We have a baby!!!!!

Yes, the bun is officially out of the oven! Edward Lowe "Eddie" Hincman was born this past Wednesday, January 9 at 3:44 pm CST. He weighed 7lbs 8oz at birth and measures 21¼ inches long. And there is no scale that quantifies how scrumptiously cute he is! We've taken tons of pictures and some videos. Here are a few favorite images from our hospital stay:

Me & Rich in my hospital room the night before Eddie's arrival

Grandma fixing Mom's hair, which of course got messed up again anyway...

Eddie in his bassinet shortly after birth

One very sore, exhausted, happy and proud mother

The proud papa with his little man (yeah I took this one, that's why it's fuzzy)

Another view of Eddie in his bassinet. Check out those beautiful eyes!

I'll add videos in another post once I figure out how, and of course more pics from his first few days at home.

Anyway, Eddie is an absolute joy! He's adorable to look at but even more fun to know. He has the most delicious baby smell. I just love kissing his face and head and taking in that yummy new baby scent. Granted he has been farting a lot, probably from taking in too much air with the first few nursing attempts, but the farts don't smell that bad and it's so funny when he does it that we don't mind, we just laugh. (And the feedings are going better now that my milk has come in.) He has the cutest baby cry I've ever heard, kinda sounds like a motor revving up or a horse neighing but cuter. Not that he cries a lot, just when he's hungry or wet or needs something. And when he stops crying, lets out a little sigh and rests his head on my chest... there are no words.

An Eventful Week in an Eventful Year

Got my driver's license a week ago. Finally! It took me till I was 29 years old and almost 9 months pregnant with my first child, but I got it. I am officially a licensed driver. Yup. Me.

My test was scheduled for 11:30 am last Wednesday, and it was nice & sunny out. That was important because if there's even a cloud in the sky they call it "inclement weather" and cancel or postpone all road tests. On the way to the DMV Johnny, my driving instructor, gave me some helpful pointers about changing lanes. In the past I've gotten nervous about it, spent way too long checking my blind spot and ended up doing this herky-jerky motion to get into the other lane. He had me practice a few times till I could do it smoothly. We got to the DMV and my examiner was a very nice lady. She had me back out of my parking space and head toward the road, then asked if I was pregnant. Awesome! No strangers have asked me that my entire pregnancy and I'd been feeling like I just looked fatter than usual rather than glowing and with child. That alone made my day. So she had me drive around a few side streets, where I carefully obeyed the traffic laws and maintained an appropriate speed. Then I pulled onto a main road where she had me change lanes a couple of times, so Johnny's lane-changing tutorial turned out to be well-timed. Then she directed me back to the DMV, had me pull into a parking space, and told me I'd passed. WOO HOO!!!!! I couldn't believe how easy it was. I knew they didn't test on parallel parking in Tennessee but I expected to have to back up 50 feet, do a 3-point turn, park on a hill, etc. Either I got the pregnant lady handicap or it's this easy for everyone. Regardless, I earned my little piece of plastic and am allowed to drive all by myself. I'm a big girl now, huh?

Then on Sunday I got.... A BRAND NEW CAR!!!!!!! (I've always wanted to say that, in the voice of the announcer guy on The Price Is Right. Cue me running down the aisle in a bright colored T-shirt with my big ol' pregnant boobs bouncing all over the place.)

Rich & I visited a couple of local dealerships on Saturday. I'd been envisioning a clunky 10-year-old used car that somebody's grandma drove to and from the supermarket and church. But Rich felt that a new car would be better and safer for me & the baby. We didn't find anything we really wanted on Saturday, so we tried another dealership on Sunday, specifically Crown Ford on Thompson Lane in Nashville. We told each other we weren't necessarily going to buy, we just wanted to see what was out there.

