Sierra's Birthday

Today is Sierra's birthday. She is 3 years old. Of course, we arbitrarily picked June 30th since we don't really know when it is. We do know she is 3, give or take half a year. Since Nolan is still itty bitty, we aren't trying to get pictures of them together yet, so you just get the boy. Maybe in a few months we can try it. This was my first attempt at a photo shoot, trying to mimic Aunt Kris's techniques. Too bad she's not a permanent resident here, her pictures are so awesome! Mine turned out decent enough, though. This is Nolan's second outfit of the day. He spit up on his first one bright and early this morning. Since some of it got on me, I'm glad I wasn't out of pajamas yet. You know how they say let sleeping babies sleep? If you haven't burped them yet, wake them up to do it. That's why he spit up. Other than he's a little chubbier and his eyes are open more, there's not much change. He still sleeps about 6 hours straight most nights. I think taking a walk before bedtime and using white noise in his room every night really helps. He's been working on strengthening those neck muscles, he loves trying to hold his head up. Grandma got to town last night for the summer, and she got to spend some time with Nolan in between the airport and her house. Nolan slept so peacefully in her arms, pretending like he's never fussy so she'll come watch him some this summer! Speaking of fussy, guess he's tired of being in the swing. Off to go get him!

2 Weeks

Nolan is two weeks old today. To celebrate, I went shopping! I was given directions at the hospital not to drive for two weeks due to the incision (and the medication I'd been on until Tuesday) which means I have not been out of the house by myself for quite a while. It felt good to go where I wanted, when I wanted, like getting my license for the first time. I even made it to the gym for the first time since he was born. I took it easy, but it felt good to get some exercise. I have 9 baby pounds left. It doesn't sound like much, but it's keeping my pants from buttoning still. Nolan was a good baby for Mike while I was gone with two poo diapers! Luckily, nature eases parents into the really nasty diapers, they aren't too bad yet. At the doctor appointment this week, Nolan weighed in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces. Part of the umbilical stump has fallen out. It looks much better, but we are waiting until the rest falls out and his belly button looks normal and cute. He is healthy, and we do not need to go back to the pediatrician until he is two months. He'll be getting a shot then. Having Nolan has increased our laundry. He's willing to help me out with putting it away at least!

Good Sleeper!

We must have worn Nolan out yesterday. He slept in his crib for 6 hours last night! And the best part is, there was no leaking pee or spit up on anything! Yesterday he was a perfect angel through dinner with Gammie, Aunt Kris, Uncle Joe, and Alex. He continued to sleep through an entire grocery trip afterward. Did we get lucky with this one or what? Sierra was thrilled we took her and Nolan on a walk last night. Maybe it was the fresh air (as fresh as it can be nowadays) that knocked the baby out. The gross part, though, is his umbilical cord stump is starting to fall out. Mike is having to resist wanting to just pull it out all the way. We will both be glad when that is gone! So, to sum up, having a baby isn't near as bad as I thought it would be. No, that does not mean I want another one, it just means we are lucky he is such a good baby.

Week One

Today Nolan celebrated being one week old by getting a blood test screening and eating right through it. He never even let out a cry!

Nolan has been sleeping great at night and Tif and I have been able to tag team the nighttime feedings and changing. Nolan also throws fits at night after his diaper is changed when he isn't hungry and still really tired. It's actually entertaining.

Also, strange enough, the Phils have had a 7 game winning streak starting when Nolan was born. Coincidence? I think not.

First Doctor Visit

Technically, Nolan's first outting was yesterday for the Diamondback's 6 run special at Taco Bell. We took Nolan and Sierra through the drive through. Sierra mostly ignored him, and he slept well in the carseat. Today, however, was his first time really going someplace. We headed to the Banner Desert area to where our new pediatrician is located. Just as we were about to go, Nolan decided he was hungry. He tied him over with an ounce of formula then jetted off. Once in the waiting room, while Mike was busy filling out paperwork. Nolan had a dirty diaper. After changing it, I tried to feed him more, but he was really just fussy. It took quite a while to get him calmed down, laying on Mike's chest was the magic touch this morning. Not a good precedent for future outings. We hadn't even made it past the waiting room yet. Of course, during all the exams by the nurse and doctor, Nolan cried, and who wouldn't! He is a picture of health, we are happy to report! He has only lost 3 ounces since birth weighing in at 7 pounds even today. Funny enough, it seems he also lost half an inch in height measuring in at 19 1/2 inches. All in all, a great check up! We will be back in one week.

Last night, Nolan slept for about 3 hours the first part of the night, then had a gassy, fussy segment, and settled in for about another 3 hours of straight sleep. It was all in his new moses basket which we placed inside the crib. We also used static on the radio for some white noise, which probably helped him sleep. Mike and I are fairly well rested for new parents! It's so nice to be able to tag team this. I even showered and fixed my hair today before leaving the house.

