And Baby Makes Three!

 The last few weeks have been a blur. Where do I begin?

How about August 3rd, Saturday night at 1:30 am in the morning. I wake Luke up because it seems my water has broken.  I called the Kaiser labor and delivery nurse and was told to come in to get checked.  So, Luke and I are on our way to the Kaiser hospital in Roseville in the wee hours of the morning.  We think (in fact, we were certain) that we are going to be sent home because it's probably a false alarm.  We even joke on our way to the hospital that we are training for the "real thing."  Turns out, we were wrong.  Many hours later (and walks around the hospital, sitting on the birthing ball, pictocin, rupturing my membranes and getting to know the labor and delivery nurses really well),

... we meet our son Clay Timothy Steidlmayer born on August 5th, 2013 at 9:16 pm. 

 

He was 8 pounds, 1 ounce, and 21 and a 1/4 inches long.  Such a big baby!!!

  

We were nervous and excited to take him home.  At home, there wouldn't be nurses around to change his diapers or swaddle Clay perfectly. How scary.  We had to get a "golden ticket" by the nurses before we could leave the hospital.  We passed the inspections and were cleared to take him home!

 At home, Luke and I had fun getting to know ourselves as new parents.  We did a lot of this during the first week:

It's been a great first month! Clay has experienced his first bath, a trip to San Francisco for Sarah and Dave's wedding, visits from cousins, uncles, aunties, grandparents and celebrating his Dad's 33rd birthday.  

On August 28th, we had a doctor's appointment and found that Clay gained 3 pounds since his initial birth weight. That means he's 11 pounds! We couldn't be happier with our baby boy.