Pictures of our little Levi

I feel so blessed by the newest member of my family. He: is sweet, has so many expressions, smiles a lot, is easily calmed, has his father's baby nose, is the most beautiful boy I have ever seen. He grabs my hand and tells me he loves me all the time. He has very nice large hands and ... well, I could go on forever. Suffice it to say that my baby is perfect and I love him with all of my heart.

We were released from the hospital on Monday and got home at about 3 in the afternoon. Suzie was with us and Nate was already at home because, with much effort, we talked him into sleeping at home Sunday night to give his back a break from the hospital sleeping accommodations. Suzie and Levi and I successfully got out of the hospital and home. It was lovely to be with Nathan again. Tuesday we went to catch a bit of the Hogan Family Reunion/Celebration of Grandpa & Grandma's 50th Wedding Anniversary. Because Suzie and Mom had done a very good job advertising that Levi was not a touchable item, people were very nice about not asking to hold him (which was good also because I may not have remembered to not pass him around, because I wanted everyone to be afforded the opportunity of holding my perfect baby, ya know). The reunion was really lovely and we even got to take a few pictures of Levi and his great-grandparents.


Our sweet, beautiful baby boy, Levi.

Levi and his Grandma Hogan.


Levi and Grandma Hansen (Can you tell? She's tickled pink to be a grandma!)

Levi and Grandpa Hansen.


Levi and Grandpa Larsen.



Levi and his Auntie Sophie.

In the hospital

We had a prenatal appointment on Monday, but it ended up getting moved to Wednesday. Wednesday, we went in for the appointment, but I was not in good shape (psychologically speaking). I was in tears by the time our midwife, Danielle, got into the exam room where we were waiting. She talked to us and did her usual checks on me and the baby and guessed that the baby was about 7 and a half pounds. She told us to expect to check into labor & delivery that afternoon for an induced labor. I felt much better after that, being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. So Nathan and I went home and started putting stuff by the door and in the car to take with us to the hospital.

Danielle called a little later and told us that Labor and Delivery was packed and we'd have to wait 'til the next morning.

I checked in to labor & Delivery at St. Mark's Hospital at 7:30am on Thursday, July 3rd to be induced and start labor to get this pregnancy over with. The nurse didn't actually start the pitocin drip until about 9am and I didn't feel a thing, i.e. pain or cramping or anything, until about 2pm. Once I started feeling contractions, though, I could really feel them, i.e. lots of pain. However, the little baby was posterior, i.e. his face was facing up, which is the more difficult of ways to come out. I decided to get an epidural at about 1 a.m. in the hopes that it would help me relax and thereby help the labor to progress, however by 2 am, the baby wasn't making any progress down the birth canal. His head wasn't even far enough down to be able to use forceps or suction to pull him out, so we opted for a cesarean delivery.

Levi Bodily Hansen was born at 3:02 a.m on the 4th of July.
WAHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am finally a mother!


Mom (Erin) asked Dad (Nathan) to bring a hat from home, because she didn't like the ones they use in the hospital. This is the one he brought. Adorable, oder? Even if it's not quite the small knit hat I had in mind.

Nathan gave these to me when he asked me to marry him. He told me they're "for Levi, whenever he gets here."

Levi and his Auntie Suzie


Levi and Dad, both fast asleep. Don't they look well together?


Lovely Levi.

22.June.2008

Dear family,

No baby yet, just so y'all know. He's due on Wednesday, but we'll see. I will try to get the news around asap after the arrival.He seems to be fine. The midwife still says his heart sounds like a train and she's pleased with his size and my size, etc. Nathan's back is still there. He got a nerve root injection on Monday. I hope he'll see the chiropractor and physical therapist this week since the inflammation should be down, making the joint more workable.

I am doing well. I'm not uncomfortable (knock on wood) as long as I remember to eat on a really frequent basis, which gets difficult because every time I open the fridge, the same stuff is there (go figure). However, I AM super-ready to meet this little child that I'm carrying. I've had two baby showers, both of which were perfect. Suzanne threw me one a couple of weekends ago, for family and friends, and a woman I serve with threw me one a couple of days ago (and invited a bunch of RS sisters, and a lot of them came! They know me!) Anyway, it was very validating to see that people in my ward know who I am and care about me. Now, I need to put forth a lot more effort to get to know people.

I think we have everything we will immediately need for the baby. We're gonna do cloth diapers. The pre-folds that I'll use for the first 6ish weeks arrived in the mail this week, with covers to go over them. I've also ordered a few pocket diapers and inserts for after 6ish weeks. We're good on clothing for the first 3 months, but don't have a ton for after that, but I'm sure we will by that time. We don't have too many toys, which I hear is good because baby's prefer boxes and paper and hot rollers anyway (I'll have to dig out Zan's hot rollers). We have a car seat that came in a travel system (stroller, car seat and base) and a jogging stroller (shouldn't have bought that, but now that I've got it I'll hopefully use it. If not, I can hopefully get a good price selling it on craig's list or ebay). Mom made sure to get me a pretty crib and new mattress. She also bought us a copy of "The Dangerous Book for Boys," a really good book that y'all have to check out some time (as well as "The Daring Book for Girls", which I haven't had a chance to look at, yet).

Levi's room is a mess and our room is an absolute disaster area. We haven't even been sleeping in there lately. Nate props himself on the couch to sleep, and since he's not using our bed, I use it to pile stuff that needs to be organized. That makes the bed entirely unavailable, so I sleep on the double in Levi's room. Adventures in the Hansen home.

We went to see Kung-Fu Panda the other night and loved it. Certainly one I would like to buy sometime. On the way to the theater, however, our car finally died (bummer). We bought a Mazda Protege 5 last night at about midnight. Nate really likes it (especially because it has a working CD player) and we both hope it lasts us at least 6 years. It's a cute little hatch-back that should be really child- and parent- friendly.

Btw, Mom had me sit for nakie-belly pictures last Saturday and they turned out really well. I'll attach a couple and try to post some to our blog.

aml,
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