Adventures in life with a newborn:

Breastfeeding, really, what could be easier and more natural, right? Baby + boob = done, right? At 4 in the morning, he’s happily feeding one moment, then stops and starts shrieking with gusto with no apparent cause the next moment. And to compound the mystery, the best way to tell that he's getting enough to input is to inspect the eventual output. Yep, that’s means poop.

Another unexpected thing: 7-8 pound baby, adult-size flatulence. No one tells you that farts are one size fits all. It’s a mystery where he gets all that wind.

Holy Crap, Batman! What that in my baby’s diaper?!? No one told me that I would look forward to Grey Poupon in my baby’s diaper, but I do. Bright green slime = bad. Whole grain mustard = good, I think.

And, yes, there have already been blowouts. Thankfully, not on my shift! Casey had to resort to hosing down the baby the sink and drying with paper towels because that’s what he had at the office. Indy was not pleased. Casey neither. Also, he has not peed on either one of us yet. The mirror on his changing table, yes. Himself, double yes, but so far both parents are unscathed.

All this to say, what the heck am I doing?!?

Despite our cluelessness, I think things are going pretty well, with the credit mostly going to Indy’s easy-going temperament (knock on wood that he stays that way!). When he does fuss, the cause can usually quickly be found, and a lot of the time he either naps, or is calmly alert (he loves staring at lamps or faces) or cutely wiggling and chirping to himself. With his big round belly and skinny arms and legs, he looks just like a frog. A very cute, cuddly frog, of course.

Also, he has no problem accepting a bottle, as he took over for dad by bottle #2:He gets that independent streak from his parents.

Speaking of independent, now that he's a month old, he can be taken out in public more, so life is starting to find a normal rhythm. It's quite nice, actually. Usually each day includes a walk, perhaps a visit to the office to see Daddy and Grandpa, and other social engagements like Mommy & Me classes or playgroup or visits from Mamie Marie-Anne (Mamie is "grandma" in French, fyi). Gradually, I'm geting back to working out which is really fun, despite the hassle of coordinating life between regular feedings every 3 hours.

I went up to work last Tuesday so that my co-workers could meet the baby (all the previous new moms did it, so I figured it was the right thing to do), and I was really surprised about how much my new life has eclipsed the old. I'm sure at some point in time I'll want to go back to work, but I don't think I'll ever care as much about who's passing or not or whatever. I'm going to enjoy the time I have at home as full-time mommy as much as I can. So far, I'm loving it.

On a side note:

Even the fruit is breast-obsessed 'round here!

1st Mothers Day

I've had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. My mom-in-law, Cindy, was kind enough to drive up from Georgetown to see the baby and to babysit for us. Definitely an amazing Mother's Day gift, unlimited babysitting! We definitely took every opportunity to do things we haven't done since Indy was born. Friday evening, we went to White Rock Coffee to listen to music and read books.

To celebrate the Meyers' mothers day, Cindy, Casey, Indy and I had a lovely brunch at Toulouse with Dustin and Aubrey. The restaurant opened up the front terrace, and it was so very French...even though we all had eggs...which isn't very French (at least not at 10am) and had a nice time walking around Restoration Hardware thinking of the beautiful furniture we would love to have in the future. This dining room table that is the one thing I want to buy for the new house. It's made from 100 year old salvaged pine. So much character. I imagine it with mismatched antique chairs, silver candelabras, and white pillar candles.

Saturday afternoon, we went thrift shopping (Garland Thrift is awesome for cheap clothes, but no place for a newborn). Casey got very bored while waiting for me to try on clothes and sought out the ugliest things he could find. He found lots, the above outfit only one of many. He also during our outing wore a red pleather beret, a safety yellow fishing hat, a used curly wig, Hawaiian shirt and a kid's wrestling helmet.

