Beautiful Boy

Dear Laney,

On Tuesday morning, your dad and I checked into the hospital for your brother's birth. Peg Peg got to scrub in, too. I made fun of how she looked with that puffy blue hat on her head, and she said, "If I said something catty like that to you, you'd put it on the blog." Guilty. Half the fun of having a blog is tattling on your loved ones.

We had a doctor we loved and my favorite nurses. Childbirth is an arduous experience no matter what, but this was about as pleasant as could possibly be. Your brother, who we have named Hagen Everett Burbach, was born at 8:08am. He came into the world with a minimum of fuss, and has barely fussed since. This bodes well for us, since you already have enough opinions for several other children.

We were in our room by 10am - the very last room at the end of the maternity wing. I mention this, because the walk down that long hallway gave you plenty of time to holler, "I COMING, MOMMY!!" Then, like a gunslinger in a western, you'd bang open the door to our room and demand, "WHERE'S MY BABY?!?" followed by stomping out your cigarette and adjusting your chaps. OK, those last few things aren't true, but that was the spirit of your entrance.

You seem to love Hagen so far, especially petting his face. And you definitely think he belongs to you.

Recovery for me has been a little touch-and-go. They warn you when you have surgery that you might have a little problem with gas. When you hear that, you might think it means that you're going to toot a little more than normal, but you're WRONG. What it means is that pockets of air will be loose in your body and might install themselves somewhere weird like your shoulder, and you'll wind up screaming in pain and demanding that the staff DO SOMETHING because you're in the worst agony of your life. This is when you learn that Community Medical Center does not offer elective shoulder amputations, no matter how much you beg.

It has been a pretty overwhelming 3 days, and your dad and I are so glad to be home. We missed you while we were at the hospital, but we were so glad to have the time to get to know your brother. We're already crazy about him, and we know you will be, too.

Here are some of our favorite moments from the past few days:

Love,

Mom