b e n j a m i n f a l k e n b e r g

We’re so very proud to announce the birth of our second child and latest son! 

He was born at 1258am on Sept. 24th, 2007, weighing in at a somewhat large-ish 11lbs 11oz, and 22 inches long! He did great, Mom did great (though there was no shortage at all of drama during delivery), and we’re already home, a full day early. Benjamin’s already very accepting of his new little brother, offering him kisses and hugs and patting and rubbing his head, holding his hands, etc. It’s really great to see them get along so well already. We spent a lot of time seeding the idea of a baby and brother into Benjamin’s head, and it appears, so far, to have really worked out well.

More pictures and a birth story will eventually follow. Thanks to everyone for their support and interest these last many months! We really appreciate it!

Had another NST on Thursday. Nothing new to report, really. Not given any information about induction. We were given very little information at all, in fact. We see a group of OBs at this OB office, and the OB we had this time is one that Stacey can’t really stand. I don’t care for him all that much either, really. He reeks of cigar smoke, spits all over you when he talks, and when he talks, he’s right in your face, and loud. Nice guy, I think, but he talks in circles a bit and can be somewhat annoying.

We scheduled another NST and OB visit for this Monday and again this next Thursday, as necessary. We were told that they don’t let anyone go over 42 weeks, so by the end of this coming week at the latest, we should have our new addition. The OB we saw prior to this last visit seemed to indicate we’d be moving along into the induction phase much more quickly than we are, so who knows. Seeing a variety of OBs in the end-stage of it all seems rather ineffective.

Stacey’s been increasingly uncomfortable lately, so she may well progress on her own just fine. We’re all getting impatient, though…

Again, more as we know it.

We had a non-stress test (NST) yesterday. The new baby is doing just fine; he apparently just doesn’t want to come out yet.

For those curious, the non-stress test involved Stacey relaxing in a recliner and being hooked up to a monitor with two straps across the belly; one tracks contractions, and the other measures the heartbeat of the baby. Basically the same setup you get when you’re admitted to labor/delivery so they can monitor the baby. Stacey was also given a little button to press every time she felt the baby move.

The test was probably 20-30 minutes long. For Dad, with Benjamin there pulling on curtains and running out the room and down the hall into other exam rooms, it felt more like 2 hours! He wanted to interact with his mom and be up in her lap, which of course couldn’t happen…so he was getting a little impatient and frustrated. A box of raisins helped…

We’ll have another NST on Thursday and see the OB again. I’m sure the topic of induction will come up…and I guess we really aren’t sure what to do. On the one hand, we’re eager to see our new addition, but on the other hand, we don’t want to shorten any additional development time in the womb he might need. One thing’s for sure: Stacey’s tired and sore and ready to be done.

We’ll do a pregnancy update again after our Thursday appointment, assuming nothing happens sooner. We obviously hope something happens sooner…

Thanks to everyone that’s sent us messages of support and encouragement!

Well, the due date is finally here, and we’re not sure if Benjamin’s new sibling is ready to come out yet!

We had what should have been our last OB appointment this past Thursday. We’re moving along in the dilation department, but the little stinker still wasn’t dropping down into the necessary position. We’re told that once the baby drops, given the amount of dilation, everything should move along very quickly.

We have family and friends on standby (thank you family and friends!), and our bag is packed and ready to go!

Assuming nothing happens over the weekend, we have a non-stress test scheduled on Monday to make sure the baby’s still OK, and then we’ll have another appointment with the OB on Thursday, if necessary, for another non-stress test and to decide how to proceed, and if induction will be necessary. We’re kind of opposed to the idea of induction, it being an often slippery-slope-y kind of thing that all too frequently seems to lead to unwanted c-sections, but we’ll do what we have to do based on what we know, and that’s really all we can do.

It’s also with some emotion that we’ll be retiring the countdown widget that’s been on the sidebar of this site for the last 9 months… It’s been a handy reminder of where we were and how far we had yet to go. A great big thanks to the folks at babystrology.com, for their handy-dandy widget!

Once again, once we know more and have more info, we’ll certainly post about it here. Who knows, it could still happen today…today’s just starting! We’re certainly ready–Stacey especially. :)

We started a separate "Benjamin’s Words" page many, many months ago to keep track of the words Benjamin’s learning, and, well, he started picking up words faster than we could record them. That page ended up being (more than) a bit neglected because he was picking up words and doing other things faster than we could record them.

We’d like to try again. To that end, we’ve updated the page and we’re going to try and continue to update it with a bit more regularity.

We’re also working on the pictures thing. Still. Alex has in no way been satisfied with the various photo solutions, so there’s a mix of different things here and there that we’ve tried (won’t bore you with the technical details), and you’ll likely see a few more as we move forward. Bear with us, and just take the pictures any way you can get ‘em for now, OK? ;)

ALSO, PLEASE HELP US: If you interact with Benjamin and have heard a word or phrase that’s not listed on his Words page, let us know! If you have any pictures of Benjamin (or any of his relatives!) that you think would be great to have posted here on the website, that would be great too! Benjamin loves it when we read posts here to him about things he’s done, places he’s been, people he’s visited, etc, and he loves the (so very few so far) pictures we’ve posted.

We really do want to create as thorough a record of his life with words and pictures as we can, so we have memories for ourselves and for him…and for you, too. Any contribution(s) you make to this effort would be very much appreciated by all of us here! :)

Tomorrow we move into the final week of waiting for Benjamin’s brother to arrive. Due date, again, is supposed to be Sept. 15th… Any day now!

Stacey and I are both pretty anxious, and Stacey’s really, really tired. Benjamin’s been really great about it all so far. He points to his mama’s belly and kisses it when we mention the worth "brother". It’s super-cute. He’s gonna be a fantastic big brother. We’re really excited not just about us meeting the new baby, but particularly about Benjamin meeting him, and watching the two of them interact and grow together.

We have the room all ready. The crib’s ready, all the clothes are washed and ready, some new animals and things in the room that will be just his… We have diapers and wipes and all of that stuff. The second carseat’s been installed in the Pilot for over a month now at least! We couldn’t be more ready. We haven’t settled on a name for him yet, though, but we’re getting closer; boy’s names seem so much harder to choose for us.

As of the OB visit yesterday, we’re still not too far along–only 2cm, but that’s one more centimeter than we had last week, so it’s progress! :) I predicted very early on that we’d have the new baby about a week early, but that’s looking like it won’t happen.

He’s measuring a little bit big, but not really any bigger than Benjamin did around the same time, so hopefully everything will go well and we’ll have a great, normal, happy (and event-free, unlike Benjamin’s) birth. Eventually. :)

Of course you’ll very likely see a post here once it happens! :)