Week 2: Family snuggles

This week has been really great. Hadley is starting to get in the groove of our family life, and my morning snuggles with her, Mom and Dad are a lot of fun. She had a doctor's appointment this week and did really well, even though she had to get a shot. Mom and Dad were sad to know it hurt her, but she bounced back like a champ.

Hadley is growing, happy, smiling, and still sleeping really well. Mom and Dad took her out for a nice dinner, and she slept through the whole thing. Mom and Dad got to eat and drink with both hands! Very exciting.

Hope everyone is ready for Christmas!

Week 1: wowzers

Sorry for the delay readers! Boy what a week. Hadley is officially one week old, and she has turned our lives upside down in the best way. I love being a big brother! I like to sniff her and lick her hair and lay on the floor next to her cradle. It helps me keep a good eye on my parents. I'm not sure they know what they're doing.

Sometimes the baby cries, and that makes me sad so I cry with her. But for the most part, she sleeps really well, snuggles with Mom and Dad and enjoys getting visitors. Mom and Dad are doing good though. They take turns rocking and feeding the baby. Mom is great a early morning feedings and snuggles. Dad is a master diaper changer and bath giver. They're a good team!

Basically the best day EVER

Hey everyone! Courtney here. Loki is featuring me as a guest blogger this week. He's very excited to spend the extra free time with his new baby sister, Hadley.

First things first: we are so BEYOND grateful for everyone's warm wishes, love, prayers, congratulations, and blessings for our little girl. We could not be more thankful for the wonderful friends and family we have. We are working on touching base with everyone, but in the meantime, know that we are thinking of you and looking forward to introducing you to Miss Hadley :)

Now the fun stuff: She was due to arrive on Wednesday, December 3. I, of course, really wanted her here that day. We met with Dr. Hamel who told us to be patient and, in the event that December 10 rolled around with no baby, we scheduled an induction. But thankfully, that wasn't necessary at all. At midnight on Friday, December 5, I woke up with contractions that I thought were Braxton Hicks. I wandered into the living room, turned on a few episodes of New Girl, and started timing. Sure enough: they were the real thing. Within 2 hours, I was having contractions 5 minutes apart. I woke Bruce up, and told him we needed to start getting ready to go to the hospital. We packed the car, snuggled with Loki, and away we went.

By the time we got to the hospital around 3am, my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart, but we still had a ways to go until the big event. We walked around the hospital courtyard for about 2 hours to keep things moving, were transferred to Labor & Delivery, and I immediately requested an epidural. Good call. Actually, GREAT call. As soon as I got the epidural, I felt fabulous. So much so that I had to ask Bruce to check the monitor to see if I was actually even having contractions. I was.  We spent the next 8 watching TV, seeing doctors, and listening to music. By 3pm, Dr. Hamel came by to check on me and told me we'd have a baby by 4pm.  And she was pretty much spot on! At 3:40 pm, I started pushing. After only 26 minutes, at 4:06pm, Hadley Grace Hughes made her fashionably late (but not so dramatic or painful) entrance into the world.

After that, we snuggled with our new addition and were whisked away to the Mother/Baby unit. We got settled, saw our families, and started our new life as a family of three. And there you have it. The story of how we met the love of our life, Hadley.

xoxo
C

Week 40: Hadley Grace Hughes has arrived!

Just a quick post for all of the readers. I'll write a longer one later with the full birth story details.

I'm finally a big brother! Hadley Grace was born on Friday, December 5th at 4:06pm weighing 7lbs 4ozs, 20 inches long! Mom did a great job and Dad was a big help keeping Mom calm, focused, and laughing. There was always laughter coming from their room, something the nurse appreciated.

Mom will take over with real details later, but I couldn't leave you hanging.