Noah's first trip

We took the little guy down to Great River Bluffs State Park yesterday and enjoyed some great fall colors, a picnic lunch, and some short hikes out to panaramic views over the Mississippi River. What a great day!

Old stuff

Mid August we took a short backpacking trip up in the Gooseberry falls area. The weather was fantastic for us. We had lots of time to enjoy our campfires since we did pretty low-miles hiking days (seven months pregnant doesn't say "sure lets go put some miles on the hiking trails). Brian spent some time trying to "get artsy" with the camera, this is his best fire shot.

Photos of Noah

He's awake! These are pictures of 3 week old Noah. His shirt says Handsome Baby - wouldn't you agree?


A little bit of an action shot in the last two. He's busy learning about his arms and legs, he swings them all over the place when he's laying down.

Meet Noah

Noah James was born on Wednesday, September 24th at 9:40pm. He weighed in at 7.5 lbs and is 19 inches tall.









He's absolutely perfect, look at those tiny toes!







We got to go home on Friday around noon, of course we walked the few blocks. Noah rode in his soon-to-be favorite method of transit - his Chariot.





Sleeping like a rock star!

False Alarm

The little guy certainly made us think he wanted to come early this past weekend. I had the privilege of staying in the hospital for a few days and being treated for preterm labor. There are 2 things that I really don't like: IVs and know-it-all residents. In order to give everyone a fair chance at the guessing game (please join!), I'll share a few facts or comments from the docs.

1) He'll be okay even if he's born tomorrow. It's not too early for good health.
2) Some women who deal with pre-term labor end up being induced when they are overdue.
3) I'm among the lucky 20% of first-time moms who feel contractions before labor.
4) The treatment I had stopped labor at 3 cm, they commented that they have patients going around for weeks at 1 - 5 cm.
5) There is no statistical difference in outcomes for people who are put on bed rest vs. everyday activity regarding preterm labor.
6) I don't believe the baby has "dropped" because breathing is still somewhat challenging.
7) They think he weighs at least 4 pounds at this point.
8) Is my sense of urgency about getting ready for baby because of the "false alarm", or is this "nesting"?

That's all I can think of that might be helpful. I'm not going to put a guess out there because I don't want to falsely convince myself that he'll be coming in any particular timeframe. We'll be taking it one day at a time! I don't know if the game image will work to link you to it, so here's the real link... http://www.expectnet.com/games/falsealarm