Here are a few pictures, the first right after he was born. The next meeting his big brother for the first time. And the last, taken on his 1 week birthday.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
We found "Nemo"
Most of you have probably heard by now, that "Nemo" - who is now officially known as Brody Alan - found his way in to the world on October 13 at 8:44 am. Here is his birth story:
Oct 12 - All day I just didn't feel good. I didn't have pains until later in th evening, but I just felt awful. Like it took everything I had to get up out of the chair and make lunch.
7:30-ish that night - I got the first of what I thought could be a "pain". I told Walt and we started to watch the clock. By 11:30 they were about 20 minutes apart. We had no idea how fast they'd get closer together, so we decided to call my parents to come over and get Noah.
1:30am (Oct 13) - By this point, I was SURE it was labor and the pains were coming about 5 minutes apart, so we called the doctor and she told me to come on in.
2:30 am - We arrived at Magee...and what a difference driving in the middle of the night makes. I think we made it there in 18 minutes.
3:45 am - I waited in Triage for over an hour for a doctor to check me. When she did, she informed me I was at 6cm and they were going to move me to a Labor & Delivery suite. The nurse was surprised, the monitor wasn't showing my contractions were that strong and they didn't even think I was in labor. Guess that's why I waited over an hour. On the way out, the doctor asked if I wanted an epidural. I said "yes please" and I started to cry to Walt. I told him that since I was already at 6cm and it takes HOURS to get an epidural (I didn't know this! I just wanted it then!) I would surely die.
4:30am - I arrived in the L&D room and we waited. And waited, and waited....all the while the pain got worse and worse.
6:30am - Finally sweet relief! I guess there was an emergency in surgery and all of the other patients got backed up. But, finally I had my epidural and I got that warm, fuzzy feeling instead of all of that pain. The doctor came to check me shortly after I received my epidural and I was at 8cm! I have brought up the fact that I was only 2 cm away from a completely natural delivery to Walt about 10,000 times in the past 2 weeks. ;)
7:30am - They told me it was time to push! I couldn't believe it was happening this fast. It seemed like it took forever with Noah.
8:44am - After a little more than an hour of pushing, and me crying to them that I couldn't do it...I DID do it - and Brody was born. He weighed in at 7lbs, 80z and is completely and totally perfect.
I will add here, that I feel like I was cheated out of my epidural goodness. I only had it for 2 hours - and I would have taken it a week before he was born! Walt gave me a lovely gift in the delivery room, a necklace with Noah's, Brody's and my birthstones. I told him it isn't a "push present", it's an "8cm present". :)
Oct 12 - All day I just didn't feel good. I didn't have pains until later in th evening, but I just felt awful. Like it took everything I had to get up out of the chair and make lunch.
7:30-ish that night - I got the first of what I thought could be a "pain". I told Walt and we started to watch the clock. By 11:30 they were about 20 minutes apart. We had no idea how fast they'd get closer together, so we decided to call my parents to come over and get Noah.
1:30am (Oct 13) - By this point, I was SURE it was labor and the pains were coming about 5 minutes apart, so we called the doctor and she told me to come on in.
2:30 am - We arrived at Magee...and what a difference driving in the middle of the night makes. I think we made it there in 18 minutes.
3:45 am - I waited in Triage for over an hour for a doctor to check me. When she did, she informed me I was at 6cm and they were going to move me to a Labor & Delivery suite. The nurse was surprised, the monitor wasn't showing my contractions were that strong and they didn't even think I was in labor. Guess that's why I waited over an hour. On the way out, the doctor asked if I wanted an epidural. I said "yes please" and I started to cry to Walt. I told him that since I was already at 6cm and it takes HOURS to get an epidural (I didn't know this! I just wanted it then!) I would surely die.
4:30am - I arrived in the L&D room and we waited. And waited, and waited....all the while the pain got worse and worse.
