The "Nursery"

One question that we've been asked over and over again (especially by those that have visited our apartment) is where are we going to put the baby. It's a legitimate question. Where do you find room for  a baby and all of the stuff that entails in a 650 square foot NYC apartment? Our answer: in the corner...of the kitchen.

There is an area of our apartment directly adjacent to the kitchen that we previously used as an office space. The space was separated from the kitchen with an old entertainment center that my parents bought when they first got married. The entertainment center was in our playroom growing up and I used it in my apartment in Clemson. When we moved to NYC, I tried to give it back and my parents wouldn't take it back. So it was the only piece of furniture other than our mattress that we moved up to Brooklyn. And now it's a part of Felix's nursery!

I don't have a good before picture, but basically the space contained the entertainment center as a room divider and then two desks. We had to sell Chris's desk and we moved my desk into the bedroom.

Once we removed the desks, we pulled the entertainment center in and converted it to a changing table and storage space for Felix's loot. We bought a mini crib (who knew standard sized cribs were so huge?!) and a rug. In order to really close it off from the rest of the room, we hung curtains around the space. My mom spent the better part of a weekend helping me sew these double sided curtains...THANKS MOM! It's a little difficult to get pictures of the space because it's so small that you can't get a good angle, but here are a few shots of the finished nursery/circus tent. So far, it has worked out great.

The only problem that we've had so far is that Felix refuses to actually sleep in his crib. He just kinda looks around. Oh well, we'll work on that one.

Newborn Photos

My friend Meredith graciously offered to take newborn photos of Felix. She stopped by a couple days after we came home from the hospital and took some wonderful photos. It's so special to have these pictures of him when he was so tiny. I can't believe how much he has changed already.

This is one of my favorite photos from the set. My mom stayed with us for over a week after we were home and I can't thank her enough for all that she did.

Felix

Felix Martin Jaynes was born on June 26, 2013, weighing 7 pounds and 4 ounces and measuring 18.5 inches long. Chris and I feel so blessed and thank God for this precious gift. We are also so thankful for our family and friends that have been unbelievable supportive throughout the pregnancy and following Felix's arrival.

Felix was breech for most of the pregnancy, despite our best efforts to get him to flip around. I tried everything from hip wiggles to handstands in the pool, but he proved to be one stubborn little guy. So we ended up having to schedule a c-section. As much as I didn't want to have a c-section, I now look back and am so thankful for how things turned out. The c-section allowed us to stay longer in the hospital and take full advantage of the help from all of the wonderful hospital staff. It also allowed my parents and sister to be present when Felix was born, which was so special. And it guaranteed that I would have my doctor (who was scheduled to go on vacation the day after my due date) and my hospital (which has since been inundated with Hurricane Sandy babies). All that to say that it's amazing to see how things can work for the best, even though things don't go according to our plan.

Going to the hospital, we still had yet to pick a name. We had narrowed down a list to 7 names, but really didn't have a true favorite. However, after he was born Chris and I both agreed on Felix. I've liked the name since I was little - anybody watch Avonlea on the Disney channel?! So I had put Felix on a long list of names at the beginning, thinking Chris would immediately veto it. Much to my surprise, it ended up being the one! His middle name, Martin, is after my Dad. I can already see some resemblance when he smiles.

Here are a few pictures of those first few days in the hospital. Yes, we took the subway to the hospital :)