Damon takes over

Quotes from stay-at-home dad Damon:
1. Curious George is outdated, now he would be smoking crack and doing drive bys.
2. I hate to admit it, but Raffi is the answer. (Raffi is really bad kid music- sorry mom)
3. I know the doctor won't tell us it is our fault that Bryce's belly button hasn't healed, but I am going to look it up on the internet. (I am pretty sure it is not our fault)

Bryce 1st Hike

Bryce first hike to Snow Mountain. He slept through the whole thing. I wonder how many more hikes Bryce will sleep through. It looks like I am sleeping, but it is just bright. I wish I was sleeping right now. We had 11:45, 2 am, 4 am, 6 am feedings. We must be having a growth spurt or maybe we are paying for how many times we said it has been easier than we thought.

Our Other Cutie

I guess I am going a little stir crazy since I have started to mess with the animals. Kitty is acting like everything is back to normal and he even started cuddling with me again. Tarn is a little annoyed with our lack of hiking. Since today is my last official day of "bed rest", I am going to take advantage of it watch a bunch of tv shows on dvd while Damon paints the fence. Then we are talking about a babies first hike. It will be short, but will be nice to get outside. We have been having problems between 8 pm and 12 am getting the baby to fall asleep. We tried sleeping in the bedroom Friday night, with no luck since there are more props in the living room to keep the baby from crying. The exercise ball and the ergo baby. Last night was no exception until we broke down and gave Bryce a pacifier. It was like baby crack and he went right to sleep, with only night time feedings and changes to get up for. I happily slept in my own bed for the first time in a long time.

Pretty Cute

It is so much more fun having a cute baby to play with when you are stuck at home with nothing to do instead of being 40+ weeks pregnant with nothing to do. No heartburn! I only have 19 more days to be a stay at home mom.

Fatty

After force feedings for the weekend, Bryce went to the doctor and weighed in at 9 lbs. So no more force feedings, he can eat when he wants to. Unfortunately, last night he wanted to eat from 2:30 am to 5:30 am, so I got my first real taste of being tired like a new parent should. Fortunately, between Damon and my parents being here I got a couple of hours of sleep this morning. Here is Bryce having some Kitty time.

Our Little Drama King

Everything is all drama for Bryce. At least he is telling us what he wants. We took him in to get him weighed and it turns out he is loosing too much weight so we are on a super feeding plan of every two hours and have to bring him back tomorrow. We are going to work hard to avoid formula but we will do what we have to do. They gave us some tips and put him on a plan. We are already on a plan - sheesh (that is what Sue would say). Animal update: Tarn barked in the living room and Damon kept going to see what he wanted, he finally figured out Kitty was in the bassinet and Tarn was tattling.

It's all an act

We are home from the hospital, finally. And we made it through our first night at home. I am pretty sure I said about 50 times in the last few months "after the last year, how hard can it be to take care of a baby". Come to find out... During the day, it is easy to keep your cool and the Bryce seems like he is pretty mellow. Then as soon as it is bedtime comes all hell breaks loose. How do you do that stupid swaddle again? Which soon ends up with everyone in tears trying to do that stupid swaddle for hours. It was like baby a store exploded. Where is a newborn t-shirt, how do we not have a single newborn t shirt in all this stuff. About 3 am we got smart and threw in the video "Happiest Baby on the Block" and finally figured out how to swaddle. That left us sleeping from about 4 to 8:30 am. I am just glad I have pain meds to get through this. Poor Damon, life is hard.

Happy Birthday Damon and Baby Bryce

Here's Baby Bryce

Here's Me.

We made it!! Somehow we made it through a scheduled induction starting on Saturday morning August 29th at 5 am and ending August 31st at 10:20 am with a c-section that delivered a happy and healthy Bryce weighing 8 lbs 11 oz. Somehow we made it through 52 plus hours of labor. When we started our journey trying to do a "natural birth" we probably should have realized that our plans had changed when Bryce went to almost 42 weeks. But everything is a process to be learned from. Damon and I are still speaking to each other and he was the most amazing doula that anyone could ask for. Today is his birthday and since I am on lockdown at the hospital, he will have to take Bryce as his one day early birthday present. Happy Birthday Damon. Bryce came out amazing alert and active for everything he endured, lots of poking a prodding. We are so happy to have him join us. Thank you to all who waited patiently with us!

Top 10 Reasons it is time for Bryce to come

10. All the things, I would normally do on a day off are pretty much off limits
9. I am starting to think about cleaning out the cupboards, but don't want to create a mess
8. All of my maternity shirts are stained
7. I don't think I can bare to go to water aerobics again and have everyone groan with sympathy
6. There are too many "Judge Shows" on television in the middle of the day
5. I am sick of the doctors office
4. People have started to say "You look miserable, instead of you don't look miserable enough"
3. None of the natural induction methods are fun when you are 40 weeks + 5
2. None of the medical induction methods are fun and some are dangerous
1. We want to meet him!