Moving Pictures!
A few of our first videos of John!!
Hazel and John <3 from esther benoit on Vimeo.
VID00012 from esther benoit on Vimeo.
VID00013 from esther benoit on Vimeo.
Filed under Hazel, John by esther | Comment (0)He’s Here!
Tuesday night:
Wednesday morning!:
Duo is here! May 26, 2010 John Miles Benoit was born at 11:57 am.
He weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces, is 20.5 inches long and has quite a bit more hair than his sister had when she was born nearly two years ago!
This delivery was so different from the last and we are so thankful for that.
We got to the hospital this morning at 8, started IV fluids right away and tried to calm my nerves. We were scheduled for 10 am, but we got bumped by an emergency C-Section, so I didn’t walk myself into the OR until shortly after 11:30. Once in the OR I was prepped and given a spinal, which was a much much better experience than I could have ever imagined. I numbed up almost immediately which was such a relief to me. One of my biggest worries was that I wouldn’t numb up and would have to be put under general anesthesia again. Once the spinal was in, my legs and feet got nice and warm and heavy and I was helped onto the operating table. This was my most nervous moment as I wasn’t sure just how numb I would get. The anesthesiologist, nurses and doctors were all very reassuring and soon enough I was informed that the doctor had just pinched me really hard and I was none the wiser!
Once everyone as convinced I wouldn’t be feeling anything, Jered was allowed back into the OR. I was so happy to see him that I had a little pre-baby cry right then and there.
Once Jered came in it took about 10 minutes for John to be born. Hearing his cry was the most amazing experience of my life. Being awake to hear my son take his first breaths (and let us all know how he felt about those breaths) was a true gift.
John had a little trouble breathing at first so we weren’t able to see him right away, but after about 5 minutes they brought him over to us and I got to give him a few quick kisses before he and Papa headed over to the nursery.
While they finished me up, Jered and John got to spend a little time getting to know each other in the nursery- and got to share the news that our little boy is not really all that little!
Unlike last time I didn’t have any problems with bleeding during the surgery and everything went very smoothly. After about 40 minutes I was wheeled into a recovery room where I was monitored for about an hour. Jered came in to tell me how John was doing, but I wasn’t able to see John until a few hours later because of some breathing issues he was having at the time. Fortunately his breathing slowed down and he was doing much better by the time our post-partum room was ready.
By that time Omi, Paul, Clayton and big sister Hazel had arrived at the hospital to visit. Hazel did really well, although I think she was a little overwhelmed and confused about why she couldn’t get up on the bed with mama.
Oma came into town from Germany last night as well, so before we headed to bed to get some much needed sleep we were able to introduce Oma to her newest great grandson. Needless to day it was a very eventful day. John has been nursing well, and has spent a bit of time in the nursery to give mama and papa time to rest up. This morning he was whisked away for his circumcision and we are waiting to see him again soon.
What a wonderful, beautiful experience this has been. We have two beautiful children and each other, we could not be more blessed.
Twas the night before…
Tomorrow at this time we will be in the hospital with our new little baby, scheduled to make his or her debut tomorrow morning around 10 am. It is so hard to believe that two years ago we were preparing for Hazel’s arrival and tomorrow we will meet our second child. In many ways this pregnancy has been similar to my first- I have felt very good throughout and haven’t had any complications. In other ways, though, this pregnancy has been completely different. For one, with a toddler to keep up with there hasn’t been nearly as much time to focus on the pregnancy itself. With Hazel I read all the books, knew exactly what was developing during which week, how fast she was growing and all of those details (which you may recall I posted to this blog on a very regular basis!). The second time around we have been so much busier with the activities of living life. We haven’t been any less excited about this little one’s development, but the luxury of pondering his or her in-utero development hasn’t been one we’ve been afforded! In a way this has made tonight even more meaningful because tomorrow this baby will become a very real part of our family- one we can’t wait to meet.
Jered and I dropped Hazel off with Omi tonight after a fun-filled afternoon as our last day as a family of three. It was bittersweet to drop her off because I know that things will be so different starting tomorrow morning but we are so excited to let our love grow, grow, grow as our family grows. Our little girl isn’t so little anymore and this little baby is getting too big for my tummy (as Hazel has said many many times today “Time to come out, Baby!”). Tomorrow begins a new chapter in our life as a family and I can’t wait to share it with you all.
For old time’s sake, a picture of vintage Hazel- gets me all excited just looking at her newborn sweetness. Send thoughts and prayers tomorrow- I’ll be steeling my nerves all night!