The First Night

The good news is . . . Nolan has figured out the bottles and is eating what the doctor ordered now! The bad news is . . . he does not like his crib. We could not get him to sleep in it for more than about 15 minutes. As you can imagine, the night was long. We persisted until about 4 in the morning when Nolan and I settled in on the couch downstairs. We are talking about ways to adapt the crib for the next few weeks to make it more confined and homey. We want him to feel comfortable and sleep two hours at a time during the night.

As you can imagine, we are quite tired today. Even Sierra isn't vying for a walk. Mike relieved me for a bit this morning so I could take care of myself. He is now taking his nap. We have family coming over soon and I will be sending Mike to the grocery store later this afternoon, so I need him ready to go! I learned a difficult lesson when this morning an area of my incision was bleeding slightly. It is already annoying limiting myself so much, but I have to be even more careful now. I have set up the couch so it is no longer a strain to get up from.

Going Home!

We are very eager to get out of the hospital after 4 nights. They had us approved to stay through Tuesday, but mom and son are doing so well, they offered to discharge us a day early if we felt up to it. I do not want to be there any longer and can't wait to sleep in my own room. No one will be taking my blood pressure and temperature every 4 hours which of course didn't line up with Nolan's waking schedule.

Looking at that sweet face it's hard to believe all the pain, misery and embarrassment I went through to get him here. I was left with no dignity what so ever. Two days in the hospital trying to avoid needing a c-section and only to end up with one really kind of stinks. I guess I should be happy to be able to go to the bathroom by myself again. I am very limited for the next two weeks while the incision heals, which means Mike has two babies to take care of! It's a small price to pay for the last 4 days, let alone 9 months. He is happy to work extra hard, though, loving every minute with his new baby.

As soon as we dropped my prescriptions off at the drugstore, we introduced Nolan and Sierra. Sierra is taking to Nolan pretty well all things considered. She really likes his hair, which is not a good thing. We are trying to let her have one lick then back off. We were able to put Nolan in the swing for a while and Sierra left him alone. He loved the swing and was sound asleep almost immediately! It won't take long for her to adjust to the newest member.

We have changed quite a few diapers already at home. He lets us know immediately when it's wet or dirty. Nolan is not eating as much as he was at the hospital, probably having to adjust to the different bottle. That is our big challenge for day one: make sure he's getting enough to eat. We have some of the ready made bottles from the hospital with us to add into the routine, so we're not overly worried about it. Since I am supposed to limit going up and down stairs, we have not moved our party up yet. We look forward to finishing dinner and introducing Nolan to his room. We are giving him a "bath" tonight and putting him in the crib for the first time. We plan on having him sleep there all night in between the feedings and changings. During the day, he can nap in the bouncer, swing, and our arms. Mike loves kangarooing with Nolan! It is a great bonding experience.

Our first pediatrician appointment is for Wednesday. This will be a whole new experience for all three of us!

Thank you to all of our family that supported us through Nolan's birth. He is so lucky to have so many people that already love him. I also have to comment on how amazing the nurses were at Banner. We're pretty sure we even made a couple of them have to stay past their shift when my water broke then later when the c-section was hastily scheduled. They were wonderful to me, Mike, and Nolan.

Baby Nolan

Isn't he a cutie?

Nolan Reed Goorsky

Nolan Reed Goorsky was born at 6:09 pm on June 10, 2011. After all that worrying Tif did, he was born on 6/9, just the minute, not the day. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 3 oz. and his height was 20 inches. I got to hold him for Tif as she was still in surgery and we kept his name a surprise all the way up to after he was born. When they got him out, they said his cord was wrapped around his neck so it was great he was a C-section baby. His Apgar scores were 7 then 9 and he had a bit of Mom's fever after delivery. I went down up to the nursery with him and Tif stayed in surgery. We fed Nolan his first bottle and he sucked it down! He got about an ounce in 3 minutes and gave a great burp, just not for Dad. I left him about an hour after birth to go down with Tif, who was drugged and so glad to see a familiar face. She didn't want me to leave her at all again until we were up in the room which was an hour or two after birth. The next time we will see Nolan is on our way to the room and then in the room later.

Birthday?

Around 5:30 am, after Tif had gotten up for the last time to go pee, her water broke. She knew it even before the nurse could confirm it. Our night nurse was terrific and she said it made a great end to a long shift.

All day long, Tif was sleeping on and off and every exam was showing no further dilation past 3-4. Effacement was very little. The baby dropped from -12 to -2 in about an hour with the help of a peanut, but little changed after 10 am. Tif began shaking with a fever around 4 pm pretty bad and when Dr. Gottfried came in, she was not happy with letting this go on for another day or two, especially with the water broken. She scheduled a C-section for 6:00 p.m. at about 5:45 giving us enough time to pack up and the pediatrician enough time to get to the hospital. The end of the road was in sight.

