Bath time!

Linden is three weeks old today! We had been giving him sponge baths, but today Linden enjoyed his first real bath.


Here is a clean, calm, and happy little Linden.

More pictures

Jeanine helped us take care of Linden for the past few days. She's been a huge help--rocking Linden to sleep, cooking, spreading mulch, planting lilies, etc. We really appreciate all her efforts!



Coca is getting more curious, but she's still nervous around Linden.

At first, Linden didn't like being in his bouncy seats or swing. Now he enjoys himself, which frees us up for a few moments.


Shelby, Dave, Eli, and Sterling stopped by to meet Linden. Eli is almost seven months old and cute as a button!

Daily Linden fix

Linden still prefers to sleep during the day-light hours, but we're coping well with the lack of sleep. My mom has been very, very helpful-- she rocks Linden to sleep at 3 am, she cooks for us, and she teaches me how to be a good mommy. We're going to miss her very much when she leaves.

We took Linden and Coca for a walk today. Rebecca witnessed the hot debate over the stroller. I am really satisfied with the jogger adapted to hold our car seat. It's going to be a great spring and summer--what a perfect time to have maternity leave!

Here's Scott with Linden:

And here's Linden just hanging out:

Visitors

Lots of friends and family came this weekend to welcome Linden.

It was a beautiful weekend! Uncle Shaun drove all the way down from Green Bay to meet his new nephew. Uncle Shaun, Uncle Chris, and Aunt Jen brought over a picnic lunch.


Bernadette and Anna brought over a very generous gift from my Journal House pals and enjoyed a snuggle.


Erik stopped by to meet Linden:


Dave and Torey welcomed Linden to the neighborhood:


Dana and Craig brought over a little Easter cheer:


Some cute pictures of Linden:

Coming home

We left the hospital on Tuesday. Here's Linden in the hat and sweater I knit for him, which fit him perfectly! We didn't know if the baby would be a boy or a girl. I strongly felt "boy", but I have no scientific reason behind it. In retrospect, that hat and sweater was not gender-neutral...


Coca is curious but a bit apprehensive about our newest family member.

Introducing Linden Lamont Mead

Here's Liana practicing yoga towards the end of her pregnancy. The breathing and meditation techniques and flexibility came in very handy during labor and delivery.


Liana woke up Saturday April 5th at about 3:30 am laying in a small puddle, but contractions were very weak and infrequent. We weren't sure if this was really labor. Scott quickly packed his hospital bag before going into work, just in case he needed to go to St. Mary's hospital where we were registered. At about 8 am nothing had changed, so Liana called her doctor. They asked her come in for a check-up, and she was admitted soon after. Scott finished rounding at UW Hospital and came over to St. Mary's.

Liana's brother Jeff was in the U.S. for business and had already been planning to drive up to Madison with Brad on Saturday afternoon. Liana's parents decided to come up too, and everyone hung out at the hospital for the afternoon.

Labor still hadn't started in earnest...Liana and Scott tried all sorts of natural labor stimulation with mixed results. The medical team was very supportive and gave us about 12 hours to try.

Since things were progressing slowly on their own, the doctor strongly recommended that we augment the labor with pitocin at about 9 pm. True labor started at about 11 pm. Liana did a great job breathing through contractions and resting between them when she had a chance. Scott was an outstanding labor coach through the night by using the techniques from the natural birth class. Notice that Liana is a bit more serious than earlier in the day.

Finally, at 8:11 am on Sunday April 5th, the doctor delivered the baby's head, and then Scott caught Linden and placed him on Liana's chest. He weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces and was 19 inches in length.


Here's the placenta, which was much easier to deliver. We decided not to take it home to plant in the yard because Coca would definitely dig it up.

Linden was very considerate in his choice to be born on April 5. Scott's colleagues generously covered for him this weekend at the last minute, and now he has 5 weeks of paternity leave. Plus Linden was able to meet his uncle Jeff before he headed back to Switzerland. Uncle Chris and aunt Jen stopped by too, but we didn't get a chance to take a picture because Linden became hungry on short notice.

All the new grandparents enjoyed their new grandson.