He's a keeper

According to the receipt, time has since expired (policy allotted only a week)to return Ezra for a full refund and/or an exchange. Fortunately for us we are very content with our new addition. He is a perfect baby boy, which amounts to eating and sleeping well and not crying. He has been to see the doc who informed Manuela that he has gained 1/2 a pound and a full inch (this is rather unusual for a breastfed baby). Everything else is in-line with normative infant development. We were concerned that Mila might be a tad jealous of Ezra monopolizing Manuela's time, but like a champ, she has taken everything in perfect stride. It is rather cute to watch Mila look affectionately at her lil'bro and kiss him ever so gently. Here are a few pics of the family. Thanks for all your prayers, they were truly efficacious!

Ladies and Gentlemen, without further delay...

herrrrre's...Ezra Maximilian Meloche.

He was born born this morning at 8:03am with no complications. He weighed in at a whopping 8.7lbs. and is 21" long. Manuela amazed all the nurses/doctors walking into the hospital a full 9cm dilated with a smile on her face and pushing lil'Ezra out with no meds. Manuela and baby are doing great. O'Bonitas!!

Stivenson!

We are still waiting. Manuela had her weekly check on Friday and she is 4 centimeters dilated and fully effaced. The midwife, without any consultation with us, scheduled an inducement at the local hospital at 8:00am this morning simply because Manuela was a week overdue. This suggestion by the midwife did not come as a surprise given our societal desire to technologically control absolutely everything - including the natural ordering of the human body. This procedure is of course completely unnecessary. It would not have been an aid to Manuela or the baby, rather it would have caused Manuela to have a harder more difficult labour demanding a costly epidural and thus a substantial financial gain for the hospital. After pressing the midwife, she consented that the reason for such a recommendation was to safeguard her own personal good (the probability of complications are less if the labouring woman is at the hospital under observation and is thus less likely to be a target of a lawsuit). It is sad to consider that those responsible for our health and well being are more concerned with their own financial gain.
Safe to say, we have decided to wait and allow Manuela's body to run its natural course.

Everyone is a loser...

Thanks to all those who participated in the first-ever baby Meloche B-Day pool. Unfortunately for all those who entered no one picked the correct date, which means the small fortune that was being offered for the grand prize will be rolled up into the prize money for the next Meloche kid - which at the rate that we are going should be in about another 10 months.

Manuela, according to her mid-wife, is "ripe" for delivery. She is fully effaced and 3+ centimeters dilated. My lil'boy, however, refuses to leave his watery abode. His stubborn refusal truly reveals his Sicilian heritage and possibly throws a monkey wrench into my master plan. I need Manuela to begin labour no later than 2:00pm this afternoon on account of a patristic exam that I need to write which I am not all that well prepared for and I'm thus in need a viable excuse to skip. Consequently, if my son acquiesces and decides to help out his 'old man' I vow to name him after one of the Patristic fathers...perhaps Polycarp or Tertullian.

sound the trumpets...

...the reinforcements have arrived! Manuela's mother arrived yesterday and consequently all the pieces are now in place for an efficient delivery. A 'thanks' is in order to my mother, who lives 3 hrs away and our friends the Irwin's who were on deck and willing to step up to the plate had number Two decided to come early. Now that "Nona" has arrived she will be able to tend to Mila as Manuela is wrestling with the pangs of labour and I am aroamatizing the waiting room with cigar smoke.

It is 2 days past the due date and Manuela is feeling great with no signs or indications that the baby is ready to enter this valley of tears...he's a smart fella. We will keep all informed.

Good things come to those who wait...

We have been very busy waiting. I am convinced that our little boy should be here any day now. He shall either enter the world naturally or else he will simply erupt from Manuela's mid-section. The amniotic fluid has begun to be reabsorbed into her body in preparation for the birth and as a result every movement from our son is grotesquely visible. It is as if Manuela's skin has been stretched to it's utmost limit and thus transformed into saran-wrap. As a result you can watch a heel or elbow trace across her extended abdomen like a...(I can't think of a good analogy, but trust me it's a wild sight to behold).

Please keep Manuela in you prayers over the next few days. I will keep all updated via this blog as soon as things get rolling.