Saturday night we went out for a very special Mother/Fathers Day dinner. We went to Nick & Sam's Steakhouse and had the best restaurant meal ever. (Because my Nana's special fried chicken, creamy mashed potatoes, scratch made gravy and fresh corn remain the best thing I've ever had.)But this was a close second. We had their Oysters Rockefeller, delicate crab cakes, caviar, the amazing "Fred Flintstone" rib-eye steak with truffle butter, sauteed spinach, forest mushrooms, lobster mac & cheese (which was AMAZING...and I neither love lobster nor mac & cheese usually) and a yummy chocolate cake so large it could crush a car. I'm surprised I could still fit IN the car after all that good food. Once a year, I suppose it's alright. :-) The ambiance was lovely as well. It was such a treat.

Sunday we got to go to church, while Nana Cindy watched the baby. He was very good she said and slept most of the time.And finally, a message to the little one who made me a mom. Thank you so much for letting me be your mommy. I love being with you. I love the little squeaks you make when you sleep. I love kissing your sweet cheeks and stroking your soft hair. I love the little pouty face you make when you don't want to eat. I love your big blue eyes that stare and stare at faces and other things that interest you. I love that you love listening to your daddy read to you, even zombie books. I love taking care of you and feeding you, even at 3 in the morning. My favorite thing is when your tummy is full, you fall asleep, snuggling into my arms. Indiana, my sweetums, you are everything I ever wanted.

Two weeks

Indy is two weeks old today. :-) I went to my first Mommy & Me class at Baylor and weighed him, he's back at his birth weight. Woo woo! It's good to know that he's getting enough to eat and is on track. The Mommy & Me class was really good too. Each week they have a different speaker, which is great to be getting more info on taking care of him, plus it was great getting to talk to other new moms. I definitely need that.

Casey & I had a nice weekend and even got to go to church because Dustin and Aubrey babysat him for us. And it was fun getting to hang out with them as well. We are so lucky to have such a fun and supportive family.

The Labor Story: Thursday-Monday

Thursday night, I started having some real but sporadic contractions. I called in a sub for the next day, but they slowed down during the night, I decided to go ahead and go to work, since all the labor literature I had read recommended staying active (and distracted) during early labor. And I was really glad I went. It was the last day of the six weeks, and I knew it was my last day. The kids worked on projects and group work, and I got everything finalized and ready for the sub to take over on Monday. It was amazing to be able to wrap things up like that.

Then, things got a lot more challenging Friday night. Stronger, longer but still sporadic contractions started. We were packing to go to the hospital at 2:30 am. Casey asked when I thought we'd be having this baby, and I said...in the next twelve hours. Man, how little did we know at the time. You certainly can't plan everything!

So, I kept having long contractions 1 1/2- 2 minutes each, 6-15 minutes apart through the night, and the next day and Saturday night, and Sunday, all day, and Sunday night. (FYI-5 minutes apart for an hour is when you're in active labor...so this was all "early labor.") I spent a lot of the day pacing around the house Saturday and doing circles around the living room Sunday. The worst part was the three nights in a row of sleep interrupted every 15-45 minutes with intense pain. It felt like it would never stop. By that point in time, the only thing keeping me together was knowing that we had an induction scheduled Monday morning.
If I didn't hate that shirt before, I definitely hate it now. ;-)

But Monday morning did come. On Thursday, I had been 3 cm dilated, and after three nights and two days of contractions, I was only at 4 cm.
This is me before they broke my water. Happy to be making progress. The plan was to do that, then only use the pictocin if necessary. So, after they broken my water, I was in active, fast hard labor with contractions every 2-5 minutes. The doula, Michelle, rubbed my back, spoke soothingly, directed me how to moan and to relax, encouraged me to walk. But after almost four hours of that, I was done. In about 10 seconds, I decided I wanted the epidural. It took 30-40 minutes to get IV fluids in and the epidural, and meanwhile they checked my dilation again. On average, active labor usually should get one cm of dilation an hour. I had only 1 cm progress in those 4 hours. This was the labor that would never end!

