Parenting - Adrenaline + Monotony = Hard Work

Well, the adrenaline has worn off, and the reality of being parents is setting in.  After all of the bragging that we did about Elliot's temperament, she has hit a fussy phase.  It is part upset tummy, part wanting to be held, which adds up to no fun.  Throw in the fact that the Rangers just started their longest home stand of the year (and first one since I went back to work) and this has been a trying week.  We are in the process of implementing a feed/wake/sleep schedule which she is doing pretty good at, but the crux of the plan is letting them cry themselves to sleep.  Unfortunately, Mom and Dad's nerves are pretty shot by 2 a.m. and the plan goes right out the window and we are trying everything just to get her to sleep so we can sleep!  Take last night, for example, Jennie stayed up with her until midnight, and after feeding her, tried to lay her down, and Elliot wasn't having it.  Of course I was already dead asleep and was in no mood to let her cry herself to sleep, so I go pick her up and do my patented "Walk Laps Around the House" which is always a sure fire way to get her to go to sleep...

Not last night...  We tried everything from the swing, to our bed, to rocking her, and nothing was working...  Finally at 2 am, we put in a Scrubs dvd and sat on the couch and laughed at the stupidist jokes because we were so simpled out!  I can't remember how it happened, (I'm pretty sure I was holding her), but we got her to go to sleep.  It was awesome.  You are really searching for any moral victory you can get your hands on.

We are reading the Baby Wise book that many of our friends have recommended and have just come across the colic section.  It can show up in between the 2nd and 4th week (Elliot is 4 weeks tomorrow), so that might be the problem, but if it is, I think it is just a minor case.

I don't say all of this for any one to feel sorry for us.  I think young parents are conditioned to say how great it is, but you don't hear many own up to how hard it is.  Maybe they feel like people will think that they don't love their baby.  I don't know...  It is awesome and we love her a lot, but we also really like sleep and getting out of the house on a whim.  It is hard to just change your whole life at the drop of a hat, but you do it.  We couldn't do it unless we were a great team.  

So to sum it all up, we love being parents, but it is a lot different and a lot harder than our previous life was.  That isn't a bad thing, it is an honest thing...

Pray that it isn't colic and pray that she gets in a good routine.  Thanks for all of the support and thanks to our parents for putting up with us as newborns!  We have a whole new respect for you!

Picture Catch Up

Here are some cute pictures.  Bath time has been a lot more successful as you will see and Jennie made me a beautiful cake for my birthday!  Enjoy!

Bath Time!!

We gave Elliot her first bath a couple of days ago, and let's just say, it didn't got well....  There was screaming and crying, the water may have been a little on the cold side because we didn't want it to be too hot.  I don't think she liked it very much.  We have video evidence to back this up, but I haven't figured out the art of transferring video from my video camera to the computer.  Oh well, it is probably for the best unless you love to hear the cries of a newborn...  

A couple days later I hear that another bath was attempted by Jennie, Melissa, and Bunny while I was at work and that this bath was much more successful.  It even included splashing and playing in the water.  I haven't seen anything to confirm this, so I will have to just take their word for it.  Although, when I came home, she did smell very clean...  So maybe it is true...

Here are some post bath pictures from the first bath.  I think she was glad to be out of there!

Ninja Wars

It is time for the One Week at Home Report.  Yes, it is hard to believe that we have been home for a little over a week.  Things have been pretty smooth so far.  But, we have encountered something interesting these past couple of days...

Elliot has super strong legs which has made diaper changing and swaddling some what difficult.  I call her my little ninja because she seems to be able to kick out of anything.  (Quick aside:  Jennie wants everyone to know that Elliot seems to be a fan of playing tricks on Daddy.  She waits until I have taken her dirty diaper off, then I am greeted by a surprise fountain with nothing to protect myself!  Jennie finds this very funny because it hasn't happened to her...yet...)  And we're back...  So, after we feed and change her diaper, we swaddle her.  My little ninja likes to kick out of her swaddle.  Little does she know that Mommy and Daddy have been trained in the art of ninja swaddling!  Thus, a war has been waged.  We use intense focus each time we swaddle to try to make it perfect, and she tries her best to kick out of it.  Let the games begin!

