Week Three

I can't believe Macy is another week older! She is still growing before our very eyes, getting bigger by the hour. We had a few firsts this week. On Wednesday during our morning diaper change I opened the onesie to find that Macy had a belly button! Yes, the cord finally came off. We called Dan at work to tell him the news, and all three of us were very excited. (It's the little things, right?) That night we were also able to give Macy her first real bath. We decided to take a hint from Jackie and bathe her in our big red popcorn bowl. We figured she's only going to be small enough for that once! She loved the warm water, but hated getting out of it. It was a video-worthy experience, and too adorable.

We are still trying to get the sleeping at night thing down. Macy is truly a nocturnal person. She proved it yesterday when she literally slept ALL day and was up literally ALL night. Dan and I camped out in the living room and probably slept for a total of 2 hours. By 6:00, I laid Macy on my lap, surrounded myself with pillows, and we were able to nap together for about 3 hours. It turns out she loves to be held, and when she is as awake as she was last night, that and eating are the only things that comfort her. I've been told that eventually she'll rearrange her days and nights, but really? I have a hard time figuring that one out at this point. As frustrating as it is, all I need to do is look at her little face (complete with angel kisses and baby acne) and I instantly realize that the lack of sleep is all worth it. I wouldn't change anything. Enjoy the new pictures and stay tuned!

Week Two

Macy is officially 2 weeks old now. She had her doctor's appointment, and she is doing very well. She gained 9 ounces since we first saw the doctor, so now she is a whopping 7 pounds, 8.5 ounces. She outgrew her first outfit this week, and I swear she looks bigger to me everyday. And of course that makes me sad to think about...she's all ready growing up too fast! We are still working on the sleeping during the nighttime instead of all day thing and are slowly making gains. I have found that Nick at Nite has some fun old shows on at 2 in the morning! Family Matters, Fresh Prince, and Roseanne are a few. Last night I even found Troop Beverly Hills on MoviePlex, so I quickly hit the DVR for viewing tonight :) She is sleeping anywhere from 2 to 4 hours at a time during the night, so it's not too bad. (Note: That's an average...we definitely have our moments!) Otherwise, we are excited to see her awake more often, so we can see her pretty blue eyes staring around wondering what in the world is going on. I hope everyone's fall is off to a good start, and we will hopefully be able to introduce you all to Macy soon!

My Side of the Story

Well, Macy will be officially one week old in one hour and 31 minutes. I can't believe it's been a week since the hospital, and I really can't believe that Dan and I have managed to handle a newborn for 5 whole days! I wanted to give you all my perspective on things, as I wasn't able to do any typing or picture taking on the big day.

The hospital was definitely an experience that was filled with highs and lows and lots of emotions. Macy was determined to come into this world on her own terms. The drops in heart rate "scared the b-jesus" out of me (Friends, anyone?) and I was not expecting her to arrive as quickly as she did. She had no intention of letting them use pitocin to help her along. I had not planned on doing this without pain meds, but looking back, I don't think I would have done anything differently. It was truly the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but the end result was completely worth it. If anyone wants more details, let me know. I have no problem telling the story with as much or as little detail as you want :)

We came home on Sunday night, and believe it or not, that was the first time I cried. I walked in to the house with Macy, showed her her bedroom, and completely lost it. Dan came in the house and asked what was wrong. My answer was a teary, "I have no idea." I think the emotion of the entire weekend hit me all at once, and I didn't know what else to do. (Please note that since then, I have cried at least once a day.) I should have saved some of those tears for the night ahead...Macy probably slept a total of an hour and a half that night. Dan and I kept getting up and thinking, "What have we gotten ourselves into?!"

Monday was the pediatrician, and that provided us with a lot of reassurance. We were told that we were not the only ones who had a newborn that cried all night and that this did not make us terrible parents. She gave us some good tips, and since then Macy has been sleeping for 2-3 hours at a time throughout the night. I'm told that this is pretty good for a week old baby. She and I spend the day napping, eating, and getting to know one another. I look at her, and I am amazed at how much I love her. And I don't care what anyone says...she is the cutest baby in the world (angel kisses and all).

Thanks to everyone for their e-mails, phone calls, gifts, and general well-wishes. I wish I could respond to everyone, but time and my sanity are not allowing me to do that right now. Please don't be offended if I can't answer the phone when you call or respond to your e-mail. Just know that Dan and I truly appreciate all of your love and support. We can't wait for you all to meet Macy and to catch up with us...it just might take a little while :)

Aftermath and future plans...

We have been learning a lot about our little nugget of love. She communicates through a variety of squeaks. She has two great talents... eating and sleeping. I was told this is normal, however, she's just so good at it. I have held her for about 4 hours today and I simply can't get enough. Jamie and I can't wait to get her home, hopefully discharge is around dinner time tomorrow.

Hey gang, thanks for all of your support over the past couple of days. Grandma Gebauer, Grandpa Gebauer, Grandma Proffitt, and Grandpa Proffitt all came over during the day to meet their new Grandchild. Grandpa Gebauer said, "We are going to spoil the heck out of this child." He was offering to buy us a more comfortable chair for Jamie to use because the one we had should be as he said "put to the curb." Gotta lova ya Dad! (see side bar for Grandparent pics).

Without the messages of support this journey would have been much more difficult. I will put more pictures of Macy on the blog over the next couple of days. Perhaps I will also add some quotes from Jamie during the period of labor :)

All of our best from Dan, Jamie, and Macy (Squeaker)

The big moment

Wow, that was the craziest thing I ever saw. After a couple of good pushes, Macy Katherine Gebauer was born at 8:57pm. She is 7lbs 4 oz and 20 inches long. She could not be much more perfect. I'm going to attach a few pictures for your view pleasure. Thanks for all of the well wishing over the past months, weeks, and days. We are both exhausted (possibly me more than her!).

