Welcome, Baby McLean!

Our family of four became a family of five! We are so excited to finally have our baby boy on the outside (and boy, am I glad to not be pregnant anymore!). Ian Robert McLean was born Monday, November 17th, at 1:29 AM. The labor was eerily similar to my labor with Serena - it took all day to go from 2 to 3, with strong contractions all along (that didn't seem to be doing anything), and then BAM, it progressed quickly after that. Ian was posterior (his head was down, but he was facing my stomach instead of my back), so I had back labor the whole time. He finally turned at the very last minute. I found out later that the cord was wrapped around his neck when he came out, but thankfully, it didn't cause him any problems. He nursed right away and was calm and happy. The midwives left Kevin and I with the baby for the first two hours after his birth, so we could snuggle together. We were so lucky that everything went well and he was born healthy and perfect! So much love for this little guy!

Monday, after school, the girls came to the hospital with Grandma to see their baby brother. He was so good when they held him, and they were so sweet with him! In France they don't say that a baby is good...they say he is wise. All the midwives and nurses agreed that Ian is a very wise baby. He almost never cries but always lets us know what he needs. We are so lucky!

Daddy was already a pro at diaper changing when Ian was one day old. He did get peed on, but I suppose someone had to!

^^ Here he is, all ready to go home!

^^ Leaving the hospital two days after his birth (which is pretty special here). Normally you stay for three days, minimum, in France but recently they started letting people go home after two days if everything is okay with Mom and Baby. The midwives and nurses did seem to think it was strange that I wanted to leave.

^^ Of course we had to introduce Ian to the pets. They were very interested in him!

^^His first bath at home. He LOVED it! In France they bathe babies right from the beginning, without waiting for the cord to fall off. In fact, they told me to wash around the cord stump with soap just before the bath and then put on a drying cream after the bath. They must know what they're doing - his cord fell off when he was 6 days old! 

And, below, a couple more fun shots from the hospital. Thanks for stopping by!