Our Second Day

Early in the day Iris was clinging to Jennifer. She almost looks attached.


Later that day, the Anderson family came by. Uncle Aaron was reluctant to hold Iris at first, but once he did, he seemed to do fine. Aaron was hoping for a boy, but I think he likes her anyway.


Andy got to hold her again. Rachel wasn't able to come this time.


Here is Linda with Iris. Grandma is glowing.


Even Daddy gets to hold Iris. She really looks peaceful. It must be the IU hoody. She's comforted by its greatness.


Iris was pretty alert through the day. Look at her staring down the camera. What a ham.


Here is a picture of her being held by our good friend Kristy. She looks like a natural.


Here is a picture of Josh, taking a break from taking pictures of other people. Iris just loved being held close to his chest. She would take his nose like she wanted to breast feed at first. Josh wishes he had a photo of that.


Later in the day we got her into her first real outfit, a pretty pink dress. Can you tell how happy it makes her? What's wrong Iris - not a fan of pink?

That's all for now.

Our First Day

Iris was born in the early morning, so she had visitors on her very first day. Here is a picture of Grandpa Dave holding Iris with Grandma Linda looking on. Josh loves this picture. Look at the happy grandparents!


Here is a picture of her later that day with Grandpa Jim. She was doing pretty well and looking comfortable.


Really comfortable - we think Grandpa Jim put her to sleep.



That's all for now.

The Delivery

Iris was born at 7:12 am on July 29, 2008. She weighed 8lbs 15oz and was 21 inches long.

Now this was a life-changing experience. Time moves forward and the baby is born and there is no breaking-in moment. She came out beautiful and we named her Iris. Everyone was afraid that Josh would pass out, but he didn't. He even cut the cord! Jennifer really struggled during delivery. They had trouble administering her epidural, but she did really well focusing through the pain and pushing at the end.

Here are our first photos of Iris, only a minute or so after she was born! They gave her right to Jennifer for "skin to skin" contact. It's very important to warm her up right away.


Soon after they put her on a little blanket and got a few readings. Then she was ready to go over and get her first bath. Josh took videos of that, so no photos until she's clean. Just imagine - she was squirming and they were wiping baby smelling soapy liquid all over her.


Here she is just after her first bath. Her hair is still a little wet. Look how blue her little hands are. When she came out, even her face was that color. It was really scary. Luckily, most of her was flushed with color really quickly.


While Jennifer was still trying to birth the placenta, Josh was able to go with Iris as she was hooked up to all sorts of testing equipment. Here he is with her.


Here is a picture of her getting her feet stamped for the birth records. She was wiggling around with little black toes.


Here is a picture of her after they put erythromycin ointment in her eyes. She looked like a sloppy drunk, but it was kind of cute.


Here's a picture of Jennifer holding her. She held her for a second before to get skin to skin contact - but this was her first chance to hold her after she was clean.


After a long nine months, little Iris decided to get some much deserved shut eye. She is kind of a grumpy sleeper. What is it Iris, was the delivery a big hassle?


Here is a picture of Grandma Julie holding her for the first time. She was there through the whole delivery with us and was so helpful. They kind of match with her pink scrubs and Iris's pink skin.


Uncle Andy and Aunt Rachel were our first visitors. They are the only ones who got to visit before we switched from the delivery room to the postpartum room. Andy looks good holding a baby - watch out Rachel!



That's all for now.

Just Before Delivery

We're going to post several messages that show photos of Iris in order so people can see her progression, starting with the time just before delivery.

Here we are in the nursery after painting it orange and green with white furniture and bright fabric. A lot of stuff is from Ikea. Jennifer and her mom painted the room. Jennifer made the curtains. Jennifer and our friend Erin reupholstered the rocking chair. Josh helped hang the lights and shelf. It turned out very cute. It has a happy appearance - good for a baby.


Here is a picture of Jennifer in her hospital bed - waiting quite some time for the induction to begin. Then, after they broke her water her mood changed. We won't post an image of that. Here is one before, when she was still comfortable:


That's all for now. Next post will cover the delivery!

First Family Blog

Neither of us has had a blog before, but after talking over options for posting photos of Iris (Ten weeks old today) for family and friends, we settled on trying Blogger. And here we are.

Don't you love this picture? She is so happy we're starting a blog. That's all for now.