Erynn looking about ready to leave the hospital.

The next three days after delivery were long. Adjusting to feeding schedules, the seeming never-ending tests on mom and baby, and most of all post-surgery movement. I was nominated by Julie as an honorary nurse for my role as her caretaker while she was stuck in the not-so-comfy hospital bed.

Mom comforting little Erynn.

Even though being stuck in her bed was very frustrating for Julie, it afforded her many excellent opportunities for bonding and cuddling with our new little Marshmallow 1. Probably the most exciting part about Sunday for Julie, was being disconnected from her IV, and losing the circulation improving leg wraps.

Aunt Carla & Aunt Sarah were among our first visitors, eager to meet the new addition.

Uncle Scott got in on the baby holding action.

Then came the visitors! If there is any one thing, beyond the miracle of the child herself, that was absolutely overwhelming to me this weekend, it was the outpouring of love and affection from friends and family.

Our immediate family, and church family were faithfully praying for a healthy delivery and speedy recovery, and nobody could resist an opportunity to love the new little one.

Nana loving on Erynn. She's almost as excited as we are!

Erynn resting safely in grandpa's arms. I have the sneaking suspicion that he will be my spoiling competition.

Uncle Kris was about as awestruck as I was...

My family has been especially helpful, taking care of the dogs & house while we were gone for four days.

As you can see, the grandparents are already in love with the new little one.

Uncle Kris seems thoroughly enamored as well, I think we’re all looking forward to Erynn and her cousin Mason meeting very soon.

sleep.

My lovely niece Alyssa, who is so, so, SO excited to meet her new cousin.

Uncle David loving on Erynn. (Yes, he was "forced" to hold her... Yes, he did smile the WHOLE time.)

It was nice to have everybody come visit us, but it sure was exhausting. We had back-to-back visitors for something like four hours!

Some moments were more peaceful than others.

Our friend Angel couldn't wait to hold "her baby girl." Another candidate for head-spoiler.

Chrissy & Andy from our church family came by for well wishes and a quick baby visit.

Our church family came to visit as well. Everyone had kind words, and it was great to have time to hang out with people that we usually see only briefly on Sunday and Wednesday.

Hanging out with the Sawyers.

My good friend Roger from church, happy to meet and greet the little one.

Then, the man himself came. Roger and his wife Wendy came by a little after the last feeding, and the last of our visitors. Possibly the shortest of our visits, but Roger gets major bonus points for bringing…

COFFEE.

Now, it’s also pretty well known, at least amongst my small group of friends, that I am a coffee fanatic. You name it, I drink it. I know some folks who get grief for being “coffee snobs”, but I think that’s rarely the case. Sure some people are really hard to please, but what’s so wrong with enjoying a good thing made well?

Anyway, that’s beside the purpose of this post… I will add, that in addition to my venti Pike Place with cream, the Mays also brought some excellent snacks over for us. (It’s hard to beat a good muffin or pastry for the midnight post-feeding snack!)

The oh-so-important label on the hospital crib.

So, all in all our stay at the hospital wasn’t so bad. That first evening, and up until Erynn’s delivery itself was really rough. Though many visitors, a great day largely to ourselves on Monday, and some of the best hospital food on the planet, made the trip as a whole quite tolerable.

Beautiful baby girl resting on daddy before leaving for home.

Then there’s this wonderful little thing. I can’t write enough about how cool she is, and based on today’s Day 5 Doctor’s appointment, she’s healthy as can be, and already gained back to her birth weight!

Mom and Erynn happily sitting at home in the nursery.

Stay tuned for more babyBlog in the very near future. I’ve got so many more photos to share, and really would like to take the time to sift through them, and tell the story that goes along.

1. Why “Marshmallow?” Because she’s squishy and sweet just like one of Julie’s favorite treats.

2. Castelli Hair: It’s a relatively well known fact, all the Castelli girls have super-thick hair. Just how recessive or dominant a trait this is has not been scientifically proven, but at this point, the working assumption is “extremely dominant.”