Brian already blogged many of the details of Simon's birthday, so I will try to be brief and just add comments here or there along with our horribly fuzzy cell phone pictures. I guess I should have insisted we bring my DSLR into the operating room!
Here's my non-Asian baby:
Crazy. Red haired and pasty skinned. What are the odds.
Here I am post surgery:
As Brian said, they placed Simon skin to skin on me, and he found his way to "meal time." Really awesome to see nature work on its own in that regard.
Brian proudly put the baby to sleep while I was in recovery. He really is The Baby Whisperer:
Later that day, Brian went to fetch my mom, and Michael met his little bro:
Michael was both proud and curious:
Dad did a great job of notifying the masses - as seen here in the background:
Ba Ngoai met her 2nd grandchild:
We spent the next three days marveling at one of God's greatest gifts:
We actually had one visitor, Tony and Joen from Brian's work. A surprise! I told many of my friends to stay away from the hospital as it's kind of a messy affair post surgery.
We received lovely flowers both at home and in the hospital that really brightened our day:
But in the end, it was this little guy's arrival that made our year:
Simon started out quite calm. Unusually so. On the 2nd day, he was circumcised, which made for a rough day/night.
All in all, we had forgotten what it is like to have a "baby."
There was one night where Simon was crying pretty wildly, and we eventually found out he had a dirty diaper from one of the nurses. Oops. Brian and I still maintain that he did not dirty that diaper until right before that nurse saw him because we checked.
Then, there was the night the nurse said to us: "Well, you both will have to take turns sleeping and the other will take care of the baby."
Really.
We had forgotten that part.
Two of our nurses happened to go to our church in the "middle of nowhere." We had to meet at Christiana Hospital in Newark to find out about each other. Then, I immediately felt pretty embarrassed at all the mess they saw of me. I better clean up well for church next time.
Some of you may be wondering why we named him Simon Matthew.
Simon Besancon was the first Besancon to come over from Besancon, France to settle in Ohio. I guess we felt a little compelled to honor that thought as we did something similar, but in reverse. We went to France, and we had a pretty cush gig to explore a foreign country.
But we get it. We get what it means to uproot your whole family and live in a foreign land where you don't know the language, and you don't have any any family. It takes bravery and maybe a little stupidity to do it.
And it was the only name Brian and I could agree on.
Matthew, as suggested by my SIL Kelli, because that's Brian's middle name. This kid came out with red hair, looking like his dad with his dad's complexion. I felt compelled to honor that bit of randomness.
And also because I had no better option as well for middle names.
You could call us super prepared to have a baby. :)
Now, IF we have a third child and IF it's a girl - I'm totally ready. Got a name for her and everything.
So yes, it's nearly two weeks later and I need to write down what happened that day. Before it's lost in the folds of newborn amnesia.
We've been enjoying our two sleepless weeks. I stare into that wide awake newborn face at 3am, and I'm just filled with thanksgiving. We waited for 4 years for Simon, and we are ever grateful he is a part of our family.
More to come later. Everyone's been taking pictures! I have taken some too, but it's not my best stuff. Plus somehow, I have the most alert newborn there ever was. Already a tough client! :)
