Sorry for the delay...raising a baby is hard!

Hi all, sorry for the delay, but raising a baby is hard!

Things have been going well since JW was born, but man it is a tiring exercise.  Having to get up every couple of hours to feed, change, burp, and sooth back to sleep certainly takes a toll.  After the first couple of weeks he has started to fall into his own routine as well, which sometimes means all the rocking and soothing in the world is not going to get him to sleep.

This being said the best advice I can give you is keep your sense of humor and remember that your partner isnt out to get you.  Sometimes those late night feedings get aggrivating and sometimes anger seems to appear out of nowhere.  Remember you have an awesome little person to take care of!  Also it does get better, at least that's what I am told!

(sorry for the delay/crappy update.  It has been difficult to get back into blogging, but i will get there)

The first 3 weeks

So here I am 3 weeks into being a dad.  I  had the first two weeks off from work, but I am back now.Many times I have opened my laptop, opened blogger and then blanked out, but I promise I will get there.

Thinking back on the first three weeks the biggest thing I can remark on is the speed of the whole thing.  At the time it seemed as if things were dragging by, but now I am looking back saying where did the time go?  So far we have a fantastic baby.  Sometimes he is fussy at night, but really he is pretty good for the most part.

Once you get out of the hospital the real fun/learning begins.  Although the things that they tell you in the hospital are important, they really dont seem to help much once you are home.  Things happen that you never thought to ask about and it seems much more difficult when you don't have a nurse to buzz.  Just relax and go with it.  The baby only has a couple of needs so run through the list and try and find out whats wrong

Is he wet?
Is he hungry?
Does he have gas?
Is he tired?
Does he just want to be held?

Those are the 5 things that 95% of crying is related to.  It gets very easy to forget this list (which seems silly, but its the truth) so just take a breath and go through it.  Everything will be ok.

Also remember to enjoy the good parts.  Sleeping babies are fun to hold, the same way the faces they make are hilarious. Try and enjoy those times, that way the tough times seem a little easier.

Top 10 tips I have for the new parent

Hi all.  Things are going well here, although there is some definite sleep deprivation going on right now.  That being said we love having our little JW home with us.  Here are the top 8 posts I have for the new parent, both in the hospital and at home.

1) Don't feel bad about sending the baby to the nursery
2) Don't get pushed around by nurses/doctors/lactation consultants
3) Ask questions, no matter how dumb you feel
4) If you have a pet, get him used to babies smell
5) Read the directions on your breast pump
6) Don't be afraid to have people over, but DEFINITELY don't be afraid to tell people not to come
7) Sleep is great, but so is relaxation
8) Paper plates and silverware, the last thing that you want to do is dishes when you are home

Most of these are self explanatory, but the biggest 3 are 6-8  Guests can be the greatest thing in the world...or they can be a physical and mental drain that you really don't need right after bringing home a new baby.  The biggest issue is those guests that you have to entertain and that come in and ruin your routine.  Having a baby is all about routine, especially if you are using your breast pump often.  Just stick to your routine and let everyone else do their thing.

Sleep is great, get it.  At the same time relaxation is almost, if not equally, as important.  Take a minute when the baby is napping to do something you really like.  Watch a move, listen to music or read a book.  This will let you burn off some steam and then you will sleep that much better.

Paper products are KEY!  The last thing that you want to do right after you have a brought a baby home is dishes. You ultimately will end up doing dishes but if you can cut out the plates and cutlery you will have noticeably less things to wash.

Now entering the game, batting 3rd, JW

Hi all sorry for the lack of posts, but our little guy arrived! I wanted to post something here with all the details

He was born on 29 August at 0354 in the morning. Labor took about 14 hours and we arrived at the hospital during the height of the hurricane, although the hurricane really didn't hit us to bad.

Everyone is doing fine although MW and I are still catching up on sleep and trying to figure out how the hell to be parents.

Once I am a bit more with it I will post a couple of times on labor and delivery, recovery and bringing him home.

Ok so here is the plan

Ok so we had our appointment with the OB today and MW is 1 cm dilated and 50% ephased (softening of the cervix) the plan moving forward is as follows.

We will continue to monitor MW at home for any changes/ if labor kicks in. If on Sunday the baby hasn't come we will go into the hospital and get a cervix softening gel put on. This gel further softens the cervix in preparation for delivery. MW's OB said that sometimes this gel causes woman to go into labor (about a 20% chance) After some monitoring we will go home and see if the gel does the trick. If not we are set up for an induction at 0700 on Tuesday!

All the while we will try and dodge the pending hurricane.

Its the final countdown!!

Hurricane watch

So apparently the northeast has a possibility of being hit with what is left of Hurricane Irene when she comes up this way.... great great. Come on baby, lets get out before high winds and rain ok?

Week 40 update

We are almost at our due date! Saturday 27 August is the current due date for our little buddy, but at the moment he seems quite content to just hang out and relax.

The biggest thing I have noticed in the past week and a half is the fact that both MW and I are VERY ready for pregnancy to be over. Sure having a newborn brings a whole host of different stresses, but at least they will be different stresses!

The plan right now is to go until Monday and, if the baby doesn't come before then, have a meeting with the OB about the plan moving forward (ie induction)

Hopefully it will not come to that, but I will keep every one updated.

Also my buddy MC is back in the US which is awesome! Maybe our little buddy was just waiting for his Crazy Uncle Crawley to get back!