Here are some pictures of Siena’s first tub bath from early November. Her umbilical cord stump fell off on her third day home, so we just skipped the sponge bath stage. Most of the time now we just fill the baby bath tub, but sometimes we take a bath together like we did for this fist bath.
LRH’s parents shot some adorable pictures of Siena and the recent snowstorm that hit Portland and the gorge. The pictures can be viewed in a Kodak gallery here.
Grandma Betty bought Siena a bib that says My Little Turkey, partly because my Aunt R used to call us “little turkeys” as kids. My sister J spent the day with us the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and took some photos of Siena in that bib and an orange dress…which I *thought* would be her Thanksgiving outfit.
Then on Wednesday a package arrived from my friend Tricia and it included a different turkey bib, a Thanksgiving sleeper, plus a rubber duckie dressed like a pilgrim! When Thursday came, both bibs came in handy and the outfit was a hit!
My little newborn has quite the collection of hats. She has hats that her Grandma Betty crocheted for her, hats that match her sleepers, and a hat from the hospital. For the most part she is a pretty easygoing baby, but can get VERY fussy if even the teensiest part of a hat touches a single eyebrow, let alone covers her eye.
So it made me laugh aloud in disbelief when I glanced over at my silently swinging baby, about two feet from my perch here on the couch, to see THIS:
Her hospital hat had worked its way down to completely cover her face! And she didn’t make a sound! So what did her mother do? I took a picture with my cell phone. And then I rescued her. I just had to share it with you all first.
Siena turned 3 this Halloween… 3 days old. We dressed her up in two shirts, a bib and a pair of socks that T’s friend Tricia gave her. She spent most of the evening in a car seat and greeted trick-or-treaters with her daddy. The kiddies were more interested in the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups I was handing out than a 3-day-old baby just oozing cuteness. When their parent’s heard me announce her age they hurried over to the door for a closer look. One of the parents jokingly said “you’re not a proud papa, are you?”. Siena was quite a hit.
You are one week old today! Your Daddy and I are awestruck by how much you’ve changed our lives these past seven days. Just last Sunday we were driving around the Hood River Valley taking pictures of the fall colors, savoring our time together as a couple but anxious to know when you’d decide to come join us in this beautiful world outside the womb.
We were close to having our answer when I started early labor Monday afternoon. Tuesday morning we headed to the hospital soon after active labor began, and by about nine that night I was lovingly stroking the supersoft hairs on your head as you were crowning. We waited several minutes for a supervising doctor to arrive, and I enjoyed caressing your not-quite-born self until he arrived and it was time for a few final pushes. One kind nurse held a hand mirror so I could watch you come out, and right away they put you up on my tummy. You were so tiny and perfect…and strong! We were surprised that your little arms pushed your head up off my chest and looked straight at me with those piercingly beautiful eyes. Your Daddy says I kept saying to you, “You’re my baby! You’re my baby.” He got to cut your umbilical cord a few minutes after you were out and already busy nursing, and the nurses wiped you clean without taking you away so we could enjoy your first few moments with us. They stayed busy scurrying around taking care of me, while I was oblivious to it all, too wrapped up in falling deeply in love with you. [Read more…]
Now that we’ve brought Siena home from the hospital, it’s time to show some of the maternity photos we took the week prior to delivery. We set up a simple home studio. For a backdrop, we hung a bedspread from a closet clothing rod placed between a cabinet and a tall lamp. We opened our French doors so that natural light was bathing the photo space, and then shot all of the pictures using the overcast-filtered sunlight and a tripod when necessary. I absolutely love photographing my gorgeous wife!
Siena Francesca Bettale was born Tuesday at 9:12 PM. She was 8 pounds 1 ounce and 20 inches long. T went into labor in the afternoon on Monday and we went to the hospital Tuesday morning. She labored in a tub initially which helped tremendously. I was able to help by massaging her back during the contractions. She later requested an epidural and was fortunate to receive 100% pain relief from it. Apparently this is not common. While T recovered from the birth, I was able to help with bathing, weighing and measuring our newborn. Our stay at the hospital was incredibly positive. We just arrived home from our 3-day experience and I’m going to post a few pictures here before I try to sleep. We are both exhausted but so happy. More soon.
Oh, and Siena is spelled and pronounced like the Italian city: “see-en-uh”
We are in the hospital right now. T is sleeping comfortably and I’m listening to my unborn daughter’s heart beat on the fetal monitor. She made it 24 hours without medication of any kind but finally decided on an epidural. Now she is able to sleep and gather strength for the birth in a few hours.
This is a great hospital – free wifi and a room with a beautiful view of Mt Adams and the Columbia River Gorge.
More soon :)
We had a really fun day yesterday. Our plan was to go to Seattle because we had some stuff to take care of. We finished our business early and decided to play in the city for a bit. We headed over to the science fiction museum at the Space Needle and then toured the EMP (experience music project). As a science fiction fan I really enjoyed touring the SciFi museum with T. The EMP seemed like a glorified shrine to grunge which was incredibly lame but understandable considering where the building is located. The upper level was fun, however, with sound-proof boxes featuring instruments and computer-based tutorials on how to use them. We took some shots of T’s 5-month pregnant belly outside of the museum. Its reddish-brown riveted paneling made a perfect background to compliment my wife’s beautiful hair. Before heading home we dined at Benihana, and sipped delicious mango piña colada smoothies. It was a good night and we got to check off a few more items on our adventure to-do list.
