Hey, everyone! I had a BABY!

Yup, after all my whining and kvetching I finally (er, 2 days before my due date) went into labor. ; )  Little Quinn was born early Thursday morning, at home, in a big tub, in the presence of my 2 midwives, Zach, my mom, and D who'd woken up just in time.  I'll write out the full birth story eventually, but it was fast and furious and the whole thing pretty amazing.

What's also amazing? How different these first few days with a newborn have felt compared to my first days with D.  When D was born I was, of course, overjoyed, but also overwhelmed.  Despite all my reading and attempts at preparation, once he was in my arms I felt fairly clueless.  I didn't quite know how to soothe him, how to feed him, and it didn't help that jaundice made him too sleepy to eat or poop well, and by day 3 I was a sobbing mess as we had to leave the comfort of our home to take him to a hospital to get the blue light treatment.

I had suspected that things would feel very different this time, and that does seem to be the case.  As soon as Q came out and went in my arms, I was beaming.  I was able to fully take him in and just enjoy the moment, feeling already so much more comfortable and confident in my ability to handle a newborn.  Thanks to orders from my midwives to rest as much as possible, I've had my mom and Zach pretty much waiting on me hand and foot, allowing me to rest and focus on the little one.  He's also a champ nurser, and has been exceeding the "required" number of wet and poopy diapers each day.  I'm healing up much faster than after D's birth, and my mental/emotional state is much better, both of which I attribute at least partially to the extra rest and frequent nursing (yay oxytocin!).

And D, has been amazing me.  All through my pregnancy he was very interested in my belly, in the baby, in talking about his baby brother, etc.  I wondered if his interest would continue once he realized what "baby brother" actually means... Well, he's been fascinated with his little brother.  I'm so glad he got to be there for the birth, and from that very moment he's been so excited and so interested in Quinn.  He'll sit next to me, holding my chin with his hand, watching Q nurse.  This morning he even said, "I love my baby brother" which is HUGE to me seeing as he's only said that to me once, ever.  Right now he's helping my mom push Q around outside in the stroller.  There have been a few heartbreaking moments when he's screaming for me to do something for him when I'm not available, but overall he's been adjusting really well to the new baby, and to having to share Mommy with him.  I'm crossing my fingers that this continues.