Max hats

Max was given so many beautiful hats that we thought it warranted a photo shoot. I posted this to facebook, but thought it should be memorialized here as well. Thank you Leslie Robinson, Leticia Condon, Caitlin Oiye, and JoAnn Oiye!

Max, Max, Max

We're now 7 weeks in and Max is healthy! He was 10 pounds one week ago, so I'm assuming he's pushing 11 right now. He's quite an eater. No smiles yet (unless you count the ones he gives us in his sleep), but I'm sure they're coming.  Merry Christmas to all, and to all a sleep-filled night...

The Birth Story

Here's the short version of Max's birth story, for those who are interested:

I woke up at about 3 am on Tuesday, November 2 with what felt like stomach cramps. Since I've never given birth before, I assumed these were Braxton Hicks contractions (or as Josh calls them, Toni Braxton contractions). I worked a full day, then went to my piano lesson, and then picked up Josh downtown. (Josh had started his new job at the Archdiocese of Seattle the Friday of the week before, so this was his third day on the job.) 

The two of us drove to Bellevue to have dinner with friends we met through my brother, Carl. Matt and Anjuman have two kids, Anya (7) and Rohan (2).  Since Rohan has outgrown a lot of his toys, clothing, and even his crib, they offered us all of this stuff. 

We had finished dinner (Indian food, yum!), taken a tour of the hand-me-downs, and were drinking tea in their living room when I got up to use the restroom and while I was in there, my water broke. After a quick call to the midwives, Josh and I headed to the hospital where we spent the night. I think Josh slept; I didn't. I was definitely feeling the contractions, but apparently they weren't progressing as the midwife and doctors felt they should, so they gave me some pitocin to get things moving at around 5 am. It took a couple hours for my active labor to start, but then I progressed really "quickly" according to people who have done this before.  By 11 am I was pushing. By 11:44 Max emerged blue, tiny, and perfect. He weighed 5 pounds and 15 ounces, and was 18 1/2 inches long. 

Like Father, Like Son: Early Birds

As everyone knows by now, Maxwell Robert Schuyler ("R.S.") Zimmerman joined us about a month early. He was born at Swedish Hospital, Ballard, in Seattle, Washington on Wednesday, November 3, 2010 at 11:44 am. He weighed 5 lbs and 15 oz and was 18 1/2 inches long. Despite my fears that I wouldn't be able to do it, we had an unmedicated birth. Not an experience I think I'd like to go through again, but definitely something for the memory book.

Baby Party

Hello friends. Caitlin and Tami threw us an awesome baby party this past Saturday, complete with lots of food, delicious cakes, and flowers fresh from the market. Tami, Mom, Jeni, and Carl all came from out of town to celebrate with us. We received way, way, way too many gifts from overly generous friends and family--we can't thank you all enough! Baby Max's library is already larger than even I could have imagined (and most of those books didn't come from Goodwill, believe it or not).