New Arrival in the Hansen Family

We're pleased to announce the arrival of Brooks Michael Hansen. He was born April 4, at 3:50 am. He weighed in at 8 lb. 3 oz., measuring 20 1/2 inches long.



Our due date was Sunday March 29, so Rebecca had been anxious to get things moving for several days prior to the birth. We tried acupressure, raspberry tea, our nightly dancing to the Wiggles with Hart...all of the remedies to get things moving on their own. On Thursday evening, Rebecca's mom came into town to visit. We were getting worried that she would be here for nearly two weeks and would have to leave before the baby arrived. It turns out, though, that it was perfect timing. On Friday afternoon, all four of us went on a walk around Green Lake in Seattle (3+ miles), and Rebecca started getting some pretty good labor pains on the back half of the lake, and had to slow the pace down a bit.

After coming home and having dinner, the contractions were getting stronger and more consistent, so we put Hart down for the night and timed them--Rebecca was consistently having strong contractions every 5 minutes or under for a couple of hours. Rebecca's mom started getting nervous for us, and kept telling us to go to the hospital "with a second baby, you never know how quickly it's going to come." We checked into the hospital by 11 pm, after being in labor for 3-4 hours, and the initial exam showed that she was dilated to 7 cm already. The next few hours of labor, while painful for Rebecca, was really a special time for us. We soaked in a warm bath for a while to ease the pain, we danced and walked hand in hand around the hospital wing, and every 3 minutes I helped massage Rebecca's belly to help her over the contractions. A few hours had passed since checking in, Rebecca had dilated further, but her water still hadn't broken yet and the progress of the labor seemed to be stalling, so we had our midwife break Rebecca's water, and that really got things moving quickly. Rebecca had two intense contractions within minutes, and said this baby was ready to come out. And less than 20 minutes later, we had a new baby lying on Rebecca's belly.



For those who have never had the chance to witness the miracle of childbirth, it was an amazing experience that runs the whole gamut of emotions--anticipation, excitement, pain, anxiety, and in the end--relief and an overwhelming sense of love and wonder. When you see a mother cradle her new baby for the first time, it's a truly indescribable experience. And when that mother is your wife, and that new baby is your new baby, too, I don't care how tough you are, you can't help but succumb to the flurry of emotion in those moments. We truly felt so blessed, and happy, and connected as we welcomed this new boy into the world together.

The delivery went so smoothly and both Rebecca and Brooks were in great shape, so we decided to leave the hospital early--we preferred the comfort of our own beds. In the few days that we've been home now, Brooks has been a contended little guy--sleeping most of the day except for brief awake periods just long enough to get a diaper change and nurse before slipping back into sweet slumber.




Hart has taken the arrival of his baby brother pretty well. Grandma brought him to the hospital on Saturday afternoon to meet us, and he seemed to think the baby was novel, but he was also equally excited to eat the custard and pudding the hospital served. Sunday morning, Hart appeared to have no recollection of bringing the baby home the evening before, and was kind of surprised to see him in the house again the next day. He did show a few signs of jealousy (saying "my turn" when Brooks was nursing), but all in all, he's been a great big brother.

For those who want to know where his name comes from: Rebecca's middle name is Brooks, and the Michael comes from me. So, he's named after both of us.

We thank all of you for your gifts of love and support as we've been preparing for Brooks' arrival.



With love, from the family of four.
Mike, Rebecca, Hart, & Brooks

PS. It's been a while since we've been in touch with some of you, and we wanted to include a brief update on things happening in the Hansen family (aside from the new addition). I am completing my PhD in Economics this summer at the University of Washington, and I've accepted a job at the Urban Institute in Washington DC, starting this September. So, we will be relocating to the Washington DC area at the end of the summer. Rebecca's side of the family (centered in West Virginia) is really happy that we'll be moving closer, but we are sad to be leaving the great friends that we've made here in Seattle. So if you were wanting to visit Seattle while we were here, book your trip now.