Just when things are looking up

After our great night of sleep a few days ago, we decided to venture out into the world for a few quick errands on Tuesday. Everything was going well. I fed Grayson and then we bolted for the door hoping we could get an hour or two of things done before he had a meltdown. 

We grabbed lunch and then hit up Hobby Lobby for their half-price frame sale (one of life's  simple pleasures). Afterward, I needed a few things at the drug store so Michael stayed in the car with the baby while I ran inside. That's when things turned south. 

I got up to the cash register and the check out woman asked, "So, how far along are you?" The one situation I've dreaded the most...

I realize I still have a small bump and things are recovering from being stretched out over 9 months, but I thought I probably looked borderline fat not pregnant, so anyone with common sense would be too afraid to ask the dreaded question. Well, apparently this is not the case so I responded, "I actually had the baby last week and I'm hoping my belly is on it's way down." 

At this point any normal person would try to dig themselves out of a hole and offer up something nice (even if it is a lie). Instead, the check out woman said, "Oh, well it took me three years to lose my baby weight." 

Dumbfounded, I just stood there staring at her. I thought to myself, "It looks like you could still use some work in that department" but since my mother taught me better than that I decided to just pay and leave before anything worse came out of either of our mouths. To no avail she kept repeating how difficult it was to lose the weight as I hurriedly made my way to the door. 

When I got to the car Michael asked if we had time to run by Radio Shack and I asked him to just take me home. I had worried and planned for the baby to have a meltdown and was blindsided by the fact that it was my turn instead. 

What's in a Name

Some of you are probably wondering how we arrived at the name Grayson Mark. After much debating over our short name list which included Asher (Michael's favorite), Anderson and Gavin (my top picks) we agreed to disagree and stopped discussing the name situation for a while.

Then on our last trip to Houston over July 4th weekend, I saw a neighborhood addition called Grayson Hills or Estates or something like that. It wasn't a name we'd thought of or discussed before but I brought it up to Michael and we both liked it.

As luck would have it, once we agreed on the name we then disagreed on the spelling. Michael wanted to spell it Greyson, but in the end he came around and compromised. It probably had something to do with the fact that I asked him about it while lying in a hospital bed during our false alarm trip and also played the "since your BMW project car dream came true how about letting me have one on the spelling" card. Yes, it was manipulative and probably wrong of me, but being someone who often has their name misspelled with an "e" I'm still not sorry I did it.

The middle name Mark was less controversial since it's my father's middle name. We decided early on that we wanted to use it so that made things a little easier.

Another question we typically receive about the name...Are you going to call him Gray? Perhaps. I think it's a cute nickname and alludes to Michael's artistic side so I'm sure it will happen eventually. For now we're using the entire name since it's new to both us and the baby.

God Bless the Sleep Fairy

It's amazing how much a few extra hours of uninterrupted sleep can completely change your day and attitude. The first few days of Grayson's life he slept in 3 hour stretches, but once my milk came in that changed to the 1 to 1 1/2 hour range. 

Although this is typical and was even a welcomed physical relief for my newly formed, overly productive milk ducts it does take a toll on us during the daytime. The short sleep time compiled with the fact that Grayson had his days and nights a bit confused and wouldn't sleep soundly until after about 3 a.m. was a challenge to say the least. 

Thankfully last night provided a much-needed bout of rest. After making a point to stimulate Grayson more during the early evening hours and bathing him at night with lavender nighttime soap, he slept soundly from about 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. WOOHOO! I've never been so excited to get four hours of sleep. 

After feeding him and soothing him back to sleep, Grayson then slept in two more long stretches of two hours and then two and a half hours. This may seem a long way off from the 8+ hours of sleep we used to get, but I'll take it any day over the one hour stretches we'd had the last few nights. 

While I realize one night does not mean he'll continue with this sleeping pattern, it at least gives us hope and a short energy boost. Michael even got up this morning and did the dishes, took out the trash & recycling, plus put in a load of laundry all before starting his pot of coffee. I think it's going to be a good day.

Roxy's Co-habitation Skills

Since coming home from the hospital last Wednesday afternoon, Roxy has undergone an evolution of sorts. We had prepared for this day by purchasing a new doggie toy to help distract her from the complete life change that was headed her way. We also had Michael's parents bring home a receiving blanket from the hospital so Roxy could get to know the baby's scent. I think both of these tactics helped a little, but I'm sure this was still a rude awakening for her.

When we arrived at home, I stayed in the car with the baby while Michael brought Roxy out to the garage to check things out. She was so excited to see her parents that she barely noticed the small swaddled baby. I think she was a little confused as to where we had been the last few days even though the house was full of grandparents.

The first day she spent trying to figure out what the baby was and we tried extra hard for one of us to hold Roxy while the other held the baby. She did growl and bark a few times when the baby cried and we had to crate her for a bit, hoping that this would pass.

Luckily it did pass and she's warmed up to Grayson a little more each day. She'll curl up next to me and Grayson while he's breast feeding or sit in the rocking chair with Michael while he's holding the baby. She's also been very interested in licking the baby now instead of barking at him, so we're having to watch her closely to make sure she doesn't get within tongue's reach.

Only time will tell if she continues to cope well, but after these first few days I'm hopeful we can all live as one happy family.

I'm still here

Apologies for the delayed posting. I've sat down to write a new entry several times over the last few days but keep getting distracted. Imagine that. As expected, our lives have been turned upside down by the arrival of Grayson and just when we get a few things figured out our son throws a new parenting lesson our way. 

So many things have changed in such a short amount of time that it's hard to know where to begin. I guess I should share his birth story (without the gory details, of course). After experiencing inconsistent contractions for several days, Sunday night they kicked into gear. I was up and down most of the night but didn't start timing them until a little before 8 a.m. on Monday. They were 3-5 minutes apart and nearly a minute long so after they were consistent for an hour we decided it was time to go to the hospital and get things checked out. 

In the elevator on the way up to the birthing center, I told Michael I was going to be really ticked off if my night of contractions didn't make me any more dilated and they sent me back home. Luckily, the pain wasn't for nothing and I was dilated to 3 1/2 cm and about 90 % effaced. They observed me in triage from 9:30 a.m. until admitting me at 1 p.m. Once I was admitted they took me to a birthing suite where my new best friend, the anesthesiologist, came to administer my epidural about 30 minutes later. I was dilated to about 5 cm at this point and once the epidural kicked in they also broke my water and gave me oxytocin to speed up the contractions. 

When they broke my water there was black meconium in it which is a sign the baby had already had a bowel movement while inside me. This meant they would need to move quickly upon birth to ensure none of it got into his lungs as he took his first few breaths. 

When they checked me again around 3:15 p.m. I was already at 9 cm so the head labor nurse started whirling around setting up medical equipment and alerting the OBGYN. A team of nurses came in and time passed very quickly at this point. I was still feeling the contractions slightly on one side so my epidural was cranked up so much I couldn't feel my legs so a nurse and Michael had to move them for me. She had me do a few "practice pushes" but then realized the baby was nearly out so she told me to stop. 

The OBGYN took forever to arrive and all of a sudden the baby's heartbeat dropped so the labor nurse told us she was going to move forward to deliver the baby. I pushed two more times and he moved far enough down to get out of distress and his heart rate rose back up so we stopped to try and wait for the doctor. Even though I wasn't pushing the baby kept inching down and we really though he was going to arrive before the OBGYN. 

Luckily she flew through the door just in time and while I was anxious to push some more the OB on call (which was not my doctor) recognized Michael from when he worked at a bike store in college (she's an avid cyclist) and proceeded to catch up on what he had been up to over the last few years. Finally she got down to business and after only a handful more pushes our son Grayson Mark arrived. 

Due to the meconium they had to whisk him over to the warming table and do a deep lung suction to clean out his passageways. Thankfully the fluid came out clear so he didn't swallow any of the black tarry stuff from the bowel movement. Once that was over, Michael was able to cut the cord (which had already been done once, but we were able to capture for the camera) and then we could hold him. 

From the time I was admitted until Grayson's birth at 4:36 p.m., time flew by and I can't believe it all happened so quickly. As you may have seen from the photo link in the last post, the picture of me enjoying an ice cold Dr. Pepper was taken just moments after birth when I could finally have more than ice chips and I threw 9 months worth of carbonation and caffeine concerns to the wind by enjoying a victory drink.  

So that's how it all went down (literally and figuratively). I have so much more to share, but will stop for now so I can finally get this novel post online. Thank you to all of you who have emailed and  called with well wishes. Even though we may not have responded just yet, we hope to catch up soon and appreciate you sending positive thoughts our way.  

Meet Grayson

We returned home from the hospital this afternoon around 3 p.m. and are still getting settled in, but I wanted to post a link to some pictures of baby Grayson. 

Michael's dad (aka Popper) has already a created a website with photos of his new grandson. I'll post more of our own pics as well as details on Grayson's arrival soon. But for now, enjoy these first pictures. 

http://gallery.me.com/vidrinem#100033

Also, I want to say a big thank you to Courtney (aka Kiki) who posted and emailed folks to announce Grayson's birth. It was a huge help to us since we wanted to keep everyone in the loop, but couldn't do it ourselves. 

"Labor" Day

Hi everyone! This is a friend here on behalf of Mike and Lindsay to let you know that Roxy's reign has officially ended. Grayson Mark arrived today at 4:36 p.m. He weighs 6 lbs. 11 ozs. and is 19 inches long. Mom, Dad, and baby Grayson are all doing great.