One Month Old

Ben's first pediatrician appointment was on Monday, and it went very well: the doctor says his growth so far is spot-on perfect. He's in the 45th percentile in weight and the 70th percentile in height. (Given his father, I have to believe that height percentile is going to come down a bit.) The doctor seemed very pleased with everything he saw, which was encouraging. Here are a few pics from the last week:

Three Weeks Old!

The last few weeks have been going well. Ben is consistently sleeping for 5-6 hours at a time at night, and he's even thrown in a couple of 7 and 8 hour stretches just to tantalize us. He's been a little congested this week, which seems to make it harder for him to go down, but once he does, he's still doing a good job of staying down. Here are a few photos from the time we came home until now:

Home

We got to come home from the hospital on Monday afternoon. It's been pretty much a standard new parent experience so far... things are going well, but we're very tired emotionally and physically. We just have to get past this initial adjustment period to find our new normalcy.

Also, happy 30th birthday to my wife, who has taken to motherhood like a fish to water.

-P

Who's your daddy?

Below is a side-by-side comparison of my baby picture and Ben's. So far, we're pretty certain that he favors me. Some of the details are pretty cool to compare... I have a little notch in the cartilage in my left ear, and he has the same thing in the same ear.

-P

Kettering Medical Center Photo

Here is the official hospital photo. An outside photo company took some other pictures this morning - but the hospital photos were 10 times more precious. Last night and today have been surreal. It's hard to look at Baby Ben and believe that he came out of me. I found myself talking to my belly in the shower this morning, and I still hear the fetal heart rate monitor when I close my eyes.

-M

The day in pictures

Presenting...

Ben and mommy.

Mackensie did a fantastic job, and both she and Ben are resting comfortably. More pics to come tomorrow after some rest for all of us. Thanks to everyone who followed along and shared your encouragement and prayers.

11:11 PM

Benjamin Philip Wittmer
8 lbs. 4 oz.

more to come...

10:00 PM

Puuuuuuuusssssshhhhhh!!!!

9:30 PM

Very nearly to 10cm. The sterile cart is in the room, the doctor is called, and they're going to start us pushing very soon.

Edited to add: Average push time for a first-time mother is 2 hours. Just saying.