Welcome Baby Malachi!

On Tuesday October 22 Jon and I headed to the hospital for what we thought would be Malachi's birthday.  After checking on the baby the midwife sent us downstairs to finish with admissions paperwork and then we were supposed to head back upstairs and get things started.  When we got to admissions there was a problem with the insurance.  The insurance office was in the US so it wasn't open yet, and rather than take any chances with the insurance we decided to delay the induction by a day.

We did get this picture of my belly thinking it was the last day I was going to be pregnant.  I did get a final weight with this baby too, something I have never done.  I gained the most total weight with this baby out of the four.  

Here I am on October 23, we got the insurance issues worked out and we were ready to have a baby.  I was also having a few contractions that made me feel better about going through with the induction.  All three previous children had been born before their due dates so making it passed my due date and still not going into labor was something new for me.  It was a very difficult decision for us to make, but in the end we felt ready to have Malachi join our family.

The delivery room was a very sterile and surgical feeling room.  They had Jon put on this apron and booties over his shoes, a first for him.  Jon did manage to find a comfortable chair to bring into the delivery room, all they had for him was a little stool and we had no idea how long to expect to be here.

And then less than 5 hours later here we are.  It was a challenging delivery, even with an epidural, but worth every second.  

This explains part of the challenges, that translates to about 9 pounds 10 ounces.  When Jon first did the conversion on his phone I could not believe it.  Our other kids were 6 pounds 3 ounces, 7 pounds 9 ounces, and 6 pounds 13 ounces.  I did not have gestational diabetes or any other indicators that this baby would be quite this big.

Here in France they do not have clothes for the baby to wear, you bring your own.  I had brought this cozy outfit for Malachi, in a size newborn.  It is slightly smaller than a US newborn.  I knew we were in trouble when they measured his length and he was born at 54 cm, the newborn size here is 50 centimeters.  The outfit did work for that day, but I don't think he will get to wear it again.

Here is one proud daddy with out newest arrival.  We are so happy he is here safe and sound.

Another difference here in France is the length of hospital stay.  Because I had a normal, uncomplicated delivery my stay was only 4 days, the minimum.  

Here we are on day 2.  Friends of ours from Norway had gotten Malachi this shirt, it is so cozy and I was so excited for him to wear so I made sure to get it on him before he outgrew it.

A picture with Mommy.

Malachi loves to cuddle, and he is a lot of fun to cuddle with.

The next morning after I got up I left Malachi in the bed just for a minute.  I don't think he was quite ready to get up yet. 

I love his sleepy faces.

I was blessed with some beautiful flowers,

I felt so special.

And after 4 days in a hospital room it was nice to have something pretty to look at.  We also had some sweet friends come and visit us.  

The kids came up a couple of times, but most of the time Jon just came up to spend some time with us.

Here was the view from our window, a beautiful little side street with changing leaves.

And here we are leaving the hospital.

Malachi seemed so little once we left the hospital.

I love his pumpkin hat.

And here we are on the street outside our house.  You can see the Eiffel Tower over my right shoulder. I should be able to crop this picture for his baby book.  What fun memories for our family.

We are all home now, the kids are back at school and Jon is back to work.  I am so fortunate to have my mom here for a few more weeks as we settle into being a family of 6.  It is still hard for me to believe that we just had our fourth child.