Brent had quite a busy day today. First we went to get our car seat checked for proper installation. I think Ryan was insulted that I didn't trust his installation skills but he relunctantly obliged me. Of course the car seat inspecter guy said that it was perfect and it was the fastest appointment he's had all month. So maybe it WAS a waste of time but still made me feel better! Brent slept through the whole thing. Next we went out to eat for the first time with Brent to Stacks, a local breakfast chain. Again, he slept through the whole meal. Later in the day we had an appointment at Kaiser. Amazingly, he did wake up for the appointment. He's almost back to his birth weight and the nurse gave us permission not to wake him every three hours in the middle of the night to eat. I'm really looking forward to it! We ran a few more errands and he slept the entire time. We went went on a long walk this evening and he was awake for part of it but then fell asleep. He capped off the evening with a sponge bath since he puked up most of his dinner all over himself and the swing - poor guy! He was back to sleep in no time.
He's started to try to focus his eyes which is hilarious to watch because he goes cross eyed (normal for babies) and tries to straighten his whole body out so he looks like a cartoon character. I'll try to get a picture, Ryan was laughing so hard last night that he was crying.
Things are still going well. Ryan has started crossing some house projects off the list. Uncle Drew graciously came up yesterday to help dig out the vine that took over the front of our yard. We've had lots of visitors and everyone has been so generous with gifts and food. We are so thankful!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
More pictures from Brentley's first 10 days
All bundled up for his first walk around the neighborhood.
Sleeping with mom on a really hot day.
Wide awake.
Wide awake in the middle of the night.
Nana and Pop Pop
Meeting his new friend Jackson Ranney (7 mos.) with his dad Mike. Thanks for brunch!
Jackson was really excited about Brent.
With Jessica Sparks. (thanks for lemon bars and Giants outfit!)
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Brentley Stephen Phillips has arrived!
It's still sinking in that we're parents! The last week has been wild. Here's my (long) update on Brent's first week.
Thursday, June 14th was my last full day pregnant. It was a bit surreal but I kept myself busy running errands. Just once I pulled the "I'm having a baby tomorrow, you better do what I want" card (@ Home Depot). Ryan worked all day. That night we took Bowzer and Olive to the dog park and picked up pizza. Pretty unremarkable but all we could think about was how much our lives were going to change the next day! I don't think we talked about too much, just kept saying over and over again "I can't believe we're going to be parents tomorrow." I was a little nervous thinking about what wouldn't go according to plan and if he wasn't healthy.
My cesarean was scheduled for 1:30 PM on Friday, June 15th at Kaiser in Redwood City. The instructions were to call at 9 AM to find out when we should go to Labor & Delivery. I was expecting to leave the house at 10 but they asked us not to come until noon. I wasn't allowed to eat or drinking anything after midnight so killing time was pretty tedious. We took the dogs on a long walk and then FINALLY, it was time to go.
I checked directly into Labor and Delivery and they started the process of taking my vitals, putting in an IV, and did an ultrasound to check the baby's position (he hadn't budged at all). They were unusually busy that morning, had already performed two cesareans (the hospital's cesarean rate is about 10%), so we ended up waiting longer than planned. FINALLY it was time to go. The nurse walked me into the OR while Ryan donned his scrubs. It's policy not to allow anyone else in the OR while the spinal block is being inserted so I was by myself with the doctors and nurses. The nurse was really great in helping me through the spinal block, I knew it wouldn't be comfortable but didn't expect that I'd have to "breathe through" the pain. I was also suddenly really nervous and emotional. It's hard to breathe through pain when you're crying and shaking! It was pretty quick that I couldn't feel anything below my waist and just took a few minutes for the doctors and nurses to get set up. Ryan was now by my side and within minutes, baby Brent was out!
As soon as someone told me he was out (he wasn't crying yet), I lost it and started crying and crying. Ryan was able to go over to see him, help clean him off, cut the umbilical cord, and get some photos. I could sort of see what was going on but it seemed like forever until Ryan (or a nurse, hard to tell them apart in scrubs) was able to bring him over to me. Ryan says it was 3 minutes. Brentley Stephen Phillips was perfect! He was born on 6/15/12 @ 3:04 PM and weighed 7 lbs, 4 oz and was 19 inches long. My itty bitty boy!
Ryan and Brent went to the Labor & Delivery room while I was stapled up. This part is a little fuzzy for me because of the pain drugs but Ryan tells me the nurse gave him a bath, put him under the heater, and then I FINALLY was able to hold him after about 10 minutes after I arrived in the recovery room. We spent time together as a new family, I nursed Brent, and Ryan took some pictures.
Our parents and Drew came in about half an hour later. Everyone was so happy to meet him! We took lots of pictures, opened champagne (no, I didn't have any), and everyone had a chance to hold him. Awhile later I was moved up to the maternity suite and luckily, I got a good sized room all to myself. I was dreading the possibility of sharing so I was extremely happy when the told me I'd most likely have the room to myself and, if for some reason they needed it, they'd move me to a smaller room so I could continue not to share. Phew!
The next few days in the hospital are a blur - I think that's inevitable when you're on drugs and aren't allowed to leave the maternity ward! As far as hospital stays go, mine was pretty good. All of the nurses were very helpful and encouraging. Nurse Ryan was the most helpful! He changed every diaper while we were in the hospital and became an expert at swaddling.
Saturday morning we were up at 5 to nurse, I got out of bed to eat a little breakfast, the nurse took out my catheter and my IV. My parents and Drew visited. The day consisted of visits from nurses, doctors. Sunday was pretty similar, Rich, Deb and my parents came to visit.
We went home Monday morning (6/18) - it was so nice for me to get out of the hospital and breathe fresh air! He met Bowzer & Olive Monday night (they had been staying with Rich & Deb). Bowzer is very interested in him and is very concerned when he's crying. Olive initially could care less but is starting to become more interested.
Brent is enjoying his home very much. He's sleeping A LOT, like all new babies should, and is eating very well. He's supposed to be back to his birth weight within two weeks and until then we have to track all of his pees, poops, when, and how long he eats. It seems like all we talk about is pee, poop, and nursing! He eats fairly consistently every 3 hours for 20 - 40 minutes and we're (mostly Ryan) is changing diapers about 10 times a day. The last few days he's been most active from 10 PM - 12 AM, otherwise he's very sleepy. He cries when we're changing his diaper and when he's hungry but is pretty easy to calm down with swaddling and shushing. We haven't given him a pacifier yet but might next week. Nursing is generally going well but he can be lazy at night which can be frustrating. We've already started reading to him - he seems to really like the rhythmic patterns of our voices. I tried reading him "On the Night You were Born" but I couldn't even make it past the first page without crying.
My recovery is going well. I feel pretty good, just am not walking as fast, lifting anything heavy, or driving. It's much much better than I expected. I was really worried I'd be useless for a few weeks but it's really not too bad. We've been on a few walks around the neighborhood, to Target, and to the live music downtown on Friday night.
Brent has had several visitors - multiple times from all the grandparents, and Uncle Drew. Jessica, Courtney, Peggy have met him in person and we have skyped/sametimed with Rod & Sheila, Willie & Jamie, and Uncle Justin & Auntie Adriana. Mike, Sarah, and Jackson are coming this morning.
That's all for now! We have lots more photos so I'll be posting more. If you're interested in seeing all of our photos, let me know. We have a Shutterfly site where we're posting all of them, I can give you access.
Thursday, June 14th was my last full day pregnant. It was a bit surreal but I kept myself busy running errands. Just once I pulled the "I'm having a baby tomorrow, you better do what I want" card (@ Home Depot). Ryan worked all day. That night we took Bowzer and Olive to the dog park and picked up pizza. Pretty unremarkable but all we could think about was how much our lives were going to change the next day! I don't think we talked about too much, just kept saying over and over again "I can't believe we're going to be parents tomorrow." I was a little nervous thinking about what wouldn't go according to plan and if he wasn't healthy.
My cesarean was scheduled for 1:30 PM on Friday, June 15th at Kaiser in Redwood City. The instructions were to call at 9 AM to find out when we should go to Labor & Delivery. I was expecting to leave the house at 10 but they asked us not to come until noon. I wasn't allowed to eat or drinking anything after midnight so killing time was pretty tedious. We took the dogs on a long walk and then FINALLY, it was time to go.
I checked directly into Labor and Delivery and they started the process of taking my vitals, putting in an IV, and did an ultrasound to check the baby's position (he hadn't budged at all). They were unusually busy that morning, had already performed two cesareans (the hospital's cesarean rate is about 10%), so we ended up waiting longer than planned. FINALLY it was time to go. The nurse walked me into the OR while Ryan donned his scrubs. It's policy not to allow anyone else in the OR while the spinal block is being inserted so I was by myself with the doctors and nurses. The nurse was really great in helping me through the spinal block, I knew it wouldn't be comfortable but didn't expect that I'd have to "breathe through" the pain. I was also suddenly really nervous and emotional. It's hard to breathe through pain when you're crying and shaking! It was pretty quick that I couldn't feel anything below my waist and just took a few minutes for the doctors and nurses to get set up. Ryan was now by my side and within minutes, baby Brent was out!