And what was out there? A 2007 Ford Focus sedan. Maroon with gray interior. Automatic transmission, 4-cylinder engine (27 mpg city/34 mpg highway) and a surprisingly roomy interior, thanks to the cab-forward design. 5 years' roadside assistance. Air conditioning (which Rich's truck lacks), CD player, 4 cup holders, and most importantly a LATCH system to help secure the baby's car seat. Plus they threw in a free tank of gas and my first oil change will be free. Because Rich owns a Ford truck that had 10 payments left on it, they agreed to apply the $3000 rebate to his truck loan, so now we have one monthly car payment and his truck is paid off! The car payment is slightly higher than his truck payment was, but we can still swing it. And it cost surprisingly little to add me to his auto insurance policy. While I would have been satisfied with an older used car, it's nice to drive around not worrying that I'll blow a gasket or need to replace the alternator, whatever those terms mean. I'll post pictures of the car as soon as I have a chance. Of course I had to drive the new car home all by myself, following Rich in his truck. A nerve-wracking experience, but we both got home in one piece with no damage to the car. Yay!

So in the space of one year I've done the following, in this order:

• Moved from Massachusetts to Tennessee with my boyfriend
• Found my first gray hair
  
• Graduated from massage school
• Adopted a cat
  
• Got pregnant
• Got engaged
• Obtained my driver's license
• And got my first car - a brand new one at that!

2007's been one hell of a year.

The Journey Home... and Back... and Other Stories

That's what I'll be calling my anthology if I ever get around to amassing one.

I flew home the last weekend of September. Specifically I flew Southwest from Nashville to Manchester NH with a changeover in Baltimore. I'd been scheduled for an earlier flight that was overbooked, and they were taking volunteers to be bumped in exchange for a voucher for the price of that day's flight plus $100. Can you blame me if I took it? The change in itinerary was relatively painless, as it only made me about 20 minutes later than planned. The only problem was squeezing my big ass into my seat. They do not design airplane seats for pregnant women, especially the ones who were large to begin with!

But I survived and got to Manchester in one piece. Randy & Alayna kindly picked me up at the airport and put me up for the night. Of course I'd barely managed any sleep the night before and was pooped from the flight, but the fresh air perked me up from comatose to loopy. (Sorry if I said anything weirder than usual guys!) We hung out at their place for a few hours and I got to play with their dogs, Maggie and Sam, and their doggie cousin Isobelle. Their cat Buffy said hello to me too. Later that night we returned Izzy to her parents' house in Malden, and I got to see Paige and Sylvie, which was wonderful. Sylvie had her heart surgery a few days before but you'd never know it! After hanging out for a while and picking Paige's brain about mommy stuff, we went to Bertucci's for dinner. There's a dearth of decent Italian food in Nashville and I needed some chicken marsala like nobody's business!

The next day Randy & Alayna drove me down to Lynn for the baby shower. Peggy, my future mother-in-law, did a wonderful job organizing the shower and making lots of good food for everybody. My mom secured the function room at the senior housing development she used to managed (she just retired) so we had a free place to host it. We had a real good turnout, about 30 friends and relatives, and it was so great to see everybody! Of course it was a little overwhelming to sit and open all those presents while everyone else watched. Normally I only open that many gifts at Christmas when everyone else is opening theirs too... but I got over it. We were given all kinds of things that we need and want for the baby. I probably won't need to buy him clothes till kindergarten! Later that night I got all teary-eyed talking to Rich, telling him how much everybody loves us and our baby. Words can't begin to express our gratitude for such an outpouring of kindness and generosity. Me at the shower with my pregnant belly:


And this is me with Peggy, my wonderful mother-in-law-elect:


I spent the next few days at my mom and Mary's. They've turned my old bedroom into a den with a twin sofabed, which was perfectly comfy to sleep on. We had some nice quiet times hanging out, and I got to visit my favorite local eateries, Brothers Deli and Gulu-Gulu Cafe. And I taught Mary a few things about baseball. Wednesday morning I had an appointment in Salem, then I had lunch at Beer Works and went for a walk downtown. I made the mistake of going into a posh baby & maternity boutique and bought a little white baby hat. It cost about 5-10 times what I would normally pay but it is so soft and fuzzy and warm, it'll be perfect for the winter. And the saleswoman told me it was handmade by a woman in Soho - at least I'm not paying through the nose for sweatshop labor! As long as Rich doesn't see the price tag we're good. I also bought Zorro a new collar at the local pet boutique (Salem is so gentrified these days). It's blue like his eyes, and has rhinestones and a little bell. It's beautiful and Zorro deserves it.

