Heber 2009 - Ryan's First Campout

This last weekend we went to Heber with my family to go camping. We went up to the girls camp owned by the LDS church east of Heber. It's a nice little facility and fairly cost effective. You are able to get 4 cabins with lots of bunks in each and a covered pavilion with a fridge, running water, bathrooms, showers, etc. We have made it a family tradition to go every year at the end of the summer.

We weren't sure that it would be a good idea to take Ryan at such a young age (he hit 4 weeks while we were there), but he took it like a champ. He didn't complain much and he's starting to get on a good sleep schedule and we had some help from some family members taking care of him.
There was also some doubt as to whether I would be able to go because of a software release we were doing at work, but because of some of the circumstances, we were able to move it to Saturday night/Sunday morning so I was able to make it.

We played some fun games and ate some good food whilst up there. We had a good breakfast and Fettuccine Alfredo and lots of snacks. I was on my diet while we were up there, which was surprisingly hard. There were so many treats and good things to eat, but I did a pretty good job. I had plenty to eat and plenty of treats that are low-carb compliant.

We survived without too much contention, which seems to happen frequently when my family gets together for some reason. I'm a debater, and I, of course, had to bring up some recent political topics and some religious topics as well. Growing up, I never would have imagined that the political and religious range of beliefs would vary so much in our family. It's not like there's even enough variance of a different religion, but degrees within the same religion difference. Same politically, I wouldn't consider myself liberal, but I am much more liberal than some of my family members. But regardless, even with those discussions, there wasn't arguing or anything like that, just a debate.

We played tons of games, which I really enjoy. We played a game called the Movie Game that Trisha and I taught to everyone that we recently learned from our neighbors. We played Nertz, which is a solitare type game, we played a poker type game called "between the sheets" (no, it's not strip poker, you sicko). We played Pick, which is a scrabble variant and a couple other games here or there.

All in all, a great weekend.

Boy was I mistaken.

I was Was thinking at day 7 if ryan's life that despite the occasional choke that he had, my kid was gosh darn perfect. Everyone I know that has kids said that I nights were going to be tough. I thought that I wasn't going to experience that cuz Ryan slept so good. Boy was I wrong. It just didn't happen until day 10 or so. He sleeps during the day and is fussy at night.

So to all you out there that told me... No "I told ya so" needed. I got the point.

I would however appreciate any tips and timelines for his sleeping to get on track.

The little things

It's crazy how you notice the little unique things about Ryan and what things he has inherited from Trisha and me.
For example, every time Ryan sneezes, he sneezes, he sneezes not once, not twice, but thrice. Every time! (it seems).
Also, on my ring finger, my fingernail has a really unique shape. It's only on my ring finger on both hands. Ryan has the same thing.
One last example. One of trishas toes has a unique curl to it. Ryan has the same thing. It's cute and amazing at the same time.

Fear

Last night, I was the most scared than I likely have been in my entire life. Ryan woke up for a feeding with his normal quiet babbling in his bassinet. I turned on the light and went and got him. I set him down on the bed in between me and Trisha and laid down next to him. The weight of my shifting body put his head a little below his body, and exactly at that moment he spit up a very tiny amount and breathed in or hiccuped. He started choking again. Ugh.. I hate it so much. Trisha ran and got the sucker thing while I was trying to keep him calm and his airway open. He was crying, so I knew he was breathing, but he was struggling. He would try to swallow it down, but it was mucusy so it was hard for him to swallow. It would build in his mouth a bit and then he'd cry and breathe more in. I started sucking out all the stuff with the bulb sucker, but I wasn't getting very much, and it made him cry even harder when I would do it. He was inconsolable and I was ready to call 911 or drive him to the ER because he was getting so red in the face and it wasn't getting better. I decided to call my mom (Thanks Mom!) to see if she had any suggestions. She told me to continue sucking the stuff out and he should work it out. I decided that him crying harder was ok if I could get more mucus out. I got out a little more, still not a ton in there, which I think helped.
What it took was feeding him so he had something to push the mucus that his lungs were producing down to his tummy. That did the trick.
He ate for a few minutes and then fell asleep with no other problems.

