1.31.06 (Daddy)

One of the books I was reading before Elijah was born said that at some point, people would grow tired of hearing about our baby. Has that time come? Anyone? At least we have this journal that people can read at their leisure. I think that will extend the 3rd party interest.
Yep, my parents are here. I don't want them to leave. I've been happy to be out of the house for the last 9.5 years and frequently I'd been happy to be 4 hours away. Now that I'm in Vegas, with a child, I am wanting to have my family close again. Not sure if it is some ancient instinct to have family around once you sprout offspring, but it sure is at the forefront of my mind. A 16 hour drive is just too much for a casual visit (and plane tickets are expensive). I believe my Mom and Dad are enjoying being here with Elijah too. Yes, they would like it better if there was some water in the soil, but that takes second seat to visiting their first grandchild. That is another thing I haven't yet got used to. My parents are now grandparents!! Was this a strange feeling for anyone else? It almost screams "getting old" and I don't think of my parents that way. True, my Dad isn't as limber as he once was, but that's a topic for another blog. To summarize this thought, I really wish I had my parents closer again. Not just to help with Elijah, but to be around family who can share stupid/intelligent bits of information and help me trudge through these new parenting years.
Technical Note
From now on, anyone who wants to read this site can go directly to www.elijahthomas.com. Yes, the geek in me is at it again. I just grew tired of giving out the other address and having to say "numeral 4, z as in Zebra, A as in Apple". This way people will more easily remember how to get to his site. ElijahThomas.com will automatically go to the correct address. Share away!!
Well, it is 11pm and I'm a new parent who needs his sleep. The boy just finished his evening meal and I've got a little headache. Time to seal the sockets.

1.31.06 (Mommy)

Adventures in parenting.... there's lots of poop. (Literally) We have tackled the eating issue; he is taking to breast feeding like an old pro, much to the dismay of my poor, sore body!
There are so many things to write about this little guy- I hardly know where to begin. Life is just so amazing with my son; anecdotes and stories abound already.
Poopy Stuff
Our little boy has a lot of it. A lot of gas from his little bottom too. I never knew babies make so much noise when they have bowel movements! He sounds like a very loud whoopy cushion most of the time. It is still very surprising when he lets a loud poop rip. The earth shakes when my son expells waste! He seems to enjoy pooping loud, along with farting- especially when Mommy is lifting his bottom to wipe him down! Its always funny to get a little "hello" when I'm moving my face in closer to make sure he's clean. He seems to know the perfect moment to let it go for me! I love his soul's sense of humor!
Quantity is an issue as well; Elijah filled 4 diapers within 2 hours. Some were right after we had just put a fresh diaper on him! Ugh. What a waste.
Elijah has taught his dad that he really doesn't care where he poops either. In bed the other night, Andy and I were trying to wake our little boy so that he could have his last feeding and then go to sleep. Elijah didn't think this was a good idea, so we resorted to taking off his clothes to wake him up. (This is a surefire way to wake the little guy!) Apparently clothes off was not working, so Andy, in his infinite wisdom suggested taking off Elijah's diaper. Yeah, I had the same reaction. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, though, and sat by watching Andy remove the diaper while I mentally cringed. I was handed my son to feed, and as I got him into a clutch position to get him ready to latch on, we heard the dreaded farting sound. Amidst giggles from dad, and curses from mom, we discovered lovely yellow baby poop in our sheets. Good job, daddy!
Mommy also opened the diaper one night and got a gushing fountain of baby urine squirting all over Elijah and the changing station. And there lay the little boy, wide eyed and smiling, looking up at Mommy with sweet innocence. "It wasn't me, Mommy!" Just another little boy thing! You gotta laugh.
First Doctor's Visit
First off, I need to stop referring to the pediatrician as "the vet". He is not a puppy.
We had our first doctor's visit this morning. As expected, my perfect son did great. As we waited for the doctor, he laid him on the table and stripped him down to his diaper. We changed him so that he would be ready. As soon as that diaper went on we heard a strange noise, like a loud, long, wet fart. Then we looked... poopy diaper, poopy table paper, poopy table just as the nurse walked in. There we were, sheepishly cleaning up our perfect son's perfect mess. Ah, babies are such fun!
Turns out Elijah has gained back most of his weight. When they checked him at the hospital before we left he was 7 lbs 9 oz, and today he was 8 pounds even. Yay! He's gained about a half pound in about 3 days! He'll be a chunky little monkey fairly soon. The doctor was so pleased that she said he didn't need to come back at 4 weeks- just at 6. Yay! My boy is a prodigy already. He got measured and is 20 inches and a half. So he might have grown half an inch, but he also might not have stretched out at the hospital when they measured him there. Who knows, it doesn't really matter.
Poor baby got his temperature taken...rectally. Wah.
And now for the big news. Elijah got circumcised today.(No, we're not saving the the foreskin!) When we inquired about getting him circumcised, they told us we could do it at that visit, so we opted to get it done and over with. It wasn't as truamatic as I had thought it would be. They explained the whole procedure first and let us decide whether or not we wanted to be in the room with him. So I sat next to his head, (With Andy a little behind me) stroked his hair and let him suck on my finger as they injected the sides of his little penis with a painkiller, and then proceeded to do the operation. He cried when they gave him the injections, (I got a little teary-eyed then too) but after that he laid there so quietly, wide eyed as usual, as they finished making the cuts.(I did better then) Looked like he didn't feel a thing. I think he's a little sore now, since he's been more fussy that usual. But I think I would be too if someone did that to me! He did such a good job and was so brave, I am so proud of him! He is the perfect baby.
Mommy's Notes
I love this so much! I have never had so much fun in my life. I knew for years that I wanted to be a mom, but I had no idea how much I would love it and how much I would love this little guy that I made. When he looks at me with those big slate colored eyes my heart drops into my stomach. He holds my hand during feedings and it melts my heart. This mother thing is so great- the greatest thing I could have ever done. I can't get enough of my son. I keep hogging him from his daddy and grandparents. (Who are here visiting him.) All I want to do is hold him and love him 24/7. He is my perfect son, my wonderful baby. I'm so incredibly happy it is sickening.

