Teach Your Children Well

It's baby's 1st Game Day!

Thanks to Mrs. McD and my folks we have a couple of Clemson outfits to choose from as Robbie watches his first football game.

He's in the basement with the menfolk now.  Does watching football from a Boppy make you lose street cred?

PLUS Aunt Emilie

Aunt Emilie and BK 2:  Grocery shopper, chef, and labor entertainment extraordinaire.  (Who else can I blame the fact that I'm watching an episode of Maury Povich on while in labor?)

Visits from Friends

Robbie has had quite a few visits in his first week of life... forgive me for this being Part 1, but I can't figure out how to rotate some of the photos I have without losing them completely on our computer. 

Shawn and I are very lucky to have wonderful friends and family who are feeding, cleaning, visiting, and supporting us in this new adventure!

Two Babies

I was pretty concerned about how Daisy was going to react to Robbie joining our "pack". 



While it hasn't been all sunshine and light, I would say that Daisy has FAR exceeded our expectations.

She likes to lick Robbie's toes, but knows to go back to her pillow when we ask. 

She still barks when people come to visit, when the phone rings or there is a knock at the door,  and sometimes when the baby cries. 

But all in all, we are now a pack of four, and Daisy is going to be just fine with it.

Day-Glo Baby

Robbie had his first pediatrician appointment yesterday, and everything checked out great!  It looks like his gaining weight has helped keep the jaundice at bay.  He was only a couple ounces shy of being back to his birth weight!  (Which is apparently great news!)

A few more photos of our day-glo baby from his bili-blanket last week.  These may or may not be used in a wedding rehearsal slide show 30 years in the future.

We're having to supplement his feeding right now with formula, which he seems to love more than the milk I can give him.  I think its more about ease for him than anything else.  Doctor recommended we visit a lactation consultant sometime in the next couple weeks.  I feel like that's high on the list of #thingsyuppiesdo ... but we'll do whatever is best for baby.

First Family Photo

What Happened

So, I think Emilie and Shawn were keeping you updated last week, but as you know, I was bound and determined and pretty darn convinced that I was going to have to be induced on Wednesday the 24th (with Pitocin being started on Thursday morning the 25th).  I say convinced because my doctor said "there's no way this baby is coming on his own".  She's been doing this a lot longer than I have.

I was planning with Wednesday in mind.  Pacing out my "to dos" because bedrest was starting to get to me.

Well, low and behold, after feeling what I thought were B-H contractions (or some... um.... gas), taking myself off bedrest for a couple hours to finish off the baby registry at BRU, eating at my favorite sushi restaurant, and meeting Julie and Baby Danny for ice cream, and funnily enough, joking about how the upcoming storm and changes in barometric pressure could put me into labor....  my water broke.

I mean BROKE. 

In comedy-movie-this-doesn't-happen-in-real-life-fashion.

After a quick call to Julie to confirm I didn't pee myself... it was on.

I decided I needed to shower (since I'm classy and hadn't that day).

Shawn called the doctor, who asked to speak to me, and he said "but she's in the shower".  She meant it.  And sent me straight to the hospital.

After downloading a few more CDs to our IPod.

And re-packing our suitcase that had slowly come unpacked after two weeks of waiting around.

And calling some very excited grandparents.

We rolled into Sibley around 5:30, and they got me hooked up to an IV of antibiotics, and another one of Pitocin to get labor started.  And that it did.

Labor... it stunk.  It hurt.  A lot.

Then I asked for my epidural around midnight, and only 2 cms dilated.  Contractions were two minutes apart and really really painful.  And Labor... it still stunk.  And still hurt.  A lot.

I should've known something was wrong when the anethesiologist was telling me all the things that would start happening when the epidural was kicking in, and none of them were happening to me.

I laid there, wide awake, from midnight to 7am thinking.  "How do women do this?"  "I'm never going through this again."  "Maybe I'm just a complete and total wuss."  "What do you mean, I'm still 2 cms dilated."  "Epidurals suck... what's the point."

It turns out that around 7am when I finally got the courage to say that my pain was still there.  And this "pressure" I was supposed to be feeling while under the epidural was just PAIN, pure and simple, that we found out my epidural didn't take.

In came another doctor, and another epidural. 

Ya'll?  Epidurals ROCK. 

They are awesome. 

Women do this.  They have second children after first ones.  They aren't complete and total wusses.  Those things the doctors say are supposed to happen?  They happen when your epidural works! 

Then my blood pressure dropped.  (Ironic isn't it?).  Dropped big time.  To 80/50.  For a few hours.  Baby Robbie wasn't in distress, so they just put some more drug cocktails in the mix, and we were off to the races.

And then labor turns a little boring.

You watch a few episodes of Maury Povich.  You doze off some, since you watched the clock every two minutes throughout the whole night.  You get visited by the doctor and learn that you haven't made any labor progress at all in the 18 hours you have been there.  And you learn that you are going to have a c-section.

And all is ok.  Other than the thought of them cutting you open.

And worrying that your epidural will wear off when you are on the operating table.

It didn't. 

The doctor who assisted in the c-section?  Went to college with me, apparently.  We chatted through mutual friends.  The whole time I'm thinking "I'm probably pretty happy that he can't see me on the other side of this sheet and vice versa.   This could be awkward."

I think the c-section freaked Shawn out.  They bring the dads in after you are already strapped to the table, crucifix style.  There's a reason that the men don't have the babies.  I started shaking pretty uncontrollably from the meds... more Shawn freak outs.

But then there was a baby.  It happened quickly!  A crying "grunting" baby. 

Baby Robert Lacy!

The "grunting" got him sent to the special care nursery after a quick photo shoot with Dad, and it wasn't until about 9pm that evening I was able to meet him. 

It was totally worth it.

Introducing, in his Palmetto outfit, our Palmetto Baby.

First week from Dad's point of view

Well Robbie was 4 days early.  He clearly is his mother's child.

I have to say that being in the operating room with Susann laid out on the operating table was somewhat unsettling but 10 minutes after they started we had a baby.

It is difficult to put into words when you see your child for the first time - most of you reading this have already experienced it but for those of you have haven't - well at least for me - it is somewhat overwhelming.  I was happy and a little scared.  This was it - the big leagues - the time for talking ( for the most part away) will now be replaced with doing.  As the late, great Elvis Presley once crooned - "A little less conversation, a little more action please."

I believe Susann and I are as prepared as two people can be to be parents.  We both grew up in amazingly strong families and since we have waited (some of the delay by choice, some not) a little later in life to have kids hopefully we are fairly mature.

And of course he would not have been my child if on the day he was born Tripoli falls to rebel forces -interesting but no real impact.  Then we had a fairly significant EARTHQUAKE on his second day followed up by a HURRICANE over his first weekend - both quite interesting to put it mildly.  We seem to have dodged any significant damage.  The Lord only gives you as much as you can handle.

I will close by saying that I love being a Father.