2 + 1 = 3

i can hardly believe all the events that have happened in a mere matter of days. jason and i are honest-to-god parents to our new baby boy. we have a baby...a baby boy! it is still so surreal. being at the hospital was like living in a little bubble, i was getting too used to hospital gowns that left my backside exposed and people in hairnets delivering my food...but of course in a good way. after 2 days at the hospital it felt a bit bizarre when it was finally time to leave and actually make our journey back home which seemed so far away, but we were ready, armed with our newest little wee pet, breast pump and what very little we knew about being parents. the only thing we didn't have was my pants. i'm blaming this on jason, in transition somewhere along the way he lost my pants. thank goodness that he packed his shorts in our bag because i would have been going home sans pantalons. our schedule is a little on the hairy side so here's the coles notes version on how the events unfolded and of course pictures of our new bundle of joy:

1. water broke on sunday, august 26. went to the hospital. false alarm. got sent home. no changes to the due date, still september 8th. had fish and chips for dinner.

2. gone to bed. jay's working on his board. contractions start at 2am, august 27. jay: still working on board. got no sleep. contractions continue and are really starting to hurt. (REALLY hurt.)

3. go to the hospital at 1pm. get assessed. 4-5cm dialated. contractions ongoing. moaning starts.

4. moaning continues.

5. tried laughing gas to take the edge off the pain. contrary to the name, this gas does not make you laugh.

6. 8cm dialated, water not broken. must manually break water.

7. doctor breaks the water. i dialate to 10cm in no time flat - "OK! push!"

8. 15 minutes of pushing and baby comes sliding down the birth canal as if it was a water slide. (OK, maybe not that easy or painless.) i'm also the new golden girl in the delivery ward. (OK, maybe not the entire delivery ward and maybe just in Delivery Room 5. i'm not known to brag but...eat your heart out girls.)

i guess many, if not all, of my posts will be about Baby so i'm sure a few of you folks out there reading this will get a little squirmy about poops, breasts and placentas and all the many things that the Chinese like to do with them...kidding. i'll be in my own little bubble for awhile but please don't forget to leave comments for me as this will probably be my only link to the outside world.

this has been a truly amazing experience for me, from the entire duration of the pregnancy to labour and delivery, and now i get to start a new life with my new little family. i couldn't have asked for anything more, except for a japadog around week 25. thank you, from the very bottom of my heart, to all our family and friends for all the gifts, love and support.

and now, what everyone's been waiting for...introducing our newest, littlest family member, Conrad Hudson, born on august 27th at 20:35, weighing in at 6.6lbs:

conrad says, "thanks, nicola for the super, cool, awesome, wicked toque!"

we did end up finding my pants. they were in the laptop bag. (and no, they didn't leave a second baby in my belly.)