6:30am - Finally sweet relief! I guess there was an emergency in surgery and all of the other patients got backed up. But, finally I had my epidural and I got that warm, fuzzy feeling instead of all of that pain. The doctor came to check me shortly after I received my epidural and I was at 8cm! I have brought up the fact that I was only 2 cm away from a completely natural delivery to Walt about 10,000 times in the past 2 weeks. ;)
7:30am - They told me it was time to push! I couldn't believe it was happening this fast. It seemed like it took forever with Noah.
8:44am - After a little more than an hour of pushing, and me crying to them that I couldn't do it...I DID do it - and Brody was born. He weighed in at 7lbs, 80z and is completely and totally perfect.
I will add here, that I feel like I was cheated out of my epidural goodness. I only had it for 2 hours - and I would have taken it a week before he was born! Walt gave me a lovely gift in the delivery room, a necklace with Noah's, Brody's and my birthstones. I told him it isn't a "push present", it's an "8cm present". :)
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Soccer and The Olive Garden
It's been a while...I know I've been saying that a lot lately. But, now that things at work have slowed down and I'm going to be on maternity leave any day now, (Hear that "Nemo"?...ANY DAY NOW!! ) so I'm going to try to be a better blogger.
Noah started playing soccer in late August. I can't even tell you how cute a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds running around chasing a ball in their shin guards is. They all crowd around the ball and just run and kick - it's awesome. I do see some improvement each week, and last week, Noah even scored a goal. Of course, it was in the OTHER team's goal, but still!
There he is putting on his best "pirate" face. And another just taking a "water break". He says that's his favorite
part. And, I will end with a conversation that he had with my parents. They were out to eat together...I will call my parents "Ma & Pa" because that is what he calls them. (Don't ask!)
Pa: Oh, don't forget I have that Olive Garden gift card to use.
Noah: Oh!! I want to go there! Tell Momma and we can all go there for dinner tomorrow!
Ma: Well, we're out to eat tonight, we can't eat out two nights in a row.
Noah: But, I REALLY want to go to Olive Garden!
Pa: And what would you get to eat at Olive Garden?
Noah: (with that "duh" look already perfected at the age of 4) Black Olives!
Somehow I think he'll be quite disappointed when we go to the Olive Garden and it's not just a giant olive buffet. :P (If you can't tell black olives are one of his favorite foods)
Friday, August 28, 2009
A few videos
The first one is Noah playing in some waves. The second is the feeding of the seagulls. Enjoy!
A long overdue beach review
It's been almost a month since we've returned from our trip to the beach...and I'm just now getting around to posting about it. My excuse is that this is our busiest time of year at work -- we have a class finish and a class start in the same week. I worked over 50 hours last week, which is no fun for a woman who is almost 8 months pregnant. I am still recovering, I think!
Anyway, enough about me and my complaining, right? You want to hear about Noah at the beach. He had the time of his life. I think that first picture says it all -- it was pure bliss from the moment he stepped foot in the sand. This picture was shortly after we arrived and had unpacked the Jeep. We walked down (Walt & I still in our clothes) just to take a walk. I did put Noah in a swimsuit - just in case. I will chalk one up to a good parenting decision there. Of course, a 4 year old isn't going to want to just take a walk. He's going to want to dive right in. He was soaked within seconds, and Walt finally gave up, unloaded his pockets, left me on the sand and dove right in with Noah.
W
e were busy every day and luckily the weather was perfect beach weather. We managed to fit in some mini golf, nights on the boardwalk and lots of good food. The highlight for Noah though was feeding the seagulls. The gulls ate really good the week we were there - we saved food from dinner for them (fries, shrimp tails, rolls), fed them a half a box of Cheerios, and even bought several bags of popcorn to feed them. I'm surprised they didn't follow us home. Noah would actually cry when he ran out of food, and make all of us tell the gulls goodbye and we'll see them later.
e were busy every day and luckily the weather was perfect beach weather. We managed to fit in some mini golf, nights on the boardwalk and lots of good food. The highlight for Noah though was feeding the seagulls. The gulls ate really good the week we were there - we saved food from dinner for them (fries, shrimp tails, rolls), fed them a half a box of Cheerios, and even bought several bags of popcorn to feed them. I'm surprised they didn't follow us home. Noah would actually cry when he ran out of food, and make all of us tell the gulls goodbye and we'll see them later. The weird thing about seagulls is that they can hover over you while catching food in mid-air. There were a few times that we were surrounded by our feet and over our heads. And miraculously somehow none of us were pooped on. If you're ever looking for the best thing to feed a seagull (the most fun that is, I don't think they care what they eat) - Ritz Crackers. You can throw them like a frisbee and the seagulls catch them out of mid-air. :)
I will end with our funniest beach story - the one night at dinner, we start saving up things to take with us to feed the gulls. We then noticed that on the table next to us there was a package of Ritz crackers left there. So we asked the bus boy if we could have them. At the end of the meal, the waitress brings us a box and we pack up all kinds of leftovers in it (even a roll that fell on the floor). As we're walking out of the restaurant, Walt drops the box all over the floor. Of course, seagulls don't care if their food has been on a dirty floor, right? So we scooped it all up and leave. Walt was laughing hysterically, thinking about everyone in the restaurant watching us steal food from other tables and the floor - then dropping ALL of it on the floor and packing it back up. Perhaps there's a blog somewhere out there telling the tale of the "poor" family who had to take so much food and even ate it after it was on the floor. ;)Thursday, July 16, 2009
One Liners
Here are a few of the short funny things Noah's said lately:
1) He asked Walt if they're going to dig the baby out of my belly with a shovel. (Dear Lord I hope not!)
2) I was drinking a Diet Coke the other day and he asked for a drink. He was also talking like a baby. I said "No, especially because you're talking like a baby and babies can't drink Coke". He looked at me and said "Well, YOUR baby is drinking Coke when you drink it". Touche. I guess he had me there. :P
3) My aunt is watching him while his daycare is closed for vacation. He was helping her and he put some Kleenex on my cousin's dresser for her. He swiped his fingers across her dresser and said to my aunt "Boy, she sure does need to dust in here!"
Monday, July 13, 2009
The surgery
It's been almost 2 weeks since the surgery and I'm happy to say that I think Noah is back to his old self again! And he's eating like a horse. Walt even joked yesterday that he's going to tell any other parents of "non-eaters" that the solution is to have their tonsils removed. (For example on Friday for dinner he ate: pasta, blackberries, applesauce, 1/2 jelly sandwich, fruit cup and a popsicle! This is almost a week's worth of dinner for the "old" Noah!)
Anyway, everyone at Children's Hospital was so awesome! We arrived at 10:30 on the day of his surgery - and were quickly called to the pre-op room. We met with some nurses and then the anesthesiologist came in. He was so wonderful and even did some magic tricks with Noah. Noah was totally at ease with him. They also allowed one of us to accompany him to the OR, where we could stay with him while they put the sleepy gas on him, so he wouldn't have to see us leave. I didn't think I'd be able to hold it together, so Walt went with him. The doctor let Noah have a choice of walking down or being wheeled in his bed -- and he walked. So it was like a parade through the halls - a couple of doctors, Walt, Noah and me. We got to a set of double doors and one of the doctors held back and told me that this is where I exit the parade to head to the waiting room. It was so hard to leave him...but it helped that he wasn't scared or upset. It was also hard not to cry my eyes out as I checked in with the people in the waiting room. But, I must say I did pretty well! Walt arrived about 10 minutes after me and said that Noah was sound asleep when he left.
Then we waited. And while it was only about 30 minutes, it seemed to last forever. In walks his doctor (a shout out to Dr. Chi -- he was really awesome!), he comes over to us in the waiting room and asks us to follow him to a little private room. Now, when you watch as much tv as I do, you know that on medical dramas, they only take the people to a private room for BAD news. This was probably the longest (20 foot) walk of my entire life. But, my nervousness was quickly washed away when the doctor informed us that everything went perfectly -- in fact, so perfectly that he was breathing without any problems and we would NOT be admitted to the ICU. I could have hugged him, seriously! He said as soon as he woke up we could go back to recovery. And in this few minute conversation, he must have said 3 or 4 times just how LARGE his tonsils really were.
We waited again, but this time, the waiting wasn't as bad. In fact, Walt & I downed zebra cakes and pretzels (it's the lunch of champions, don't you know) - because we hadn't eaten since early that day and it was now after 1pm. We ate breakfast early before Noah got up since he wasn't allowed to eat -- I would have felt awful eating in front of him. When we walked in to recovery, he was sitting up, eating a popsicle. The poor little girl in the bed next to him had the same surgery and was crying to the point of making herself sick -- it was awful to hear that.
They came to take us to his room, which was very nice. He ended up eating 2 packages of Jello and since he did well with that, they approved him having a soft dinner. He had a rough night that night - and fought us like crazy to take the tylenol with codeine. But all in all - I think he did great. We're slowly introducing more food within the past few days and he's doing great. He has a follow up on July 22.
And while I hope to NEVER have to return to Children's Hospital again, I will say that the commercials are definitely true. If you have children, be glad you have Children's. It was a wonderful experience, I honestly can't say enough good things about it.
Anyway, everyone at Children's Hospital was so awesome! We arrived at 10:30 on the day of his surgery - and were quickly called to the pre-op room. We met with some nurses and then the anesthesiologist came in. He was so wonderful and even did some magic tricks with Noah. Noah was totally at ease with him. They also allowed one of us to accompany him to the OR, where we could stay with him while they put the sleepy gas on him, so he wouldn't have to see us leave. I didn't think I'd be able to hold it together, so Walt went with him. The doctor let Noah have a choice of walking down or being wheeled in his bed -- and he walked. So it was like a parade through the halls - a couple of doctors, Walt, Noah and me. We got to a set of double doors and one of the doctors held back and told me that this is where I exit the parade to head to the waiting room. It was so hard to leave him...but it helped that he wasn't scared or upset. It was also hard not to cry my eyes out as I checked in with the people in the waiting room. But, I must say I did pretty well! Walt arrived about 10 minutes after me and said that Noah was sound asleep when he left.
Then we waited. And while it was only about 30 minutes, it seemed to last forever. In walks his doctor (a shout out to Dr. Chi -- he was really awesome!), he comes over to us in the waiting room and asks us to follow him to a little private room. Now, when you watch as much tv as I do, you know that on medical dramas, they only take the people to a private room for BAD news. This was probably the longest (20 foot) walk of my entire life. But, my nervousness was quickly washed away when the doctor informed us that everything went perfectly -- in fact, so perfectly that he was breathing without any problems and we would NOT be admitted to the ICU. I could have hugged him, seriously! He said as soon as he woke up we could go back to recovery. And in this few minute conversation, he must have said 3 or 4 times just how LARGE his tonsils really were.
We waited again, but this time, the waiting wasn't as bad. In fact, Walt & I downed zebra cakes and pretzels (it's the lunch of champions, don't you know) - because we hadn't eaten since early that day and it was now after 1pm. We ate breakfast early before Noah got up since he wasn't allowed to eat -- I would have felt awful eating in front of him. When we walked in to recovery, he was sitting up, eating a popsicle. The poor little girl in the bed next to him had the same surgery and was crying to the point of making herself sick -- it was awful to hear that.
They came to take us to his room, which was very nice. He ended up eating 2 packages of Jello and since he did well with that, they approved him having a soft dinner. He had a rough night that night - and fought us like crazy to take the tylenol with codeine. But all in all - I think he did great. We're slowly introducing more food within the past few days and he's doing great. He has a follow up on July 22.
And while I hope to NEVER have to return to Children's Hospital again, I will say that the commercials are definitely true. If you have children, be glad you have Children's. It was a wonderful experience, I honestly can't say enough good things about it.
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