Happy Thanksgiving

Here are some pictures of Chester's first Thanksgiving. We went to Matt's Uncle Lincoln's house in Belfast, which is only about 25 minutes from here. The whole Ferrel crew was there and Chester got to meet a lot of family.

Picture 1 is Grandma Lisa with Chester. Pictures 2 and 3 are Uncle Ian with Chester Bunny, where one of them are making a funny face in each picture. And Picture 4 is Chester wearing his hat that Matt's Aunt Susan made for him from a variety of wools, including Buffalo hair. Chester wasn't so sure about wearing any hat at all, but he still looks pretty good in it!

It was a wonderful day full of thanks. Some things I am thankful for:
My healthy, beautiful baby boy.
My loving family- Matt, my parents and sister, Matt's family...
All the love and support from our beautiful friends near and far.
The fact that for the first time in 3 weeks I feel like a normal person and my breasts don't hurt like crazy!

Morning bliss.

I mean, how cute, right? Nothing better than a sleeping baby snuggled with dad! This means I get some good snooze time myself :)

Chester's First Snow and my musings...

It's snowing up here today...It's the first snow fall of the season and Chester's first, though we are no where near ready to go outside in this weather. My only urge is to stay snuggled inside with my little man!

We are having a nice day. Matt is home and that makes life a whole lot easier for me because being alone with a two week old pretty much sucks. I am totally confident that I can take care of my Chester, but that means all my needs get put on back burner until someone else is here to make sure I get fed and taken care of, too. Word to the wise: if you are expecting now or in the future, plan for a lot of postpartum support. Even if you end up not needing it, it's way better to have the support in place than to be left without it.

Besides Matt being awesome and doing his best to be in school full time and be a stellar dad and partner, I have been supported by a myriad of friends and family. My parents doted on the three of us the first week postpartum and then Matt's mom came to spend the week after that. Plus, my midwife Chris and her daughter Lucretia have done a lot for me. Lucretia is my age and has a one year old son named Ming who is super adorable. It makes for a really nice set up to have a mom-friend 2 miles down the road and one who's ideals are so closely aligned with mine. And, Chris is just awesome, too. Yesterday Chris and Lucretia brought me tons of food to eat while Matt was at school and then kept me company for a few hours. Today, my doula Lisa came by bringing with her my favorite carrot ginger soup. She visited and helped clean up a bit around the house. The help is very very appreciated!

Breastfeeding is going better, but not perfect. It's like this process that is both completely natural and in my experience so far, so NOT easy. It's just not easy! It takes time and patience to be able to learn the body rhythms of another being and to sync them with yours. It works, though, and it's really amazing to see Chester's double chin growing already. He's filling out. It's pretty cool that something completely free and renewable from my body is able to nourish my son. I just can't wait until it's a little easier.

And now Chester is asleep in his sling and I am just taking this time to write and to rest. I can't even begin to tell all of you how crazy this parenthood thing is. Awesome and crazy. I can't imagine a time without Chester being here (ok, well I can...) but life changes so much that it feels like it's been this way forever. It is the most amazing thing ever to be able to hold and touch and love this little being who, in my opinion, is just the most incredible person ever to exist.

He's squirming and I am off to watch him squirm.

Pictures of our guy.

Welcome Chester Thomas!

Wow! What a wonderful, crazy, intense 2 weeks it has been. Chester Thomas Forbes-Ferrel was born on Thursday, November 6th at 10:45 PM. He was 8lbs, 6 ozs and it was the most incredible birth experience. I labored for 6-7 hours total. It was a fast birth and I look back on it so fondly. I can say now that it was actually fun--hard, no doubt, but awesome in and of itself. I was very much looking forward to giving birth and it was such a sweet experience to have. I was able to catch Chester myself as he was born in the water in our living room. Matt was in the tub with me and our midwives and doula were there supporting me (though they only arrived an hour before he was born). It was a great way to welcome our baby love. I am working on writing my birth story for anyone who wants more details. There are so many wonderful moments to share about Chester's birth...

And, there are so many wonderful moments to share about his life. We have had many challenges already in the first two weeks. Matt had strep throat the first week. I got a really bad case of mastitis with a 103 degree fever, which made breastfeeding really painful. Our family was mostly bed-ridden for the first while. But, Chester is incredibly healthy, growing and changing each day. He is this amazing spirit who has arrived at the perfect time and place in this life. I feel like we know each other's souls deeply and I can't wait for you all to be able to share in his joyful, calm, deep, and wise energy.

I am calling this blog "Chester Thomas Knows" because each day that my mom was here (my parents stayed with us for the first week), she sang Chester a song that goes "Chester Thomas knows we love him. Chester knows, Chester knows..." It's become his little theme song and there are so many things this little guy knows! We want to share his life and development with our family and friends and so I figured this was a good way to do it! Plus, we can post pictures here for your viewing pleasure.

More to come. Stay tuned!