some eggs upstairs in the playroom.

Harper was pretty excited about all the candy.

Our first holiday as a family of four!

vintage baby

Here’s Finn wearing an outfit and bonnet that his daddy wore over 30 years ago! Gram (Drew’s mom) crocheted the beautiful baby blanket he’s laying on.

Finn’s first photoshoot

Here are a few pictures from Finn’s newborn photoshoot we did at home during his first week.

Finn’s first days at home

We brought Finn home on 3/22 right after lunch. Harper was still napping, but the cats were quite interested in this new creature.

We showed Finn his room, but I don’t think he saw much.

I think he has his daddy’s feet.

Having my mom here for the week was a huge help. She cooked up a storm, cleaned, played with Harper, and rocked the baby so I could nap each day. When Harper was born, I didn’t think I needed to nap. But this time I was smart and prioritized a short nap each day and that made a world of difference in my mood! I was surprised at how easy the first week was and I attribute it mostly to help from my mom and Drew, a nap, and being more relaxed the second time around.

We took our first walk outside. It was a short walk – it was already pretty hot and we were overdressed.

Harper immediately warmed up to him now that he was home. She asked to hold him many times and gave him kisses.

These are the moments I was waiting for and thought about while I was pregnant. These two are going to be best friends!

Each day when she wakes up and when she gets home from school, she first asks where baby Finnegan is. She loves all the little noises he makes and when he cries she tells us he needs his paci.

Finn didn’t enjoy his first bath too much, nor any subsequent baths. He likes it better when they’re over and he is dry and clothed.

I think this boy already likes me. 🙂

Meet Finnegan Nash

Our bouncing baby boy arrived on Friday, March 20th at 7:26am weighing 8 pounds 3.3 ounces and measuring 19 inches long. He’s perfectly healthy and adorable!

His birth story begins the day before, when all the action started. Actually, let me back up a few weeks. With about a month left of my pregnancy, I was measuring big. So they did a growth ultrasound and found that he was measuring 2 weeks ahead and roughly 8 lbs 4 oz (and I was 36 weeks along.) So we were prepared for a large baby. Even the ultrasound tech said “I can’t believe how big your baby is!” My doctor said we could schedule an induction after 39 weeks if I wanted to. We went ahead and scheduled the next available induction appointment which happened to be on my due date (must have been a lot of mommies in similar situations at the time!) I really didn’t want to get induced, but we scheduled it just in case. As you can imagine, I was getting more uncomfortable by the day.

We planned to have my mom arrive on 3/19 and stay for a week to watch Harper in case I went into labor during that time. If I had to wait until my due date to get induced, my mom would have had just enough time to stop by the hospital to see the baby before heading back home. So we were all hoping for an early arrival!

My mom’s flight was a bit delayed and I picked her up at the airport around 3:30pm. On the way home I jokingly said to my belly, “It’s safe for you to come out now!” We headed to Harper’s school to pick her up and then came home and prepared dinner. We had just put the chicken in the oven and I sat down on the couch, when all of a sudden I jumped up and gasped. My water had broken! I was happily shocked! Could the timing have been any better? My water broke at home at exactly 39 weeks, just like with Harper! What a coincidence! I called Drew who was already on his way home from work. It was go time! I never did get to eat that chicken.

We arrived at the hospital around 6:30pm, got checked in and contractions started shortly thereafter. I labored for 20 hours with Harper, but second babies usually come a bit quicker. I had a feeling I was in for a long night. I labored throughout the night and progressed quickly towards the end. I only had to push for 25 minutes (vs. 3 hours with Harper!) Then there he was! In total, my labor with Finn was 13 hours. With Harper, my first thought upon seeing her was, “This giant baby was inside my belly?” With Finn, it was more like, “Wow he’s so tiny!” Funny how your perspective changes when you’ve been living with a toddler.

All along I was worried that the baby would be too big to push out, but that wasn’t the case. And he measured much smaller than we were expecting. It all worked out perfectly!

Later that day, Drew brought Harper and my mom in to meet the baby. Harper was excited, but didn’t want to get too close or touch him just yet.

My recovery and stay in the hospital was immensely easier than the first time. Drew and I were even able to laugh and relax with our new baby. So far, we think he favors me a bit. His hair is much lighter than Harper’s was. He definitely has my dimples.

I got absolutely no sleep the first night after his birth, but managed a few cat naps the second night. The first night, I sat holding my baby for hours, knowing I’d look back and be glad I opted to bond with him instead of sleep. I had too much adrenaline anyway.

Finn passed his hearing screening with flying colors.

The second day, my mom and Harper came back for another visit. This time, Harper let us lay him on her lap, but she still wouldn’t touch him.

By Sunday midday, we were ready to go home!