~~~ThePalermos.com~~~

Sunday, November 5th. Jen started having regular contractions 1-3 minutes apart so we headed to the hospital around 6pm. Thankfully, Jen had all our bags packed and everything ready!

When we got to the hospital, they hooked Jen up for monitoring. Contractions were regular, but her cervix remained closed. They discharged us at 11pm the same night.

Monday, November 6th. Shortly before midnight, we found ourselves back in the hospital as Jen's contractions had gotten stronger and more painful. Thanks to our "dry run" on Sunday, we again were fully prepared.

Once again, Jen was hooked up for monitoring. Contractions slowed, cervix had dilated 1-2cm and we reamined overnight for observation. We were eventually discharged yet again around noon on Tuesday.

Third time's a charm?? On Wednesday, November 8th, for the third time in four days, we raced back to the hospital. This time, Jen was in excruciating pain on the verge of tears, but after two turn-aways, I assumed the same would happen again.

Shortly after we arrived, around 8:30pm on Wednesday, we were told that this was "it" and that we would be going home with a baby this time! That was music to Jen's ears after having endured painful contractions since Sunday.

They started Jen on an epidural around midnight and I was amazed with how Jen went from such pain to feeling nothing more than a little pressure. Nurses and doctors were in throughout the night to check Jen's progress. They were expecting late morning at the latest!

Around 8am is when it really started to get scary. That's when 2 doctors, 2 nurses and 1 med student surrounded Jen for the "pushing" phase. The adrenaline was flowing through both our bodies and after about 30 minutes of pushing...

Sean came into the world at 8:26am! He cried immediately after his little lungs took in their first gulps of air. My heart was pounding when the doctor held him up- all bloody and messy, but he was finally on the outside.

After showing the baby to Jen, the nurses took him away to clean him up and be weighed. I also was able to do the ceremonial cutting of the umbilical cord- which is very rubbery.

On his ultrasounds, we saw his little strands of hair, but I was still surprised with how much the little man had.

Sean tipped the scales at a little more than 6 lbs 3 oz- which is very small, but he was 20 1/4 inches long, which is pretty tall. So not too much baby fat on this lean machine!

After his initial cries, he quieted down and barely made a peep. He intently looked at us and around the room. I never saw anything like it. It was like he was trying to figure everything out.

Great shot minutes after birth, with Sean looking right at Jen. The wait was finally over! Jen and I were both overcome with a mix of amazement and euphoria.

Here is another shot of Sean in bed with mommy, taking everything in.

Jen was so happy when she got to hold Sean for the first time. He kept looking at his mommy as she smiled from ear to ear.

This shows my mom's photography skills! They had Sean swaddled up so tightly in his two blankets. We were never able to wrap him like the nurses did.

Here's me, showing the effects of getting 6 hours of sleep from Sunday night to Thursday. But I guess since Jen didn't really get any and since she gave birth, I have no room to complain!

How come I look so much worse than she does??

More with Sean & Daddy

Time to get measured and all his vitals checked.

Back from getting his vitals taken and finally he's conked out. His journey is now complete.

By this point, it was Thursday afternoon and they had moved us to a post-partum room. Not nearly as nice as the delivery rooms, but at least Jen didn't have a roommate during her stay.

Baby Palermo in his basinet.

Sean with his vitals listed in the back. The tale of the tape was 13 1/4 inch head, 12 1/4 inch chest and 11 1/4 inch abdomen.

We were flooded with visitors on Thursday. Here is Sean with both his Great Grandmothers!

Here's my Dad on his first day of being a grandfather.

Sean is the 7th consecutive male Palermo. I was one of three boys as was my dad.

Gotta love the little beanie!

Sean was born the night of the Rutgers - Louisville game. Even though we could see the stadium from the hospital, our tv did not get ESPN. But since I slept home that night, I did catch the second half, which was all that was needed...

Sean was not a big fan of flash photography, so we had to make sure to take most of our pictures with the flash off. Tried to "clean up" some of these images in Photoshop.

Sean was in the hospital from Thursday to Saturday and he saw just about everyone in the family- 13 in total. Everyone was very excited for the early arrival.

Love the expressions!

Mommy and Sean- who was allowed to stay with her each night (as opposed to bringing him back to the nursery).

Looking right at the camera!

He seemed like tucking his little lower lip and sucking on it.

My Mom with her first Grandchild

He's always looking around...

It's going home day, Saturday, November 11th!

He was certainly warm in his wooly take home outfit.

We were afraid that his outfit would be too large (despite being size newborn), but he fit into it well thanks to his long limbs.

He fell asleep after we got him ready to leave and he slept the entire ride home.

One last parting shot before we pack him into the car.

First day home, 2 days old, catching some Z's in his glider.

More sleeping (this is during the day since he's not a big fan of night time sleeping)

Left to Right: Pumpkin, Sean, Jen, Pebbles.

Sean sitting on Mommy

As always, looking at Mommy

Daddy kissing his little champ

Still more Daddy & Sean

Mommy giving Sean a little brushing

One week old!! With Grandma.

Enjoying his 1 week b-day with a snooze on Mommy. Sean is wearing his first hoodie (which is as big as his body!)

Everyone is tired nowadays...

Spending time in his favorite glider

11/17: Smiling already! Seems to like his hair being brushed.

11/21: Sean and Mommy

11/21: Sean's first bath

11/21: Not liking the first bath...

11/21: Praying for it to stop!

11/21: Post-bath crazy hair!

11/21: More crazy hair

11/21: Squeaky clean and ready for bed

11/22: Meeting Uncle Mike for the first time

11:22: More with Uncle Mike

11/22: More with Uncle Mike

11/23: With Daddy on Thanksgiving

11/23: Baby's First Thanksgiving

11/23: Sean & Grandpa

11/23: Sean, Grandma and Great-Grandma

11/23: Sean getting a Thanksgiving-day burping

11/24: Uncle Mike the day after Thanksgiving

11/24: Sean & Uncle Mike

11/24: Must've been all that turkey...

11/25: Wide awake in the morning

11/25: More time in the glider (which he sleeps in at night quite a bit as well)

11/25: Sleeping on Daddy

11/25: Second bath. Still not a fan.

11/25: Post-bath towel-down

11/25: Sean in his PJ's

11/25: Spending time on his activity pad

11/25: Taking a break from "tummy time"

11/25: Falling asleep on the Zebra

11/26: Looking at Nana Cathy

11/26: Sean being good for his Grandfather

11/26: If only he had hand-eye coodinration, those glasses would be his!

11/26: Meeting Uncle Chuck for the first time

11/26: Grabbing Uncle Chuck

11/26: Sean in his skivvies

11/26: Sean on the changing pad

11/26: Channging into his pajamas

11/27: Sean in his bouncy thing

11/30: Great expression!