A trip we won't forget (OK... Caeden might not remember it)

We had a great time yesterday going to Tokyo to the US Embassy for Caeden's passport. We decided to take the train and use the mass transit system in Tokyo rather than drive. As nice as it would have been to drive (somebody would have driven us), it only took us about an hour to get to Tokyo by express train. The subway system in Japan is nothing short of amazing (click here if you are curious about a map of it). Our train left Kasama (our home town) at about 8:50, and we were through with everything at the embassy by 11:30. I was very surprised at how fast and rather painless the process at the embassy was. Of course there was a lot of security to get in, but once we were in, the whole process only took about 45 minutes. The security was a mix between going through airport security, and security at a jail. We had to empty our pockets, let them check our passports, and they didn't want us to bring in any liquids (although they let us take in some water because it was "for the baby" and Caeden's milk). We then went through a series of remotely locked doors and a metal detector. I guess I shouldn't really be too surprised at the security this day in age.

Our original plan was to go down there get the passport stuff taken care of and come straight back home (after all, Caeden isn't even 2 weeks old yet). Once we got there and got done with the process at the embassy, Elissa felt really good and Caeden was fast asleep (as he was for about 90% of the trip), so we decided to go look around a cool area in Tokyo called Roppongi. There were a lot of American restaurants and fast food chains there (Subway, Wendy's, TGIF, Outback, and Hard Rock), and hence our draw to this area. We really have been craving American food lately I think partially due to the fact that we are only a month away from being back to the states. We ended up eating at Subway... and then Wendey's... and then took the subway back to the train station. We ended up just barely missing the train we wanted to take, but it wasn't a big deal as the express train back home runs every hour. It ended up being a good thing because in the train station was a baby lounge area where they had changing tables, and a curtained off area for feeding. After we changed Caeden and he got some food from mom, we headed back home. What a fun first family outing with Caeden!

Below is a short slide show of our trip! Enjoy!

If you want to see bigger pictures, you can click on any of the pictures, and then click on slideshow in the upper left corner. The last two pictures on the slideshow are actually videos, and you have to click on the picture to watch it. I hope this works for most of you!

More pictures...

Just a quick note that all of our pictures taken up to today are now viewable online at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/andresen.marc/CaedenPics#

Elissa and the baby are doing really well! Caeden is now back up to his normal birth weight (and has probably well surpassed that now). We went to see our midwife for a checkup last Thursday and she said Caeden was gaining 62 grams a day. That is twice the normal daily weight gain for a newborn (at least a Japanese newborn)!

We go to Tokyo to the US Embassy on Monday to apply for Caeden's passport, official birth certificate, and social security card. I will write another post after we get back from our first trip with Caeden. Until then...

Back to the house!!!

We are officially back to house and are trying to get settled with our new little friend. We have been very fortunate so far because Caeden has been sleeping pretty well at night (even giving us a 5-6 hour block in the night)! Today, Caeden and I were having a staring contest and then he fell asleep in my lap (so I guess that means I won...). It is sooooooo great being a father. Caeden's interests so far are eating, sleeping, and making one mean dirty diaper.

Elissa is continuing to heal, but is definitely still feeling sore. I hope that she starts to feel better soon because doing anything is difficult, including sitting while feeding (which seems to happen a LOT).  We go back to the doctor on Thursday so that mom and baby can get a checkup. I think they are going to do some blood tests on Caeden then.

As soon as Elissa and Caeden are feeling better and up to the task we will head down to Tokyo to the U.S. embassy. There, we have to apply for Caeden's passport, birth certificate, and social security card. Evidently, the birth certificate that you get in the hospital doesn't fly in the states. You have to get the birth certificate from the hospital here stamped by the city, and then give it to the embassy. It should be fun first family adventure!

Both grandmas head back home on Wednesday. I am sure they don't want to leave, but we won't be too far behind. Below are some more pictures of the cute little fella known as Caeden.

I added this picture last time too... I guess I like it (I actually don't know how to take it off)

He has arrived!!!

He has arrived! Our baby boy finally decided it was time to make his appearance, and what a grand appearance it was! He was born on Thursday, September 11, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. on the dot (which was his due date!). He weighed in at 3050 grams (6 pounds 7 ounces) and was 51 cm in length (20.1 inches). Elissa and I (and our two mothers who are here with us in Japan) are in heaven! 

We decided on the name Caeden, because it means companion. Since we are in Japan we chose kanji for his name. 恵 (kei or Cae) means grace and伝 (den) means speaker. I really didn’t like his name when I first heard it to be honest, but now I love it. His middle name is Leonard, named after Elissa’s dad. We thought it was a good fit, liked the name, and hope that our little boy will be as friendly and loving as Leonard Foote.

We couldn’t ask for a better gift than our perfect little handsome man! We couldn’t be more happy and THANKFUL TO GOD for giving us a healthy baby boy! Praise be to God and His awesome creation. He has Elissa’s cute little mouth and chin, and even makes some of the same faces as his mom when he is sleeping. He has also inherited my amazingly awesome hammer toe (see pics below). He has blue eyes (as did I when I was born, but they are very obviously not still blue) and what appears to be red hair!?!? He doesn't get his head washed until his bath tomorrow, so we will wait and see.

Elissa did such a great job all through her labor, which thankfully only lasted 9 hours (relatively fast time for a first pregnancy). When her contractions hit, they hit hard. By the third contraction, they were only 5 minutes apart. By the time that we got her in the car they were only 3 minutes apart. Her labor wasn’t too long, but it was very intense, and she really was a trooper through the whole ordeal. We decided to have the baby at a midwife’s house. Elissa did great, but ran out of energy in the end, so we went to a hospital that our midwife works with. The doctor there used a suction cup to help the little guy out. We found out that part of the difficulty that Elissa was having was due to the fact that the umbilical cord was wrapped around his head twice (and on top of that shorter than usual). The doctor and midwife did a great job in dealing with this difficulty.

Elissa is still very sore, but I think she is handling it very well. We thank all of you who have been praying for us and supporting us, and we look forward to seeing some of you when we return to the states at the end of October. Take care and God bless!

Little Mama Elissa

It has been a long going, but we have finally got to the 40 week mark! Elissa has been a trooper through this whole process. It has been fun and exciting to see our little Caeden grow and kick his way through 40 weeks. Both Elissa and I thought that she might have him early because of his big size... and well her small size (her mother also had all three kids early). Elissa's favorite new saying is Haiyaku aka chan! Which means hurry up baby! Both of our moms are here in Japan with us eagerly anticipating the coming of their first grandchild. They will be here until the September 17.

As we eagerly wait for Caeden to make his way into this world I have posted some pictures of Elissa and her watermelon (Most of the pictures were taken by our good friend Michi).