The epidural was absolute bliss. I slept for three hours, the longest I had slept in three days. In those three hours, I almost completely dilated, without pictocin. I hadn't planned on getting an epidural, but I also hadn't planned on being in labor that long, either. Rest was obviously what my body needed. To rest and relax. After that, we joked around while we waited for the OB to arrive. Then, after 30 minutes of painless pushing, the most amazing little person arrived. Casey asked the doctor if he could help deliver him, so I saw Casey pull him up and out and onto my chest. It was the most amazing moment of my life.This last little video sums it up perfectly.

Indiana Jack Meyers

My sweetums.

Indiana Jack Meyers was born on Monday, at 4:49 pm. He weighted 6 lbs and 14 oz, and measured 20 inches. His hair is brown, just the same shade mine was when I was younger, and he's got a plenty of it. Excellent. The nose is also definitely mine. The lips are probably Casey's, and definitely the long fingers and toes come from Daddy. Everything else, we'll see.

So far, we know he likes being swaddled, eating (especially at night!), and sleeping most anywhere, especially his swing. He likes looking at the animals in the swing, pack n' play, and mobile in his crib. He does not like being changed or baths. He likes it when you talk to him. Friday, I explained the process of making cheese, and he listened attentively, but nodded off during the bread making process. Another day. He also likes being read to. Night before last, Casey read to him for about two hours during a fussy period. Last night, it was Grapes of Wrath during a before bed feeding. Mommy likes being read to as well.
He is my sweetums. I love him.

3, 2, 1...0?

So, tomorrow is the official due date. April 12th. And I am definitely not in labor. A few Braxton-Hicks contractions, but no nesting, no water breaking, no real contractions. We've been hoping and hoping that he wouldn't come early, and I'm really glad he wasn't. It seems like every mom that had her baby early wanted to tell me about it...but none of the ones that were late.

But now we have to start worrying about him not coming on his own. Friday, at the doctor appointment, our ob said she wanted to tentatively schedule an induction for April 18th, not to pressure us, but simply because those induction spots can fill up, since many folks want to induce. We don't. I don't want medicine I don't need, and I don't want to try to force a natural process that's obviously saying, "I'm not ready." But what if that natural process doesn't kick start on it's own? The more we read, the more complications there seem to be with medical interventions (like induction, epidural, c-section)...but there are serious complications that arise for post-term pregnancies (at 42 weeks) as well.

So, ideally...Indy needs to come on his own in the next two weeks. I talked to our doula Saturday and she gave us some recommendations, take some supplements, see a chiropractor, etc. So we're trying those things along with what our ob recommended.

I also decided, at 2 in the morning Saturday night, that no matter what, this is my last week of work. I could go into labor at any time, of course, (which Indy is reminding me of, as he has hiccups right now) but even if I don't go into labor by next Monday, it's time to hand things over to the substitute. I had planned to keep working up until he comes, and I hadn't felt the need to quit working, really. I enjoy teaching and my energy levels have been really great lately. But I ended up staying late every day last week trying to get everything ready in case I went into labor the next day, and I don't need the stress. 4 more work days. I'll finish out this six weeks and be done. It's so hard to hand over my classroom to another teacher, but other things have to take priority. Good things, like our baby boy.

Casey keeps saying, "I'm ready to meet him." Me too. I want to hold him. See him. Wonder who he looks like. Feed him, cuddle him. Take care of him. Be his mom. I'm ready.

So, be ready too, little Indy!

The Quirkiness of Casey

A few things you might not have know about the comedian, Casey.

He likes to kiss farm animals:

In Hico.

And at the State Fair.

He's not afraid to show his feminine side:

In Paris.

In Urban Outfitters.

At the OBGYN, while I beg him to get off the table before the Dr. comes!

At Northpark.

At the Rodin Museum in Paris.

Even in Kroger.

He likes hamburgers:Lots.

And, if you couldn't already tell, he's not the least bit shy. We saw these Jersey Shore guido wanna-be's at Tony's on Friday, and Casey asked to have his picture with them.
Note her stomach tattoos. Sadly, her hair hid her prominently displayed ta-ta's. But their fake tans show in gleaming contrast to Casey's white shirt and guido pout.

All these pictures were posted not only with Casey's consent but with his insistence.