Summer baby

After two December babies, it has been fun to be able to go outside with this June baby -- until it got to be 100 degrees for 6 days in a row.

Here is baby James before his first walk.

And it's always fun to enjoy popsicles outside, even if you aren't old enough to eat one yet.

The three older boys love popsicles. We have a rule that you can't mention them during dinner, or Andrew will immediately stop eating his dinner and demand one.  He also only gets about the bottom quarter of an Otter Pop, because it takes him forever to eat it as it drips all down his front.

What a dad

I took this picture last Sunday, on Father's Day. They fill my heart to bursting.

JB is the best dad to these boys. He does so much all the time, but especially now so I can rest and nurse the baby. He feeds, reads, cleans, plays, comforts, sings, rocks, teaches...

And hikes with them now!

They did Grandeur Peaks last Saturday. I hear it was quite the climb.

And here's another cute dad, holding the three latest Richards grandbabies on Father's Day.

Visitors

Sweet Baby James has met a lot of people in his first few days of life. His Grandma D. is here from Missouri, cuddling him but mainly playing with those three older brothers. They have loved the attention.

My brother Joe and his wife Susan like to be goofy in pictures and are super cute with babies.

JB's brother Jeff is here from Arizona.

JB's brother Scott and wife Emily holding James.

And many more, including all the wonderful friends and neighbors bringing dinners. It's been fun showing off our baby.

Recovery

Isn't this a great picture of John Byron with James Byron? If only little J were a little happier and a little more in focus.  But JB looks quite handsome, and his shovel stitches scar is healing nicely.

James and I have different blood types, making him jaundiced. He had to spend some time in a bili bed they brought to our house.

And if he was out of the bed we had a little bili blanket to keep on him. See how he glows? It looks like he's smiling about it.

Looking around.

Thankfully he only needed to spend 24 hours with the lights and was done with the heel pricks soon after.  That made the boys able to hold him more.

And I've been trying out baby-wearing. It's so fun to cuddle this ball of baby.

Cousins

A week and a half ago I was still pregnant but Suzanne was not! We went to see baby Phineas in his hospital room.

Then baby Phineas came to see baby James in his hospital room, and my baby tried to eat his cousin.

Look at those sweet feet.  I hope they grow up to be good friends.

We left the hospital on Saturday. Four children. Four boys -- what have we gotten ourselves into? But they sure are cute.

Our four sons

The boys have been staying with Nonna and Papa and having a great time. We are so blessed to have their loving care. And they were all very excited to come see the baby that I kept telling them (for 2 weeks) could come any day.  I was so happy to see how cute they were with him. Andrew was not at all jealous! (Though I'm not sure if he fully realizes that the baby is coming home with us when I'm discharged.....)

Papa loves babies.

Nonna loves babies.

Andrew loves my room service.

The boys with their baby brother.

Sweet Baby James

After days of on and off contractions and false labor, it took some coaxing to finally get this little guy to have a birthday! And he was fully baked. 9 lbs 6 ounces, 21.5 inches long!

The doctor suggested I be induced Thursday if I hadn't had him by then. My due date was Friday and with my other early, big babies, they were concerned (Max 8'4, Benny 8'7, Andrew 8'14). I didn't want to be induced, I thought for sure he would come on his own. But it looks like he just needed that extra help to come out.

The hospital keep saying to call back in an hour yesterday morning because they were busy, but we finally got there around 11, and I was at a 4 cm, so something had been happening those past few days.  Benny's labor was 9 hours, my shortest. Andrew's was close to 12 hours because I slept most of the night with the epidural and I think it slowed things down. And when I was induced with Max it took all day and into the night. This time, it went much quicker!

They broke my water just after noon. By 12:40 I was really feeling those contractions big time. Oooh they hurt. They came to put in an epidural, and it was working by 1 PM. By 5 PM I was dilated to a 10. We just waited for my doctor to get there, and when she did, his head came out with two quick pushes -- but then he was stuck.

I'm talking scary stuck. JB says his face was turning blue. Things felt slow and fast at the same time. They dropped the head of my bed, told me to keep pushing, and had two nurses pushing hard on my stomach while my doctor reached in and turned his shoulders. Then he came rushing out all at once -- whoosh! I could breathe.

He felt so heavy when they put him on my chest, and everyone was saying "That's a big baby!" My doctor guessed his weight correctly and everybody kept talking about his chubby cheeks and all that blond hair.

After a bath it fluffed up nicely.

We held him and cuddled him and both felt James Byron should be his name. Next post -- he meets his older brothers!