Liam had his first bath...and everyone survived. Even dad! He didn't care much for it, but he's cleaner now. He had a rough day yesterday, but he got over that hump. He's apparently eating pretty well (who'd have thought you could get so excited about poop...).
Super Dad, aka Ryan, is now a pro at changing diapers, squeezing vaseline, arranging pillows, keeping sleepy babies awake while they breastfeed, and dressing squirmy babies.
He's also really good at fixing meals (since mommy's a little sore and stuck upstairs for the most part), hauling water, doing laundry, running the dishwasher, and running to the baby store (later today!).
Even more important, he's really good at keeping mommy from having a crazy breakdown while she fights the evil forces of sore breasts and sleep deprivation. Yay, Super Dad!
Sunday 16 November 2008
Saturday 15 November 2008
November 11th
On this day...
The Fourth Lateran Council, the signing of the Mayflower Compact, the start of Sherman's "March to the Sea," Washington becomes a state, World War I ends, the famous US Route 66 is established, the newest Las Vegas casino opens...and, most importantly, Liam is born!
The saga (of course it was...haven't you been paying attention so far?) began on Monday with the phone call to find out when the c-section was actually scheduled. All of my paperwork says "call if you haven't heard from us by 4." So I called the number on the paper. They don't have that schedule, but they can transfer me to the people who should.
Okay.
They transfer me. I explain again. They don't do that either...but, they can transfer me to the people who do.
Uh-huh.
They transfer me. I explain again. Well, they have that information, but they're not the ones who are supposed to let me know what time it is. "We really need to find out who's supposed to be calling the c-sections." Yeah, I'd say that would be a step in the right direction.
So, I'm scheduled for 8:45...need to be there at 6. Really, 6? Jeez. I'm glad I called. I was told be there at 7:30 for a 9:30.
So, we get up reallllly early and go to the hospital where the nice lady at the nurses' station tells me I'm not scheduled until 10. I'm pretty sure that I was really mean to her, but I was working on not bursting into tears right there in the hallway, so she'll have to get over it.
So we wait. This picture is from after I got over my nervous breakdown about letting people cut me open who can't even tell me what time to be at the hospital (for those of you who missed it...I still have my tonsils, have never had so much as a stitch...the last time I was admitted to a hospital was probably when I was being hatched...so I'm not really keen on the whole thing).
So we keep waiting. The two scheduled ahead of me are running a little behind. Pretty normal. They get me all set up...gown, IV, catheter (third time's a charm) and we head over to the recovery room for one last sonogram to make sure baby is still going the wrong direction. That would be pretty crappy...to go through all of this and have them say "Whoops! He turned around!"
We start the paperwork and then we learn there's someone on the way in an ambulance. We get bumped and head back to the room.
That one takes awhile due to some extra complications and in the meantime another emergency c-section, twins this time, bumps us again. Only I could end up scheduled on the day they have two emergency c-sections.
After they clear out, the lovely Mindy rushes us over to the OR. No, really rushes. Doesn't bother grabbing a wheelchair or anything. We're going to beat the other person who is waiting. Because I've been waiting longer...much longer. It's been 8 hours now.
I get all ready to go in the bright, cold, scary room with lots of sharp things and three very nice ladies. Two nurses and the anesthesiologist are getting everything ready for me. Another nurse comes in to get things ready for Liam while they look for the doctors.
Oh, yeah. We're still missing doctors. That might be important.
Obviously, they were found in time. Both of them and Amanda the PA. I can't feel anything. In fact, the spinal was so high that my hands are numb and I think I'm having trouble breathing, but they're not worried because my oxygen levels are great.
Mostly, what I remember is Ryan's grip on my tingly hand, seeing the vague reflection of blood in the big light over me, and then a very tiny, very slimy baby. We officially have a baby 31 minutes later at 2:31.
Ryan and Liam went to the nursery while they closed me up. I recovered in one of the labor rooms (it was a busy day for babies at Saint Vincent's) with Ryan (who left Liam with the nice nursery ladies and a large crowd of fans) and my mom and the grab-the-bull-by-the-horns Mindy.
Luckily, we got done in time for the Sitter side to see the little guy before heading off to California for another very important day...Uncle Sean's wedding!
Liam weighs in at 6 pounds 7 ounces. I think a lot of it is those huge feet
All swaddled up and no place to go. Have to wait for mommy!
Here we are! I'm still pretty high...there was a little bit of morphine in that spinal (note to self...no more morphine ever! The itching was soooo much worse than the pain. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true! A big thanks to Bethany!).
We start right away trying to put some meat on this little guy's bones. He's a natural. Then he snuggles with mommy for awhile.
I'm sure that I'm biased, but I swear he keeps getting cuter.
It could be because he looks like daddy. Especially when he's asleep. Here, Super Dad gets some sleep. Since I couldn't do anything the first night, Ryan got a crash course in diapers, swaddling, pee fountains, and sheer exhaustion. He did great!
Grammy helps out the next day while Ryan goes home to shower up, get some food not prepared by a hospital, and sleep in a real bed for an hour or so. Thanks, Grammy!
We made it! We look pretty tired (especially Liam). Probably because we are.
