Here I am!

Name: Scarlett Jane Stayman (aka "Bean")
Weight: 7 lbs 7 oz
Length: 20.5"

Hobbies: purposeless arm flailing, hiccuping, evacuation of bowel contents

Much as she enjoyed the warm aquatic environment of mommy's womb (aka "The Bean Cooker"), Scarlett decided she was through with that scene at 37 weeks. Sarah went into labor around midnight on Wednesday, September 26. Contractions grew stronger and closer together over the next few hours, unrelieved by hot bath or shower. A call to the birthing center was received with skepticism that the labor had advanced substantially. At 5:oo am Sarah announced that we were going. The birthing center's nay-sayers were surprised to find that she was, in fact 9 cm dilated on arrival. Sarah politely (i.e. with only mild profanity) requested an epidural. The OB responded that there would likely not be time to place one. Sarah's gaze effectively conveyed that she was about to castrate him and anesthesia was summoned.

The mood improved greatly after the epidural was in place. Here's Sarah enjoying her labor.

At around 9:25 am Sarah was fully dilated and, after 30 minutes of pushing, we got to meet our slimy little bean.

The new family:

She's Here!

Ha ha! Just kidding. It's just Zeek, one of our fat piece-of-crap felines, goofing around where he's not supposed to be.

Baby's Room

Hi,

I know it has been a while since the last post. No real good excuse except time seemed to get away from us. Summer seems to have flown by and we are getting ready, my doctor told me at my last appt that I should get a bag packed for the hospital. I am feeling very well, I feel very lucky to say that thus far my pregnancy has been very uneventful (except for that little bout of food poisoning). My toes now look like sausages and I have crazy heartburn, but other than that I have no complaints. We have really enjoyed the summer!

We have finished the baby's room and are really happy with it. We think it looks great! The wall decals were from Blix, they have some wonderful designs and they are easy to install. They are also removable, although you can't then re-stick them somewhere else. We also bought a glider, which although I find to be very ugly, as soon as I sat in one I knew I had to have it.

At the end of July, we had a baby shower at Look Park in Northampton. The morning started off with torrential downpours, but it turned out to be nice by the time of the party. I am going through pictures now and will post them at a later date (I promise).

Hope everyone is having a great summer and is looking forward to fall.

Take Care,

Aaron and Sarah