As promised…
And probably not a moment too soon, I’ve decided to upload the last of the photos from the past month or so to flickr for your viewing pleasure. There aren’t too many pictures, but the ones we have are pretty fun. Hazel finally has enough hair to put into a little pony tail or pig tails, so I snapped a few shots of her new do’s. You’ll have to pardon the messy faces, apparently I was afraid that my washing her face she’d pull out her hair styles, so I left her face dirty in all of the photos (seriously, all of the photos from this upload she has something on her face- eep!)
But dirty face or not, she’s a happy girl! (maybe because of the dirty face)
Pig Tails!
An almost clean face!
When she isn’t modeling a new hair style she’s trying baby garments on her head- just before this picture was taken she said, “Hey mama, look, a hat for me!”
Strangely, the “hat” matches her purple crocs… so fashionable!
She’s fashionable and talented, already a virtuoso pianist at just 23 months…
Here she is eating the camera’s lens cap- we think she thought it was an oreo…
That smile!
As active as she is, occasionally she does wear herself out and crash- in this case on her rocking chair with an old lady blanket, and a dirty face, of course.
This kid is pure joy. Love her to bits.
Hopefully the next pic picture post will feature two Benoit kiddos- one cute blonde girl and one squishy little newborn!
Filed under Hazel by esther | Comment (0)Overheard (and some excuses)…
I’m going to do the usual overheard post today but I have to start with a round of excuses first- I have been meaning to update the blog with pictures, videos and general words for a couple of weeks now, but we have been so busy getting ready for duo to make his or her appearance, between that and having Grammy J here we’ve been having too much fun to sit down at the computer for any length of time. So… I am going to try and post all the photos that are currently sitting on the camera as well as all of the latest videos (we’ve got some really cute ones of Hazel building “houses” on the couch with blankets and pillows). This will hopefully happen before duo makes his or her grand debut- I’ve got to clear off the camera so that we can take pictures of the new little gal or guy!! But, Hazel is awake right now, so all I have time for is a few things I’ve overheard this week- I will try and upload photos and videos tonight or tomorrow.
Overheard just now as Hazel plays with her fisher price play house, “Oh No! Mama fell off chimney- another boo boo, I kiss it- Mwa!” (good to know the kid has an imagination)
“Cold outside today, where my jacket go?”- on the way to the car in the rain this morning.
“I love you too, Mama”- completely unsolicited love at lunch time today.
“Ouch- I got a boo boo, it hurt, Oh no… another one- knee hurt. Owwwww” – said with much drama- her new favorite thing is talking about boo boo’s- you’d think the kid was accident prone, but everything is a boo boo right now and she’ll talk about it forever!
“Hey- that’s Bammy picture! Hello Bammy- come back home!” Looking at a picture of Grammy who was here last week and who Hazel wishes would come back to live in the baby’s room (which she will be thrilled to learn is happening for the next few nights!).
“Mama- Bammy sleep baby room!” Informing me at 6 am that Grammy was, indeed, sleeping in the baby’s room. Good to know.
Filed under Pregnancy by esther | Comment (0)Overheard…!
Reading Curious George and the Pancakes tonight at bed time, “Hmmmm Mmmhmmm, George the Monkey, Yes, Pancakes, Thank You!” (she was flipping through the pages and pretending to read to us- it was so cute I almost exploded)
Trying to go for a ride in the bike trailer or her tricycle “Yellow Helmet, Me! Let’s Go!”
Tonight, upon returning from a ride in the bike trailer with Papa she told me that they had been to the, “Playground, Me swim soup (swimsuit)” She took a ride to the playground and was wearing her swimsuit.
“Let’s go, Let’s go! Beach time!!” What I get to hear almost every morning when she sees her bucket or her sun hat or her swim suit…
She’s also started to say her full name when she draws (we’ve been showing her how to write Hazel and identify some of the letters in her name and she gets a big kick out of saying and “writing” everyone’s full name)- She will draw intently as she says emphatically, “Hazel Laleline Noyt!”
My favorite this week, “I Love Loo Too Mama, I Love Loo Too Papa”- this has become part of our bedtime routine just after we say I love you and do a family kiss (where she grabs our heads and kisses both mama and papa at the same time, quite funny).
And on another sweet note, Hazel has taken to putting her hands on my belly and whispering to the baby, “Come out now, Baby! Come on out!”
Filed under Pregnancy by esther | Comment (0)