Pain Meds...

Well, the contractions have gotten considerably worse. We had a 20 minute debate with the nurse in the room on what if any pain medication Jamie should go on. Now, my wonderful wife is very indecisive when it comes down to making big decisions (such as epidural vs. Nubain IV drip).

I made an executive decision for her... we went with the IV. It has lessened the pain, but we are continuing the discussion on taking it up a notch.

She is so nice to me. She informed me that she will be giving me orders from here on out. But she told me that she is not trying to be mean.

I am watching are you smarter than a 5th grader right now. I misspelled mispell :) Yes, I educate 4th graders.

Brother Dave Pays a Visit

Wow, what a great brother I have! He's the security coordinator at Community Memorial Hospital. He brought me some food. Unfortunately Jamie is not allowed to eat anything right now so I think I kinda taunted her with the food.

I did remind her that I need to keep up my strength for my job as "coach." She was not amused.

The contractions are becoming more frequent and more wicked. I told Jamie that if I could take her place I would... However, between you and me there is no way in h-e-double hockey sticks I would trade.

Hour 5

OK, this has been a very quiet, uneventful hour. Jamie is resting and breathing her way through ever building contractions. The water is offically broken. If we are patient we should be parents well after midnight :)

The baby's heart rate is doing very well. Realistically, that is the most important thing right now.

Throw me and Jamie an e-mail if you have time. We would love to hear from you.

Hour 3/4

OK. I'm going to have to say that I have much more respect for the women in this world. That may sound a bit cliche', but it is genuine. I'm coming to believe that having a kid isn't the easiest thing in the world. Little Macy decided to roll over on her cord again sending her heart rate down... Well this time we had about 8 people in the room and the phrase "Emergency C-Section" was being uttered. I was given forms to sign...

Well, that being said the baby got its stuff together and decided to increase her heart rate. Jamie is resting and the word "pitocin" is not in anyone's vocabulary anymore.

I can't explain how nervous I was, let alone how strong Jamie was. This all makes you appreciate the health care field.

Hour 2

Well, it has been interesting so far at the hospital. The baby's heart beat decided to drop a bit, but 3 nurses ran in (thankfully that didn't make us nervous) and moved Jamie a bit. They also put her on Oxygen and got the kiddos heart rate back up to a brisk 145bmp.

Now, this kid isn't out yet and is already a bit of a pain. I informed the nurses that this wasn't my genetic contribution to the child.

The nurse informed us that she is in "early active labor." She is going to rest for a few minutes before they start the pitocin drip.

At the Hospital

We have just arrived at the hospital. Jamie is being hooked up to the fetal monitor and all that other stuff that I simply don't understand. I'm annoying her by taking pictures and video every 30 minutes. Everything else seems to be going well so far! Keep checking the blog for more.

Morning Update

Our phone rang at 5:00 this morning and it was the hospital saying that they need to delay our arrival. Apparently there is not room for us at the moment, and they don't want our child to be delivered in a corner. We are expecting a call from them later this morning to let us know when to come in. A little disappointed, I have to say, as I woke up ready to go and was actually able to sleep last night...a feat that I thought would be a challenge. We're hoping to be in by noon. I guess we've waited this long, so a few more hours isn't a big deal.

News

OK...finally some news to report.  My blood pressure this morning was a little higher than the doctor liked (138 over 96), so she decided that enough's enough.  Tomorrow morning at 6:00 we check in to the hospital and start the process of bringing Baby into the world!  I am nervous, freaked, and excited all at the same time.  The good news is that all week I have been contracting so I am actually about 1/3 of the way there all ready.  The doctor thinks that by bedtime tomorrow we should have a baby.  I was kind of hoping that she would come on her own terms, but that was not the way this was meant to be!  Anyone who knows me at all knows that I like things planned, so in that respect I'm actually relieved and glad that I have a chance to get things taken care of tonight.  So the bottom line is that the next couple of posts on the blog will probably be baby related!

In honor of the occasion, I am skipping ahead to season 8 of Friends where Rachel has the baby:

Rachel: Doctor...you have to give me some good news.  How many centimeters am I dilated?  8? 9?

Doctor: 3

Ross: 3?!  I'm dilated 3!

Rachel: Why won't she come out?!

Ross: You know what?  I think you have made such a good home for her over the past 9 months that she just doesn't want to leave.

Rachel: Aww....listen to you making up crap for me!

(While pushing, Rachel head butts Ross and he goes down.)

Rachel: Are you OK?

Ross: You have no idea how much this hurts.

Not Much to Say...

The last two days have been uneventful. I got a flu shot on Monday, so I have been feeling a little achy. Dan has had tennis until late every night this week, so the puppies and I have been on our own. Doctor tomorrow, so make sure to check back for an update :)

Friends quotes of the day:

Episode: The One Where Eddie Won't Go (or the one where the girls read the book "How to be Your Own Windkeeper")

Chandler: Ding dong...the psycho's gone.
Rachel: Eddie finally moved out?
Chandler: Yes, he's...he's...he's standing in the window holding a human head! He's holding a human head!

Ross: Rachel read this book with something about wind and a stream, and now she's all mad at me.
Joey: You see...this is why I don't date women who can read.

Episode: The One Where Old Yeller Dies (or the one where Richard hangs out with Joey and Chandler)

Joey: Hey, you're pretty good at Foosball.
Richard: Well, we had a table in college.
Chandler: Oh, I didn't know they had Foosball in the 1800s.
Richard: Nice mustache, by the way. Once puberty hits it will really come in nicely.

Monica: Richard, dinner's ready.
Richard: OK...just one more point.
Monica: SCORE!
Chandler: See...that's why we don't let her play.