The Thinker

One of Her Favorite Nap Spots

Cute? Who, Me?

Getting Hungry

Visit With Great-Grandma M.

We're looking at a 93-year age difference here, folks.






We can't wait for Aurora to met the rest of her family later this year!

Getting Back on Track

We are gradually dipping our toes back into work. The official plan was to take the month of July off, but as work opportunities have come up, we've taken a couple of them to ease the transition to normal life. Aurora rarely cries and sleeps most of the time, so it has been very doable, though obviously more challenging than when we didn't have a newborn! It's been strange doing nothing but taking care of the baby, but it's also strange to get back in the swing of things, as if this life-altering event didn't just take place and everything's back to normal. It's amazing how fast you can adapt!

We visited Great Grandma M. this weekend on our first trip away from home. She was thrilled to meet the baby and we got some great photos from the trip, which I'm in the process of sorting through. This weekend we're going to visit the other great grandparents on my side, and then no more trips for awhile, I think!

And now, for your Rory fix:

Startle Reflex

Newborns have a startle reflex where they spread out their arms. Needless to say, it's pretty cute!

Muscles!

Rory often puts her arms up like this, and we like to tease her that she's showing off her muscles.

Tiny Dancer

Baby Bunny

Sometimes Aurora makes these super cute baby bunny noises in her sleep, so her bunny outfit from my cousins is very appropriate!

Daddy and Me

We don't have many pictures of Joel with the baby because he's been the photographer. I'm finally learning how to use our amazing but complicated new camera, and here are a couple of my first attempts.

Our Best Friend

I love my Boppy nursing pillow--and so does Rory!

Coming Home From the Hospital

Sleeping Beauty

A couple of people have asked if we named Aurora after Sleeping Beauty (um, no), but I have to admit that she sleeps like an angel. We are so lucky--keeping our fingers crossed that she stays this angelic!

(We had a hard time coming up with a name, but we finally settled on Aurora Mei because Aurora means dawn and Mei, pronounced May, means beautiful in Chinese. AND because Joel loves the nickname Rory!)

Daily Bun*

I'm going to try to post a picture a day of little Rory (Joel's nickname for Aurora). This one shows one of the funny faces she makes in her sleep.




*Bun was our nickname for Aurora before she came, and she still gets called that on occasion!

Baby's First Bath

Aurora didn't seem to mind her first bath on Tuesday.

But she definitely didn't like getting out of the water!

Once she was dressed and warmed up, she was happy again.

Aurora's Entrance

Warming up after birth.

On Sunday night, I was 5 days overdue and not looking forward to the upcoming 41-week tests we had scheduled for Tuesday, so while I was taking a bath, I told the baby we were ready for her and she could come whenever she wanted, but really, Monday would be a good day. Then I went about cleaning the refrigerator. (What--who doesn't clean the fridge at 11:00 pm on a Sunday night?) I was just getting started when I felt a little gush of fluid. So I went and told Joel there was some trash to take out from the fridge, and oh, by the way, I think my water just broke? So we might want to finish packing the hospital bag...

I ended up going to bed at 1:30 or so and the contractions started at 2. I couldn't sleep through them, but I was able to rest until 4 or 5, when they started to get stronger. I woke Joel up at 8 to time them, and they were about 1 minute 30 seconds long, 3-5 minutes apart, so we decided to go to the hospital.

We got checked in at 10 or so, and when the midwife checked me, I was 4 cm dilated and 90% effaced. I used a birthing ball and then the jacuzzi tub, and only 3 1/2 hours later, I was 10 cm and ready to push!

Pushing with the help of the birthing bar.

Baby girl came flying down the birth canal in just 20 minutes, only to get stuck at the bottom for another 1/2 hour. The midwife was patient with her (and me) and Aurora Mei finally made her appearance at 2:32 p.m., weighing 7 lb, 1 oz.

Sucking her thumb straight from the womb!

If only labor were really that easy...but you get the idea! The midwives were amazing and we had a great experience. We feel really lucky to have found such supportive caregivers, especially at a big university hospital. I couldn't have asked for a better birth experience.

It's hard to believe she's actually here. Just five days ago, she was still in my belly and we were trying to imaging what she'd be like. (Answer--like nothing we could have imagined!). She's such a sweet baby and we're slowly starting to get the hang of this whole parenting thing.

Here are just a couple more pictures of Aurora on my chest in the first few minutes after birth. You can see where she scratched herself almost right away. We're still constantly entertained by her expressions! It's so much fun getting to know her.

Why is it so bright out here?

What're you looking at? Fine, there will be more pictures to come. Just keep your pants on!