Trisha and I just sat there afterwards and talked about what we needed to do if it happened again and we talked about how much we love Ryan and it would absolutely devastate us if something happened to him. I spent an hour or so looking up things online to see what could be causing the problem and what other people have done to help the situation. There are a couple things that were prominent (acid reflux, cow milk in the mother's diet, cold/pneumonia, etc.), but none of them seem to match how it happens to Ryan. I guess that it just happens occasionally. It just scares me to death. Our biggest fear is that it will happen in his sleep one night and we won't wake up from his crying. I know that I would wake up, because I wake up to his little wiggles and moaning when he's hungry. But what if he didn't cry very loud, or what if he couldn't cry at all?

Parenthood is stressful! I never thought that I could care for a child so much. I would do anything to protect him. I just hope that this isn't an ongoing issue, cuz it freaks me out so bad. Ugh...

Home at last

Wow, what an experience. And finally, we are home. What a great feeling to be able to get home with our baby and relax. Our stuff, our space, our home. Also, props to Penny for cleaning our house so well! You rock! Thanks so much!
Its so nice to be at home where we are more comfortable and able to veg out and relax. It's also really nice to not have to worry about someone coming in every 5 minutes. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that we had the nurses to help out, but it kinda sucks to try to sleep when people are coming in to help, but their timing always seemed to be as I was falling asleep. It was uncanny.

Next, I want to thank our nurses at the hospital. We had some GREAT nurses (and a couple to remain nameless who left something to be desired.) By name, we wanted to thank Kathleen, Kristi, and Isabel fir their great work and for making our experience a good one. There were several other nurses that did a great job, but those 3 went above and beyond.

We also wanted to thank everyone for their support, love and prayers. For those that visited, thanks for the company. For those who couldn't come because of illness, thanks for being thoughtful about our baby's (and our) health. For those who couldn't come, but wanted to, thanks for the support and everything. We understand that it's tough to get out, especially with kids and on such a short notice. For those who weren't able to come and didn't want to, screw you, clown! ;)

thanks again! Come visit if you want! Love you all! Now we are off for baby's second tubby and some much needed sleep!

My "fun" diaper changing experience.

So there I was, thinking I was a pro, changing my 6th or 7th diaper. Ryan had a wet one and as I checked it out, he started to poop. So I set the diaper down over him and waited for him to finish his business. 10 seconds or so later he spit up pretty bad so I got out the bulb sucker thing. I started to try to use it, but he was choking a bit. So what do I do? I try to turn him over a bit to get it all clear and he starts flailing about and choking. So I promptly panic. I pick him up to clear his airway. Oops!! There goes the diaper! I pull him up to my chest and put my hand underneath him for support. I use the sucker and get things all clear.
Well, he was pretty upset about not breathing well for a few seconds and starts crying. All the tension from his cry tightens his stomach.
Out comes the poo!
Right into my hand!
At this point, I'm kinda out of available hands, so we call in the nurse to help me out.
I'm proud of myself for not freaking out and getting him breathing again, and even more proud for not puking with a handful of poo!

He's here!!!

Wow. What a day this has been. What a week this has been. What a pregnancy this has been. And here we are enjoying the company of this beautiful new boy! What an experience. Lots of waiting. A little frusterating at times at the lack of progress. But with the support of family and friends and our AMAZING nurse Kathleen, we made it through. What a miracle!

In the coming days and weeks, you may notice the "Sears Nick" (come see the softer side of Nick. ). I'll probably be all cheesy and sugary over my baby boy. But, you can't blame me! He's so damn cute!!

I'll be posting some high quality pics soon for all to see. For now, Trisha and I are waiting for his first tubby and then off to bed.

Guess what?!

I'll give you 2 guesses as to whether we're still waiting. You're only going to need one guess.

Ladies and gentlemen start your engines!!

They are starting the pitocen drip in her IV now. They put a scalp monitor on the baby's head and her water broke. That's right. She has been popped!

Waiting for our little miracle...

Here we are at the hospital. Trisha's blood pressure has been pretty elevated so far, only 1 of the readings came back in the normal range. I don't know why I expected this to go any quicker. I guess that there are other more pressing deliveries happening right now. It's looking more and more like he won't be born until tomorrow. Well. Here's to waiting.