Is it really February?

I haven't blogged since well before having a baby, and I had a baby seven weeks ago. That's right people, my son is SEVEN weeks old! I can hardly believe it. I will dedicate this blog entirely to him and hold off on other news.

Lets just have a little Frequently Asked Questions section.

How was the labor and delivery? 

Labor is such a beautiful thing (not pretty) and delivery is even more beautiful. I truly loved every part of it. A *quick* recap of my birth story (nothing gory, don't worry): my water ruptured Saturday morning (22nd) and time-able contractions started around 8PM. We headed to the hospital around 11PM and by 2AM I was 5CM and 90% effaced (so....far.....to.....go was my only thought). By 5AM I was 9CM and a little after 6AM I started pushing. He arrived at 7:39AM. There were several complications along the way...they kept losing his heart rate on the external monitor, his heart rate kept dropping and not coming up quick enough, there was meconium, he had the cord wrapped around his neck twice ... but he made it to the world and without any interventions! I am very thankful I was able to have the drug-free L&D that I desired and will do things the exact same way for baby #2. The pain was bearable and so empowering. I appreciate my body and my Creator for thinking of this miraculous, beautiful, fantastic, joyful event of birthing a baby. This is the short version. For a full version ... feel free to ask.

Where did the name Mankato come from? 

As we did not find out the gender of our baby, we arrived at the hospital with two girl names and two boy names and thought we'd "just know" once we met our little one. Let me tell you ... Mankato was not one of the four options. However, Mankato is a name John has loved for some time and was temporarily forgotten about until our little man arrived. We didn't exactly "just know", but we did know that the names we had didn't work which led us back to the drawing board and straight to Mankato. Mankato is a town in Kansas, which is where John heard it first. It means "blue earth" which frankly doesn't mean too much to us. Kato (which is what we are finding ourselves calling him) means "pure" or "all-knowing". I love that it is a strong name. I love that it has easy nicknames (Manny or Kato). I love that it is unique. I love that it is semi-easy to spell. I love that John thought of it. I love that is it my son's name.

How is he sleeping? 

Depends on the day/night. We had a great routine down before our visit home (in mid January) and we are now...slowly...getting that routine back. He prefers cat naps during the day with one long nap (typically in the morning or early afternoon). He likes to stay up till at least eleven (working on that bedtime) and he doesn't quite like his big boy crib (prefers his bassinet for bed time, and his swing, the couch, or us for naps). He will sleep four hours at night before he is absolutely starving and cannot fall back asleep with an empty belly... then eats ... and sleeps another 3-4 hours. Not horrible. I feel rested seven out of ten days. Again, not horrible.


How is Belleau doing with a baby? 

Our sweet little baby girl Belleau is not our baby anymore. She sure loved being an only child and getting entirely too much attention. Thankfully, we still love her the same. She truly is a great dog. Other than seeming attention starved when we have visitors at the house, she loves the baby and is adjusting well. She gets concerned when he cries and is not a big fan of other people holding him (or so it seems). She has matured greatly in the last seven weeks. And John makes a point to play with her for a little bit every day. I keep telling her she'll really love Mankato when he can chase her around.

If I didn't answer your Q in this FAQ, hit me up. Look for another post on a complete Lynch family update.