Our little guy seems to have begun to learn to sleep at night. It's sometimes a bit rough getting him to go to sleep, but once he's out, he's out. As a result, I've actually gotten some amount of sleep before getting up at 5:15 AM to go to work. I like sleep.
The reflux we think he had earlier is mostly gone, too. He'll sleep on his back, and we can periodically even get him to sleep in his bassinet for the night.
Dude is also a smiling fiend most of the time. He loves goofy faces, and I swear sometimes he'll wet his diaper just to get a change. He's all smiles when the diaper comes off. He's also been cooing and giggling a whole lot. When he's mobile, he's going to be non-stop, and a lady's man. That'll be an amazing time.
As always, pictures of Captain Cute are at the Girl's Picasa Page.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Goofy Little Dude
Well, he's still a strange lovable little man. Especially lovable, but especially strange. On the bright side, he smiles as much as he cries; so there's a lot of each. He laughs especially whenever we change his diaper. How strange is that? All we have to do is get him onto the changing pad, and the little guy knows exactly where he is and what's about to happen. Take a sock off, get a smile, and so on.
However, he gets excessively cranky most evenings. It's very upsetting to hear him scream his little lungs out, turn red in the face, and to watch him with tears bursting from his eyes. It's especially rough when we don't know why, and it almost seems like he's in pain. We haven't quite figured this one out, but we're working on it. It's just hard watching the little dude have to be so unhappy.
On another note, more often than not we think he's left handed. It's the preferred hand when he tries to suck on one, and it's definitely not out of the question. My grandmother was left handed, and the Girl's brother may have been. Strangely enough, both of them were forced to write right-handed, so we can't entirely tell with her brother. I suppose time will tell, but it would be an interesting trait.
Now he's just eaten, and he's examining his little toys while he sits in his car seat, alert and content. Cute little bugger, smiling a big smile at his mom. Sleepless nights aside and heartache watching him cry included, I feel like the luckiest person on the planet.
However, he gets excessively cranky most evenings. It's very upsetting to hear him scream his little lungs out, turn red in the face, and to watch him with tears bursting from his eyes. It's especially rough when we don't know why, and it almost seems like he's in pain. We haven't quite figured this one out, but we're working on it. It's just hard watching the little dude have to be so unhappy.
On another note, more often than not we think he's left handed. It's the preferred hand when he tries to suck on one, and it's definitely not out of the question. My grandmother was left handed, and the Girl's brother may have been. Strangely enough, both of them were forced to write right-handed, so we can't entirely tell with her brother. I suppose time will tell, but it would be an interesting trait.
Now he's just eaten, and he's examining his little toys while he sits in his car seat, alert and content. Cute little bugger, smiling a big smile at his mom. Sleepless nights aside and heartache watching him cry included, I feel like the luckiest person on the planet.
Monday, November 15, 2010
If you're happy and you know it.
Evan loves his swing. He would stay in that thing all day long if it A: he didn't have to eat every once in awhile or B: he didn't hate it when he pees himself. It's allowed me to get things done. Like blogging!
He slept in his bassinet last night! On his back! For 4 consecutive hours! This is huge! He had some major reflux issues and refused to sleep anywhere he was "supposed" to. The only way we could get him to sleep was to put him in his car seat. Not anymore! I suppose the next step is to get him to sleep in his very own room and is his very own crib. There's plenty of time for that though. I like having the little dude within reach. Especially because I'm the only one who can feed him at the moment.
Unfortunately, we think he's decided that he doesn't like bottles. G tried to give him one a few days ago and he refused while screaming his head off until he was red-faced and teary. It's a good thing I don't have a job to go to and can be on-call to nurse him whenever he needs it. We'll try bottles again to see whether or not it was a fluke, but until then, it's all me.
Luckily, he likes me. :D
He also likes diaper changes. As soon as he's placed on the changing pad, we get smiles. He knows what's coming. And boob. As soon as he sees his food source, he's all grins. Smart little guy, he is.
He slept in his bassinet last night! On his back! For 4 consecutive hours! This is huge! He had some major reflux issues and refused to sleep anywhere he was "supposed" to. The only way we could get him to sleep was to put him in his car seat. Not anymore! I suppose the next step is to get him to sleep in his very own room and is his very own crib. There's plenty of time for that though. I like having the little dude within reach. Especially because I'm the only one who can feed him at the moment.
