SIMON SAYS: I'M HERE

The littlest lovebug has arrived and he's so sweet and so delicious. I am so excited he's here! Friday's contractions were the real deal, and I will forever be branded a bad ass for going to work with labor contractions that were 9 minutes apart.

We are still in the hospital and likely to be here until Wednesday because of the C-section but we are getting great care and my mom came in town for some Sadie care and they have great drugs at this joint.

Still processing birth experience and I want to focus on Simon, who is gorgeous, looks like his sister, and has the longest feet and hands I have ever seen. He's a great eater and has been nursing great. We have a bit of a latch issue as of this morning, but I am going to get some help with that today.

He's pretty quiet so far, but he can peel off a scream when he needs to. So much of the caretaking of a newborn I expected to come back to me, but the information is coming up scrambled. I spent some time wondering if I should burp after every feeding, even though it's just that pre-milk colostrum coming out of my breasts. And, swaddle? I forgot all the fancy tucking and draping moves.

We love our baby naming story with Simon. As of 7 hours after his birth, we were narrowed down to two names: Simon O'Brien and Henry Alexander. Comments have been made that those names are not remotely alike. I think I agree with that. Jeff's frontrunner was Simon and mine was Henry, but we were really close. We spent some time practicing with both names.

Then, my afternoon nurse came in to "check my vitals," and we were chatting about the fact that we hadn't picked a name. The nurse, Ann, went over to get a good look at the baby. I said, "What does he look like to you?" She hesitated and I told her I wanted to hear whatever she thought. (BTW, this nurse has 5 children and all of them had gorgeous names.)

Ann peers into the baby's face and says, "I think he looks like Simon."

CHILLS.

Jeff and I looked at each other incredulously. I asked Ann why she said that and she said she didn't know, it just popped into her head as she looked at him. I told her that was Jeff's top pick. I knew that was a sign we couldn't ignore. It was the best feeling to have this incredible "coincidence" unfold right before our eyes and ears.

For the record, Simon hasn't been in the top 100 of American names since some time in the 1800's. So, it's not like Ann hears that name all day long, unless she watches American Idol all day long with Simon Cowell, or The Mentalist with Simon Baker, who is very hot.

Simon current ranking as boy's name:263. It means: "to be heard."

We also love the pairing of Sadie and Simon: both have 5 letters. Both start with S. Both are Hebrew.

O'Brien is his middle name, which is also my middle name, my mom's middle (and maiden) name and a genuflection to my side of the family.

SOE. Our little prince.

Simon O'Brien Ellis. How we love thee!