Thursday, December 15, 2011

Good Day

Emerson went to the doctor today. He was 9 lbs. 3 oz. One ounce below his birth weight which is really good for being less than 91 hours old. He checked out fine. He had some blood drawn to check for jaundice but he came back alright.
He likes to keep his legs tucked close to him. I am guessing most babies do that. It makes for a funny and cute pose.
Right now, we are trying to focus on getting the hang of things with having a newborn. Its a challenge, but we are doing well. Sleep has been better than with Donovan and Hayden, no offense to them. I remember the feelings of despair that we had late at night that are not present right now. Instead, waking up and taking care of business is like a minor hassle. I know that will change a bit as he gets fussier.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Thanks to Aunt Laura and Uncle Scott and Grandma Sue

For nearly two weeks (maybe more), Laura waited patiently for Melissa (or me) to make the phone call that would go something like this:
*if it were made around December 1-- Us: "Hey, you remember when you told us you would watch Donovan and Hayden when the new baby was going to be born, well, can you come over?"
*if it were made around December 4, it would sound something like this -- Us: "Hey, yeah, we know he is overdue, can you come over to watch Donovan and Hayden?"

After December 5, we knew Melissa would be induced on December 12. And Laura and Scott patiently waited in anticipation that the baby would come sooner.

On Sunday, December 11 around 7:30 am, Melissa made the call. She had been in labor at home for over 2 hours. Needless to say, I don't remember what Melissa told Laura. What was important is that with a flash, Laura and Scott dropped all plans and came over and took great care of Donovan and Hayden for the next 54 hours. Scott slept at our house and put the boys to bed each night. They made certain the boys got to the hospital to see Emerson. They took care of the pets. No money was missing. They freed up Grandma Sue to be with Melissa during her delivery, something that made the delivery go very well. The kept the house in tact. Laura even printed pictures for the boys to take to school on Monday of the new baby! Thank you so much Aunt Laura and Uncle Scott.

Grandma Sue met Melissa at the hospital. I didn't even know she was coming. I thought it would be just Melissa and me. I am glad it wasn't. Melissa was nearly crying from her long walk and she was releived to see Sue waiting at the Nurse's Station for her on the second floor. Sue stayed the entire time and I don't even think she left the delivery room. I did to use the bathroom and to refill my coffee. Melissa and I had never been through a normal delivery before. We didn't know what to expect. Sue did. She even picked 3:15 as the time the baby would be born (game time for the Packer game). She was quite a bit off--he was born at 3:20. Her presence and insight were reassuring and gave us the forsight to help Melissa and get Emerson out safely. Thank you so much Grandma Sue and for the gifts for Donovan and Hayden! I think they feel special right now too.

Emerson Eats

Emerson being held by Mom this morning before eating.



Emerson has had a good first two days. He was up a lot on Monday night because he was hungry. We didn't get much sleep between Emerson and the nurses (random 5:00 am blood draw from Emerson, that probably could have been done at noon) and doctors coming in ultra early. I remember being up at 1, 2:08, 3:15, 5:02, 6:26 and then sleeping til 8:28. Melissa was awake more often than me. That said, we are having a nice morning with him. He is just eating an awful lot with whatever Melissa can produce.

Emerson had a lot of visitors on Monday: Grandma Sue, Donovan and Hayden, Aunt Laura, Uncle Scott, Nathaniel, Aunt Karolyn, Uncle Jason, Carson and Sonja all came on Monday! He got held and was really sleepy, but generally he was content and happy.

This is definitely different than when Donovan and Hayden were in the NICU and we would go down and stay while the nurses attended to them in their plastic huts. I ran into a dad who has a daughter in the NICU. She was born at 35 weeks. We talked for a bit. He and his fiance are going through the same unknowns that Melissa and I did back then--when can we take the baby home, will everything be ok, why does the baby have the tube there and there, when can we hold the baby . . . . I think it was good for him to know we went through the same things and everything ended up fine.

This morning, the doctor said Emerson was a little yellow and we should keep an eye on him and have his friend Billy Rubin checked out. He has a small fever today, but that went away and should not stop us from taking him home later today.
I am going to go install the car seat.

Following is a summary of Emerson's day and night: Eats, happy, sleeps, rudely awoken by nurses or blood drawer, cries, eats, sleeps, cries, diaper change, eats, sleeps, cries, examined, cries, eats, sleeps. Repeat.

Laura printed and gave Donovan and Hayden each a picture to take to school of them and Emerson. Apparently, Donovan and Hayden showed it a lot and were just thrilled. That made both of us smile. Thanks Aunt Laura.

Hanging out on Emerson's first full day on 12/12



Sunday, December 11, 2011

Emerson


Emerson and his family



Welcome Emerson Hieronimus Gulya

We now have three wonderful sons. Emerson was born 8 days after his due date on December 11 at 3:20 p.m. We are absolutely thrilled and so are Donovan and Hayden. Donovan was really good about holding the baby and Hayden was all smiles when he held him too. He has taken well to nursing so far. Labor was definitely tough and a new experience for us since Donovan and Hayden were emergency c-section deliveries. Emerson has some mucus to spit up still, but other than that he appears healthy.


Sunday, December 4, 2011

Who has four thumbs and is still not at the hospital?

I'll go with Melissa for the win! Yep, patiently waiting . . . .

Saturday, December 3, 2011

It's 11:45 a.m, on December 3, due date,

and there is still no baby! Melissa and I went out for a nice dinner last night at Erin's Snug Irish Pub and then did some shopping and watched Breaking Bad. As you can tell, we engaged in a pattern of activities to encourage a certain little boy to come visit the real world. Instead, he continues to enjoy his humble and quiet surroundings.