Congrats, Sean.

mazel tov Sean!

Good show, Emily, Sean, Hennessy.

I've been wondering when Sean's daughter would make her debut. Congratulations, Sean and Emily! Hennessy is adorable.

I'll see you over at the Mommy blog, Sean.

Congrats to all of you.
Now how is the cafeteria food at the hospital?

Congratulations on your new baby girl, Sean. I would enjoy hearing about the cafeteria food at the hospital, too.

Congratulations Emily & Sean. Welcome to the world, Hennesy!

A new star is born
sweet Hennessy Amanda
small critic@Large

"It is no small thing that they, who are so fresh from God, love us."
--Charles Dickens

Congratulations, and best wishes to you and your new family.

If she's like most kids learn how to make PB&J, FruitLoops, and Kraft Mac and Cheese.

Thanks guys! It's funny how touched I am by the words from people who are basically strangers, people I interact with fitfully and only virtually. But it really means a lot, for some reason! So thanks a bunch, really.

Ahh, the hospital food. Well... let's see. Today I had the "Chef's special," consisting of breaded scrod, mashed potatoes, and string beans. Actually, it wasn't bad! Much better that the greasy fish'n'chips I had before or the greasy pizza I sustained myself with for a couple days. Fortunately, Mercy has a pretty decent salad bar (although the broccoli was a bit funky/old) - no iceberg lettuce in sight, so I was able to add some roughage.

The meals for mommies, for the most part, have been pretty blah. The best meal Emily had so far was tonight's dinner - penne pasta baked with tomato sauce and cheese, a salad, some rather mushy veggies, a roll, and two peanut butter cookies. Oh, and all I've seen so far is Smart Balance - no margarine or butter in view.

Dahlink, I'm mommy blog bound!

Laura Lee, I actually teared up when I read that. Overall, really, this whole thing has turned me into a big (I mean big - about 230 lb) ball of mush. I'm having a hard time keeping the waterworks in check! I think it's a combination of how tough this was for Emily (she went in hoping for a natural birth and ended up with a c-section; each decision in the process (try patocin to induce contractions (which were incredibly intense but unproductive), break her fluid to encourage dilation, an epidural to try to relax her into labor, and finally a c-section) was heartbreaking for her, and watching her in so much pain was incredibly hard on me) and exhaustion from helping her in hours and hours and hours of labor with no sleep AND NOW getting up every 90 minutes or so to help with feeding (Hennessy is indeed a food critic already)...

BUT the good news is that no matter how she came into our lives, she's now in our lives, and I can't even remember what I was like before she was here. I didn’t believe in love at first sight until a couple days ago, and now I’m convinced!

EL, thanks for making this so much more than a blog. I can think of two times that your site really hit home for me – your concise and moving memorial to your mother-in-law and the actual grief I felt at the passing of Robert (the single one), someone I had never met.

And now this.

I was actually as excited to announce her birth on this site as anywhere else, and (almost) to anyone else. It feels like family. Thanks for making this a home for us all!

With sincere love,

Sean

PS: Yup, tearing up again!!!

Congratulations, Sean. Fatherhood is the greatest blessing I ever received. I hope it is for you, too.

Sean, she's GORGEOUS! Best wishes to you and Emily and, of course, to Miss Hennessy Amanda! (What a FABulous name!)

Aw, Sean, now I'm tearing up over my oatmeal. Sniff!

We had a couple of rough birth experiences, although nothing compared to what Emily went through. I remember after the first one the pediatrician came into my hospital room after inspecting our baby, and he said "Well, you had a baby--the hard way." Already I was thinking, "What?" All the memories of the struggle will soon be distant ones, as you become utterly absorbed in every feeding, diaper change and miracle of miracles--those first smiles!

Sorry, late to the party Sean. Congratulations to the entire family. And yes, she is beautiful! You made me tear up also...

Beautiful little girl! Remember to hug her a lot. It makes babies strong.

Congratulations Sean!

Congrats to your family! What an amazing name choice. :)

Congrats Sean.

Today, she pooped up to her armpits.

ah the joys of parenthood. you are just beginning, Sean! Poop will seem like nothing when she's 16 and (yikes) driving!

Sean, sounds like all systems are GO!