Officially Baby-tized

Connor has officially taken over.

How do I know this? Well, to start, my definition of "nap time" has completely changed.

PREVIOUS NAP TIME DEFINITON: Getting into bed mid-afternoon with Dennis next to me (don't let him fool you...he is a nap-lover just like I am!).

CURRENT NAP TIME DEFINITION: Taking advantage of any free (and quiet) minute that I have. And, apparently Echo and Connor prefer to use me a a pillow.

Here is the other way that I know:

It's no secret that I am, well, uh...pretty anal... and so it shouldn't surprise you that I keep a log of when Connor eats and when he goes pee and/or poop. Dennis was changing his diaper (Connor's diaper, not to be confused with Dennis' diaper) and I asked him what presents he left for us so that I could update the log appropriately (no pun intended). It was obvious that he had not pooped so Dennis decided to find out if he wet his diaper instead. The scientific method that Dennis used was really the only one that makes sense: he stuck his fingers in the front part of the diaper.

I laughed at him. Not because he used this method but because I've done the same thing. Several times. Hey, it's important to make sure that the log is accurate. And you can always wash your hands.

When I Least Expected It

It started last week when I was feeding Connor and watching Oprah. And then it continued while I was talking with a co-worker on the phone. I didn't expect it and no one warned me that it would sneak up on me like it did. But, it happened and I am still here to talk about it, so I guess that is what really matters.

Oprah was interviewing several mothers on her show. They were talking about how easy it is to get so overwhelmed with normal, everyday life. And how easy it is to be so preoccupied that small things often get overlooked. Unfortunately, the small things that were being overlooked were this lady's children. She accidentally left her daughter in the car - for 8 hours - and she died because of the heat.

Then, when I was talking with my friend and co-worker last week, I realized that life goes on at work without me. I know it's a total shocker - and believe me, I was more surprised tha anyone when this thought entered my mind. She was talking about the things that are taking place right now with work and I had the realization that our conversation sounded just like one that I had with her 6 weeks ago ... and one that I had with her 6 monthis prior to that. I now see that work is important, but not nearly as important as I previously thought. It's not worth stressing about and spending time away from Dennis (or Connor) in the evenings to do computer work. It'll be there tomorrow. And the next day. And it's not like I won't get it done.

Connor has undoubtedly helped me to realize my unimportance at work. I absolutely love spending so much time with him right now. And, you may want to sit down for what I'm about to say next because I wouldn't have believed it if someone told me this prior to Connor's arrival. While I don't enjoy the actual waking up in the middle of the night to feed him, once I see his sweet face, it's suddenly OK that I'm up at 2am, 3am, or whatever time. It's OK because this is what is important. Dennis has tried to impress this upon me in the past but now it is really sinking in. Work and sleep have moved down on the priority list. Dennis and Connor (and Echo, of course!) are what matter most.

To prove it, these are a few photos that I took BEFORE 8AM last week. Now that is not something that I would've been able to say 4 weeks ago.

Happy 2 Weeks

Connor,

First, I am going to acknowledge that this is one day late. That's pretty good for me these days. Since you made your debut on June 2nd, I am typically one, two, or more days late at returning phone calls, responding to emails, and, well...taking a shower. I'm not complaining, I am just letting you know that my day is filled with loving you, trying to breastfeed you, cuddle you, calm you down when you are upset, changing your diapers (and acting quickly to avoid the inevitable golden shower), and just staring into your beautiful eyes. It doesn't sound like that would take up the majority of the day, but it does. And I love every minute of it. Well, except for the diapers. And I wouldn't mind a few more hours of sleep.

Speaking of sleeping, that is one of my favorite things to do with you. We've gotten into the habit of falling asleep together around 3pm every day. You, me, and Echo. I'll sit up on the couch, prop my feet up on the coffee table, lay you down on my chest and Echo cuddles up behind us. There is a whole bunch of love in that one corner of the couch.

And, you suck. You love the pacifier as do your father and I. It has saved us many times when we weren't quite sure why you were crying. The pacifier is one of your best friends. We've made an expert decision that the reason for your crying is that you probably have gas. And I must say that we've grown accustomed to the very loud, adult-sounding farts that escape your rear end several times a day. I had no idea that such a loud noise could come out of such a sweet and small little boy. Like father, like son, I guess.

Each day means more and more awake time for you. And for me. When your Grandma and Grandpa Lang (or Nana and Papa, as they requested) were in town for your birth, they weren't sure that you had eyeballs because each time that they came to the hospital to see you, you were sleeping. When they see you next, they will be as mesmerized as I am with your beautiful deep blue eyes.

You smile in your sleep and I often pretend that it's because you are thinking about how much fun we have together. But in reality, you probably just passed gas. And I'm OK with that. If you keep smiling, so will I.

Thanks for the most special 15 days of my life. I know it'll only get better and more fun from here.

Lv,

Mom (wow - - it's strange to refer to myself that way)

Redefining Multi-Tasking

A Trip Back in Time

When we came home from the hospital last Friday, we found several photos on our countertop. Dennis' parents had come by earlier in the day and dropped off some pictures of Dennis as a child. It was completely unexpected. And hilarious.

The first one we saw was Dennis' baseball team photo. Dennis had not seen this photo before. His first comment when he saw it was, "who is that kid that's yawning?" and we both laughed. Then we laughed even harder after he reviewed the photo and said, "the kid that is yawning is ME!" I had to hold my abdomen because I was laughing so hard and didn't want to disconnect anything that had been reconnected after my c-section.

We continued to look through the photos and saw this one. It's an adorable photo of Dennis as a baby.

Does Connor look like Dennis or what?!

Labor of Love

Connor is finally here! Dennis and I couldn't be more happy, in love, excited, exhausted, overwhelmed, and stressed. We're mainly the first three but the others follow a close second as we are adapting to life with a beautiful baby boy with HUGE lungs. His smiles are so incredibly sweet and make the screams easily tolerable. And, as you can imagine, we're learning every day...as I know Connor is, too.

Labor didn't like me very much. And to be perfectly honest, I didn't like it very much, either. So, I guess we're even. Here is the quick-and-dirty story: we pulled into the "Labor and Delivery" assigned parking at Northside Hospital Monday night at 7pm. We were ready to start the induction process. The plans were to check in, get settled, and then start with Cervidil Monday night and continue on with Petosin on Tuesday. We were prepared for a long road...but the end was in sight. We were going to get to meet our little boy.

As I mentioned, those were the plans. Oddly enough, they didn't work out. After we pulled into the designated parking area, my contractions began. We checked in and I asked Dennis to help me time the contractions and how far apart they were. After timing a few of them, he pointed out that we probably didn't need to do that since we were already at the hospital. And he was exactly right. So, no more watching the clock and counting seconds. Or so I thought.

Dennis took amazing care of me as my contractions continued to progress. They were occuring too frequently (every 3 minutes) to start the Cervidil. As I watched the clock, knowing what was going to occur every 3 minutes, the contractions continued to get stronger and didn't slow down. I was only dilated only 1 cm but when I got sick (several times) from the pain, the mid-wife that was on-call got me a morphine shot. After a few hours of no progress in the way of dilation or improvement in symptoms, I was then given an epidural. And... OH. MY. GOD. Epidurals are friggin' AWESOME. Within a minute (or possibly less), I was feeling relief.

Jumping ahead a few hours, nurses were being paged to the room that we were in and I heard something about there being "a lot of blood", Connor's heartrate dropping, and I saw Dennis literally shaking in the background. After a few minues, the doctor decided to rush me into an emergency c-section. One of the nurses tossed Dennis a "blue suit" and instructed him to put it on, pack up all of our belongings and follow everyone to the operating room. I received more medication in the operating room and everything from there on out is a bit fuzzy.

The important thing is not that it was a painful process or that I ended up NOT needing to pass something the size of a watermelon through my whooha, but the important thing is that we have this beautiful little man here with us safe and sound.

Seeing Connor for the first time was amazing, overwhleming, and the best feeling in the world.

I am so excited that Connor is here. FINALLY.