Well, I thought I would get the inevitable "Mighty Quinn" reference out of the way early. Besides being a great Dylan song and one that my family often sings with great gusto at reunions, Quinn's name has special meaning to us. According to the name books, "Quinn" means the 5th son (or grandson). Our Quinn is the 5th grandson on my side of the family. The middle name "Allan" is special to Jason's family as it is a middle name that has been passed from his grandfather to his father to him and now on to his son.
I had pondered retelling the "birth story" for this one, but I'm not sure there's much to tell. It ended up being a scheduled c-section with your run of the mill complications and recovery time. Getting into the gory details for all of this would probably be TMI... I will say that Jason got lots of pictures this time and can definitely say that he "loves me inside and out" since he's seen more of my insides than he would probably care to remember!
To be perfectly honest, having another c-section was somewhat disappointing to me... I had dreams of an exciting and beautiful "natural birth" with lots of family bonding, etc. Jason and I put in lots of time at birthing classes for both kids. We joked to each other that we are the most well trained people who have ever not experienced natural labor! Oh well, maybe in my next lifetime??
I've heard from well meaning folks who say that "all births are natural... just the way they were meant to be"... I think that what they're referring to may be true on some level but misses the point for what we wanted to experience. All of that aside, I am confident that my two children came into this world the way they were meant to come into it. After being blessed with two very healthy babies in two years, I have nothing to complain about.
So a little bit about Quinn... he is a very sweet and cuddly baby. Even when he was in the womb, he had a gentle way about him. Unlike Olive, he was not a big kicker. Also unlike Olive, he loves being held face first against your chest. He loves to root his head up under your chin or in your armpit. One way to soothe him if he gets fussy is to clutch him to your chest with both hands and let him fight/root around until he gives in.
This kiddo loves a good swaddle. Jason has mastered a magic swaddle technique that even involves trapping both arms. This works well especially at night. Since this big boy has nearly outgrown 3 month pj's at 2 weeks old, we will probably need to get some bigger swaddle blankets for him!
Here is a picture of Quinn sleeping with Daddy... I just checked and realized that I don't have any pictures of Quinn yet where he is not sleeping!
I would say his personality is 95% teddy bear and 5% grizzly bear (when he is hungry or irritated). And I just love to watch him whether he's asleep or awake. I must admit that he is one of the cutest darn babies that I have ever seen. :) I think the second time around you have a healthy respect for how quickly they change in the first year. If you blink, I swear you could miss something!
I am happy to report from the Cunningham household that our human family is complete! We are very excited to raise the babies we have, with no current plans to add to our human brood.
xoxo claire
