A Few of My Favorite Things: Peter Blake Gerhardt 7.10.2014

Peter Blake Gerhardt made an early arrival on July 10. At my last OB appointment I mentioned that my skin had been itching and my doctor seemed a little concerned and wanted me to have my blood tested for a possible liver complication that could cause distress to the baby. I had to be fasting for the test and wasn't so I took the test a few days later because the 4th of July was the next day and we had to wait another few days for the test results. It was a little stressful. We didn't find out the results until I got a phone call from my OB at 6:30 in the morning on July 9th. She said that the levels were elevated and that it would be best to induce me as soon as possible. Wow. We scrambled to get Charlotte taken care of and everything ready and headed into the hospital at 11:00am. It took a while to get things started, but he was born the next afternoon at 3:23pm, which happened to be right during my scheduled clinic visit time of 3:20. He cried from the moment that he came out and didn't stop for a few hours. No delay in lung development there:) He calmed down after that though, and he has been a very sleepy baby. So far the newborn stage had been going alright and our level of sleep deprivation is nothing compared to how it was with newborn Charlotte. He's been a great eater and just a really good baby. I can't even count how many times a day we just say how cute and how sweet he is. We love having him around.

Me looking a little tired after quite a few hours of labor. I had an epidural, which was great once it was in, but they had to make two attempts and I almost went without it because it hurt so much to get it in.

Although you can't really tell in this picture, Peter was a little guy and weighed only 6 lb. 4 oz.

Charlotte has loved having a new baby around. She has just started to hold him and help feed him bottles, but has given him kisses since she first saw him. The other day I went into her room after her nap with Peter in my arms and she said," That baby is really shy around me. He doesn't talk very much. I will help him to talk and to march." (She's been really into marching since the 4th of July.) She's a great little helper.