Shortly after Sophie was born we moved from the birthing suite into the mother and newborn ward of the hospital and into what would be our home for the first 48 hours or so of Sophie's life. Shortly after arriving, the nursery nurse came by to give Sophie her first bath. Despite her assertion that Sophie would not like it, she did not seem to mind her bath at all. In fact, whether it be a thermometer under the armpit or sponge bath in the middle of the night, Sophie normally seems to do well with things the nurses assure us she's not going to like!
Seeing as it was nearly 2:00 AM and Andrea had not eaten since our trip to Chipotle for lunch that day, she was a little bit hungry and a lot bit tired. The hunger part was easily addressed with a turkey sandwich and some apple juice. The tired part, not so much. While Andrea and I both fantasized about sleeping for a few hours at a time, Sophie had other ideas. She did not want to sleep in her bassinet that night. The only time she would sleep at all is if one of us was holding her. Like most parents, we do enjoy holding our little girl, but as the night rolled on the bed sounded better and better. Soon enough Andrea found a comfortable position for both her and Sophie, and we all got a little bit of sleep.
The next day saw a steady stream of visitors. Visiting hours at the hospital began at 10:00 AM, and I was a little surprised when my mom wasn't in our room at 10:02 (she waited all the way until 10:10). Shortly after visiting hours opened, all four grandparents and aunt Maria arrived. Sophie was passed around the room from person to person. She was very content and happy to meet everyone. I've tried making a point of getting pictures of everyone who visits holding Sophie.
Not long after, uncle Pete, aunt Sam, and big cousin Alivia came to visit. Alivia was SO excited to see and hold Sophie. Because she's just a few years under 16, she was not allowed into the delivery room the night before (and she was understandably not happy about that). It was very nice that she was able to come and meet her baby cousin. The previous Sunday, while the family was out to dinner, Alivia told Andrea and I that she couldn't wait to meet her baby cousin. We also could not wait. We are just as excited to meet baby Charlotte in a few short weeks. For 5 years, Alivia has been the only grandchild on the Hamilton side of the family. Now, in a matter of a few weeks, she goes from being the only, to having both a baby cousin and a baby sister. We are very excited to see her interact with the two little ones, and know she'll be great. We are also very excited that Sophie will get to grow up so close in age to two of her cousins (Charlotte and Anna). One of the funniest moments immediately after Sophie was born came courtesy of Aunt Sam. When the nurse asked her if she was Sophie's aunt she responded with "Kind of. Oh wait, I guess yeah, I am." She was a little teary-eyed, and informed everybody she was "not in an emotional state to deal with this right now."
Not long after, uncle Pete, aunt Sam, and big cousin Alivia came to visit. Alivia was SO excited to see and hold Sophie. Because she's just a few years under 16, she was not allowed into the delivery room the night before (and she was understandably not happy about that). It was very nice that she was able to come and meet her baby cousin. The previous Sunday, while the family was out to dinner, Alivia told Andrea and I that she couldn't wait to meet her baby cousin. We also could not wait. We are just as excited to meet baby Charlotte in a few short weeks. For 5 years, Alivia has been the only grandchild on the Hamilton side of the family. Now, in a matter of a few weeks, she goes from being the only, to having both a baby cousin and a baby sister. We are very excited to see her interact with the two little ones, and know she'll be great. We are also very excited that Sophie will get to grow up so close in age to two of her cousins (Charlotte and Anna). One of the funniest moments immediately after Sophie was born came courtesy of Aunt Sam. When the nurse asked her if she was Sophie's aunt she responded with "Kind of. Oh wait, I guess yeah, I am." She was a little teary-eyed, and informed everybody she was "not in an emotional state to deal with this right now."
Over the last few days of the pregnancy, uncle Mitch was as excited and anxious as anybody! The night before he texted Andrea to ask her to keep him updated about what was going on. He was at the hospital the whole time the night Sophie was born, and was very excited to hold her when he came to the hospital on Saturday. I don't think he was in the room for more than about a minute before he asked to hold her.
Sophie had some more visitors Saturday as well. She got visits from her great-great aunt Carlene (who happens to be the inspiration for her middle name), great aunt Denise, uncle Tony and aunt Katy. While we did get pictures of all of them holding Sophie (well, except Tony who "doesn't hold babies"), the pictures were taken with Mom's camera and we don't have the cord to transfer them to the computer yet. We will be sure to post them when we do get this from Mom and get them moved to my computer!