Unfortunately, we think he's decided that he doesn't like bottles. G tried to give him one a few days ago and he refused while screaming his head off until he was red-faced and teary. It's a good thing I don't have a job to go to and can be on-call to nurse him whenever he needs it. We'll try bottles again to see whether or not it was a fluke, but until then, it's all me.
Luckily, he likes me. :D
He also likes diaper changes. As soon as he's placed on the changing pad, we get smiles. He knows what's coming. And boob. As soon as he sees his food source, he's all grins. Smart little guy, he is.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Likes and Dislikes.
Likes:
Sleeping when the sun is up.
Sleeping on his stomach.
Sleeping on mom or dad.
Sleeping in his car seat.
Sleeping on flat comfy surfaces that aren't his bassinet or crib.
Mom's boobs.
Car rides on fast roads.
Having a dirty diaper and sitting in his own poo for hours.
Dislikes:
Sleeping when the sun is down.
Sleeping on his back.
Sleeping in his bassinet.
Sleeping in his crib.
Bottles.
Car rides on slow roads.
Having a wet diaper and sitting in his own pee for more than half a second.
Weird little dude.
Sleeping when the sun is up.
Sleeping on his stomach.
Sleeping on mom or dad.
Sleeping in his car seat.
Sleeping on flat comfy surfaces that aren't his bassinet or crib.
Mom's boobs.
Car rides on fast roads.
Having a dirty diaper and sitting in his own poo for hours.
Dislikes:
Sleeping when the sun is down.
Sleeping on his back.
Sleeping in his bassinet.
Sleeping in his crib.
Bottles.
Car rides on slow roads.
Having a wet diaper and sitting in his own pee for more than half a second.
Weird little dude.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
My Little Big Man
The last few days have been exciting for me. Evan has started smiling more often. Granted, though it's seemingly in response to nothing, it makes me happy to see my little man have the potential for sheer joy. I can't wait to see him smile in response to a stimulus.
Even more exciting, though (I know, how could anything be more exciting than baby smiles?), just today he seemed truly aware for the first time. He spent a lot of time looking around, and then settling on seeing my face and just staring at me. I've never felt anything so rewarding in my life. Occasionally, mixed in with this, was a smile :-)
Little dude is awesome.
Even more exciting, though (I know, how could anything be more exciting than baby smiles?), just today he seemed truly aware for the first time. He spent a lot of time looking around, and then settling on seeing my face and just staring at me. I've never felt anything so rewarding in my life. Occasionally, mixed in with this, was a smile :-)
Little dude is awesome.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Feeding Frenzy
Wow. I know we're not doing anything wrong, but wow. Evan just finished his first growth spurt. During this growth spurt, he just never stopped eating. I feel so bad for mommy, but he never stopped eating, and so she never got much sleep. I didn't make it to work Thursday because he didn't sleep at all Wednesday night. It was a rough night...
Thank the gods for Netflix. We've gone through so many shows: 8 seasons of Family Guy, Better Off Ted (a riot), Pushing Daisies, Futurama, and now Arrested Development. Remarkable. Netflix and a laptop are great for middle-of-the-night feedings, and for general all-nighters.
He'll be four weeks old on Monday. It's hard to believe. He's still just as cute and lovable as the day he was born; He just poops more :-)
Thank the gods for Netflix. We've gone through so many shows: 8 seasons of Family Guy, Better Off Ted (a riot), Pushing Daisies, Futurama, and now Arrested Development. Remarkable. Netflix and a laptop are great for middle-of-the-night feedings, and for general all-nighters.
He'll be four weeks old on Monday. It's hard to believe. He's still just as cute and lovable as the day he was born; He just poops more :-)
Monday, September 20, 2010
The blurry second half.
The second half of the birth story.
Where did I leave off? Recovery? Recovery, yes.
Here's what I remember:
A nurse wheeled us upstairs to recovery. Room 319 was our room for the next two days. These two days are mostly a big blur to me because I got something like an hour and a half of sleep during the first 24 hours and then maybe two or three during the second 24 hours. I suppose the fact that I'm writing this all out 3 weeks after the fact doesn't help, but I'll do my best.
