26 Days Old

<----Our Sweet Baby!

Our poor baby has a stuffy nose...I hate putting saline drops in his nose and using the aspirator. He screams at me. Other than that he is doing great. He's definitely getting more vocal...although crying is still at an extreme minimum. He coos and gurgles some, awake and asleep. He was pretty grumpy this morning which isn't normal either. I gave him a bath and now he's happily sleeping in the Baby Bjorn. He's doing great sleeping in his little co-sleeper still as well as his basinet during the day. He's a big eater...usually every 2 hours. He'll usually go for at least one 4 hour stretch of sleep without eating a day/night.

Last night we had our first post-partum class...we shared birth stories. It seems that I had the experience closest to my birth plan. It's amazing how much can happen that you don't plan for. I'm just thankful I didn't have to have anything I didn't want (except for stitches...but they're all worth it.) Of course I forgot we had class and another dad called Barry and then I remembered I didn't call the teacher or check my spam mailbox for her email and by then Barry was all set to finally relax and watch Cloverfield after a long day of moving in the rain. I dragged him...he's still sick too. It was awesome to see all the babies. They're all about the same size and age...ranging from April into May. Of course Adrian had the most hair! Funny thing is that all the babies look like their dads...our teacher said that is generally the norm but that as they get older they look like their moms too.

We're moving! It's a slow tedious wet and rainy process. We have lots of stuff...but the house is completely empty. It's so much bigger than what we have now and I have a lot of stuff that does not need to be unpacked...i.e. I'm a packrat. We aren't taking our kitchen table which means we need to find another one. Also we need a bed frame, new dressers-one is broken, a new couch &/or lazyboys, and a nice computer desk. The house is still so empty right now. We have 2 chairs, a piano, an old couch, a dresser, a mattress, and some random book shelves...I would like to update past "college furniture" as Barry puts it. Anyways...we have until the 1st to be out of the old place so I'm taking it easy...I think I overdid it a couple days ago.

20 Days Old

My best friend from MD came to visit with her son!!! She hung out with us for a couple days.I'm glad she got to see Adrian while he is an infant. We went to Estes to see her family. I got my hair cut at my cousin's shop while we were up there too!


Barry's sister came out to visit! That was fun...She took us shopping and bought some cute baby clothes...talk about the best dressed baby of the world! We took her to Estes! Finally got to see my Aunt and cousin's new restaurant: the Riverside Cafe! And we went to a Rockies' game last night...baby's first baseball game! He slept right through it all except to wake up and eat every hour. Aunt Veronica had to leave today though.


Adrian is doing great...he now fits into more of his 0-3 month clothes which means he must be growing. Last Thursday he was up to 8 lbs 2.5 oz. I'm sure he's bigger now. He basically has his schedule that he sticks to pretty consistently: I get to bed between 10 and 11 and he wakes up to eat around 1:30 and again around 4:30 and then in the morning at 6:30, 8:30, and 10:30. I shower while he sits in his bouncy chair and listens to a Raffi CD or other kid music and looks around (that's what infants do) . Then I eat and he eats again and then by 12 or 1 he goes back to sleep for the rest of the day unless he's hungry which he wakes up for. Sometimes in the evening he's up for an hour or so besides eating just to hang out. He's still so mellow. Right now we all have stuffy noses probably from allergies. It's so sad when I have to use the nose aspirator to pull his boogers out...he cries...but he can breath afterwards at least. He poops ON me daily...I just don't think he ever stops so I guess there's no good time to change him when I'd be safe. He's always moving, especially his hands. He barely ever cries and when he does it's usually just a baby dinosaur wail (like the raptor that hatches in Jurassic Park). He's so alert too! He doesn't like his binky and rarely takes it...nobody's tricking him with a fake! He smiles so much, right after he's eaten and getting ready to nod off! It's the cutest thing ever...sometimes it looks like he's laughing but no sound comes out. Same with crying. He coos once in awhile and he makes little squeaks and sighs when he sleeps. He's so precious!

I started moving things today with Bobby and his friend's assistance and truck!!! They are helping me with moving all week since Barry is working. Then Barry will get his friends and brother to help with the big stuff on this weekend and the next! HORRAY!!! We're gonna move!

