Sleep, sleep...We need sleep!

This "schedule" thing is not easy.  The only thing to rely on is that anything goes...We were blessed with around 5 hours of sleep the first 2 nights we got back home, but our little guy decided that wasn't working for him.  So now its like 2-3 hours at a time and we are trying to ween him off getting most of his shut eye during the daylight hours.  We will see how that goes.  Yesterday we had our first appt. with Dr. Kamon.  Tristan is back up a hefty 6#7oz, which is not as plump as she would like to see.  She recommended that we nurse for no more than a half hour (to save Jan) and then give him pumped milk.  Jan was starting to feel like a machine with the 1 hour nursing sessions.  Tristan likes to fall asleep shortly after starting his feed session. 

Jan and I went to lunch with him and he just chilled the entire time.  It was great!

Yesterday we also gave him his first bath.  He didn't seen any more cranky than normal, so we don't think he disliked it.  He may have been getting a little cold until jan remembered that you can put a warm wash cloth over his chest.  His hair was so frizzy after coming out of the bath, it was hilarious.  I think he looks so punk rock with the straight long hair in the back and the frizz up top.  Might be time to break out those old Rollins and Dead Kennedy's CDs??

He is still cute as ever and despite all the pooping and crying; we love him beyond imagination!!  Dublin, on the other hand, is probably tired of being kept up all day and night!!

Home at Last

Tuesday morning, June 30, 6am. Tristan's tummy is full, and he was ready for a little daddy time. He has quite an appetite -- surprises us more each day with how much he can put away, so I imagine he'll be busting into the 7 lb. range very soon. I know everyone says that every stage is "fun" but I'm not ready to see this kiddo get any bigger just yet. Eating, sleeping and pooping is about all he is capable of right now, but what fun it is to just hold him and snuggle. It won't last long, I'm sure. So far the days are long and nights pretty short, but no complaints to speak of. Can't wait to share him with friends and family before too long!

 

Coming home with a baby was surreal, but nice to be back in our own house again. Dublin was ecstatic to see us, and could hardly settle down, with so much to smell! So far he's been just fine around Tristan, but when the crying starts up,  he gets very anxious, and I think is still confused by what is going on, and where the strange sounds are coming from. He'll get used to it eventually..... we hope. We are trying our best to be patient and understanding with him too, and I think we've done a pretty good job so far. Lots of kongs and bully sticks might just do the trick! Seth managed to get him out for a run this morning, so that should help with his energy level for today, if only for a few hours. We're still unpacking a bit and getting settled in, but for now, it's just me and my boys - and I'm loving it.  

We left Boulder Foothills Community Hospital on Sunday around 2pm - what a strange feeling walking in there middle of the night early Wed. morning around 2am, and finally leaving 5 days later with our baby boy! We will miss all the doctors and nurses here - everyone was fabulous, to say the least, but our pediatrician is based here as well, so we'll be back often enough.  What felt like a long ride home provided time for thoughts of how amazing this whole experience has been since Sept. 2008 - how much we've learned, grown as a couple, anticipated his birth, and now we finally get to enjoy our new family. It's awesome!! 

Keep your hands and feet inside the car at all times during the coaster ride!

There is a new ride in town...the Emotional Roller Coaster. Last night and this morning were quite rough. But once again the Lactation Consultant came to the rescue. Lots of great new information and "devices" to ease the pain. So far so good. The important thing is that Tristan is getting what he needs in terms of nutrition. Mom's condition is getting better hour by hour and she is such a trooper; I am so proud of her persistance in light of the pain she is enduring to provide for her son. She is going to rock this mom thing. She had her cesarian staples removed today, which was another small trauma, but the incision itself looks extremely healthy and is healing quickly. While Tristan was down and we were eating lunch, we threw in the Happiest Baby on the Block and learned all about the 5 S's. Great advice.

Tomorrow we will be evicted from this lovely Foothills Hospital Spa and Garden Retreat. I know we will miss having such a great team of nurses and consultants on staff, but as many billions of parent who have come before us have succeeded, so will we.

