Welcome Zane Judson

We are proud to announce the arrival of Zane Judson into our lives. He was born on February 26, at 2:09 pm Chiang Mai, Thailand time, 10 days before his due date. Our lives have been a little hectic since he was born, so it's taken us a while to get around to writing an official post about his birth. Here are some highlights along with pictures of Zane's birth-day.

Here's Anita in labor, about to head to the hospital. I had felt some discomfort early that morning but didn't realize I was in labor because the pain was so minimal compared to Callie's birth (with Callie, my water broke and I was induced 12 hours later and asked for the epidural shortly after induction). With Zane, the contractions just felt like bad cramps. It wasn't until they were coming about 5 minutes apart and lasting 1 minute long when we thought we should probably head to the hospital.

When we arrived at the hospital at 12:21 pm, I was already dilated at 6 cm. Our doctor suggested to break my water to help the labor to progress. So after that, I gave a push and went from 8 cm to 10 cm. I pushed for 10 minutes total and Zane was born at 2:09 pm - less than 2 hours from arriving at the hospital.

Proud and happy parents with Zane, minutes after being born

Zane getting cleaned up

Us with Jan, who was my labor coach. She's American and lives in Chiang Mai, one of her main ministries being providing help to people like us who come to Chiang Mai to have their babies. I was so grateful to have her there. She was a life-saver.

Us with Dr. Suppachai, who delivered Zane. He was great!

This is what the labor room looked like. The delivery was also done here, on this bed. The whole labor and delivery was so fast and went so smoothly. And without drugs - keep in mind also that my pain tolerance level is very, very low... But now I totally recommend a natural birth to everyone - if I can do it, so can you! :)

Callie meeting her little brother for the first time. She wasn't sure what she thought about him at first, but she's warmed up to him now.

In Thailand, waiting for our boy

We are enjoying being here in Thailand. We love the weather, the food, and the culture - all are so refreshing to us. Here are some pictures to highlight the time of waiting for our little boy to arrive.

In the taxi on the way to the airport. Callie loves looking out the window. She bounces up and down in excitement.

On the plane ride over - it felt long even though it wasn't (especially when you're trying to keep a wiggly 13-month-old in your lap!) but we are glad we made it safely with no complications.

We were glad to finally get off the plane and arrive at the Juniper Tree, our home for the next 6 weeks or so. Callie loves splashing around in the pool.

Playing with Daddy's computer

Snaggle-tooth grin - the teeth just keep coming in; we have lost track of how many she has!

Scrambled egg beard

January & February 09

We just wanted to show you some highlights, along with pictures, from January and February.

Callie sleeping in the blanket that Aunt Connie made for her

Callie is really enjoying baths now. She plays so sweet in the tub and has so much fun. She would play for hours if we would only let her!

Callie is also eating the same foods as Mom and Dad. She has become pretty adept at picking up food with her hands and feeding herself.

It's quite evident here that she enjoys all this new finger food.

Gotta love the apple beard in this photo

One of our favorite shots of Callie from January

Callie loves looking at herself in the mirror. What kind of monster have we created?!

Anita at 7 months' pregnant

Callie eating jiaozi (Chinese dumplings) in celebration of Chinese New Year

Callie with her friend Zoe, who came to visit during the Chinese New Year holiday