I Heart Tantrums!

Oh and Happy Mother's Day! This is my first mother's day as a mama of 2. It was anything but relaxing- but I guess that is what's to be expected when you have a 21 month old and a 1 week old. All I wanted was to get a picture with my 2 boys. Ryan was being a major butt all day- and made that picture very difficult to get. Here is the best Jon could get:


And- this is one where Ryan wasn't cooperating but I still like it :)


Ryan has been having some problems with adjusting to the new baby. He has been clingy, whiney, and has been throwing tantrums like it's his job. I feel really bad for him but at the same time- it is sooooooooo annoying!!! Jon and I have both been trying to give him lots of attention. He's actually getting just as much attention now as he ever did- because Asher still sleeps so much. But- I'm sure he feels like his world has been turned upside down. Anyway- I am super sympathetic.....so I would never take pictures of my poor child in the middle of a melt down.


No- that would be really mean.


Only a super horrible mother would do that to her child- especially on Mother's Day.


And I would definitely NEVER get out the video camera and film my child during a meltdown. What kind of mother would do that???


So- most of my mother's day was spent listening to a tantruming toddler and nursing a tiny baby. I am beginning to feel like a dairy cow. I must add that Jon was wonderful in that he got Ryan out of my hair for a little while in the afternoon. He also gave me a really sweet picture frame with pictures of Ryan that we've been meaning to frame for a while. Sorry, Asher! We'll get your photos printed out and framed soon! Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms out there!

Got our walking papers!

Asher's heel stick at 6am this morning indicated his number went down to 10.2- WOO HOO!!!!! So he didn't have to be under the lights anymore but they wanted to do another heel stick around 2pm to make sure the number didn't go way up again. His number at the 2pm heel stick was 11. So we got our walking papers- HOORAY!!! We are outta here!

Jaundice Sucks!

Well- we went back to the hospital this morning for yet another freaking heel stick. And Asher's number was up to 18.6! While we were waiting around for the pediatrician to tell us we were going to be admitted- stupid me decided to look up jaundice on my blackberry. One article said that a number of 20 or higher starts to raise concerns about brain damage. So I was crying. Maybe this should be a lesson learned- DO NOT LOOK THINGS UP ON THE INTERNET! Anyway- the doctor called and told us to make our way up to the pediatric unit because Asher needed to be admitted. They put us in a room with a bed so that I could stay with him. He went under the phototherapy lights around 12:30 and fussed and cried until about 9 or 10 pm. Jon and I kept telling the day nurses that something wasn't right because he was a particularly fussy baby. I asked them if he was too cold- they said no. I wondered if he was hungry and so I fed him. When the lab came up to check his # at 6pm- it only went down to 17.2. The nurse told me it was because I took him off of the lights too much to feed him (even though he was still getting light therapy through a blanket while I fed him). Yeah- I wanted to kick her in the head. Anyway- the night nurses figured out that Asher was too cold and wasn't maintaining his body temperature (they actually took his temp rectally while the day nurses only took an axillary temp- which isn't as accurate). They put him in an enclosed isolette where they could set the temperature. Asher finally fell asleep and he hasn't made another peep since. I could have killed that stupid day nurse. Jon wants to write the hospital a letter to complain. He's very good at complaining- he always gets what he wants. However, it's usually over the phone and I have a theory that he always gets what he wants because of his accent. He wouldn't get crap if he had an American accent. Anyway- this has been a very emotional day for me. I'm so tired of the heel sticks and then watching my poor little guy cry for almost 10 hours straight was not fun. His next heel stick is at 6am tomorrow morning. I better get some sleep- I'm sure I will be woken up soon to feed the little monster. Here are some pics of Asher tanning in his new isolette :)

Our first night...

....was HORRIBLE!!! Somewhere around 9pm, Asher decided he was going to refuse to nurse. However, he was starving! And then his screaming woke up Ryan. So we had two screaming kids for a while. Jon was the only one in the family not crying! My mom came down to see if she could help me figure out what was going on with the nursing- and Jon brought Ryan over to my parents' house for a little while to get away from the madness and chill out for a bit. After Asher settled, Jon and Ryan came back and Jon got Ryan back to sleep. Asher didn't let me get much sleep- but that was to be expected- and I was just happy that he didn't wake Ryan again. I'm hoping this isn't going to be our new "normal".

