This is Max!

Max Joseph Dastrup was born Tuesday 1/26/10 at 11:36 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs 9 oz. I'll let Lindsey recount the labor story when she's up to it but she and the little guy are doing great. We are so proud of our little son. He did so well throughout the process and has been easy on his parents for the first day of life. Many had told us how wonderful it was to be parents, but we never could have imagined the feelings we're experiencing. Here are a few pictures to introduce Mr. Max, Mad Max, Baby Maximus to all those who have been awaiting his late arrival.


His first bond with daddy moments after delivery.


I told you he was cute and yes, Lindsey looks amazing for what she just went through.


We thank God for letting us have this healthy boy.


Thanks for all your support and prayers. More updates soon!

Update

Well despite what my blog ticker says, I do not have a 1 week old baby! I know many of you are wondering how the little guy (born?? unborn?? what the heck?!?) and I are doing, and are trying (mostly successfully) not to harass me too much. So I thought I would provide a brief update!

My due date came and went last Monday, and by Thursday I still hadn't made any progress toward labor. This weekend, though, we had a couple "false alarms" and were convinced we'd be on our way to the hospital before too long - until the contractions stopped. When I saw my doctor this morning (now at 41 weeks), she said that based on the tests they did the baby is doing just fine, but she still recommended inducing me tomorrow morning. (I am still contracting on my own; the contractions just aren't doing much.) So that it our plan! We will spend tonight in the hospital and they'll use a mechanical catheter device to get the cervix ready for tomorrow morning when they'll break my water and start the pitocin. And hopefully not long after that we'll have our baby boy!!

Even after all this crazy waiting and waiting and waiting it still is kind of surreal that this is actually happening. Somehow the thought never crossed my mind that I could wait a whole week for him to come and then be induced, but here we are, and I am incredibly ready to get him out of there! I'm a little nervous (pretty sure that's normal) but I trust my doctor and feel confident that everything will be fine. I'm just trying to focus on the end result: having my little guy here. No matter how things go, it will all be worth it!

So wish me luck. We've heard that the hospital doesn't allow internet access to blogger, so we'll see when we can post the news (relax - email and texting will also be utilized). I am so scared/excited/overwhelmed/happy!!! We just can't wait to finally be able to see and hold our sweet baby and welcome him to this crazy world. :)

Last of the belly shots (hopefully!)

I am a mess!! I can't sleep. I can't - oh wait, I can eat. But I'm still a mess! Ready to get this baby out of my belly and get on with the show. Ahhhhhhh. In the meantime, I thought I'd share a few belly shots from the last couple months, as well as some pregnancy pictures Lori took at 38 weeks (last week). Now, at 39 weeks, I have the most misshapen belly I've ever seen. Just take my word for it.

28 weeks
30 weeks

32 weeks

36 weeks (yes we are skipping 34 ... I got lazy at the end)

38 weeks!

It was such a cold and windy day when we took these ... but I figured we'd better hurry and do them in case I went into labor early like Lori. Guess there wasn't a big rush. But they were fun. Thank you Lori!!

I can't wait to see the little guy who's been doing such crazy things to my belly for the last 9 months in real life! I'm sure those pictures will be a bit more exciting.

CHRISTMAS (finally!)

I guess I'd better throw up a few Christmas pictures before anything really exciting happens around here and I forget about Christmas altogether! We had a fabulous Christmas in Maryland with Nate, Lori, & Reese, Joe's mom and 2 younger sisters, Michelle and Angelica, and Nate's friend Colton. Christmas seemed to sneak up on us once again ... but once we had made all our last minute preparations, we ended up having a really wonderful and relaxing time.

On Christmas Eve we made homemade pizzas with dough from the Big Cheese (just like last year). Everyone made a different kind, and all were a huge hit. Here Lori & I are rolling out some dough, with Joe's mom in the background (on that pesky iphone!!).
Michelle & Angelica worked on a killer ham & pineapple pizza. It was so much fun having them here ... they are the cutest and sweetest girls! With all the travel craziness they had to endure, Joe and I would have arrived pretty cranky, but they were just as happy as can be.

Joe & I showing off our creation ... chicken sausage, spinach, onion, and mushroom.

The rest of the evening we relaxed and watched Faith Hill's Christmas concert which totally got us in the Christmas spirit. Some people started the Grinch Stole Christmas, but the prego elected to head home around 11 or so and take the baby daddy with her.

Christmas morning: we got together for present opening and a delicious breakfast.

Joe holding sweet little Reese ...

Us with some adorable BYU gear for our little boy! (From my parents, of course.) There is no doubt what color this little guy is going to bleed!

Another highlight was getting to open a package with Joe's baby blanket, 2 week old picture, and the outfit he wore in the picture! (From Joe's mom.) It was so sweet, I was about to cry. I just can't believe we're about to have our own little one - it's incredible.

We got plenty of other wonderful things as well ... and Joe did a great job adding a little flair to a few of my gifts by accompanying them with law-related notes (appropriate for the new Esquire). It is a treat for me to see his funny, creative, and thoughtful side coming out. Kind of reminds me of how my dad would always have a super clever poem to read to each of the kids and lead them to a special gift each Christmas. It is fun to add your own touch!

A good portion of the afternoon was spent on this awesome Lake Powell puzzle my mom sent. I was in heaven because I love doing puzzles!

Nate & Lori's new Wii also kept everyone quite busy and entertained. Evidently I'm not having as much fun as everyone else though ... I am completely horrible at video games!!

So I kept busy helping with Christmas dinner, and working like crazy on the puzzle. Everyone got into it and we ended up putting together the entire 1,000 pieces in one day!

It was a lovely Christmas ... but this year I didn't end up with the typical end-of-Christmas depression that next Christmas isn't for another 365 days. Every day down means we're another day closer to welcoming our new little baby, and that's about all I've been able to think about lately.