2 Weeks Old!

(I'll try to add a picture tonight or tomorrow. It's hard to catch him awake or without a boob in his mouth so pictures are sometimes hard to get!)

Today is Connor's 2 week birthday. We've definitely made a lot of progress in the last week. Connor's umbilical cord fell off yesterday. We're planning a first bath this evening. We went to the doctor for our 2 week visit. Connor has not only met his birth weight, but exceeded it by 2 ounces. He is 7 lbs 6 oz as of today and he's grown 3/4 of an inch since birth. I guess that means that all the trauma my boobs have gone through has been worth it. Connor gained an ounce a day since last week so those 16 feedings a day are worth it.

We had our first experience with projectile pooping this morning. Dave was trying to change him before our doctor appointment and each time he lifted him to put on the butt paste, he shot out some poo. On the third time it actually shot out so far that it hit the bed a foot away. It was hard to help because I was laughing pretty hard.

Today we also tried to vote. Connor couldn't make it through the line though so only Daddy got to vote while Mommy and Connor sat in the car so Connor could eat. Sorry Hillary! I had good intentions but hungry babies win every time.

Dave goes back to work on Monday and then I'll be on my own. I suppose as long as I don't have any high hopes of leaving the house, showering or eating then things should go well. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Surviving!

We've had a few visitors...

Grandma Betty came to stay with us for a week. She helped take care of the puppies so Mommy and Daddy could take care of Connor.

James, Laura and Addie have given us lots of presents. They brought us food this weekend! Thanks soooo much!

Aunt Lydia came to stay for a few days too to help out.

Our big joke around here is that Connor has my head and chin and Dave's butt. This kid can make noises that can be heard across the house.

Connor is 10 days old today. We are doing pretty well too. We have great friends and family who have really stepped up to help us out. Thank you to all!

My boobs are adjusting to their new lot in life. Baby Connor is a hungry one and loves to eat CONSTANTLY! He also believes that he must be touching Mommy or Daddy at all times or the world will end. He hates to have his diaper changed or his clothes, but equally hates having a wet/dirty diaper. He's got some healthy lungs and is not afraid to use them.

Sophie thinks he's pretty cool and wants to be involved in everything he does. Marley has yet to acknowledge his existence. Both dogs have regained bed privileges so everyone is happy at night. Sophie was VERY unhappy about being kicked out of the bed. She peed on the floor 3 nights to show us exactly how she felt about it all.

Connor goes back to the doctor on Friday. I'm guessing he's back up to his birth weight by then.

Boob Job

Connor and Mommy finishing up one of Connor's favorite
activities...eating! This leads to his other favorite activity....
leaving "presents" for Daddy in his diaper!

Connor taking his first nap in his play-yard.

No one told my boobs they would be working full-time when the baby came. They are very unhappy about that. All those Le Leche people who say you're not doing it right if it hurts...lie! I think they mean once you have established it...not in the beginning. But I've made it almost 1 week now and I've decided to just take it a week at a time.

Connor is doing wonderfully. He's unconcerned about the unhappiness of the boobs and demands that they perform often. He's starting to uncurl and makes sure that we know exactly what he wants at all times.

Here Come's Connor!

Hi All

Dave filling in for Sarah this time - we had some technical difficulties at the hospital & could not post from there. Also - there was one or two things keeping us pretty busy!

Anyway - here's the scoop - On Valentines Day we went to see the doctor who said she'd induce on next Thursday, if needed. She also "helped things along" a little bit & said Sarah could go into labor in the next day or two. Two hours later - BAM - Sarah went into labor around 4:30 PM. Sarah - this is what you get for saying the doctor has to do something to get this baby moving ;-)

With Sarah going into labor, we did the only logical thing - we ordered Chinese food. Around 7PM we realized we needed to get a move on, so we packed up and headed off to the hospital. We checked in around 9PM. The contractions were pretty intense, but Sarah was a real trooper and by 11PM the drugs were kicking in. Unfortunately, things did not move along too quickly. There were some minor glitches with delivery. No one of them was too serious itself, but the sum of them led to Dr. Thompson recommending a cesarean (did I spell that right? I'm too tired to open the dictionary, oops just realized this thing has spellcheck) section. Within the hour (5.28 am, 2/15/2008 to be exact)- Connor was here, getting checked out in the nursery with daddy & mom was off to the recovery room. The whole family was back together by 7AM and Connor got his first breakfast. Second breakfast was served shortly thereafter.

Everyones did fine at the hospital - Connor & mom learned how to do the feeding & he's eating all the time. Dad is learning the arts of changing diapers and perfecting his bouncy-cuddly-shooshy soothing techniques. We had lots of help from the hospital staff and had a few visitors stop by. Sarah's mom flew down from Indiana, she was there the first day, but missed the birth. Interestingly - Betty bought her plane tickets for the right day months ago, but she refuses to tell me tonight's lottery numbers.

The whole family is home now, we got in around 4PM on Sunday. They let us out of the hospital a day early since everyone is doing so well. Anyone looking to visit us at the hospital is going to be disappointed now, but you are welcome at the house!

Now for what what I'm sure you have all been waiting for ... the pictures! He's a cute little guy - 7lbs, 4oz (3310 grams for you civilized metric users), 20 inches long, nice & pink, just a little hair.

I'm 2 minutes old, can't you wait with the camera old man?

Not the blue gloves - they're the coldest glove of all!

Nurse Kathy holds Connor up for his first posed photo

I decided I better leave the next photo out, but the caption was going to be:
"Behold my enormous baby junk!" - you get the idea

Then Connor got to spend some time under the heat lamps, working on his tan

In Texas, it is traditional for us to roll our children up into tacos

Connor then went to meet his mommy for the first time
cover up mom, its a Kodak moment!