I took our bag and belongings to the post-op room while Tif was being prepped for surgery. Here was the picture I took of my feet waiting outside the OR in the soon-to-be-dad seat.

It was the only picture I took the whole hospital stay so far... The next would be of our son!

A Good Night

Tif and I had a good night in the hospital. She got some pain meds for the contraction pain and I got a cot to sleep on. That isn't to say that we weren't up every 1-2 hours with pee breaks.

Tif's contractions were getting going at 6:00 am, and after one meltdown (I am surprised it took her that long to have one), at 7:30 the anesthesiologist had her going on the epidural. She was more scared than in pain and since then we have seen the doctor. The contractions have her dilated to about a 3 and he still has not dropped. They are slowly administering pitocin to get him down and they have a giant red peanut between her knees to try to give the little guy some space.

Hopefully the next post is news on a healthy boy named... well you still have to wait!

Inducing

So, I guess inducing takes a bit more time than most people think. Tif is doing great with consistent contractions but they aren't too strong and she isn't dilating much. Looks like it may be a long night of waiting and trying to sleep.

Version Successful!

Tif right now has two bed sheets tied around her because the 5 second version went off without a hitch and we want to keep the baby in place. I guess it is an old Guatemalan midwife trick. Tif has the giggles from the drugs she is on and they are about to induce. She's actually nappy. Our nurse is also terrific in explaining everything and putting us at ease. More updates to come.

FLIPPED! (Part II)

Well, he isn't flipped, but he is transverse (that's a fancy word for sideways). This is more worrisome than having a breech position because there is a larger chance that the umbilical cord could come out when her water breaks. We have an appointment at 7:00 am tomorrow to do a version, which is a manual flip. Imagine finding his head and butt and grabbing them and turning him around inside the womb. This is about 50% successful and should be more so because Tif is so skinny and it will be easy to manipulate him around without any extra blubber in the way.

Case A: If the version works, they are going to induce labor so there isn't a chance of him flipping back around and we have the baby.

Case B: If the version doesn't work, they are scheduling a c-section for tomorrow and we have the baby.

Case C: If Tif gets the baby to flip by tomorrow morning by doing those wacky laying down slanted exercises with the hot and cold packs, they are still inducing so there isn't a chance of him flipping back around and we have the baby.

In any case, we are having a baby within the next day or two. Let's hope for Friday because Tif's birthday is tomorrow and I can't throw two birthday parties on the same day for the rest of my life (oh, and I guess it would be nice not to share a birthday). Send good feelings our way and keep visiting the blog constantly, because I'll be updating from the hospital with the much anticipated name when he is born. Lastly, it is confirmed once again that he is a boy... No need to exchange all of the cute clothes.

Disappointed!

Contractions started Friday around 8:30pm. We tracked them and were ready to head out to the hospital when they reached 5 minutes apart. However, as the night continued on, the contractions never became regular. After 12 hours of it, they simply stopped. I think that's just mean. We are tired and disappointed this morning. Mike's stomach feels better though, now that I'm not having contractions. The dog threw up again this morning, so her's is still upset. I guess I have time to finish the curtains I am hemming. We have made plans to go bowling and to 5 Guys to entertain us today. We did take the dog on a 2 mile walk and I had a spicy breakfast to see if we can jump start real contractions!

39 weeks

At our 39 week mark, there are no new developments. My vitals are great, the baby's hearbeat is strong and steady, and it is still unknown when I will go into labor. At least if it's this weekend, we met the doctor who is on call Friday through Sunday (our's is out of town) and will feel a little more comfortable about a stranger catching our baby. There are very few things that are compliments to a 9 month pregnant woman, and I was happy to hear two at the doctor's appointment. First, I don't look like a miserable pregnant woman yet and second, that is all baby in that belly of mine.
Sierra learned her first baby lesson around 3:30am when she puked her guts out. She learned Desitin is for the butt, not the mouth. No wonder her breath had a strange smell last night before going to bed. Unfortunately, we didn't catch that she had found something to get into while we were out of the house yesterday evening until this morning. I was personally hoping she was sick because I would soon be going into labor. She did have strange reactions when I was first pregnant, so we've been watching her behavior for indicators. Oh, darn, it was just something she ate.
We had the pleasure of getting together with a friend, Darci, who was in town with her 3 month old this week. This little one is already 14 pounds and still looked so small to us, it's hard to imagine what our 6 pound (cross our fingers) baby will be like. Once holding him for a while, though, it did feel like 14 pounds. When he started fussing, I passed him right back to mama. Who will I get to pass my fussy baby to?
Stay tuned, and hope with us this baby comes sooner rather than later!