On another note- we've been back to the hospital twice today for heel sticks. Asher left the hospital on saturday with a bilirubin # of 13.8. A number of 14 or higher indicates jaundice- so he was borderline. We went this morning and his number was 16.9 and the pediatrician on call said she'd like for us to come back tonight to get his # checked again. If it went up- he was going to be admitted. Well- we went tonight and his # is holding steady at 16.9. So they sent us home and told us to come back again tomorrow morning. UGH! I'm so tired of going back and forth and it's horrible to see my little guy get stuck so many times. His little heels are going to fall off! It's bad enough he had heel sticks every 4 hours for his first 24 hours of life to check his blood sugar level (because he was a big baby). So his little feet look like pin cushions. Fingers crossed his number goes down tomorrow!

Going home!

Well- our stay at the hospital has come to an end. We are now at home, relaxing on the sofa. I will miss the dear nurses who took Asher to the nursery at night so that I could get a couple of hours of sleep before the next feed. But- so far everything has been good. However, we've only been home for an hour or so. I've been recovering wonderfully from the c-section. I've stayed on top of the pain with meds- although I haven't needed quite as much as I did for Ryan. I've also been able to stand straighter and I really haven't had any problems to complain about. Although I thought my recovery with Ryan was fast and easy- this one is already 100x better! Ryan has been good- still doesn't care much about the baby......but he will give him an occasional kiss or snuggle. I'm just thankful that he hasn't tried to hit Asher or throw a car at his head yet! I will update tomorrow to tell you how our first night went- I'm sure it will be interesting......

First family photo

Welcome to the World, Asher Jonathan!!!

WELCOME, ASHER JONATHAN GRAY!
We went into the hospital this morning for our scheduled c-section. I was super nervous and cried any time a nurse or a doctor would come in to talk about the surgery or explain what was going to happen. It took the nurse 3 times to get an IV in (in 3 different places)- the first 2 were UNBELIEVABLY painful and I cried. This is coming from someone with a high pain tolerance. The IV was the absolute worst part of the entire thing. The spinal was awesome! I didn't even feel it! And the surgery itself was just amazing, It is so incredibly cool to be awake during your own surgery. I felt pressure and tugging and I could feel exactly when Asher was born. He was born at 8:03am SCREAMING with a great set of lungs! Apgars were 9 and 9. They wrapped him in a blanket and put him right on my chest so I could say hello and give him lots of kisses :-) Then he went with daddy to get weighed and cleaned up (around 8:15). I was wheeled back to my room at 8:30 and Asher was brought to my room to nurse at 9. His birth was just an overall wonderful experience! We are both doing very well and he is already an amazing nurser! I can't believe I am the mommy of 2 little boys!!!

STATS:
Weight:9 lbs. 5 oz.
Height: 21 inches
Hair: LOTS of dark, brown hair
Eyes: Grayish blue eyes (which was surprising to us since Ryan was born with dark brown eyes).

At first, he didn't look anything like Ryan- but as the hours have gone by, we are beginning to see more of a resemblance. I know I shouldn't, but I can't help but to compare the two. I've been doing it all day long. Ryan is all I've ever known- so I'm guessing it's only natural to compare Asher to him??? Anyway- the two boys met each other this afternoon. Ryan didn't seem to care too much. He seemed a little concerned at first when he saw me in the hospital bed- but soon gave me a big smile. He was lifted up so I could give him a big hug and kiss. But, it was a little nerve-wracking for me to have Ryan there. He was very active (as usual) and was running around. I was just waiting for him to trip or pull on one of my many wires (IV, catheter, compression boots). Thankfully he did not. Ryan gave his brother a kiss and enjoyed pointing out his fingers, nose, mouth, and eyes.

Here are some photos of our new little love: