Lincoln Cooper Joins the Family!

Mr. Lincoln Cooper White was born yesterday, June 2nd, at 9:00 a.m., weighing precisely nine pounds. Very precise, is our new boy. He's also very efficient-- I had my first contraction at 5:30 a.m. and he was present and accounted for by 9:00!

We had planned a home birth, and it went great. The only difficulty was the quickness of the labor. I called the midwives and Marilyn at 6:00, as soon as I knew this was the real deal. Judging by my previous labors, we had figured on a good 24 hours from start to finish, so our child-care plan involving calling someone who lives three hours away didn't seem like a bad idea at the time. Lincoln beat Grandma here by 90 minutes, though. There was some pretty tense minutes as I braided Cheyenne's hair for school, through increasingly difficult contractions, and ran through a phone list of people to call to watch the kids! We ended up calling a neighbor lady whose daughter is friends with Cheyenne. I tried calling her cell phone, and that wasn't working, so Evan looked her number up on line and we managed to get a hold of her. The kids left at 8:00, the first midwife got here about 8:15, and the second midwife got here at 8:45, as I started to push. (To find a licensed midwife to do a homebirth in NY meant I had to go with someone who lived two hours away-- again, at the time, that didn't seem to be an issue! :-)

A very sweet, chubby little boy! Besides being my biggest baby, he is quite long-- 21 3/4 inch.

Elliott meeting his new brother.

Daddy went and got Cheyenne from school, and she was rather excited about meeting Lincoln.

My sweet girl!

Excited siblings!

Cheyenne wears the mantle of older-sister-responsibility beautifully!

Elliott was desperate to talk to people about his new brother, so here he is on the phone, telling Grandpa Lee all about Lincoln!



Our new family, 2 1/2 hours after birth!

Such a perfect little baby.


Aunt Bet brought the cousins down to see Lincoln that afternoon.

Grandma with Lincoln.

A very serious Marilla getting to hold her new brother.

Moving in for a kiss.


Speaking of proud siblings-- could anything be cuter than Elliott's smile here?

It's a serious thing to hold a baby, apparently!

My grown-up girl, wearing the new skirt Grandma made her, is very good at baby-holding.

Orianna is an experienced big sister, so she knew what to do. I'm pretty sure Lily took a turn holding Lincoln, but for some reason, we don't have a picture of that.

Daddy with his new boy.

Elliott with Lincoln again.


Curly-headed sweetness holding her new brother!

After school today, Cheyenne came in and sat on cross-legged on the bed while I nursed Lincoln, and chatted to me about her day. With a new baby in the house, I realize how much my first baby has grown-- she's going to be a great help this summer!

Obviously, I could blather on a lot more, but with a new baby in the house, time is at a premium! We were so lucky to have a great birth and a healthy beautiful baby. I love watching the kids interact with their brother. I knew Cheyenne was anxious for a new baby, but I have been surprised at how excited the other two are.

I have lots of pictures of the kids at a Memorial Day parade, and other cute pictures, but we'll see when we get around to putting them up, if ever. For now, the news is all Lincoln!