Henry comes into the world

At 7:47 a.m. on Jan. 22, 2011, Henry Aizcorbe Ward came into the world at 6 lbs, 15 oz. Happy Birthday, little man!

Henry - The name comes from my Opa, Heinz. We figured Henry was more palatable in the US of A than Heinz ... although they do make good ketchup.

Aizcorbe (roughly: eyes-CORE-bay) - Kate's paternal grandmother's maiden name. It's Basque meaning from the town of Aizkorbe in northern Spain.

Ward - Boring truncation of Warshavsky (or Wartofsky or Wardefsky) ... a Lithuanian Jewish last name meaning "From Warsaw, with love"

Henry's arrival into the world was tame compared to Elizabeth's. Well, tame is not the right word. Easier, simpler, smoother, less worrisome ... those would all be better terms. Although I'm sure Kate will be glad to give you all a first-hand account of every detail, here's my side-by-side comparison:

Warning signs:

Elizabeth - none. Kate just went into spontaneous labor the night before Elizabeth came.

Henry - a bunch. Kate was having contractions (not intense, just little rumbles) since Wednesday night.

The Labor:
Elizabeth - 16 hours, with the last three or so particularly painful because the doctors were telling Kate to NOT push, as Elizabeth wasn't aligned correctly.

Henry - About 4.

The Delivery:

Elizabeth - Horrible. Emergency C-Section after three hours of NOT pushing, which, I'm told, is extraordinarily difficult for laboring moms. Plus, obviously, drugs.

Henry - Complication free. Kate pushed for about 35 minutes and, shamwow!, Henry popped out. No drugs.

Immediate Recovery:

Elizabeth - The C-Section was pretty traumatic for Kate, with lots of pain and limited movement. A language barrier also prevented her from getting pain meds. And the nurses were as unhelpful as nurses could be, providing little to no help in the middle of the first night for Kate, who was trying desperately to nurse.

Henry - Less pain, more movement, and helpful nurses.

Early Nursing:

Elizabeth - Try as she might, Kate and Elizabeth couldn't figure this one out for a few days, resulting in a lot of baby tea and formula consumption for Elizabeth. Lots of tears were had by both parties.

Henry - He latched successfully within the first few minutes. And then every time again he tried. Bingo, bango, booby!

So far, Henry seems to be in good health. He had a pediatrician check him out shortly after birth and we haven't heard any negative reviews yet. The baby cardiologist is coming tomorrow morning (1/23) to give his heart a better listen, but we're pretty hopeful.

More later. Time for bed!