Halloween



Our li'l pumpkin



You, little man, are going to be one decked out little guy.  Your mommy and I were joking that you had more clothes than us!  And true to form, you actually had two outfits for Halloween.  Your mom picked up the little sleeper with the pumpkin cap a few days before you arrived, and Carley brought another sleeper to the hospital, which was our favorite.  So for the first part of the day, you wore one outfit, and then we dressed you in your ‘official’ first Halloween outfit before heading to Bubba’s house so she could visit with you, and we could greet the trick-or-treaters (which you slept through entirely, except for one brief feeding about the time they stopped coming to the door).

You seem to have one really long sleep period (4 - 5 hours), usually late at night to early morning, followed by a really long wake time (3 - 4 hours).  For now we’re just going with the flow and trying to sleep when you do.

Your mommy and I have also become quite the ‘pit change’ crew.  Not that it takes two people to change and clothe you, but we team up and do it in record time.  I’ve commented that if the NASCAR group ever saw us in action, they’d want to put us under contract!

Photo Session #1

While you’re still too young to protest, I’m sure there will be countless photo sessions where you get dressed up and posed.  It’s just something you’ll have to accept, and quite possibly something we’ll be pulling out over and over again to show future girlfriends.

But I’m getting way ahead of myself.

We have plans to have Carley come over for a marathon newborn photo shoot next weekend, but I wanted to document your first day home.  And since your mom really wanted some pictures taken with pumpkins in them, we took advantage of a sunny Fall day and set up some shots in your room.  You were very cooperative, and it gave me some good material to launch the email blitz of sending out photos to everyone.



Look how photogenic you are!





Your mom was just smitten with this 'ball pit', which my boss bought for you.



Coming Home

It felt so good to come home with you!  Even being up every few hours that first night, it seemed like it was so much more restful without nurses coming in and out to check on you and your mom.  And it was nice finally getting to take all of those hospital tags off you (kind of made it seem like it was ‘official’, you know?

We did have a bit of excitement leaving the hospital when one of the techs had left your security tag in her pocket.  When we tried to leave, all of the alarms sounded, the elevators went into shutdown mode, and nurses came scrambling from every direction.  Took several minutes for them to contact security and get everything put back to rights before we could actually head out the door!

Finishing up the nursery before your arrival!

Your First Bed

Within a few hours of your birth, the nurses whisked us into another smaller room that was to be our ‘home away from home’ while you were in the hospital.  Because you were a larger baby, it was determined that it was necessary to give you blood sugar tests before you nursed each time (and by the way, you took to that with NO problems whatsoever!).  By the time we left the hospital, I don’t know how many times your little feet were poked with a needle, but it didn’t even seem to faze you at all.

It was difficult to get any rest at all with nurses popping in and out all of the time, but you rested soundly in your little portable bassinet, right next to your mommy’s bed.  The baby in the next room made way more of a fuss than you did and tended to have us up more often.  If you slept through your 2 - 3 hour feeding, a nurse would come in to take your vitals, do a blood test and get you up and ready to eat.

Such a nuisance for a little guy who just wanted to sleep!

On your second night in the hospital, one of the nurses came to collect you for your battery of tests - hearing, etc, that needed to be run.  They picked you up around midnight and said they’d have you in the nursery for a little while.  I drifted off to sleep, only to wake up several hours later to find your mom in total distress because you weren’t there with her.  I had to head to the nursery, and we brought you back in serious need of a diaper change, because your mom just couldn’t bear to be parted from you any longer.  The nurse in charge of you (Michelle) felt terrible that she had upset your mom so much when she was only trying to give her a chance to get some sleep.

Meeting Bubba and Aunt Alison

By the second night, we were chomping at the bit to get you home into your own bed, and your room that we had work so hard on.  After a visit from the pediatrician on call the next morning, we scheduled your ‘little procedure’ for that afternoon.  As soon as you returned from that, I left to collect the car so we could bring you home!

At the Hospital



Some thing to make mom more comfortable -
fuzzy socks, her Hello Kitty blanket, and the
teddy bear that was on hand when she was born.