15 Days Old

Adrian is doing great! He sleeps A LOT! Actually he's been staying up for longer periods occasionally but he still sleeps more than some other infants I've known. He's a great sleeper though and he'll sleep through anything. He most loves to sleep in someone's arms but he also does great in his little co-sleeper bed that fits into our bed or his bassinet that rocks.

He's doing great with breastfeeding, so am I. A little sore at first but that's normal I guess. I think my stitches are healing pretty well. I've been more able to do things around the house. I've also been getting out a lot. I can't stand being home all day. We've been shopping, to visit my work, to visit dad at work, to Estes with my best friend who came to visit, and today we are going to the doctor. I don't really want to go but I think it's too late to cancel the appointment and I do want to know how much he weighs now. I think he looks bigger every day.

My New Love

Update

Hospital stay was 2 nights b/c we had to stay for 30 hours...so Adrian could get his bilirubin test (jaundice screening). The nurses were great in helping with breastfeeding and any other information we wanted. It was nice getting all the attention in the world, my vitals were checked every couple hours, food was brought up to me, if I needed anything all I had to do was push a button. It was awesome (no I didn't abuse the button but I've never been in a hospital before.)

We took Adrian to the lactation consultant the other day and he had gained back 2.5 oz of the 4 he lost....they usually lose weight after birth....and yesterday at the doctor's visit...he had gained back all 4 oz...he was exactly his birth weight at 6 days! It's normal to gain back the weight in 10-14 days! He's a good eater. He's also a great little sleeper and he doesn't startle at anything! He passed his hearing screening at the hospital, his jaundice levels were 5.3 (I guess they worry as the level nears 10).
He smiles in his sleep, sometimes it looks like he's laughing but no sound comes out. Yesterday he cooed for the first time...and he sighs like I do (actually Barry and I both sigh a lot). We're so in love with him....it's the most amazing thing we've ever done...and I think we're still surprised everyday by how perfect he is. I'm so happy Barry took off this entire week!!!! He saved his vacation time and used a couple sick days for the 1st and 2nd last week also. We're all going to be sad when he has to go back to work on Monday :( He's been so amazing and confident! Also my parents have been amazing! They are here until Tuesday: they've cleaned the house and cooked for us and let us nap. I'm so glad Adrian came a couple weeks early...they've had more time to spend with him. I don't want them to leave :( Barry's sister is coming out from the 17th until the 21st!!! Yay...Aunt Ronnie! I think it's amazing how much help everyone has given us with Adrian! I appreciate all my cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and friends who've brought us food, support and company!!! Thank you all! I love having people over by the way...and if I need a nap, everyone is more than happy to hold a sleeping baby and I'm more than happy to let them!

I wish I had more pics to post BUT our camera decided to stop working the day after he was born! At least our warranty was still good for another month! I've been using my dad's camera but we still have no way of transporting the pics to my computer (I think my cousin has a card reader so hopefully soon I'll post pics).

Baby Adrian Picture

New Daddy!

Adrian's Finally Here!!

I can't believe my baby is here! I love him sooooo much! This really is my biggest dream come true!

He's a sweet baby, very peaceful and quiet. He's a healthy baby, no problems whatsoever from the moment he was born! I'm holding him in my arms right now as I type.

