Mr. Madsen

It is official, Søren is official finished with school and thereby officially a licensed teacher! 

He ended the year very well receiving the best possible grade for his final “exam” ,which was to present his bachelor project. I am so proud of him for his hard work these past four years. I am also happy that he is finished studying, but not as happy as he is. Silas, Søren and I took the trip to his school and got to see him get his diploma.  We celebrated when we got back home with our first date since Silas was born.  My mom was able to watch him a few hours and Søren and I went out to dinner. We thought it was crazy that we could have our first date after just a few weeks, but we enjoyed it very much!

So yeah, now he will be on the other side of the desk and I can tell he is really looking forward to teaching full time at Frøstruphave starting in August. But first it is time to enjoy a nice summer vacation!!

Congratulations to Mr. Madsen.

Getting his diploma!

A good group of new Danish teachers!

Getting to know you..

Silas is now three weeks old and wow how much more we know about him!

For example he loves to sleep on his side. Well actually more accurately he loves to sleep everywhere but in his little basket. Anybody’s arms are a hit, or in our bed, but not alone!! It’s like he has a 6th sense that tells him that we are about to set him in his basket and he wakes up…if we do actually get him in there, then he notices, while sleeping, that “oh no, I am in my basket.!!!” and then wakes up screaming…So yeah, we spend a lot of time with him in our arms, but it is so cozy so we don't mind!

We also know that he hates getting his diaper changed, but if you blow dry him a bit while he is on the changing table he gets relaxed enough to get his diaper on. He does however like to lay on his stomach while on the changing table, no blow dryer required.

Silas is in general a very content baby who likes attention and is becoming more attentive every day.  His eyes have really opened up over the last week and although he can’t focus yet it is wonderful to look into his big blue eyes. He has been sleeping quite well at night, 3-4 hour stretches, and likes to sleep late so we are getting an okay amount of sleep. 

Big eyes!

His eating habits are not quite habitual yet, but one thing is for sure, he has his Daddy’s appetite! He could eat all the time and he is definitely a “sucker."  Maybe this is why he is also a very gassy baby. He makes these cramping faces and then you can hear his gas from across the room.  Both Søren and I are proud of this ability, but we feel bad for him as we see him groan and twist with airy pain. We hope his stomach learns how to digest better soon!

So that is what we have been up to lately, getting to know our son.  He is so wonderful and although it is a bit tough at times, we wouldn’t trade it for anything.  Søren has a few days at work and his final exam before officially becoming a teacher this week!! So that is super exciting for him.  My mom is visiting and has been here for over a week already, and we have been so grateful for all her help, especially now that Søren has other obligations then just Silas and I!

Otherwise we are looking forward to Silas’ baptism on Sunday.  We were working in the yard today to get ready for our grill party for his baptism. The yard has been quite neglected since we moved in, due to the largeness of my stomach and now the arrival of Silas, so it was definitely needed!! OH, and we had our first day trip with a baby.  We had a 2 hour drive to a family reunion with the Madsen side of the family.  It was fun to show him off and see the Madsens again, and to be out of the house.  We were proud that we got through the day, but were definitely tired when we arrived home 12 hours later.  Silas was great the whole time, except for the last 45 minutes in the car he had moments of sheer screaming but finally calmed down so we could make it home!  

Sound asleep in a big bed



Fitting perfectly on Daddy's arm



Silas is here!

This past week has been one of the most amazing weeks one can experience.  There have been some ups and downs but all in all we are so happy to announce that we are now parents of a beautiful baby boy!

The Madsens

He was born on May 30th at 8:18pm, weighed 3880g (8.5lbs) and was 54cm long.  We named him Silas Adrian Madsen. (pronounced See-les) We gave him the middle name of Adrian after my middle name Adrienne, that way he has a part of my name in his name, and the less feminine version.