We were given instructions to check in at 6:30 a.m. in anticipation of 12 to 24 hours of induced labor.  Managed to make it by 6:45 after calling ahead to make sure there was room available.  I’m not sure what your mom would have done had they told her she was going to have to wait again.  But no, they told us we were expected, so off we went with loads of stuff, including an air freshener set to dispense a ‘relaxing moments’ scent into the air - our version of aromatherapy.  The nurses commented on it all day.

Once we got your mom settled in and the dreaded IV put in (which she was much more nervous about than she ever was about the idea of childbirth), the nurse explained the procedure for starting to induce.

At 8:15 a.m. the first tiny dose of Pitocin was given.  The plan was to up the dose every 30 minutes and watch the contractions.  If they started coming too hard and too close together, the dose would be backed down.



Watching the contractions increase



At 11:00 your mom was given the option of having a light breakfast - something we didn’t think she’d receive.  This was also about the time that the first ‘get your attention’ contractions started to happen.  Your mom alternated between dozing as much as possible and watching Chicken Run and episodes of Tom & Jerry.

At 12:30 her doctor happened by and decided to break her water.  This started much harder contractions, mostly felt as ‘back labor’.  By 1:30, with contractions about 2 minutes apart, she was uncomfortable enough to request her epidural, which was given by 12:45.

Thank you, Jaime.

The change that happened was almost immediate with her sitting up, happy and chatting away.  Within about 30 minutes her blood pressure had dropped enough that she was given oxygen.  Her heart rate increased significantly with each contraction, so a good portion of the afternoon was spent listening to the little alarm on the monitor ‘beep’.  Once her blood pressure evened out, the oxygen mask came off, and we just kind of ‘hung out’.  Her friend, Lacey, also showed up around this time and stayed until she needed to head to the theater for her final dress rehearsal.  She told you to ‘wait’.  Little did she know…

Epidurals are our FAVORITE!!

The nurse checked your mom at 4:30 and announced that she was a ‘solid 7’.  Carley was coming through town, and since your Aunt Heather had come down with a cold and wasn’t going to be able to come to the hospital, we gave her one of the coveted ‘purple bracelets’, allowing her into the delivery room.  She jumped right in helping with back rubs, as the pressure in your mom’s back was getting pretty intense.

At 6:30 the doctor dropped by again to check on the progress.  His question, “Are you ready to start pushing?  Because the head’s right there,” took everyone by surprise, and there was a sudden flurry of activity trying to get the room, and your mom, ready.  Carley opted to stay, and I had just enough time to send a quick text letting people know what was going on.  Your mom even sent a text to her friend!  As soon as they sat her up, she was very comfortable again, chatting and joking around with all of us.

The nurse (Clarice) gave her a quick run-down of how she should push.  She stationed herself on one side, with Carley at the other.  I took the shoulder position.  Here we were expecting 2 to 3 hours of pushing, but lo and behold, after 3 or 4 good pushes, and only about 15 minutes later, there you were!

You immediately let out a wail and began pinking up.  With Lacey gone, I was asked if I wanted the honors of cutting the umbilical cord.  I was a bit dubious at the thought, but decided to go ahead and do it.

Check out your mom's stylin' bright yellow nails!

And there you were, 8 lbs and 14 oz of pure joy, 20 ½” long and with a smattering of light brown hair.  After your initial cry, you quieted right down and were given to your mom, who was just beside herself with joy to see you.  You stayed there, quiet and content, until the nurse came to move you over to the warming bed.  You had a vice-like grip on your mom’s finger and let out another wail when they took you away.



You did NOT want to let your mommy go!

 Once the nurses did all of the poking and prodding they needed to, you were returned to your mommy and settled right in.  You were alert and so quiet!

Getting to know Mommy.

Meeting your Amma.

After some time hanging out with Mom, they got your ready for your first bath, which I had the honor of giving to you.  And even with this new experience (which was SUPPOSED to make you really mad), you just hung out under the warmer and watched what was going on.



Getting ready for bathtime



No hospital garb for you!