On the 270th day, we met Baby Q.

Sometimes, we call him Q for short. This started shortly after we named him (which was shortly after we found out he was a he). Calling him Quinn when he was still in utero felt a little too real, too strange. So it was Baby Q. 

He's little! Like, left the hospital at 6 lbs. & doesn't fill out any of his newborn clothes little (I should have listened to the advice of my sister & bought a few premie things - Hudson girls don't make very large babies). 10 days early does this, I suppose. He's skinny, too! Scrawny arms & legs, long fingers & toes. 

He's mellow. Maybe he'll stay this way (like his dad), maybe he won't. In the meantime, he sleeps well, eats well (that took a day) & is generally content & happy as long as his basic needs are being met. His arrival into the world was fitting for his personality. 30 minutes of easy & calm pushing, & there he was. Labor was a different story, but we'll blame that on other factors, including-but-not-limited-to the lack of anesthesiologists at the hospital & the woman who needed an emergency C-section at the exact moment when I needed an epidural (I eventually got one, & will get up in the next fast & testimony meeting I attend & bare witness of their truthfulness).

He's blonde! Mike says I take too many black & white photos, but he is. How did I create a blonde child? A bit darker today than it was on day one, but still - blonde.  He has lots of hair on his head, & lots of fuzz on his arms, legs & back (I love baby fuzz). 

He moves his arms around like a mad scientist or an orchestra conductor when I burp him. Arms in the air, fists shaking! We love this. 

He sleeps with his hands always touching his face (just like me), & always seems to Houdini his way out of his swaddle. 

He smells delicious. 

He's generally just perfect, & we are just happy.

On his first day home (less than 48 hours old) I gave him a thorough introduction to my camera: 

* I have approximately 5,732 other things I'd like to say about this boy & his arrival. And I need to do this soon before the details get fuzzy (although I'd prefer that some of the details get fuzzy sooner vs. later). I need to tell the stories of the day he was born (& how maybe I just knew it was the day?? deep down?). About my cab ride alone to the hospital, & then our second cab ride together. About the thunder & lightning storm as I was laboring in my apartment, & how perfectly fitting it was. About my terror at discovering what real contractions felt like. About Mike's calm, my doctor's calm, & my anaesthesiologists calm (after three failed attempts). About my amazing nurses, my first night alone with my baby boy, my insane roommate (& how I walked out of the bathroom the first night at 2am to find her HOLDING. MY. CHILD.), my wonderful friends & family who visited, our first cab ride as a family & our first few days together. So much! Soon.