I will save you a lot of the details about the birth but here are some of the key parts.  We had an appointment Monday morning to begin the inducement process, as I was officially 10 days overdue and that is the new procedure in Denmark. When we arrived at the hospital at 8am I was put on a monitor to check the baby’s heart rate and any possible contractions.  After that they checked to see if my body was ready to break the water, but not quite, so I was given a pill to help with that and we were told to come back 6 hours later. In those 6 hours I thought I could tell that something was a bit different, but nothing really regular.  However, by the time we went back to the hospital I was having quite a bit of pain, so I was hopeful something was going to happen! After another 30 minutes of monitoring they checked again, and this time I was almost ready for breaking my water. The midwife told us to come back in 1 hour.  During that hour I could definitely tell that something was happening. We went for a walk and I had to stop pretty regularly to let a contraction go by. Then again back to the hospital, and this time the midwife said I was ready! They broke the water at around 6pm and from there it all went incredibly fast! We were told to get something to eat at 6:30, but by that point I was having very close contractions and barely remember walking down to the cafeteria.  The midwife acted like she thought I was over exaggerating, since it had only been ½ hour since my water broke, but we were told that we would be going to the birthing room now so that  I could take a shower and a bath to help with the pain.  At this point, I really didn’t think that I would make it 7 more hours with this pain. (As we were told that labor would take about 1 hour per cm and I was only 3cm at 6pm) By 7 I was in the shower, and trying to stay calm and breath. By 7:30 I was in so much pain and the contractions seemed endless, no break in between, so the midwife checked me out, and WOW, 8cm!!! She looked completely surprised, and I was quite relieved.  She said the baby would be here soon.  And she was right at 8:18 our baby was born and he was so perfect.  They laid him up on my chest, Søren cut the umbilical cord and we were now officially parents.

Those first few hours were so magical, as if nothing else in the world ever mattered.  We just couldn’t stop staring at him.  We celebrated his birthday with a Danish flag and toast and a few hours later we were shown to our “hotel” room, where both of us would be staying for the next 4 days.

Happy Birthday Silas!

During these 4 days, we learned a lot about Silas.  He had fits of gas/pressure in the middle of the night, slept well during the day, wanted to eat a lot,seemed generally happy, and was always well behaved for visitors. We got lots of practice changing his diaper and clothes and began to get the hang of nursing.  We were able to call a nurse at anytime of the day, and we used this option to gain some experience and some good tips for how to keep Silas happy!

Hospital visitors - Meeting Farmor

Faster and Fætter (Aunt and Cousin)

Thursday night Silas had his first bath and by Friday morning the three of us were ready to  go home! The first car ride was quite strange.  I could tell Søren was driving very cautiously (like you do if you are driving a big trailer filled with glass ornaments or something) Silas was well behaved in the car and slept most of the time, as long as I was singing the A-Your Adorable Alphabet song to him! Finally we were home and it felt strange and wonderful at the same time.  He was OURS, really OURS to keep!

First bath

Daddy gave him his first real clothes

Time to go home!

Since coming home we have had some visitors, and otherwise have just been taking it easy trying to get used to the new rhythm. Silas has been in general sleeping well during the day, but I think he is in the American timezone, as he is up “partying” during the night.  We have been trying to get naps in when we can during the day to make up for it, but we are quite tired. But then it is just one look into his beautiful face and it’s hard to feel anything but joy. He is a bit of a trouble maker already though, as he has peed on us a few times and on Søren’s Dad and another friend Kis as well! “Oh, Silas,” we say, knowing it’s not really his fault, but probably ours for not making sure everything pointing the right direction.

As for the two of us, we have been enjoying sharing the responsibility of having a child and I must say Søren has been so supportive and helpful, especially when I have to nurse Silas for multiple hours a day. He brings me water, the heating pad, books, whatever I need. It is a big help, as I think it is quite challenging and painful to nurse. The nurses at the hospital think that his tongue might be too tight and therefore making it hard to feed correctly, so we are going back to the hospital tomorrow to get it checked out…(Oh, I hope it works!!!)

Below are a bunch of pictures from our first adventurous week with Silas.  Enjoy!!

Finally meeting Grandma!

Bundled up for his first carriage ride

Proud Mom
(I couldn't stop smiling!)

Resting with Daddy

Neck exercise

Søren getting a chance to feed him (as Doctor reccomended to help me heal)

Sleeping outside for the first time!
Yay Denmark!  (PS: He has taken his longest nap ever out there right now, that's why I had so much time to write this!!)