So on May 1st I woke up at 6:30 to Barry's alarm. I had work at 8 and needed to find out where my training was to be held. As I rested on my hands and knees trying to keep Adrian's weight off my back which had been hurting terribly all night and waited for the shower, I felt a POP! I thought 'No Way...it doesn't actually feel like a pop!' but nevertheless, hurried off the bed just in case. Then I leaked my way into the bathroom and told Barry that I think my water just broke. He said ...hahaha....'no you just peed your pants'....hahaha. Then it kept happening! I called the nurse line since the doc was closed. They said to go the hospital and check in. So I took a shower, Barry started to pack the hospital bag and walk around in dazed circles saying 'I am calm' but he was so disoriented, then I got dressed, Barry walked in more 'calm circles'. An hour later, we were packed in the car and on the way to the hospital. I was feeling the contractions more than the nights before now.
We checked in to the third floor at the hospital and set up camp in our room! YAY...we got a room with a jacuzzi tub! My cousins, Julie and Christie showed up with flowers, video cameras, McDonalds, donuts, fruit, juice, and lunch fixins' for later! My parents showed up after them! (They got into town from Maui the day before and when they came for dinner couldn't believe I was in labor and so close!)
After eating breakfast and sharing my birth plan with everyone that walked in the room and meeting my doctor and nurse, we just hung out. The contractions felt stronger and Barry encouraged me to drink lots of water! Eventually I spaced out and just rode with each contraction and I don't know how so much time passed from when we got there till 2p but around 2ish the doctor checked my progress, I was only 2 cm! She strongly encouraged me to get moving so that I wouldn't have to be induced. She said that because my water broke so early, the risk of infection would drive them to induce me with pitocin. I said there was no way they were giving me pitocin. She didn't argue but she told my cousins and parents that they needed me to move...now! They basically made me get out of bed and marched me around the birthing center and women's care unit! The nurses at the desk kept asking if I needed at wheel chair in womens' care but my cousins practically shouted 'no! doctor's orders are that she moves'! Then when I got back I got into the jacuzzi tub! The contractions got really strong then and after being in the tub for awhile they checked me again and I was at 5 cm. From there the contractions were flying by and lasting 2 minutes. When Barry told me that, I couldn't believe that they were actually lasting that long! But they sure were the most intense cramps I've ever felt! and ever since being in the jacuzzi bath, I'd been having back labor! FUN!!
It was hard to leave the bath but Barry was getting restless hanging out in the bathroom for hours and I probably needed a change of scenery as the contractions were getting serious and coming so close together! When I repositioned on the bed hanging over the back of the bed (those hospital beds can be repositioned in about 20 different ways), I rode the strongest contractions yet! Then suddenly I felt like pushing...I didn't say anything for the first two times since I was not sure if that was what I was really feeling but then I said that. Everyone was surprised since I was only at 5 cm when I got out of the tub. Barry called the nurse and the nurse called the doctor and checked me. I was at 9 CM!!!! Hurray...almost there! Then a few contractions later, the nurse said to push when I felt like it. I tried. It was hard and a little scary being so close to get into the rhythm of pushing. They wanted me to hold my breath while I pushed and I had not imagined that I would do that...I thought I should breath so that was also hard but when I did it their way, it worked better since there was more power. After repositioning into a half laying position so I could control my legs and use more features of the bed to push...I finally got into the rhythm of it. They brought a mirror out so I could see also. OMG...seeing his head for the first time made me think...'it's littler than I thought but also... no way that is coming out'. After pushing for about an hour, amidst a crowd of at least four doctors and my nurse, the baby's nurse, the hospital's on call pediatrician, and who knows who else, Adrian was born!
He came out like superman, hand first! I tore pretty badly and needed 3 packages of stitches, an obstetrician specialized in tears to diagnose it as a bad 2nd degree tear. Some of the doctors thought it was a 3rd degree. Whatever the degree, it hurt and still does. It was all worth it though... and it was worth not getting an episiotomy also!
I didn't get any pain medication!!!! Which was my goal. After the bath they did give me sterile water blocks in my back to help with the back labor. They shoot 4 bubbles of water to interfere with the nerve signals to the brain from the back. I'm not sure they worked but they may have since the back labor didn't get tooooooo much worse. Had I not had them, they may have gotten worse...who knows...at the time, I didn't think they worked. I also used the TENS unit in the beginning. I highly recommend it, especially since it distracted me and gave something to focus on during the contractions. After I got out of the bath however, we forgot to put it back on. I wish I had. I was against getting an IV but after discussing with the doctor that it would only be used in an emergency and with my discretion then I agreed to get it put in. We never had to use it. I got to drink and eat lightly the entire time, whenever I felt like it. I was monitored but not overly and they also used a wireless external fetal monitor. Only at one point did they think that the baby's heart rate was too low and it went back up after the next 15 minutes.
My doctors were all so awesome, my nurses were amazing! Everyone was understanding and respectful of what I wanted. I felt in control and most of all I had an amazing partner! I couldn't have done this without Barry! The childbirth classes really paid off and Barry felt in control and empowered to stick up for what I wanted. He did great! Also everyone else that was there helped me out a lot.

I'll write more later about the rest of the hospital stay! I'm just so happy that I had the experience but more importantly that it is now over and the rest of the journey is just beginning!