Connor gets his first taste of the binky, and a promise of more binkies to come

After breakfast, we had a little snooze

Betty flew down from Indiana to meet her first grand child
(I decided I better not make any wise cracks about the mom-in-law)

Connor has a zen moment in daddy's lap

Oops, now were getting fuzzy - wake up Dave & hold that camera steady!

Mmmmmm binky

Now a better look at that cute little face,
barely a stork bite to be seen

Now we're getting sleepy

This is kind of how it looked when they were pulling him out
(well not really)

sleeping next to mommy

Team photo with Dr Thompson

Sarah gets the little guy ready to come home

Yeah, I think we should keep this one

All strapped in & ready to roll

Goodness, I can't believe they let this guy drive

Dad, can we stop at the docks?
I want to join the longshoreman's union

Huh, what? Where am I? Who are you people?

Sophie's let everyone know she'll bite them
if they hold the baby wrong

That's all for now - we'll post more soon now that we have our home network connection back

Here we go!

So I've been having contractions since my last update. They are pretty intense and in front and back. They are slightly random still, but most are around 5:30 min. apart. We are waiting for the pet-sitter to call us back and then call the doctor and then go to the hospital (priorities I know)! So just keep watching! He may be here soon. So sorry Mom for making you change your flight and then ending up on the original one anyway!

Today's update

Well, she moved me from 1cm to 2.5cm. Needless to say that's good, but it hurt like hell. I'm having some cramping now. I'm getting ready to start timing it to see if it's just cramping or it had the effect she was going for! I have to go back Monday morning for another ultrasound to make sure fluid levels are ok. Then if he hasn't come by Thursday she will induce. So we'll have a baby next week if not before. Keep checking back!

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Best in Show....Beagle Takes All!

Uno, a 15-inch Beagle, won Best in Show last night at Westminster! The first time ever! We cheered so loudly that we scared our own beagle...who is currently out in the back yard telling the neighborhood the news. Uno is welcome at Beagle Brigade anytime he'd like! I get the feeling though that he's not your average dog park kind of beagle.

Connor's still not coming out. We had kind of a rough night with contractions that seemed to be going the right way until about 4am, but then Connor must have figured out this meant he had to come out to the cold weather and changed his mind. I go to the dr. tomorrow. I need to beg and cry for help getting him out. I told Dave that I never would have guessed with the trouble we had last month that we'd end up having to evict the little guy, but it looks like that may be what we have to do!

Oh yeah! And we have new renters for the house in Round Rock as of March 1! Thank you Keller Williams! That's a load off our minds...and checkbook!

It's not working!

I don't think everyone is actually saying "Connor get out!" when they read my blog because he is making NO moves to get out! Come on people...do your part!

We went to a local mexican food place yesterday and I had some spicy food. Then we walked around into some weirdo shops. This would have been the place to go into labor. No one would have thought anything of it because weird things happen there every day. We even went into a toy shop and tried to bribe him out. Dave found lots of toys he needed, but that's about all that happened.

Two other pregnant ladies I know had their babies this week! On the same day! That was sad for me because here I sit continuing to get larger and more uncomfortable. This baby better be cute!

Before I left work last week, I did get a letter to the Board of AISD finished. This letter is asking them to approve the on-site daycare center that we've been talking about for six months. So let's keep our fingers crossed that the school actually uses my letter and the Board actually approves it.

Good news...kind of!

So we went back to the doctor today. We saw the Registered Midwife who works there. She did an ultrasound. It was just a little portable machine, but she could do measurements. They showed he's not as big as they thought. Only 7 lbs. Ofcourse this is also after the doctor told us last week that she thought that her feeling and giving us a guess on weight was more accurate than an ultrasound. Anyway, he will be some where between a normal size baby and a toddler.
She did do an exam too and I made a little progress...80% effaced and dilated to 1. We asked a couple of questions about guessing when he'll make his appearance...she really didn't know. In the ultrasound he was sucking away on his fingers...I tried to tell him I'd feed him if he came out, but he's still thinking about that. So I guess we're still waiting and definitely NOT in control of this situation! Dave's been working away trying to get his projects to a point where he can leave them. I'm thinking I will take next week off. Each time I go to work I come home with a huge club foot. Ofcourse I usually come home having contractions too so maybe I should be working more and not less.

So, everyone say, "Connor, come out!" out loud when you read this and maybe that will be enough force to get him out! Worth a shot, huh?

Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band arrives!

Breezy, Josh, Jayme and Jayme's new girlfriend, Brandi came to stay on Thursday night. It was great to see them again and to hear all about the family and their travels. On Friday night, they were playing at Stubb's, a local music venue. They put us on the list and we decided to go ahead and go. I was a little concerned because it was outside and it's been COLD here, but it turned out to be the perfect place for me. We were able to stand in the back (near the beer for Dave) and not have it be too loud and more importantly not get bumped or stand too near any smoking. They played for about 45 min. and sounded and looked great! I'm so proud of them! Eventually it was the bathroom situation and the constant standing that sent us home, but we made it to 10:15 which is a BIG deal for an old, fat, pregnant lady! Thanks for the good time guys! Hopefully we'll see ya again soon!

Needless to say, I'm still pregnant. Nothing too much happening. They moved my appointment from Monday to Wednesday next week and they will do an ultrasound just to make sure things are ok in there! He's seems pretty happy though. It could be a LONG few weeks. I hope he realizes the longer he stays in the more guilt I have to give him later in life!

Today is Beagle Brigade! Hopefully Sophie decides to play with the other beagles today!