Jonathan Hugh Sullins

We have a new baby!!!! He is so sweet and precious. And we have a name too! We decided to name him Jonathan Hugh Sullins.

For me, it isn't an instant - the moment I see him - I'm in love kind of thing. I mean, it isn't that I don't love him. But for me that love comes after a couple days of being with him non-stop, nursing him, taking care of him. That is when I realize how much I love him and care about him and can't live without him now. This rings true to me too because I believe the body and spirit and very much connected. Something like nursing for instance . . . it makes sense that it fosters bonding with your baby.

So back to the name . . . it was tough this time to pick a name. I really didn't have any names that I just loved. Jeff had about 5 names that he liked and would consider. He didn't like any of the names on my list. I don't say that as a complaint. I just say it bc it is true. It was important to me that we have a name that we could both agree on. At first, I didn't like Jonathan at all. But then I realized how nice and musical it sounded with Sullins. I liked the meaning - "Gift from God". And I liked the bible story of Jonathan. I liked how it sounded with Hugh. Hugh was a name I had from the beginning of my pregnancy- my Dad's Dad's name. And think of all the cool Hughs - Hugh Grant, Hugh Jackman, Hugh Hefn . .. wait a sec . . . scratch that last one. : ) And Hugh goes with our tradition of including a family name. My Grandpa Hugh - I wasn't hugely close to or anything. He was mostly deaf after working with airplanes during the war. But he had a twinkle in his eye and he was hard working and sweet.

A couple of things that I think aren't perfect about the name . . . I'm afraid there might be spelling errors that people make - adding an H or spelling it "on" at the end. But we are using the straight forward spelling - so hopefully that won't be a huge problem. Also, I kept thinking, "Ugh! Could you be any more boring than Mary and John?"! But if we call him Jonathan, I feel better about it. Anyway, these details are probably not important to all of you, but I wanted to record them. So there you are!

So everything is pretty darn great right now. Mary is doing really well. She does say sometimes, "It's MY turn to talk!" And we try to give her the floor when that happens. But she seems to love "baby brother". And the way she pronounces "Jonathan" and "baby brother" is pretty stinkin' cute. In addition, I'm thrilled that I was able to achieve my goal to have a natural birth this time. Would I do it again? In the middle of it, I said no. But now, I think maybe I would - if we even have anymore. But for now, I'm just happy it worked out. I'll try to write a post later about the experience. Here are some pics! By the way, did I mention he was 9 lbs. 10 oz!?!! I'm not ashamed. My doula says she thinks big babies are great - they don't get stuck in funky positions (I guess that isn't always true though) and I personally think they look a little more filled out at first. But I may be slightly biased having had one 8 pounder and one almost 10 pounder. Course that doesn't bode well if I have anymore children . . . : )

Who does he look like??? Look at my baby picture and Mary's and I think you'll see some shocking resemblance. But when he opens his eyes, he has Jeff's eyes I think. Not sure whose nose or mouth he has yet though.

Me on my birthday.


Mary a few days old.