1.29.06 (Daddy)

The first night home is over. Things went pretty well. Elijah was fed around 11pm, we went to bed about 11:30. He woke up around 1:30 and then again at 5:30 and then at 9:30. So, I can't complain about the sleep schedule at the moment, except that I'm still behind from the stay at the hospital. If he keeps that schedule then we will all do pretty well.

1.28.06 (Daddy)

Today was a long day, but it ended better than we had hoped it would. We are home. Yep, all 3 of us are in our house. Little Elijah is getting to adjust to cleaner air (there was construction at the hospital) and the rest of us (animals included) are getting to adjust to having another body around. We had got used to changing Elijah in a certain place in the hospital and are having to adjust again now that we're home. We already have a short list of things we need to buy to finish outfitting our changing station.
Odo (our fat cat) was the funniest when we introduced him to Elijah. He smelled Elijah then stood back and just stared at him intently. Any attempt to again move Odo closer to Elijah resulted in some claw action. A few hours later and Odo seems to be okay with the little boy, but is still keeping his distance. Odo hasn't let me out of his sight all evening. As I head to bed I'm wondering if he'll end up on the bed tonight like normal or if he'll sleep elsewhere knowing there is a youngster in the room.
I'm very glad to be home and in my own space. Now we can really start a routine.

1.27.06 (Daddy)

I was able to sleep a little more in the hospital room last night. I still got up a lot to assist with feedings, or to get Rebecca up, or to just make sure the little guy was okay. He's my son, and I don't yet know what to make of that. I know he belongs to me but I just can't believe he belongs to me. I have no idea where he came from (energetically) and I have no idea how he was made (emotionally). I only hope he isn't going to sleep as much as he is right now. He slept for 5 hours straight last night. I kept waking up and looking in his direction to make sure his nostrils were still flaring when he inhaled. They were. Saying I wish he would sleep less after only 24 hours with him in the world may be a mistake, but everything is a worry at the moment. I've even worried that he can't see. They performed a hearing test, which he passed with flying colors, so at least that worry is gone. The seeing thing is something I have to hang on to until I know better. Welcome to parenthood, right? I've heard that a few times already. He really is beautiful. And Becca, you are gorgeous too. Always are.

1.27.06 (Mommy)

I'm sitting here in my hospital bed with my son bundled up next to me. He is GORGEOUS! Sleeps a bit too much - he isn't wanting to eat though... grrr. I love seeing him here in the flesh. And I love seeing Andy enjoying his son. Poor guy, he has been the ultimate caregiver for me over the past 3 days. Saw me through 24 hours of pitocin induced labor, one surgery, and another 24 hours of recovery. I'm terribly unattractive right now and he's still here.
Labor really stunk since my body just didn't want to give in and then Elijah's heart beat would be affected once I got into a good contraction pattern. 24 hours and I only dilated 2 extra cm. Not worth putting this boy through the stress. The c-section was scary because surgery is scary to me, but it was a lot easier than the labor. It just stinks right now since I'm full of staples (10 or so) and it hurts to move. But the doctor is happy with my progress and I may get to go home tomorrow morning. Yay! Now to get this boy to eat more...

1.26.06 (Daddy)

I am not going to write a whole lot tonight - I've got to get back to the hospital.
I did want to let everyone know, however, that things went smoothly at the very end. Rebecca ended up being taken in for a C-section. She struggled for nearly 24 hours, and so did Elijah. We went in for induction on 1/25 and had hopes things would go smoothly. They didn't run as smoothly as we had hoped. Her body didn't want to labor, and didn't want to dialate. Elijah also wasn't taking to well to the Petocin (sp?). His heart rate would dip every time the dosage was increased. The doctor actually stoped the Petocin a couple times because of their worry of harming the little guy. Too much "dipping" and it could have caused drain bamage. So, around 9:30 am this morning they injected Rebecca with a drug to stop her contractions. We were wheeled into the delivery room for the c-section a little after 10:30. Elijah arrived promptly at 11:19am

I hope to elaborate on some of the issues we had, but I want everyone to know that we are all 3 okay and are all 3 tired. Please feel free to give me a call on either of our cell phones. Rebecca will be in the hospital for a couple more days to recover from the surgery and get her strength back. I hope to do the same.

Love you all. We'll write more soon as soon as we have time. Don't forget to check out the Photo Pages!