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!!)