Pain. Even though the hospital bed adjusted it's air to what I "needed", it was nearly impossible to find a comfortable position. Getting out of bed was a nightmare. Getting into bed was a nightmare. It became clear to me that Evan REALLY did a number on me on his way out. They gave me 800mg of ibuprofen every 6 or so hours, but I'm pretty sure it didn't help. Luckily, they have me a catheter, so I didn't have to get up to "recycle". Peeing without feeling the need is the most bizarre thing. Unfortunately, because I couldn't get out of bed, G had to do everything. I felt helpless, but he handled things like a champ. He changed all of Evan's diapers, mastered swaddling, helped me get the hang of breastfeeding, and fetched snacks when I needed them. Meanwhile, I stayed in bed, mastered breastfeeding, and paged the nurses during the few times exhaustion got to us and we needed help. I was topless for two days straight and didn't really care who saw me. Nurses, visitors, cleaning crew...it didn't matter.
At one point, one of the nurses told me that I needed to be unpacked. I didn't actually see what was used to pack me, but after it's removal, I'm thinking it was the world's gauze with the world's longest tampon string and HOLY JEBAS getting that string out FUCKING HURT. A little later, I was told that they had to remove the catheter and that it would hurt. It was NOTHING compared to the "tampon". Then, I was told that I had to pee twice or they'd have to put the catheter back in and was warned that I really didn't want that to have to happen because that hurts, as well. At some point, I finally got the nerve/energy/motivation to waddle to the tiny room of food for patients. I lived off of banana nut Otis Sputmeyer muffins and diet ginger ale the entire stay. Several sodas later, I'd peed enough to make the nurses happy. Go me.
I wasn't the only one in pain. G had to deal with the room being as ridiculously cold and the bed being ridiculously uncomfortable. Evan had to deal with living on the outside AND having his heel pricked on a pretty regular basis: They tested him for diabetes and did some vaccinations.
We had about a bizillion different nurses help us during our stay. Some were good. Others were just plain awesome. If I hadn't been severely sleep deprived and on an adrenaline rush , I might be able to recall some of their names. Unfortunately, their faces and names have all blended together by this point.
A few people visited us while we were in room 319. Karina stopped by. Then, Tammy.
Nurse Tina visited during her shift. As did Nurse Holly.
September 1st was discharge day. The nurses removed Evan's baby lo-jack and sent us home sans safety net. G and I had decided that we wanted a few days at home...just the three of us...before we allowed visitors. I'm REALLY glad we did this. It might've annoyed some friends and family, but it was TOTALLY worth it.
Where did I leave off? Recovery? Recovery, yes.
Here's what I remember:
A nurse wheeled us upstairs to recovery. Room 319 was our room for the next two days. These two days are mostly a big blur to me because I got something like an hour and a half of sleep during the first 24 hours and then maybe two or three during the second 24 hours. I suppose the fact that I'm writing this all out 3 weeks after the fact doesn't help, but I'll do my best.
Pain. Even though the hospital bed adjusted it's air to what I "needed", it was nearly impossible to find a comfortable position. Getting out of bed was a nightmare. Getting into bed was a nightmare. It became clear to me that Evan REALLY did a number on me on his way out. They gave me 800mg of ibuprofen every 6 or so hours, but I'm pretty sure it didn't help. Luckily, they have me a catheter, so I didn't have to get up to "recycle". Peeing without feeling the need is the most bizarre thing. Unfortunately, because I couldn't get out of bed, G had to do everything. I felt helpless, but he handled things like a champ. He changed all of Evan's diapers, mastered swaddling, helped me get the hang of breastfeeding, and fetched snacks when I needed them. Meanwhile, I stayed in bed, mastered breastfeeding, and paged the nurses during the few times exhaustion got to us and we needed help. I was topless for two days straight and didn't really care who saw me. Nurses, visitors, cleaning crew...it didn't matter.