We're still figuring it all out, but we got through the first night at home without any major disasters (just sad, noisy kitties who haven't seen me in days). We have been reminded about what happens to those not prepared for the pee fountain and have discussed polar bears at 3 a.m. while daddy tried to get some sleep. We're going to take a little bath later and do the basket of laundry we've already accumulated. We don't have enough clothes small enough, so we have to get it done!
No problem!
The Fourth Lateran Council, the signing of the Mayflower Compact, the start of Sherman's "March to the Sea," Washington becomes a state, World War I ends, the famous US Route 66 is established, the newest Las Vegas casino opens...and, most importantly, Liam is born!
The saga (of course it was...haven't you been paying attention so far?) began on Monday with the phone call to find out when the c-section was actually scheduled. All of my paperwork says "call if you haven't heard from us by 4." So I called the number on the paper. They don't have that schedule, but they can transfer me to the people who should.
Okay.
They transfer me. I explain again. They don't do that either...but, they can transfer me to the people who do.
Uh-huh.
They transfer me. I explain again. Well, they have that information, but they're not the ones who are supposed to let me know what time it is. "We really need to find out who's supposed to be calling the c-sections." Yeah, I'd say that would be a step in the right direction.
So, I'm scheduled for 8:45...need to be there at 6. Really, 6? Jeez. I'm glad I called. I was told be there at 7:30 for a 9:30.
So, we get up reallllly early and go to the hospital where the nice lady at the nurses' station tells me I'm not scheduled until 10. I'm pretty sure that I was really mean to her, but I was working on not bursting into tears right there in the hallway, so she'll have to get over it.
So we wait. This picture is from after I got over my nervous breakdown about letting people cut me open who can't even tell me what time to be at the hospital (for those of you who missed it...I still have my tonsils, have never had so much as a stitch...the last time I was admitted to a hospital was probably when I was being hatched...so I'm not really keen on the whole thing).
So we keep waiting. The two scheduled ahead of me are running a little behind. Pretty normal. They get me all set up...gown, IV, catheter (third time's a charm) and we head over to the recovery room for one last sonogram to make sure baby is still going the wrong direction. That would be pretty crappy...to go through all of this and have them say "Whoops! He turned around!"
We start the paperwork and then we learn there's someone on the way in an ambulance. We get bumped and head back to the room.
That one takes awhile due to some extra complications and in the meantime another emergency c-section, twins this time, bumps us again. Only I could end up scheduled on the day they have two emergency c-sections.
After they clear out, the lovely Mindy rushes us over to the OR. No, really rushes. Doesn't bother grabbing a wheelchair or anything. We're going to beat the other person who is waiting. Because I've been waiting longer...much longer. It's been 8 hours now.
I get all ready to go in the bright, cold, scary room with lots of sharp things and three very nice ladies. Two nurses and the anesthesiologist are getting everything ready for me. Another nurse comes in to get things ready for Liam while they look for the doctors.
Oh, yeah. We're still missing doctors. That might be important.
Obviously, they were found in time. Both of them and Amanda the PA. I can't feel anything. In fact, the spinal was so high that my hands are numb and I think I'm having trouble breathing, but they're not worried because my oxygen levels are great.
Mostly, what I remember is Ryan's grip on my tingly hand, seeing the vague reflection of blood in the big light over me, and then a very tiny, very slimy baby. We officially have a baby 31 minutes later at 2:31.
Ryan and Liam went to the nursery while they closed me up. I recovered in one of the labor rooms (it was a busy day for babies at Saint Vincent's) with Ryan (who left Liam with the nice nursery ladies and a large crowd of fans) and my mom and the grab-the-bull-by-the-horns Mindy.
Luckily, we got done in time for the Sitter side to see the little guy before heading off to California for another very important day...Uncle Sean's wedding!
Liam weighs in at 6 pounds 7 ounces. I think a lot of it is those huge feet
All swaddled up and no place to go. Have to wait for mommy!
Here we are! I'm still pretty high...there was a little bit of morphine in that spinal (note to self...no more morphine ever! The itching was soooo much worse than the pain. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true! A big thanks to Bethany!).
We start right away trying to put some meat on this little guy's bones. He's a natural. Then he snuggles with mommy for awhile.
I'm sure that I'm biased, but I swear he keeps getting cuter.
It could be because he looks like daddy. Especially when he's asleep. Here, Super Dad gets some sleep. Since I couldn't do anything the first night, Ryan got a crash course in diapers, swaddling, pee fountains, and sheer exhaustion. He did great!
Grammy helps out the next day while Ryan goes home to shower up, get some food not prepared by a hospital, and sleep in a real bed for an hour or so. Thanks, Grammy!
We made it! We look pretty tired (especially Liam). Probably because we are.
We're still figuring it all out, but we got through the first night at home without any major disasters (just sad, noisy kitties who haven't seen me in days). We have been reminded about what happens to those not prepared for the pee fountain and have discussed polar bears at 3 a.m. while daddy tried to get some sleep. We're going to take a little bath later and do the basket of laundry we've already accumulated. We don't have enough clothes small enough, so we have to get it done!
No problem!
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