Thursday afternoon I met Peggy at the mall. We went crib shopping at Sears, Babies R Us, Baby Depot and WalMart, in that order, before deciding on the crib and changing table set we'd seen at Sears. We decided Peggy would order the set later, because we were both pooped and she still needed to bake a birthday cake for How, Rich's stepfather. Later that afternoon we visited with Rich's grandfather, which was fun. Gramp is a "tough guy" type with a big heart, and I just adore him. Then we had How's birthday dinner at home and watched the Red Sox win. Good times. A few days later Peggy went back to Sears to order the crib we liked, and it was discontinued! Oh well. I picked a different set from another store, hopefully that one will be in stock and arrive before the baby does.

Friday afternoon I stopped by my old office to say hello to my former boss. It was nice to see her, it had been a while. That night I went into Boston. First I went downtown to Borders to buy thank-you cards for all those shower gifts, then bummed around Faneuil Hall for a while before meeting up with my friends for dinner. It was Isabel, Melissa, Cheryl, Cymara & Dan and their little girl Clarissa. We went to G'vanni's in the North End. It's a little pricier than my usual dining haunts but how often am I in Boston? The food was excellent and we all had a great time hanging out. After dinner I insisted on stopping at Mike's Pastry for some cannoli and noted with interest that they ship nationwide. Mmmmmm....

Saturday afternoon we went to my mom and Mary's wedding. The wedding was small, about 15-20 people, and they held it in the same place as my baby shower. They had a justice of the peace who did a wonderful job. Randy and I each read a beautiful passage about marriage and love. Here they are exchanging vows:


See? Two women getting married. Did anybody's eyeballs burn out in their sockets? Nah...

It was a quiet, dignified ceremony followed by a fun and relaxed reception. Everyone had a good time. What I'd love to see is for the other 49 states to make same-sex marriage legal, but that's another topic for another post. Here's a shot of the happy couple and their guests:

Standing, Left to Right: Theron, Sylvie, Paige, Randy, Judy, Alayna, Karen, Bob, GayGay, Joanne, Fred, me, Lorna's partner (forgot her name!), Lorna, Rose, Frannie.
Seated: Mary and Susan (my mom)

After the wedding I went back to New Hampshire with Randy & Alayna. We had a quiet dinner and hung out with the doggies. The next morning they drove me back to Manchester for my return flight. This one stopped in Baltimore before continuing to Nashville so I didn't have to change planes, made my life easier. It was gray and drizzly when we left Manchester, and it was such a trip to break through that low layer of clouds up to blue skies and sunshine! When we got close to Nashville I was able to spot some now-familiar landmarks. I even recognized my subdivision - it's pretty close to the airport so we were flying low by then but it was still fun. The boy sitting next to me recognized the field where he played Little League. Cute!

Our flight got in about 20 minutes early - gotta love Southwest - and Rich was waiting for me by the baggage claim. I gave him a big hug and kiss, I'd missed him! Of course I miss Boston too but I guess home really is where the heart is, and my heart belongs to that truck driver of mine. The icing on the cake? Parking at Nashville Airport for 45 minutes cost him $1.50! Would have been at least $20 at Logan. Sometimes the cost-of-living difference really is worth it.

Another Frickin' Rite of Passage

No, I'm not talking about moving in with my boyfriend 1100 miles from our hometowns. I'm talking about the two gray hairs I found this morning. Just as I was returning to my natural hair color. Damn it!

*sigh*

It's A Boy! But We Kinda Expected That...

Congratulations to my cousin Manda and her husband Travis! They welcomed their first child, Jack Robert, to the world at 5:45 am Saturday morning. Young Mr. Gentry weighs in at 6 lbs 6 oz and measures 19 inches in length. Here's a portrait of the new family, courtesy of Jack's Aunt Jessie: