Stop it, I'm trying to be mad at you.

Micah has so much personality at such a young age. Everyday he's becoming more and more vocal with us. Anyone who walks into the room is met with starring eyes and smiles. If I hold him while his mom is next to me, he stares at her and coos while dropping his body weight towards her. Yea I think he likes her more than me. Or he's just always hungry and knows that she's the provider of milk. It's my fault though. While Laura was off of work, 6 of the weeks she took off were unpaid and I worked too much during that time to help supplement our income. I don't mind though. I'm glad Laura got to take all the time off available to care for Micah his first 3 months.

I did stay home and take care of him for the first time last Thursday. I'd never been alone with him for more than a few hours. I know that sounds bad but with me working 24 hours shifts and at a part-time job on my days away from the firehouse, I've missed out on a few things. The day wasn't that bad, it actually went pretty smooth! I was really expecting the worst; him screaming at the top of his lungs or refusing to eat. He was great! I tried to stay to a schedule, woke him up every 2 and a half hours to change his diaper and tried to feed him before he got fussy. He would eat and play with his hands for a little bit and then go right back to sleep. I even had enough time to get some chores done around the house and get him dressed to go have lunch with Mommy. When we got back, I read a little, played a little Xbox, and even started dinner. I felt like a stay at home dad and it was pretty cool. I could get used to that.

Dramatization

I've made mention to it a few times, But Micah is a very fussy eater. He's almost bipolar with his meals. Sometimes he eats with no problem, other times he acts like were trying to feed him something off bizarre foods. He'll sit there and spit out everything we give him. At first we thought it was nipple confusion (something I read about babies refusing to breast feed because the bottle is easier) Nope, Micah is just fussy. Almost as if he wants to flex his baby muscle and remind us whose in charge. Well he's not. Daddy ain't having it. After my wife finishes nursing him, if he's still a little hungry or if he starts getting fussy, we'll supplement with a little bit of formula from a bottle to top him off. Sometimes he wants to keep being fussy, he's hungry but wants to fussy too. He'll kick and scream and through a little fit. I'll raise my voice and say "Hey, stop! Drink your milk and stop being a brat!" Sometime's we'll go through this routine at 3 am. Now here's where things get funny. He starts his fit, I raise my voice, then he starts to smile at me while I'm holding the bottle in his mouth. I can't stay upset at this little guy and he knows it.

So here's my first official review of a product .....

The Medela Calma Bottle. It sucks. The purpose of this bottle is to help babies transition smoothly from the Bottle back to Breast-feeding. The milk only releases when the baby creates a vacuum so it imitates the natural feeding process. The bottle is priced anywhere from 17.99 to 24.99 (24.99 at BabiesR'Us where we got ours at). We bought ours around the month and a half mark out of a little despair. Laura wanted to continue nursing Micah naturally, but he fought us every step of the way. He only wanted the bottle, So when we saw a bottle that would help us transition back to nursing we were on it! And it cost 24.99 so it had to work! The bottle is called the Calma bottle! It's supposed to Calm! It doesn't. It worked for about 1 day. After that the milk release was constant, too much in fact. Micah almost choked on all the milk. After a few washes, the bottle starts to leak and over flows. So there went that.

"Micah quiere leche de mami!"

Hello Everyone! Remember me and this blog? I know it's been a while since I last updated but I've been a little busy with a newborn baby and what not. I would love to say that we have the hang of this. But we don't completely. I say this in a humorous way because when my wife or I are up at night and switching bottles because Micah refuses to eat out of anything we give him, or when I change his diaper right after having just changed it, and after all that realize he's pooped again, or when he cries because he loves being in his parent's arms and hates his bassinet, I think about how I was as a baby and the loud sleepless nights I gave my parents. From all the stories I have heard of me as a child , I understand completely why Micah is a little troublemaker at times. When my sister was being  born, my parents left me under my aunt and uncle's care. I guess I must have missed my parents because I am told that I cried and cried like there was no tomorrow. So in a last ditch effort to quiet me, my uncle put me in a closet and closed the door. Now I know that sounds cruel and you won't find that kind of parenting advice in the books but I'm sure I was being a brat. So I had been in the closet for a few minutes when I go quiet. My Uncle came back to check on me and found me peeing in all of his shoes. True Story. So whenever I feel frustrated I smile because I know. I know this is my son (if you dont believe me, check out the picture below) and I will give him the same love and patience that I was given. (By my parents, not my uncle.)

Now please don't misunderstand me and think that we're losing it over here. We are enjoying every bit of being parents. Micah is so alert. I play games with him where I kiss his nose and make little noises and when I come off he smiles and coos. Sometimes I just talk to him and ask him how his day was and if he gave mommy a hard time while I was away. He responds and coos little noises and expressions like he is trying to tell me what he did that day. I've read that most things just click and fall into place around the 3 month mark and that seems to be the case. At times he still gets a little fussy when I feed him but it's only for a few seconds and then he just drains the bottle. He's sleeping longer too! Last night I think we got a good 5 and a half hours of sleep. I know that sounds like a stupid thing to get excited over but you have to remember that he normally wakes up about 3 times to eat or needing a diaper change. It felt so good but I couldn't enjoy it because I kept waking up wondering if he was ok because he hadn't woke me up first.

Around this time we were expecting Micah's hair to fall out since that what everyone told us would happen. Not the case with this little guy. His hair looks like its here to stay. It's getting so long that if I trimmed the sides a bit he'd go straight mullet. I'm tempted to do it for the laughs but then I'd come home to him driving a John Deere tractor, in a camo cut-off t-shirt and bottle filled with budlight in his hand.

Then again, Joe Dirt was a funny movie...

Laura and I have decided to talk to Micah in Spanish as a primary language until he gets older. We figured that he will learn English eventually through school, his friends and tv but we don't want him to forget or not pick up Spanish. We're also trying to teach him a little Sign Language. Laura's sister is deaf so Laura learned how to sign to communicate with her. I only know enough to ask "What's your name?" and that's it, at that point I would probably have to hand the person I signed to, a letter apologizing for wasting their time. I got the idea to teach Micah Sign language from a video I saw on youtube. The link is below. Its amazing what an infants mind is capable of. According to some information I read, the baby probably would sign back until the 6-9 month mark but we should start teaching him as soon as possible. If I'm not mistaken, In deaf culture, a deaf person has to give you your deaf name in sign. The sign is normally a mix between the first letter of your first name and quality or characteristic you have. Laura's sister has given us all our names. Mine for example is the letter in A in sign and a brush against the side of my head as if I was putting on glasses. Laura's is the letter L while she signs cute which is a flick of her chin with the her index finger. Micah's is pretty cool. It's the letter M coming away from my eye representing his long eye lashes. You can see me signing to him in the video below.

Laura has done an awesome job in her new role as mommy. She can tell the difference between his cries and knows what each one means. In a few days she will exchange her role as stay at home mommy and get back to the work grind. Staying at home has not been a vacation for her. I sometimes thought to myself that she had it good, being able to stay home and "play" with Micah. "Play" ha, it wasn't until I actually took care of him by myself while she went out grocery shopping that I realized there was no playing involved. I was quickly calling her up, wondering how far out she was because I couldn't get Micah to stop crying. All joking aside, Baby, you have done a wonderful job these past couple months taking care of Micah while I'm at work and away from home. I know it wasn't a vacation and it was hard at times but you've stuck through it and now Micah is a momma's boy because of it. Thanks. I wuv you.

Hello everyone

Hello everyone, it's been almost a month since my last update. There is way too much that has gone on to update everyone on all the details but ill try. Micah came home the Friday after entering the NICU.  We we so excited to be able to bring him home. Up until that point I felt as if I was babysitting a baby in the hospital. I know that sounds awful but please remember that we were planning on being able to go home the night of the birth and were thrown off guard having to spend a week at a hospital, interacting with nurses and doctors, and sleeping on a horrible hospital bed that was probably designed by chiropractors to promote business. 

Once we came home everything clicked! I was a dad, Laura was a mom and we were parents. I found myself staring at him while he slept, observing his every breath. This was my baby boy! Everyday when the swelling in his face would go down a little more, we could see more of each of us in him.

Now there are two things that most people told me about having kids that I heard repeatedly. One, was that having a baby would take you to a level of love that you cannot describe and have never experienced. The parent to child love would be one that cannot be compared to another. Two, was that having a baby would literally consume all of your time and energy. I was excited to experience the new love that I heard so much about but was really skeptical of the time consuming part of caring for a child. I knew it would require a lot, but how much? Now that we are in our new roles as parents, I can safely say all of it. I took a little more than a month off total from the fire department to stay home and care for Micah and I thought I would have done so much more. I figured I could knock out a couple of things off my to-do list like re-caulk the bathrooms, go to some doctors appointments that I have been putting off, touch up some walls, and so on. All I pretty much got to do was go to the doctors. Both Laura and I have been so busy, or at least it feels like it because we're so sleep deprived. What is sleep for that matter? It's been so long since we got a full nights rest. Micah started off the first few weeks, waking up every 3-4 hours to eat or have his diaper changed. But that quickly changed to about every hour on the hour and that's nights too. The pediatrician told us that it was normal and it was due to a growth spurt. So that lasted about 4 days straight and it was rough. Im used to getting up at night, we run probably an average of 3 calls every night at my firehouse with each call lasting 30 minutes to an hour, but day after day took it's toll on us. One night about 3 in the morning I was holding Micah while Laura prepped herself to nurse. I normally lay him flat on my chest and pat his back or his butt to help ease him while he waits impatiently (just like his dad). I ended leaning back and fell asleep with him on my chest. I didn't realize that at some point I handed him to Laura so she could feed him and laid on my back,  patting my chest thinking he was still on there. Laura just laughed and said "he's not on your Chest anymore!"

Micah is pretty fussy when he doesn't get his way. He does an escalating level of shrieks when we don't give in or don't satisfy his demands. For example he hates his bassinet, or better said the act of being placed in it. When he's asleep ill sometimes place him in there and I can get a few things done but once he wakes up and realizes where he is at, he shakes his hands wide and out and yells to be picked up. The same thing goes for his feeding. We go back and forth between bottle feeding and nursing and he lost total interest in nursing. The milk comes easily and without effort from the bottle, while he has to actually do some work when he is nurse fed. When he couldn't latch on right, he would 

Shake his head and make a funny, angry goat noise. He lost that battle and is nursing fine now.

He loves to be held and although it is sometimes inconvenient and tiring, someone told me today that I need to take advantage while he still wants to be held. This is true and I see the realization of the fact that he is growing everyday. He has jumped up in diaper and onesie sizes and is becoming more and more alert everyday. This is where that love that only a parent would understand. Even though we are tired and sleepy all the time (made evident by bags under our eyes) we are enjoying every minute of parenthood. 

Call me the swaddle king

Hey everyone, I'm super bored right now.  Laura is up and about and Micah is getting better. We've been given the ok to nurse Micah. It took her a while to finally get him to latch but thanks to that awesome nurse who has been caring for Micah he's nursing like a pro, if for some reason it were some type of profession. Laura and I both spent the night at the hospital last night so she could feed him every 3 hours. We got news today that Micah should finish his last round of antibiotics on Friday evening and will be discharged right after. That's great news! No one wants to be in a hospital longer than needed.

Let me just add that Micah is the perfect little baby boy. I know he has just been in our lives for a few days but amazingly he is not a cryer! He cries a little when he is being bothered like when we change his diaper, and take his temperature but as soon as we finish he stops and that's pretty much it. When he wants to let us know that he needs something he just lets out a series of little baby grunts. Kind of like he wants to establish a new form of communication that only we know and understand. Once I learn it, I'll be able to teach the dogs and we'll be set.

Since this whole trip caught us totally off guard we were totally unprepared. We had a few changes of clothes, and that's pretty much it. After the second day at the hospital we knew we were going to have to make a trip back home. We needed clothes, snacks, and some kind of entertainment. So early this morning around 7 am we made a quick trip home for a quick grab and go to be back in time to feed Micah. Let me just say I have the best family in the world! All of them (led by my sister) got the house ready for our arrival. They were apparently hoping  we would be discharged today and knocked out a some house chores I'd been meaning to tackle for a few weeks/days. They changed the air filters, washed some clothes, set up the pack&play, and even hid the cables running down the wall-mounted tv in the living room. Seriously, THEY HID THE CABLES!!! That's just amazing. I wanted to go back and sneak Micah back home.

I love them all. I would never tell them directly because my family doesn't show those weaknesses, but I do love them.

So I'm having a conversation with my brother; updating him on Micah and he asks "So did you give him the "snip snip" down there?" I didn't understand him at first but once I did said "Oooooohhhh, not yet dude, I don't know, what do you think?" As if leaving the fate of my son's prepuce for my brother to decide. He says "I don't know dude, let him be like the Europeans, just free-ranging it." I have no idea what that meant but then he adds "He'll be just like Gerard Butler!". By this point, I'm just plain confused and say "How does this have anything to do with Gerard Butler?" He says "Well he's European, and the girls like him. They also like the guys from One Direction." And that ladies and gentlemen is a typical conversation with my brother. 

Free-ranginn, ya hear me?  FREE-RANGING!

And just to end on a positive note, I am now the self proclaimed swaddle king. I've been steadily observing the nurses swaddle and I now can swaddle Micah into the most beautiful cocoon. I just have to be careful that I don't swaddle him to perfectly that he stays in there, grows wings, and then flys away forever. 

Stuck in the NICU.

Hey ya'll it's Paula Deen! I actually don't know why I wrote that. We're stuck in the NICU with Micah in a very country area so Laura says that I've been talking in a country accent for some reason. I was reading over my last post this morning and proof reading some errors when I realized that I didn't really write much about Micah. It might get a little graphic, so if your grossed out by the human anatomy then you might want to grow up. 

I had read sometime ago that a baby's skull is actually in peices and when they're born they're heads are shaped like cones so they don't destroy their mommy's while coming out. Well during Laura birth, as she was pushing the top of his little cone head was coming out and I remember thinking that Micah was going to be a small little thing. I was even worried that he was a bit premature; he was so small. But once his head came out I was like "whoa!" As soon as he was pulled out, the midwives places him on Laura for the skin to skin contact with him mom and that ms when everyone cried. Laura mentioned that at that moment the pain disapeared and she just want to hold him to her. After a few minutes he was cleaned a little, weighed and measure. He was 8.2 lbs and 21 inches long. Micah has so much hair! Most people who have seen his picture comment on that first thing. This kid is ready for his first hair cut and a trip to the barber shop for a straight blade shave. He has the sideburns I waited until I was about 14 to grow in. 

He definitely has my nose and mouth. But we're not sure on the eyes. He's still a little swollen so they might change. I think he might have his mommy's squinty eyes. What do you guys think?

I mentioned in my last post that he had inhaled a little bit of meconium resulting in needing to be transported to a NICU in hickory. Meconium stays in the lungs and has to be absorbed by the body. Its toxic so they told us he would have to have either a 2 day or 7 day round of antibiotics depending on his recovery time. Micah is making very good progress and has brought his respiratory rate down significantly, it's still high but better. His doesn't need any oxygen assistance anymore so we were optimistic. Well today the doctors informed us that because of his still high respiratory rate and after looking at X-rays of his lungs they saw that he still has some dark spots in certain areas that they would like to monitor and treat him for 7 days. He's better and hasn't developed a respiratory infection but more antibiotics and monitoring won't hurt. Another great sign if progress is that Laura can now feed him. Before he was getting all his nutrients through an IV. But now were working trying to breast feed him or should I say Laura is, I'm not breast feeding anyone. The nurse attending us at night has been a blessing! She is a great person all together. They're all great but you can tell in the details that this one cares. We stepped out to eat and she didn't know if we were coming back so she gave him his first little bath and had him swaddled and sleeping when we came back. Anyways I'll keep you guys updated of any new news. I'll have plenty of time since we'll be here until next Saturday. Anyone have any good netflix suggestions?

At last!

So after 41 weeks of pregnancy, Micah is finally here. What an amazing array of emotions labor is. I've never gone from feeling so sad and helpless to happy and ecstatic and then back to disappointed and helpless. Let me explain.

First off, I literally had about 3 or 4 unpublished post that I never finished. They made for a good read but are kinda obsolete now considering that Micah is here. One talked about home renovations and feelings of impatience, another one talked about Micah being the last baby standing or in another words being the only one of a group of babies due at the same time to not be born and About getting my jump bag ready. I probably mentioned something about impatience there too. 

The last few weeks were so hectic and suspenseful that I could never finish a blog post. The due date came and went while we sat there twiddling our thumbs. But finally Thursday morning Laura woke me up saying "I don't want to freak you out or anything but I've had 4 strong contractions about 15 min apart." They weren't too painful so she called her midwife and was told to call if they got more frequent and or painful. They didn't, So I went to work that day checking my phone every 10 seconds waiting for "the call" that never came. The contractions would die down and become further apart so we knew something was going to happen but just didn't know when. I took Laura on a few walks to the mall and Ikea to try and hurry along any signs of pregnancy. The next morning Laura woke me up to tell me that she was having really painful 1 minute contraction about every 10 minuntes. Painful enough to wake her up from her sleep. Just to make sure it wasnt another false alarm she got up and showered while I packed the car. The contractions continued and each one seemed to be stronger than the one before. I decided to make our way to the birthing center and if she wasnt ready to be admitted, at least we would be in the vecinity of the center in case THINGS GOT REAL.

I think I forgot to mention before that we decided to switch our birthing facility from Carolina Maternity Center in Ft. Mill to Natural Begginings in Statesville. CMC had their licensed revoked for reasons still under investigation and we had to find somewhere else to deliver. The facility in Statesville was 40 minutes away from our house on a good day, on a bad one, about an hour and a half. Heading up there around 8:15, up I-77N on a friday, at the beginning of a  workday? I was preparing for the worst traffic and was shocked to not have to stop at all! We made it there in about 40 min and I quickly walked Laura in to get measured. She was dialated at 3cm. There I learned that they would like for you to be 4-5 cm dialated to be admitted, 6-7 if you want to try to contract in a birthing pool, and 10 to start pushing. This was all aroud 9 am. This midwife recommended we go have breakfast, than go for a walk at a park or a mall then come back later when it got hard to walk. There was a mall about a mile away with an IHOP so we figured we would kill to birds with one stone. I ate my breakfast fine but looked up to see that my poor wife could barely take a bite out of her food, not because of the contractions but to nerves. I was fine though, I looked across the table and said....

After we were done we walked around the mall for about another 2 hours, where we met with my in-laws. Around that time the contractions got painful to the point that's Laura could not walk anymore. So we decided to make our way back to the birthing center. After another measurment Laura was 4.5 cm dialated and was admitted. We chose a birthing room and settled in, preparing for what was to come. I walked around putting our gamplan into play, lighting lavender oils, and texting friends and family to let them know we were getting ready for the big day. By now the time was around 12:30 pm.

Now what happened over the next lets say 8 hours is pretty much a blur. To pretty much sum it up let's just say that laura switched to various positions while she contracted every 2-3 minutes. Her friend, Sister and I took turns holding her hand and rubbing her lower back trying to soothe the pain while each contraction got stronger and over-powering. Now I like to think I have a sense of humor and I like to make jokes on this blog hoping to pull a chuckle from all of you but on a serious note. Every man I've ever talked to has said that he broke down and cried when their wife gave birth. I don't cry. I probably have not shed a tear in about a good 15 years.So going into this I had a mind set of "Challenge Accepted!" I felt I wasn't going to cry. And I did pretty good up until about the 8th hour of  her being admitted. Her and I were sitting in a dark bathroom. I was holding her hand while her contractions kept coming minute after minute without letting up. Just as one would mellow out and a stronger one would take its place she cried "No, no, no, just make it stop. I don't think I can do this anymore." And right at the moment she opened her eyes for a brief second, looked at me and said " Baby, just make the pain go away..." That pierced me deep and I looked down and away while my eyes instantly watered and teared. A few hours later while she was on her back and finally pushing she would push and make progress, but the physical and mental exhaustion beyond what anyone could handle. She would put her head back and say "I can't anymore, I just can't". But somehow she mustered up the stregnth for one more push, and then one more after that.

In both those occasions the feeling of being absolutely helpless ate at me. I make a living by fixing peoples problems. One fire captain once said that when firefighters show up and you dont know what your problem is, We'll make one for you just so we can fix it! So finding myself in a situation where I could do nothing at all to fix the problem, and worse for the person whose it mattered the most killed me. So Yea, I shed some tears, a few but they were there. If you Sir don't or didn't she's any at the birth of your child then I want to shake your hand and ask you more about what it's like to have no heart.

The whole labour surprised me in many ways. The experience as a whole is nothing like what I imagined. And the moment Micah was born there was not a dry eye in the room. My wife was amazing. She pulled of a 15 hour natural labour. Deep down inside, I imagined her weak pain tolerance would make her change her mind fast about going natural but she carried on through it like a champ. Other people's reaction's were pretty surprising too. My Sister in law and one of Laura's best friends were of great support. Wether it was holding her hand, fetching towels and rubbing her back they were on it. I honestly thought that (and please dont hate me you two) they would be an overwhelming nusiance. But they did great. My sister and My mom pulled it together too. My sister refused to go into the birthing room once the pushing started because she refused to see Laura naked because the labours she's seen have apparently been carried out in victorian dresses. 

Okay Dutchesses, PUSH PUSH PUSH!!!

But she came through for us and cheered Laura through! My Mom was sitting outside the birthing room, hearing all the screams and would occasionally send me a text asking how everything was going. After about an hour and her thinking that the labour wasn't progressing, she sent me another text saying "You need me to come in there?" I replied "Yea sure if your not scared of Vaginas". Her reply was and I kid you not "I'm Strong and Laura needs someone strong to encourage her!" and as I was reading the text, she busted the door down and Encouraged. I guess she couldn't sit back and watch all is weaklings sit there with our weak voices try to motivate.

Everyone played a major role and I am thankful for everyone who text us and were thinking of us. Even if I couldnt respond, thank all of you.

As Micah was coming out , He seemed to have swallowed some Meconium (look it up). Which seemed to be affecting his Oxygen saturation levels and his breathing rate. The Midwives had a hard time suctioning out his air way and decided it was best to have him transported to a NICU to be monitored for a a lung infection and or Pneumonia. As of now its precautionary and he is being put on a 24 hour round of anti-biotics. Depending on his improvement he could be cleared to leave or if an infection develops he could have to stay for a 7 day round of anti-biotics. The average discharge time for at the Birthing center is 4-6 hours after birth and thats what we were looking forward to. The realization of having to spend 48 hours to 7 days in a hospital is very disappointing. But I guess that's life (Get it? The Cornbread joke earlier? Life?). We're just going to have to take it one diaper at a time.

The last baby standing.

First off, just want to say sorry for not keeping everyone up to date these past few weeks/months (I've completely lost track on where we left off). Since my last post the pregnancy has reached what has felt like a standstill. Everyone says that the final months are the longest. You know the baby is coming and the days on the calendar are marked off one by one, but the progress seems so delayed! The house is littered with pack and plays, strollers, and baby onsies so I know we're getting close but I feel so far. This is where that patience thing I was working on comes in handy. As it stands now we are 11 days away. I feel like those commercials "It's our baby and we want it now!"

Micah is now the last baby standing or should I say swimming. Since the beginning of the pregnancy I came in touch with friends and family that were also due around the same time as us. And all have given birth already while we sit hear and watch. The friends that announced their pregnancy the same week we discovered ours, received their baby boy at the end of September. My wife's cousin in NY had hers last Wednesday. A firefighter buddy of mine whose little girl was due the same week as ours just had theirs last night. Meanwhile Micah is taking his sweet time.

My mom and sister through a mustache themed baby shower, full of corny and embarrassing games, gifts, and great friends. I was super happy to see all the support from friends and family. Seeing all of them there to support us, assures me that everything is going to be just fine. Our friends bought us alot of the stuff we needed on our registry. With the exception of a few things here and there, were set and ready to go. 

 

The nursery is complete with the exception of a few decorations that we'd like to set up but are nonessential. Now I need to start getting a jump on a few things like a jump bag with all the essentials for when my wife goes into labor. Until then, send me some lives on candy crush because this game is kicking my butt.