Now, I know what some of you are thinking...  Why are you swaddling her, it is obvious that she doesn't like it since she kicks out of it.  Not true my friend...  Each time she uses her ninja skills to break the swaddle, she is fussy and uncomfortable until we fix it for her.  I think it is a case of her not knowing her own strength (did I mention she has freakishly strong legs?).  So, if you ever wondered who would win in a battle between a Ninja Baby and Ninja Swaddlers, give round one to the baby, but we will rebound, and we will be victorious!

Stay tuned, as we will post pictures from her first bath soon!

Recapping the Big Day

It has been a very busy week, but at the same time it has been incredible.  We are kind of getting into a routine of eat, sleep, diaper/outfit change, repeat...

Here is how the big day went down!  

We made it to the hospital at 7 am.  All of Jennie's work friends were excited to see us.  They had our room all ready with a sweet poster on the door that they had all signed.  For those of you that don't know, we delivered at the hospital where Jennie is a labor and delivery nurse, so we got the royal treatment to say the least.  After getting checked in, they started Jennie's IV and Dr. Livingston came around 9 am and broke her water.  The contractions got a little more intense after that and at 10:30 she got her epidural.  

This is Jennie after the epidural (first four pictures are courtesy of Ryan Jackson Photography)...

Our delivery room

Jennie's belly

The excited parents!

After the epidural, things started to slow down.....  She stayed at 4 cm from 11 am to 4 pm.  We were getting kind of worried since she wasn't progressing very quickly.  But at 4 she was 6 cm, then at 5:30 she was complete.  Then we "labored down" for an hour.  That is one of many inside L & D terms that I learned during this experience.  It means that even though you are ready to push, you just wait it out for a little bit so you don't have to push as long.  Well, at 6:30 we got ready to push.  I was very nervous because I was the only person in the room that doesn't do this for a living!  It was way less stressful than I thought it would be.  The epidural makes life very easy.  Jennie pushed for almost 30 minutes and at 6:54 pm she was born!  It was an awesome experiance to see her and to watch them put her on Jennie's chest.  It was a really special moment.  Here are some pictures from right after the birth.  Thanks to Lisa for taking the pictures...

Our first family photo

Here she is posing as she gets weighed.  Jazz hands!

It was a really special day for all of us.  The hospital stay was as nice as a hospital stay can be.   The whole staff really showered their love on Jennie and Elliot while we were there.  It was awesome to see how much she is loved. 

The first night was interesting.  We kept her in the room with us and tried to get some sleep (yeah right).  It wasn't so bad, as the excitement and adrenaline were enough to get us through.  I can't brag enough about how good of a baby she is.  She eats like a champion every two hours, she doesn't cry very often, she sleeps good.  I don't want to jinx it, but so far, she is an awesome baby.  We went for her doctor's appointment today and they didn't have to do the jaundice blood work because she looked so good!  Also, she is almost back at her birth weight so they said we could skip the 2 week appointment!  Nice work Elliot!  

We have had so much support from friends and family and we are so thankful to everyone!  We are utterly and truly blessed!  Here are a few more pictures....

Another family photo back at home

Mommy and Elliot taking a well deserved nap!

Our little alert Elliot trying to get the camera!

Elliot Grace

She is here and we are home.  I will posted a longer blog with pictures in a few days, once we get settled in.  Here are a few pictures to tide you over!  She was born at 6:54 on July 2nd.  She was 6 lbs 7 oz and 20.5 inches long.  Mom and baby are doing awesome!  Elliot is a breast feeding machine!  She is such a good baby, we are truly blessed!  Plus, look how beautiful she is!