As soon as someone told me he was out (he wasn't crying yet), I lost it and started crying and crying. Ryan was able to go over to see him, help clean him off, cut the umbilical cord, and get some photos. I could sort of see what was going on but it seemed like forever until Ryan (or a nurse, hard to tell them apart in scrubs) was able to bring him over to me. Ryan says it was 3 minutes. Brentley Stephen Phillips was perfect! He was born on 6/15/12 @ 3:04 PM and weighed 7 lbs, 4 oz and was 19 inches long. My itty bitty boy!
Ryan and Brent went to the Labor & Delivery room while I was stapled up. This part is a little fuzzy for me because of the pain drugs but Ryan tells me the nurse gave him a bath, put him under the heater, and then I FINALLY was able to hold him after about 10 minutes after I arrived in the recovery room. We spent time together as a new family, I nursed Brent, and Ryan took some pictures.
Our parents and Drew came in about half an hour later. Everyone was so happy to meet him! We took lots of pictures, opened champagne (no, I didn't have any), and everyone had a chance to hold him. Awhile later I was moved up to the maternity suite and luckily, I got a good sized room all to myself. I was dreading the possibility of sharing so I was extremely happy when the told me I'd most likely have the room to myself and, if for some reason they needed it, they'd move me to a smaller room so I could continue not to share. Phew!
The next few days in the hospital are a blur - I think that's inevitable when you're on drugs and aren't allowed to leave the maternity ward! As far as hospital stays go, mine was pretty good. All of the nurses were very helpful and encouraging. Nurse Ryan was the most helpful! He changed every diaper while we were in the hospital and became an expert at swaddling.
Saturday morning we were up at 5 to nurse, I got out of bed to eat a little breakfast, the nurse took out my catheter and my IV. My parents and Drew visited. The day consisted of visits from nurses, doctors. Sunday was pretty similar, Rich, Deb and my parents came to visit.
We went home Monday morning (6/18) - it was so nice for me to get out of the hospital and breathe fresh air! He met Bowzer & Olive Monday night (they had been staying with Rich & Deb). Bowzer is very interested in him and is very concerned when he's crying. Olive initially could care less but is starting to become more interested.
Brent is enjoying his home very much. He's sleeping A LOT, like all new babies should, and is eating very well. He's supposed to be back to his birth weight within two weeks and until then we have to track all of his pees, poops, when, and how long he eats. It seems like all we talk about is pee, poop, and nursing! He eats fairly consistently every 3 hours for 20 - 40 minutes and we're (mostly Ryan) is changing diapers about 10 times a day. The last few days he's been most active from 10 PM - 12 AM, otherwise he's very sleepy. He cries when we're changing his diaper and when he's hungry but is pretty easy to calm down with swaddling and shushing. We haven't given him a pacifier yet but might next week. Nursing is generally going well but he can be lazy at night which can be frustrating. We've already started reading to him - he seems to really like the rhythmic patterns of our voices. I tried reading him "On the Night You were Born" but I couldn't even make it past the first page without crying.
My recovery is going well. I feel pretty good, just am not walking as fast, lifting anything heavy, or driving. It's much much better than I expected. I was really worried I'd be useless for a few weeks but it's really not too bad. We've been on a few walks around the neighborhood, to Target, and to the live music downtown on Friday night.
Brent has had several visitors - multiple times from all the grandparents, and Uncle Drew. Jessica, Courtney, Peggy have met him in person and we have skyped/sametimed with Rod & Sheila, Willie & Jamie, and Uncle Justin & Auntie Adriana. Mike, Sarah, and Jackson are coming this morning.
That's all for now! We have lots more photos so I'll be posting more. If you're interested in seeing all of our photos, let me know. We have a Shutterfly site where we're posting all of them, I can give you access.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
Ryan & the moxa stick
Ryan is using his skills in Chinese medicine to turn Dragon Baby. Moxibustion is an acupuncture technique where holds a burning moxa stick near the uterine nerve ending. There isn't scientific evidence it works but I'm not going to argue with thousands of years of Chinese medicine. Ryan is hoping he turns very soon so he doesn't have to keep doing this!
Friday, June 1, 2012
Memorial Day weekend
Pictures from weekend at the ranch. Ryan driving the tractor, in the pool, and doing handstands to spin Dragon Baby.
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