Abby's Photo Album: February 1998
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

Of course, in February, the big event was Edward's birth! Believe it or not, this is only a selection of pictures!


Edward Paul Tudor was born Thursday, February 5, 1998, at 2:41 in the morning.

He weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces.
Edward was 20.5 inches long.
His Apgar scores were 9 and 10.
He was a very eager and excited little guy, breathing before he was all the way born even.
It was pretty much the perfect uncomplicated natural birth at home. Edward was nursing within minutes of his birth, and I felt great, but then, I could take a full breath again!
And after carrying Edward around for what seemed like forever, I finally got to hand him to his daddy.
There are a lot of really great things about having a baby at home. Among them, if you ask me, is just that you're in your own home once you're done having the baby, so, well, there you are -- home already.
So, being at home and all, you can't have forgotten to pack anything in your hospital bag, you aren't arguing with people who have some routine they just have to adhere to, and you aren't separated from your newborn.
I honestly can't imagine how I could cope with someone wanting to put Edward in some nursery in some plastic tub with tons of other kids and his family looking in through a window. It felt too good to finally be holding him, feeling his breath on my skin, him making the same kinds of movements he had in the last weeks before he was born, only outside me now.
Edward seemed simultaneously bigger than seemed possible, and too tiny to believe. He disappeared into his swaddling.
Edward fit perfectly in the crook of Chad's arm.
He could stretch out sleeping and still fit entirely on Chad's chest.
It made me so happy to see Edward snuggled up on his daddy!
While I was pregnant everyone kept saying, "Oh, sleep now, because you won't get any sleep after the baby is born!" But Edward was a really good sleeper as a newborn. I rested better in the first month of his life than I had the last few months of pregnancy. And, I'll add, better than I've slept many a night since he's been getting older!

Edward had these teeny newborn size diapers. This is the same changing area we had so neatly set up in January!

After a while, we started calling this changing pad his pita, because you could fold the sides up around him and he looked like he was rolled up in a pita.

Every single day Edward looked like a whole different baby.
This was the one and only time he wore this outfit, because he grew so fast that when I tried to dress him in it a week or so later, it was way too small.

We had several of these little outfits for him, and in the beginning, we had to roll up the sleeves so his little hands didn't get completely lost.

Chris and Mark had given us a car seat for Christmas, and we thought we were all set -- but that car seat dwarfed Edward and so my mother and I picked up this little one to last us until Edward was a little bigger.
Edward found it to be a pretty good place to take a nap.
I think in the very beginning we were most fond of these baby bunting type things for him to wear. They were like kidlet bags with a hood. They were easy to get on him and easy to change him in.
The first day I went out after Edward was born, when he was 5 days old, my mother and I were out for a little over an hour buying some things I had only just realized I needed. And one of the things I realized was lacking was a stuffed animal that didn't dwarf Edward, so we got him this mousie. Now, in 2000, this mousie lives at Chad's desk in the Hut.
Edward really did grow very fast. I think all the naps helped.
On Valentine's Day, Chad got flowers for both me and my mother.
My mother was such a huge help!
he had three weeks to spend here, so she picked a day in early February to come out, and figured the odds were I'd have the baby somewhere in there. But as luck would have it, Edward was 16 hours old when she got here,

She brought a pile of hand-me-downs from Edward's big cousin Quilla, and it was great to have her here to talk to.

We were really lucky with weather! It was flooding everywhere, but the 5th was a pretty clear day -- pretty much the only one in February. My mother's flight made it in just fine.

I really wish she could have stayed longer. And you know, if that's not one of the signs you're all grown up, I think it probably should be -- you know, your mom comes to visit and you wish she'd stay longer.
At the last minute, my father managed to come for one day to meet the grandson who shares his first name. Edward's middle name is Paul, after Chad's father.
I wish Ed could have stayed longer too. I wish they all lived closer.
Ed is spinning silk. It's an ongoing project which will eventually result in handwoven cloth from the handspun silk, cloth which will be made into a nice jacket.
We all spent a lot of time staring at Edward and taking pictures.
Edward looked back, and even winked!
We had a sling which Edward really liked riding in when he was little.
It was a good thing we got him the mousie, too.
My mother made this nightgown, and I wore it, and then my sister did, and then her daughter Quilla too, before Edward. "But he'll have to wear it this week, if he's going to," my mother said when she gave it to us, "because it'll only fit for a day or so."
Looking at it now, I can't believe it ever fit.
But then, he did have such tiny feet...
What a happy dad!
Edward was a very snuggly little boy.
So we spent lots of time cuddling. Now that Edward is a great big two-year-old, I wish he still cuddled like that. Now he likes to be an active cuddler, and it's much much harder.
This is the Obi Wan Kenobi robe. "Help me, Edward-wan! You're my only hope!"
Such a sleepy little guy...

But man... 		Tired old mom
...he sure could wear us out!
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