At one point, one of the nurses told me that I needed to be unpacked. I didn't actually see what was used to pack me, but after it's removal, I'm thinking it was the world's gauze with the world's longest tampon string and HOLY JEBAS getting that string out FUCKING HURT. A little later, I was told that they had to remove the catheter and that it would hurt. It was NOTHING compared to the "tampon". Then, I was told that I had to pee twice or they'd have to put the catheter back in and was warned that I really didn't want that to have to happen because that hurts, as well. At some point, I finally got the nerve/energy/motivation to waddle to the tiny room of food for patients. I lived off of banana nut Otis Sputmeyer muffins and diet ginger ale the entire stay. Several sodas later, I'd peed enough to make the nurses happy. Go me.
I wasn't the only one in pain. G had to deal with the room being as ridiculously cold and the bed being ridiculously uncomfortable. Evan had to deal with living on the outside AND having his heel pricked on a pretty regular basis: They tested him for diabetes and did some vaccinations.
We had about a bizillion different nurses help us during our stay. Some were good. Others were just plain awesome. If I hadn't been severely sleep deprived and on an adrenaline rush , I might be able to recall some of their names. Unfortunately, their faces and names have all blended together by this point.
A few people visited us while we were in room 319. Karina stopped by. Then, Tammy.
Nurse Tina visited during her shift. As did Nurse Holly.
September 1st was discharge day. The nurses removed Evan's baby lo-jack and sent us home sans safety net. G and I had decided that we wanted a few days at home...just the three of us...before we allowed visitors. I'm REALLY glad we did this. It might've annoyed some friends and family, but it was TOTALLY worth it.
Monday, September 13, 2010
2 Weeks.
Little Evan is 2 weeks old today. Because of this, he had his two week well visit at the pediatrician this afternoon. We can happily report that he now weighs 7 lbs, 8.5 oz...which means he's gained back the more than 10% body weight he'd lost during the first few days AND that his seemingly constant connection to my boobs is actually doing him some good. Yay!
2 weeks is also the time we gave ourselves at home before G would even consider going back to work. After briefly considering taking a few more days, we decided that it was time. Today was the first day I stayed home with the little guy. No G to back me up. No safety net. Just the two of us...and we made it through the day unscathed. Go us!
2 weeks is also the time we gave ourselves at home before G would even consider going back to work. After briefly considering taking a few more days, we decided that it was time. Today was the first day I stayed home with the little guy. No G to back me up. No safety net. Just the two of us...and we made it through the day unscathed. Go us!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
11 Days
Our baby boy is an eating machine. It seems like he eats, stops, gets burped, eats some more, stops, gets burped, rinse and repeat. This is a change for the better, though, since he was dehydrated after we brought him home from the hospital. Thankfully, our first pediatrician visit was the day after we left the hospital. They told us to supplement his eating with formula, which we really only had to do for a day. Now, he's a pooing, peeing, eating, sleeping machine!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
It's Been One Week
Evan's been home one week, and it's been eventful. The parenting learning curve is pretty steep, and it's the kind where you just kind of get thrown into the deep end of the shark-infested waters and must both learn to swim and to fight sharks. Well, sharks, suck it!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Evan Matthew Ambler.
Sunday, August 30th, G and I stayed up to watch the Emmys and ended up going to bed little later than usual. As per usual, my bladder woke me up in the middle of the night. At 3:20AM, I took what I can only describe as an EPIC pee...which I thought was kinda weird because, well, I hadn't really had all that much to drink while Emmy watching. As I settled back into bed, I felt a two or 3 contractions in a row and decided to time them...just because. They ranged from 2 to 7 minutes apart. I whipped out my phone and used the handy dandy Droid app Contraction Timer and headed to the kitchen to grab the leaflet reminding me "when to call". With our track record, it said to call after an hour of contractions 5 minutes apart. An hour later, G woke up momentarily and asked me how I was doing. "Well, I've been having contractions for the last hour..." We got out of bed and I called my OB. Doctor Bird was the doctor on call. She told me to head to Labor and Delivery, but we didn't have to rush. We listened. It was nice, too...no traffic that early in the morning. :)
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Terrifying Day 1
It all started at 3:45 AM, though I wasn't to know that for an hour. Mom woke up with contractions. After timing them for an hour, she woke me up to let me know that they were the right frequency. And so the day began...
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