I know, I know, late late late. Our poor second child is already neglected. As hopefully most of you already know, Jude Rupert Schroeder has graced the world with his mellow presence as of last Tuesday, April 24th, 2012.
We did things just a little differently this time in terms of finding out the sex; Mike had wanted to find out with Milo, but I didn't, and because I got to carry the kid for 9 months, Mike let me decide. I told him we could find out with #2, but when the time came, I still really didn't want to know. Our determining ultrasound was right around Christmas, so I called the doctor's office early and tried to set it up so that we could kinda lie in the name of Christmas to Mike, and then one of the nurses or our Dr. would write the sex on a card for me, and I'd put it in Mike's stocking for Christmas. The staff was on board, but a couple of miscommunications occurred and the surprise didn't
happen, but we did manage to only inform Mike and not me. We were both pretty convinced that we wouldn't be able to keep the secret, and there were a couple of close calls, but Mike was strong and appropriately misleading, and when the time came, Mike got to tell me after listening to our new baby cry that we had another son. And it was perfect.
I ended up with another scheduled c-section, which I'm sure many of you might think was crazy, but the hand of God was working thru all that because in Mike and I's indecision, this is just what happened. As it turns out, I had a very thin uterine wall and could have easily ruptured had I labored. Couple other weird but not scary things happened, but all that added up to really feeling that despite doubts going into the c-section, it was absolutely the right thing to do.
And in the end, we have this beautiful dark haired, warm skinned, blue eyed (so far), normal-sized-head boy who has just perfectly completed our little family. Not to say other kids are out of the question, but for right now all is right in this corner of the world. He was 7lbs 8oz and measured at 18in in the OR, but 3 days later he was 20.5in at the Dr.'s office, which was a bit more accurate, so we're gonna go with that one. So far he's just easy going and perfectly natured. I've definitely heard him cry and trust me, there's nothing wrong with the kid's lungs, but for the most part he wuffles and grunts if something's distressing him, even at night when he's hungry or wet. He's gaining weight well, sleeps lots, and is fun and alert for the short times when he is awake.
Once again, naming this poor kid was a feat for Mike and I. Just like Milo, we were
having a much easier time with girl's names. And just like Milo, we finally decided that we really wanted to honor some part of our family history, but as much as we love and respect all the men in our little circles, none of the names seemed just right. After rejecting almost all the names we had listed before he was born, we both decided almost at the same time that we liked Jude Rupert, Jude just because we liked it, and Rupert for almost every male related to my Grandma Sue. And it's right. Just like his big brother, a little clumsy at first, but the more times we say it and hear it out of Milo's mouth, the more it's affirmed.
Milo's been spoiled so far: Grammie and TomTom were hear for a big chunk of time, staying with Milo while I was in the hospital, taking turns spending the night so Mike could sleep, getting up early with him and doing pretty much anything he wanted. Many trips to the park, walks thru the neighborhood, adventures to the local train store, and to buy him too many presents at various other venues added up to Milo really liking this whole baby/hospital thing. We've been spoiled too with Mom and Dad taking care of Milo getting up before me and Jude, or getting our car washed inside and out, cleaning the cat box, making and freezing lasagna, changing diapers, and generally allowing us to be tired parents. It was very hard to say goodbye, and now more than ever I'm wishing we all lived a lot closer. And though Mom and Dad have left now, there's barely two
days before Nana and Booka come to town to take up the torch.
Can't say enough thank you's to all of you for your prayers, well wishes, congratulations, gifts, phone calls, and messages. We are exorbitantly blessed by our many villages, our families, our friends near and far, our fantastic neighbors, we don't know what we'd do without you. I'm anxious for all of you to meet Jude so that he'll start to know and love all of you as much as we do!!
Some things I want to remember about Jude from these first couple of weeks:
