Of storks and such
We’re still culling pictures from the relatives (things were a little too hectic for me to do any quality photo-snapping), but here is a preview of little Penelope Wynn Suffern:
She’s beautiful, like her mommy.
She was born at 1:25 p.m. on August 30, weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and was 19 in. long. Diane had been progressing smoothly through the last stages of pregnancy for some time, and around 1 a.m. on Thursday morning started having some pretty intense labor pain. We timed the contractions and decided it was time to make the (1/2 mile) trip to the hospital. They admitted us and we got situated. Diane got an epidural for the pain mid-morning and was ready to start pushing just after noon. She pushed beautifully through a couple of contractions and our little girl was among us. It was amazing and incredibly special.
Mother and daughter got cleaned up and bonded for a few minutes. After that Penelope visited the nursery for a little bit while I followed. We spent a couple of nights in the hospital and returned home on Saturday morning. Both sets of parents were an incredible and essential help–Diane’s with watching Luke during the hospital visit and mine staying with us over the weekend while we settled in, among many other things.
The first couple of nights were rough but overall Penelope is very calm and a great sleeper. She slept like a champ last night. Diane swaddles her and I think that’s a big reason she’s as docile as she is. We fed her right before bedtime at 9:30. She woke up exactly twice (around 12:30 and 3:30), chirped a couple of times to let us know she was hungry, then waited patiently for me to get up, retrieve her and hand her to Diane. The feeding and changing went like clockwork and she conked out when we put her down again. I hear the first week can be easy but I sure hope this continues.
One of the special things about the event is her birthday: August 30, same as my maternal grandmother’s. Gran is the only grandparent I have left and in many respects the focal point, not to say matriarch of that side of the family. Soon after I was born 28 years ago, her husband, my maternal grandfather, passed away after a long battle with mental illness. The nature of his ailment in the decades leading up to his passing meant that Gran had to take a quasi-leadership role in the direction and sustenance of the family, setting a precedent for strong, educated women in her daughters and granddaughters and hopefully, great-granddaughters. To me it was very much as if a generational “torch” had been “passed” last Thursday when Pen was born, Gran’s first great-granddaughter. Neither has yet been able to make the trip but I hope they will see each other soon.
Much more to come.
Wow…i am so behind. I got your message, Matt, and thank you for your well-wishings. But somehow i totally missed that you guys had already had your little one!!! Crazy! We’ve been pretty busy around here, but man…looks what happens when you’re not paying attention (especially when it’s almost a thousand miles away).
Congratulations, you guys!!! I am so happy for you. We just got home tonight and things are going very well. I’m sure we’ll put a lengthy post up on our long-forgotten blog eventually, so be sure to check in sometime. Isn’t this the most amazing thing ever? Definately the most incredible experience of my life.
I’ve fallen behind on your updates, but i’ll be sure to come back and read more in the future. Right now sleep sounds divine.
Here’s to our beautiful and amazing wives and mothers!!!
John D
Haha :) I understand the busyness, for sure. Oh, and don’t get me started about sleep… As you know, it’s like gold.
It really is amazing; you’re right. I was telling Diane about how right before Pen was born there were, oh, maybe 5 people in the room and then, all of a sudden, there were 6. It was pretty incredible. I’ve seen a couple of pictures of you guys and you look like me–not really sure what all to do but sure you want to do everything to love and protect this new life.
Amen about our wives and mothers :)
Miss you guys!
-M