meet henry

we are now a family of four (well, peyson would argue five). we welcomed our son, henry allen, to the nest on mon 12/12 at 3:24pm. he weighed 7lb 13.5oz and measured 19 3/4" long. he has a good bit of black hair and deep blue/grey eyes. he came to us via cesarean birth and it was a truly beautiful experience—thanks in large part to my fabulous ob and the wonderful team of hospital nurses and docs. 

our stay at the hospital was a bit extended because henry is jaundice so we've been working to eliminate the excess levels of bilirubin from his system. essentially, ever since monday night, henry has spent just about every moment of life (with the exception of nursing and some extra cuddling here and there) on and/or under UV phototherapy lights. we were discharged and came home yesterday afternoon but we brought a UV bed with us to continue the phototherapy treatments throughout the weekend until we recheck his blood on monday at the pediatrician's office. from what i understand jaundice occurs when red blood cells break down and an excess of this bilirubin remains because the baby's liver isn't quite mature enough to eliminate all of it. this is usually resolved in a matter of days with continual peeing, pooping, phototherapy, and close monitoring. but henry is what the doctors call a "setup baby" because his blood type is a+ whereas mine is o+. my o+ blood that remains in his system is more aggressive than his a+ blood and attacks his blood, causing more of the dying red blood cells, and thus elevated bilirubin levels. he is not, by any means, a critical case but despite the constant phototherapy treatment his levels remained steadily in the "at risk" categories. he has been eating well and eliminating appropriately, so combined with the UV lights, we are fully expecting good results at our monday appointment. i really hope we'll be able to ditch the phototherapy for good...it's tough not getting to cuddle him as much or as often as i'd like to. thank heavens for nursing!

alright, so here are some photos from our week in the hospital and our first day at home: