Sunday, January 29, 2012

Big Changes!

There's lots of big changes in the works.  First, Connor had his two week check up on Friday and wow has he grown.  He is now 21.5 inches long and weighs 9 lbs, 6 oz.  He was 20.5 inches long and 7 lb, 10 oz at his appointment 11 days before.  The pediatrician says that he looks for a minimum weight gain of an ounce a day and would have been happy with 11 oz, but Connor is already an over-achiever.  He said that he is not at all concerned that he has gained so much as he is in the 79th percentile for length and the 69th for weight. 

The other big change is that we will be moving sometime before April 9th.  With Amazon moving into our neighborhood, apartment demand has gone out of control and they are hiking up our rent by $250 a month.  We just can't afford that right now with the added expenses for Connor, so it's time to go.  It's going to be a really hard move between having a 2 month old and I will be having my chest surgery on 3/27, which will likely be 4 days prior to our move date.  I have no idea how we are going to pull that off.  I'm hoping we will be able to begin moving in prior to my surgery and we can get help with cleaning the old place.  I can pack before surgery so we are ready to go.  We'll see I guess.  I'm really upset about this whole thing and have been kind of in shut down mode about it for the last several days, but I'm starting to be able to focus on the positives.  If we are able to get a house Connor will have a yard and hopefully we will end up with more space so we will have room for a Christmas tree next year, a guest room, a dining space...all the things we have been missing by living in the apartments for the last several years.

And I have to say that I am starting to realize that even the price we are currently paying is way too much for this apartment, let alone what they are now asking.  Sure, the neighborhood was great, but Amazon has ruined that.  We can no longer go to our favorite local haunts without being overrun with Amazon folks.  The only good thing about the location is proximity to work, which hopefully will continue to not matter for me and will be negligible if we can end up somewhere near an express bus for R.  So that's my new huge project...

- J

Monday, January 23, 2012

The first 10 days with Connor

I am taking advantage of a sleeping baby to update how our first 10 days have gone with Connor.  I have to say, he is the most laid back, happy baby I have ever met.  I realize we are only 10 days in and things could easily change and I am really, really hoping I haven't jinxed myself, but he has been so good.  Here's a run down of our first days.  I'm going to skip the days we were in the hospital and start with Monday. 

3 Days Old:

We had a rough night the first night home.  Connor was fussy and didn't want to sleep in his bassinet, so I spent most of the night holding him and rocking him.  We had to go into the pediatrician's office that day to get his bilirubin levels checked for his jaundice, so when the office opened I called and scheduled our appointment.  I then spent the next hour and a half getting him ready and packing his diaper bag, which I forgot at home, of course.  We didn't realize that I had forgotten his diaper bag until we were in the exam room and realized that not only was his diaper wet, but he was also hungry.  Nevermind that I had changed and fed him just before we left the house.  Luckily, his new pediatrician was nice enough to supply some ready to eat formula, diapers and gave us some freebies as well.  He had his first exam, got his blood draw and we were on our way.  He really did great during the exam.

Afterwards, we stopped at my RE's office so she could meet Connor.  I figure she was pretty instrumental in helping us conceive him, so she should meet him.  She was so thrilled and excited to see him.  It was really touching.  I promised that I would send her a picture of him once we get them back.  Then it was on to Starbucks for some much needed caffeine.  While we were there, we all decided we were hungry.  I had another Jimmy John's sub (needed to catch up after all...it had been 9 months), and R and Sig had piroshkis.  After that, we went home, relaxed and started to get settled into our routine.

Later that evening, our good friend Dylan stopped by to visit and meet Connor.  He has been working in Haiti for the last couple of years and we rarely get to see him when he comes to town, so it was really nice getting caught up.  Connor spent a long time sleeping on his belly too, which was really cute.  Eventually Dylan had to leave and R and Sig went to the grocery store to stock up on essentials as a storm was coming.  I knew that the store would be absolute hell the next day.  It's a good thing he went when he did.  Everything was picked over and there was barely anything left.



4 Days Old:

We had a much better night.  Connor was able to stay asleep for 3-4 hours at a stretch and was barely fussy at all.  He even slept in his bassinet without complaint.  I got a call that morning from Mom saying that the storm had hit Bellingham and she was going to come down to Seattle before we got hit.  She had been planning on coming down the next day, but she didn't want to get stranded.  They had gotten almost a foot of snow the night before.  She arrived in the early afternoon and Sig took off shortly after.  She also didn't want to get stranded and opted to head home before the weather got too bad up there.  We had a nice, quiet day chatting and taking care of Connor.  In the evening, Mom helped me give Connor his first bath at home.  I will admit that it could have gone smoother, and he certainly didn't enjoy it, but I think he will like bathes once he can actually be submerged in the water.  The promised storm started late Tuesday night, much later than anticipated.




5 Days Old:

Again, Connor had a good night.  We went to bed around 11:00 or 12:00, and he got up once at 3:30 and then again at 6:30-ish, at which point I just went ahead and got up as well.  By this time it was snowing and really quite pretty out.  I was very glad that we didn't have anywhere to be and could stay snuggled in at home.  The big highlight of the day was bundling Connor up and taking him to the roof to feel snow for the first time.  We had him so bundled that he couldn't put his little arms down.  It didn't seem to phase him and it did make for some really cute pictures.



We spent the rest of the day snuggled in, watching TV and cuddling Connor.  Mom and R took over baby duty for a while and insisted that I take a nap.  It was so refreshing.  I didn't realize how exhausted I was.  Later that evening, James and Gwen came by to meet Connor.  They hadn't been able to make it to the hospital when the rest of the band came by, so it was really nice to see them.  Gwen brought Connor some adorable Animal (from the Muppets) onesies.  They are too big for him now, but I can't wait to see them on him when he grows into them.  It was really cute seeing them with Connor.  James is already making plans to train him in Martial Arts and I know Gwen is going to help me instill him with a love of old movies.  We visited with them for several hours and then headed for bed.



6 Days Old:

And another great night.  He stuck to almost the same exact schedule as the night before, which was so nice.  I was expecting to be up all night, but so far (knock on wood) that hasn't been the case.  Thursday was day two of being snowed in.  Sometime during the night, the snow changed to freezing rain and everything was coated with a layer of ice.  We spent the morning watching the news coverage of the storm.  The broadcast kept being extended, and I really do not envy the newscasters.  To have to spend hours saying essentially the same thing over and over again and to try to make it interesting....ugh!  Not something I would want to do.  Raven's practice was canceled as people were stuck at home and couldn't make it to the practice space, but he had to go in to get his drums for the photo shoot the next day.  I was really concerned with him driving, but he said that the main roads were fine and the back roads were a lot of fun.  He made it home safely with the drums in tow and we spent another day snuggled down.  We were a little concerned that we would have to reschedule the photo shoot the next day, but the weather forecast promised that we would have some thawing overnight.  I made some contingency plans with the photographer just in case, and we went to bed.

7 Days Old:

And three nights in a row of our new routine!  I woke up early and got a head start on all of the prep for the photo shoot.  Got my shower, hair and make up taken care of, got the diaper bag packed, got breakfast for Mom, and fed, changed and dressed Connor.  It may have taken almost 3 hours, but it went far more smoothly than I imagined and we were out the door a little after 9:00 am.  We actually arrived in Kirkland early, so we drove around for a while trying to track down a Starbucks.  It proved impossible, strangely enough, so we made our way to the photographer's place and got everything unloaded and set up.

I have to say, I can not speak more highly of this photographer.  Her name is Tushna and her business is called T-Elle Photography in Kirkland.  She does amazing work and I swear she is a baby whisperer.  She has such a knack with calming down babies, making them comfortable and getting them to pose for her.  I really was amazed just watching her.  And aside from being extremely warm in the studio (for the comfort of the babies), it was a very pleasant experience.  We got some incredible shots judging from the sneak peeks she sent us later in the day.  I can't wait to see what the rest are going to look like.  Here are the sneak peek shots:


 
After the shoot, we headed back to Seattle, stopping by the practice space on our way to drop the drums off again.  We grabbed some sandwiches on the way home and then came back and relaxed for a bit until we realized that we were almost out of provisions.  R and I ran to the store while Mom watched Connor for us.  I have to admit, it was so hard leaving him at home even with Mom.  I was so anxious to get back to him.  I was also in a lot of pain by this point in the day.  It was the most active I had been since surgery one week before.  We hurried through our shopping and then went home.  Mom went to bed early and R, Connor and I tried to watch Idiocracy.  I say tried because Connor and I promptly fell asleep.  R was able to get through the movie though.  I need to give it another try sometime soon.

8 Days Old:

We had another good night.  Tushna told us that Connor would be exhausted after the photo shoot and sure enough, he was.  Mom went home in the late morning after Skyping with Dad.  A little while later, Corey and Tamara arrived to meet Connor.  Tamara was totally thrilled with him.  We sat around chatting and then took a walk over to our favorite coffee place.  They stayed for a little while longer and then had to leave to get to a birthday party.  R and I spent the evening napping on the couch, and cuddling with Connor.  We also gave him a bath in preparation for meeting his great-grandma the next day. 




9 Days Old:

Another big day! Connor went on his first road trip.  It was Great-grandma Kate's 95th birthday party and it was time to make the introductions.  We drove out to Great-aunt Ruth's house in Snohomish for the party.  Everyone swarmed him as soon as we walked in the door.  Apparently everyone was awaiting his arrival.  Raven took Connor over to meet Great-grandma Kate and the rest of the family.












After meeting everyone and taking a very, very large group photo we decided that was enough and it was time to go home.  There were an awful lot of people there and I was getting nervous about everyone handing Connor around.  Plus, I was getting really uncomfortable and sore.  We went home, had dinner with Alex and Sig and then went to bed.

10 Days Old:

A very, very busy day for our little guy.  I had been having problems with my incision feeling raw and smelling funny, so the Dr wanted me to come in for a check up.  I called first thing in the morning and made my appointment for 2:50 that afternoon.  We desperately had to go grocery shopping, so we got little man ready to go and went to the store.  We did all of our shopping and were just finishing paying when I got a call from the Dr's office asking if we could be there in 45 minutes instead.  We rushed home, put away the essentials, changed Connor and ran back out again.  My appointment went fine, but I was having a reaction to the steri strips they had put on when they took the staples out.  She removed them for me and prescribed me some meds to soothe the irritation. 

After the Dr's appointment, we went to Southcenter to pick up some diapers at Target, stop at Barnes & Noble and GameStop (R had a gift card he wanted to redeem) and find some food.  Poor little Connor had quite the day of being out an about.  He was pretty fussy and worn out when we got home.  We spent the evening cuddling him and getting him calmed and ready for bed. 

Here are some final cute pictures:




- J

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Connor is here!

I know it has been way too long since my last post.  When I last left you, I was about to get off of bed rest and was very, very much looking forward to it.  On December 22, I was off bed rest and spent most of the day having regular, although not super painful, contractions.  We went and got checked out, but it was a false alarm.  We had a very nice Christmas with Sig and Alex that weekend and I very much enjoyed being able to move around and get back to my normal activities.  The next week at my OB appointment, my blood pressure was high enough that they wanted me to go back on bed rest.  I had one week of freedom before being trapped on the couch yet again.

At this point, I started going in for appointments twice a week so that they could monitor my progress, my blood pressure and Connor.  I don't think anyone expected me to stay pregnant for very long.  Connor had a different opinion though.  He was all snuggled in and not ready to go anywhere.  That didn't prevent me from having frequent and regular contractions though.  After a couple of weeks of this, my OB decided that it was time to go ahead and have a C section.  We scheduled the surgery for 1/13/12, six days before my due date and one day before our anniversary.

Surgery day arrived and I spent the morning trying to get everything ready.  Mom and Sig came down so that they could be there for Connor's birth.  At 2:00 we checked in at the hospital and only had to wait a few minutes before they took me back to prep for surgery.  I got hooked up to all of the IVs, got my blood draw, took my pre-surgery meds and answered all of the healthy history questions.  R got dressed in his funny surgery get up and at 4:05 pm they brought me to the OR.  They gave me my spinal and started the surgery.  At 4:38 pm, Connor Grey arrived, weighing 8 lbs, 1.7 ounces and 20.5 inches long.  He actually tried to cry before he was even born.  I heard the OB say "You can't cry yet.  You're not even born yet."  It was the most beautiful sound in the world when he did finally cry.  R went with him to the warmer while they got him dried and checked him out.  He also gave him his first bottle right there in the OR.  I spent the whole time watching them while my OB finished my surgery.  Finally, R was able to bring him over to me and I was able to see my son for the very first time.  I couldn't hold him but I was able to stroke his cheek.

When the surgery was over, they finally placed Connor in my arms for the ride back to recovery.  I won't ever be able to explain how incredible that felt.  Our baby boy has got a set of lungs on him.  He screamed all the way from the OR to recovery and his grandmas were able to hear him coming.  I got to hold him skin to skin for the first little bit.  After an hour the grandmas were allowed to come in and he was given his first shots (vitamin K and Hep B), and got his footprints taken.  Then we were moved to our postpartum room and settled in.  I didn't sleep at all that first night.  I was too enthralled just watching his sweet little face and listening to his cute little noises.  I'm so incredibly in love with him.

We ended up spending 2 days in the hospital.  On Saturday, my aunt Lily, our friends Matt and Jessica, and his big sister Alex and his Farmor came to visit us.  Of course everyone absolutely adored him.  He barely fussed at all and was happy just being cuddled.  I got up out of bed and walked the floor several times.  I was attempting to get my insides moving again so that I could have a Jimmy John's sub, which I had been craving for my entire pregnancy.  I was hoping to have it as a celebratory anniversary dinner with R.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get things going in time and we had to have our subs the next day.  Either way, having Connor the day before was absolutely the best anniversary gift I ever could have asked for.  We also had some screenings done for Connor.  He passed his hearing screening with one of his ears, but not the other.  They said that is pretty normal, particularly for C section babies as they often still have some fluid in theirs ears.  We also found out that he was mildly jaundiced.  Both tests would be repeated the next day. 

On Sunday, the OB came and checked on me.  She said that I was doing so well (having pass gas the night before) that I could be discharged.  She said that if Connor's jaundice was bad enough to require photo therapy, we would be admitted to the peds ward.  They came and redid Connor's hearing test, which he passed and then checked his bilirubin levels (for the jaundice) again.  The pediatrician came by and said that while his levels were increased they were still not high enough to need photo therapy.  We called Sig and let her know that we would be headed home that afternoon.  While we were waiting, it started snowing heavily.  It was so beautiful to watch from the hospital.  Later that afternoon most of the band came by to meet Connor.  It was interesting to see all of their different reactions.  Eventually it was time to go.  We bundled Connor up, packed up all of our stuff and headed out into the cold.  While it was gorgeous out, the ice made for bumpy roads, which was not comfortable for me.  Connor passed out as soon as we got in the car.  I think he is going to like car rides. 

I think that is all I am going to write for now.  I will try to get back on and write about his first week in the next couple of days.  I will add some photos at that point as well.

- J