Our Baby

Since Ben's parents and grandparents were in town for Ben's graduation, we decided to go ahead and have Russell blessed the Sunday following graduation.  It was a beautiful blessing!

Russell's blessing outfit was a little big.  I wasn't planning on having him blessed until later in the summer, so the little guy had to wear a 3 month outfit.  He didn't seem to mind.

My parents, Ben and Shannon, Emily and Preston, and Janet were also in attendance for his blessing.

Four generations

Ben Joslin, Esquire

 

 

I'm so proud of Ben and all his hard work!  I don't know how he was able to stay focused during all that happened in the three years of law school--we met, dated, and got married; he had a two month long ordeal with kidney stones; and dealt with a pregnant wife!  Even with everything that happened outside of school, he managed to achieve the GPA he was hoping for, go to the national competition in mediation representation, do hours and hours of community service, be a student director for the mediation clinic, and be SBA vice president.  Way to go, Ben!

Russell tried out his loud noise making light up toy this week.  He seemed to like it the first time, but he wasn't as thrilled with it the second time I put him under it.

We have learned that Russell only likes to sleep in our arms or on nice fluffy pillows.  I know.  Babies aren't supposed to sleep with blankets or on super soft things.  We are bad parents. However, we are always close by when we put him on them.  Once when we looked over at him, this is how we found him--half on, half off.

We wanted to know how much weight Russell has gained since he was born, but his first 'official' doctor visit isn't until one month.  The post office was the only place we could think of to get an accurate weight without tons of people around, so we sneaked in last night and plopped him on the scale.  It's a good thing our post office has a 24/7 shipping center in the lobby!  And, good news!  He gained exactly one pound from the last time we had to take him in to have his bilirubin levels tested.  We knew he had been putting some weight on because he now has a double chin, and his little legs are starting to chunk up.

If you wanted a real update on graduation and Russell's blessing, you can read about it here or wait a little longer for us to post about it.

I should really be napping...

but who can resist looking at this cute little guy?  Ben and I can't, and sometimes it is a fight over who gets to hold him and snuggle with him.

Emily, Preston and the gang come over right after we got home from the hospital.  Boy, were we happy they did!  We had no newborn size diapers (I was sure we'd have at least an 8 pounder so I had only bought size 1 diapers...) so they brought some diapers, some more newborn size clothes, and dinners for a couple days.  Lauren was excited that there were two babies in the room, and it was fun to see that Russell has a little bit of catching up to do in order to compete in size with Ace. 

Is Ace telling us he's a superstar or is he just bragging over how much bigger he is than Russell?

 Russell doesn't particularly care to have his diaper changed and always makes such a ruckus.  Usually when he is acting like this he unfortunately gets called Mr. Grumpers,

 Russell's bilirubin levels are high.  Nothing abnormal for a 37 week baby, but the doctors have us wrapping him up in a bili blanket to make sure things don't get too bad. We heard back today that his levels are going down (yay!) but are still higher than they want so he gets to live like this for at least another day.  He doesn't mind because it gives him good sleeping time.  And, after losing weight the past two days, he jumped back to one ounce over his weight when we left the hospital.  He is such a sweetie!

Baby: Russell Forrest Joslin is here!!!

The Story:

   Early morning on Sunday, May 6th, 2012, Joanna and I were attempting to get some sweet sleep. However, our bladders, and the ferocious thunderstorms outside, thwarted our efforts. (Little did we know that behind the thick clouds lay the SUPER MOON!! (When the moon is 15,000 miles closer to the earth than average and the gravitational pull is the strongest.)) Joanna was having regular strong contractions, but we didn't think anything of it because the baby wasn't due for another 3 weeks.

   At 3:30am Joanna woke me up and said, "I think my water broke!"  We inspected the liquid and determined it was not a micturition product, and then we called the hospital. They told us to come in. So we showered and prepared our bags, and then left in the middle of the rain, thunder, and lightning storm!

   Once we arrived at the hospital, the nurses did some tests, but were not convinced that Joanna's water had actually broken. After a few hours, Joanna told the nurse: "Umm, I think I'm leaking something." At which point the nurse took a sample, and in a few minutes confirmed that it was amniotic fluid, and that the baby was going to be born today!

   With that news, we settled in as wonderful nurse Sakeena hooked in IVs, and prepared the room. Joanna was given a medicine that caused her contractions to become more regular. After several hours she was having contractions only a few minutes apart, and she was properly dilated. That is when Joanna started to push with all her strength to get baby out! The nurse and I helped out with encouragement and feet holding. After about 45 minutes of strong pushing, the doctor came in to the room, observed for a bit, then suited up and prepared the bed and other devices for the birth. With a little help from the doctor and nurse, and one gigantic final push by Joanna, baby Russell Forrest Joslin came squeezing out! After a few mouth and nose suctions, he immediately started crying and then promptly urinated on the doctor. The new-born nurse took Russell over to another table where she cleaned him, and checked his vitals. "He's a healthy baby boy!" she said, and then read off his stats: "6 pounds 12 ounces, 19 and a half inches long. Born at 6:26pm on May 6th, 2012." I was smiling ear to ear as I stood over his little squirmy self, and as he grabbed my pinky.

   While Russell was being examined, Joanna was being cleaned and stitched up by the doctor and nurse, and they were all marveling at the length of the very long umbilical cord, and the nice big placenta. They said that the baby must have been playing around all the time in the womb - a statement to which Joanna replied "Yes he did!" Soon after the new-born nurse brought Russell over to Joanna and she lovingly held him in her arms for the first time.

   During this whole time I was caught up in how amazing giving birth really is. I was emotionally moved several times during this whole evening, especially when: my son cried out the first time when the doctor held him up; when his tiny little hand grasped my pinky finger while he was being examined; and when Joanna got to hold him for the first time. Even though Joanna's top half was drenched in sweat, and her bottom half was drenched in blood and fluids, she beamed proudly and calmly caressed Russell in her arms. She had just spent nearly nine months working full time, helping me through the end of law school and the bar exam, helping me find employment, doing chores, eating healthy foods, locating and acquiring baby items, and doing a myriad of other things in preparation for this day. Joanna is a super wife, and will be a wonderful mother!

   After things calmed down, Joanna and Russell got washed up, the room was cleaned, and we contacted our families to let them know. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends, and we know that they will be a great strength to us and Russell!

   We are so blessed and happy to have this miracle addition to our family!

- Ben

Belly shot

Shannon requested a belly pic, and since I'm feeling reasonably energetic (and we took one yesterday), I guess I'll put one up.

Don't mind the chubbiness.  I'm just happy it isn't as bad as Jessica Simpson's chubbiness :)

I decided to practice my posing skills in this picture, but I don't think it turned out any better than a normal one.  Oh well.  Since I'm on here, I might as well put some more of the pictures from our camera on here.

We managed to be in Wausau over Shannon's birthday and were happy to get to celebrate with her and Macey, who I think secretly believes all birthdays are only for her enjoyment.

Thanks to Becky, I was inspired to make this wall hanging for when Russell finally has a bedroom.

Mom and Dad came over Conference weekend to see Andrew.  We enjoyed an afternoon walk between sessions.  I had to settle Russell down.  He was trying to go on his own walk in my belly.

Making cookies.  Lauren helped until there were cookies out of the oven and then was no longer interested in making cookies . . . .

We're still here.

I promise, we really are.  We're just kind of in a waiting mode for things to happen.  I don't know if we'll be posting anything soon, but if we don't we'll definitely have big news (and lots of photos) in just over a month.