Lactation Consultants are worth their weight in GOLD!

Wow, its Friday already...at least i think it is. Nursing has continuted to be quite challenging for both mommy and baby; but we are slowly getting the hang of this new process. The lactation consultants on staff here have been an absolute saving grace. Actually all of the nurses and staff have been nothing short of amazing. We couldnt be happier in our choice of hospitals. Our nurses yesterday actually pulled Tristan out of the room on a couple of occasions to allow Jan and I to get some muuuuuuch needed rest. Only an hour or two at a time; but that has been pretty much the only sleep we have had since arriving. We are scheduled to make full use of the 4 nights available to c-section mothers so we will probably return home on Sunday. I dont know if we are dreading that or looking forward to it. It will be nice to get back home and start settling in (and Im sure Dublin is anxious for us to return even though he is in great hands...Thanks Kris, Gina, Jeff and Pam!!) but we definitely have our eye on a couple of nurses that we would love to have "on-staff" back at the casa. If money wasnt an object we would absolutely bring home today's lactation consultant. Ill spare the details, but she was great with Janis. Check the web album for additional pictures.

Happy Birth Day Tristan!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that Jan and I headed to the hospital around 1:45 am this morning. She was having severe bouts of lower back pain and wasnt feeling anything that we considered "contractions" when we arrived she was dialated to 6cm. Her back pain was severe and we started the epideural around 4am. Her contractions did not normalize and Tristan reacted adversly to Pitosin. We knew, due to the pattern of the contractions and her lower back pain, that he was face out and would present several issues during extended labor so we decided to have him extracated via primary cesarian. He emerged head first from Jan's belly at 11:21 am this morning. Mom is healing and feeling fine now. Tristan has had a little trouble latching on at first, but he has started to get the routine down. Daddy has changed 2 diapers already and cant wait to be a pro without getting crap all over the place. I have been able to spend a lot of time with our little guy since mommy is busy resting. He loves to rock in the rocker; too bad it doesnt creak like the one i remember. I could rant on and on about how cute and adorable this tiny human is, but what parent doesnt....
Enjoy the pictures in our PicasaWeb Album, ill try to update with additional pics often, so check back once in a while.

Just finished prepping for tomorrows dinner of a kriek based compote for grilled salmon.  So i get to reap the rewards a bit early and get to drink the leftover Lips of Faith Dark Kriek.  Not quite as sour as i would have liked, but a tasty New Belgium brand.  We were supposed to awaken to over 12" of whitey today, but instead it rained/sleeted/hailed all night long.  Actually about 48 hours worth.  Nice for the grass...

It allowed us to work on the baby room a bit more.  We were able to get the closet "doors" up.  Actually we have the type of closet that has two sliding doors; those are long gone!  Jan sewed up some curtains and i suggested sewing button holes in the top to attach to the wall with some painted drawer pulls.  It turned out pretty nice.

Dad called and reported that his fundraiser was very successful.  He has a shit ton of hospital bills from his heart attack and his community really banded together to support him.  Stacey's boyfriend, Brian, cooked up like 125 steaks for the dinner (there's a new job dude!!).  They raised some nice cash to offset his debt.  Glad to hear that...

Baby Room

Well its been over a month and i just wanted to give a very quick update.  Everything is going fine.  Our bun in the oven has been reaaaally active.  its amazing to feel him squirming around in there.  Jan has had a few nights where she was awoken by excruciating leg cramps, but i think we solved that with supplementing her diet with extra potassium (bananas) and allowing for a few minutes to stretch prior to killing the lights.

We enjoyed a snowed in Sunday last weekend while painting some pictures for the baby room.  check out the web album to see them.  They took a lot longer to create than we ever would have imagined.  i almost felt that the 40 bucks to purchase one just might have been worth it, but in the end im happy that i was able to contribute to the room in more than a utilitarian way.

We also had Ollie over for the long weekend while Kris and Gina were visiting family.  We couldn't get them out on Sunday, so we instituted Dog Popcorn Dancing.  check the album...it was too funny!