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How's Lewin Doin'?


We aren't planning on making any updates to this blog anymore but wanted to leave it up so people could read about Lewin's life in the womb.

Lewin's First Walk

Lewin, Dan and Melissa took their first walk as a family on Wednesday, May 13. It was a short walk around the neighborhood, but enough to get some fresh air and stretch Mom and Dad's legs. Lewin slept pretty soundly the entire time. The walk was marked by a sendoff from a baby catbird in the driveway and was protected by an Air National Guard flyover. He was pretty tired after his walk and took a long nap.

Some more pictures

Lewin with his going home from the hospital outfit on. We had packed up all this diapers and had put those bags in the car. As soon as we got him dressed he made us aware of how silly we had been to have not kept the diapers around!

Lewin when we got back from the hospital.

Lewin just hanging out.

Lewin and Dad relaxing.

Night One

We are relieved to report that Lewin, Dan and Melissa survived their first night together at home. The night was not without excitement.

Mr. Itty Bitty valiantly defended the household against an intruder (i.e. a mouse) by capturing and bringing it upstairs while Lewin was nursing. Dan quickly closed and barricaded the door to the room while he and Itty corralled the little beast. No harm came to anyone, including the mouse. Dan released the mouse to the perils of the night. The coyotes Dan heard in the middle of the night probably weren't interested in the treacherous little morsel.

Lewin gave Dan his first hands-on experience with uncontrolled urination. Dan was about to start the post-diaper change dressing routine. He reached for the first layer and noticed that it was wet, as was the next layer and the fresh diaper. We believe this was the result of improper appendage positioning during the final diapering stage. We will learn.

This morning we all awoke to a beautiful sunny day. Blue skies, fluffy white clouds. All is right with the world.

His Name

Lewin is an English name and means "dear" or "beloved friend." We think it is just perfect for our little man. It also happens to be the name of one of Dan's great uncles (maternal), which is how the name came to our attention.

There were good reasons to choose Daniel as the middle name. Both Dan and Melissa's father were given their fathers' first names as their middle names. Also, Dan's maternal grandfather was named Daniel.

Edit: From Rosemary/Gamoo/Lewin's Paternal Grandmother
"Lewin was also my mother's beloved grandfather's name. He was Lewin the 1st. My mother's brother, Lewin the 2nd was named after Lewin the 1st. Now baby Lewin would be the the 3rd with the same name. I vaguely remember my great grandfather who would be baby Lewin's great, great, great grandfather."

Lewin, Melissa & Dan are now home!

I was able to caught the tail end of a sneeze!

And for for all you parents who are yelling at their computer monitors "get that baby to a breast," don't worry. We figured that out right after this video was taken and Lewin feed good and long.

Pictures of Lewin

Lewin Daniel Coady

Lewin Daniel Coady - May 6 2009, 8lbs 4.25 oz. 11:15 pm

Melissa soon after we got settled into the birthing room. Mild contractions had begun. Notice how I got the clock in the background to help document.



Grandma and Grampa Parsons (or what ever Lewin decides to call them) stopped by for a visit.

T minus 1 (as Dan Coady would say)

With one day to go until Baby Coady's estimated due date, the only excitement around here is that we received a wonderful gift from friends for the little one. A package full of books! Many thanks to Steve and Darcy for their excellent choices (Baby Signs, Fish Kisses, The Very Quiet Cricket, Words, Pat the Bunny, Goodnight Moon). We can't wait to start story time!!

Not much is happening on our baby birthin' front, though friends John and Jen welcomed baby Gus into the world this afternoon. Jen and Melissa shared the same due date. Perhaps Melissa should add some hot sauce to her burger at dinner tonight. Nah, there will be no rushing Baby C. He or she will arrive when they're darn good and ready. For now, Melissa is trying not to drive Dan crazy (ok, too crazy) and just hopes that common sense prevails before she commits a random act of decorating or crafting. Fine, she'll be honest, it will most likely be an act of cleaning.

In other news, Melissa has actually started getting her bag ready for the hospital. At least Dan and Baby Coady are all packed and ready to go!

Update: 9 PM and going strong. Our gDiapers are loaded and ready for their first use. Don't know what a gDiaper is? Check it out at http://www.gdiapers.com/.

Another Monday, another OB appt.

Another Monday, another weekly appointment with the OB's office. Melissa is still measuring 38 cm (normal) and hasn't dilated any further (still at 1 cm), so we're holding steady. No contractions either. Being optimists, we did find out which doctors are on call later this week and weekend. It can't hurt to know!

We scheduled our next appointment for Monday, May 11. Here's hoping we don't need it!

Final Day in the Office

Before maternity leave, that is. Melissa wrapped up a bunch of stuff and did a fair job clearing excess paper/extraneous file materials from her desk. She's hoping she left project-related tasks in good enough condition for whomever is next in line to deal with them in her absence. Regardless, it's now time to focus even more on getting the house ready for Baby Coady.

Tomorrow will bring with it a shopping trip for "essentials" for both Momma-to-be and Baby (with Gram-to-be). Mostly fun stuff like onesies, sleepers, and diapers! Dad-to-be and Grandpa-to-be have been slaving away on Baby's room and it's looking wonderful. The door has been moved (to accommodate the upcoming renovation) and the bamboo flooring has been installed (and looks amazing!). It's so exciting to see all the pieces come together.

Though a few more days would be nice, and there's no reason to think we don't have a few more days at least, we're looking forward to meeting Lil' C sooner than later!