Becoming a happier baby

As we approach one month old this week, we took a second to look back and see how the first night home has drastically changed from then to now. The first night home we got to deal with a 3 hour scream fest, and of course we had no reason why this was. Well after changing formula, changing bottles, getting meds for reflux and colic, we are now leaps and bounds from where we were. Of course she still yells every now and then but no where near to what life was like. Also since now she is feeling better we decided to take a quick trip out. Ruth will ride with us as we pickup dinner as well as run a quick errand, however this past week we went on a visit. Another couple from our small group had their baby boy three weeks after Ruth, and since they had gotten home and we had not seen their son, we loaded up and went over to say hi.

Below are some of the photos from our "quick trip" out. Oh and yes you will see that even though Ruth is 3 weeks older she is still about a full pound lighter, enjoy

Who's afraid of pooh?

As the old saying goes baptism by fire, yeah I got to experience this wonderful joy of parenthood.

The other night I was feeding Ruth and of course everything is going well. Then it comes time to burp, so we do followed by another sound out of the "southern" region. I think to myself, uh oh... Then Ruth looks at me and kind of gives me a face that says oh, I feel better. Now you would not think that something that small could produce a smell that bad but they can. So after a few moments I notice the smell is not going away, in fact it's almost as if it is right under my nose. Well it was, in a way, it was all over my shirt! Now Joanna is on the couch enjoying herself as all of this is happening. So since she thinks this is funny I decided to let her take the poop monster and I will go and clean myself up. Yeah I went back into her room to see how bad it was, bad idea...

The smell made the gag reflex turn on so I quickly left the room and went to get some fresh air as Joanna is still laughing. Thankfully my wonderful wife was there to step in and take charge of the situation. I was afraid I was going to have to deal with that myself. Now let's fast forward to Monday, May 23rd.

Joanna has dinner with her friends so it is daddy daughter time. No big deal, in fact looking forward to it. So I have my dinner and then it is time to feed Ruth. Again going great and then it happens. I hear the sound I was dreading and could smell a smell that made a dead deer smell good. Now Joanna did tell me that "IF" I thought the diaper was going to leak to quickly grab a burb cloth and use it to cover her backside with. So I do that and we are all good, but I know that I am going to have to change this. Well to my fear the smell does not go away, and for some reason my shirt feels awful warm. So I decide to go and change her and then we can finish the feeding. What happens next I was not ready for, in fact it was down right "DIRTY"

I put Ruth on the changing table and to my shock and horror her outfit was a puke green to yellow color, all the way up to her chest. As for my shirt, well you get the picture. No time to think, just act. Therefore I simply take off my shirt and start to try and get Ruth out of her outfit. I told myself you only get one shot at this, if this does not work I will cut it off! Well I did not have to cut it off so now it was on to the diaper. I will spare you the details but it was not looking good. I have a lady I work with at the office that told me to breathe in and out of my mouth in times like this. Good call here, as I almost hyperventilate!! Ok so diaper is off but the smell is still reaching my nose, so I quickly grab the powder and give it a good shake all over Ruth and this diaper. Now this works and I am on to using half the box of the wipes to clean her. After that we were home free and my gag reflex did not kick in, I"M SO PROUD OF ME!!!

Ok well tonight is bath night so why worry about putting clothes on, so I grabbed a blanket and wrapped her up and then went back to feeding. All in all it made for an interesting evening but afterwards things went great.

Below are some photos of Ruth, since I have not uploaded any in a while. Enjoy!!

Home Alone

So yesterday Joanna and I sent home all our help... what the heck are we thinking!! All kidding aside we had to start getting use to life without help. Of course this does not mean we won't still accept food! :) Well it seems to be a pattern that Ruth likes to wake up in the late afternoon an hour to an hour and a half before feeding time. While this is not a big problem, she is testing us. She wants to see if we will feed her early so she screams and pitches a fit, but neither Joanna nor I give in. So yesterday when this started we decided to try something new, we went for a stroll!!

Now I have to say when we first got in the stroller it was not working, but once we were outside walking down the street she quit her fussiness. I now know that car rides, and stroller walks seem to work for a while. After the stroller ride we still had about an hour till feeding time, and she starts screaming again.  Now we go to plan B. What is plan B you ask... Grab the car seat, put her in it, put her on top of the dryer, and turn it on! At first she would have none of this, but then a little rocking plus the dryer vibration did the trick.

We are now 10 min away from feeding time, so since she hates baths, we decided to go ahead and give her one. Yes you guessed it she was not happy. Joanna did tell her that in a few years she will LOVE baths, however not today. Ok so bath is finished and we are dry and ready to eat so daddy will feed her. Life is good and everything is going great, then it happened...

Ruth had just burped and then there was this sound in her tummy. It seemed to be getting louder and louder, which I thought was strange, and then the sound stopped. What happened next was of course one of my worse fears. No I did not get spit up on... I got PUKED ON!! All over my chest and down my belly, everything she had just eaten I was now wearing. I was able to get my shirt up in time to catch the pool of puke. Now most of you know I have a very weak stomach but I thought I did quite well here. I called for Joanna who came around the corner and was like, "holy cow the baby exploded all over you!!" Yes she was laughing. So she took Ruth and cleaned her up as I went out side and dumped my shirt in the grass, I'm sure the neighbors enjoyed the show.

After that life calmed down and we could focus on who was going to take what shift in the feedings. I offered to take the 1am and 4am, and Joanna would take the 10pm. Well I don't know what all happened but when I got up at 1am Ruth was asleep in the swing and Joanna was on the couch. I got Ruth and Joanna had informed me that she had only been asleep for maybe an hour. Well I did all I needed to do and she went right back to sleep. The rest of the night was pretty calm but Joanna and I are both pretty tired. Next week ought to be interesting.

We have had some play time and below are some photos of that. Joanna and I both agree Ruth is going to be crawling a lot sooner than we are ready for! Enjoy...

Adjusting to life at home

Joanna and I have found out there are a lot of things that the hospital does not tell you with your first child. Like don't expect your child to act like they do at the hospital. In fact as soon as  you get home get ready for the crazy times to begin. Of course after the first night, and now each night that follows, we learn.

Ruth is teaching us as much as we are "trying" to teach her, and even though you think you are figuring things out, that is when she hits the reset button. While there are "tougher times" there are a lot of great times. We are trying to figure out if she is more of a wiggle worm or a tree frog.

She loves to be held close and she will sleep on your chest and draw up her legs, and sleep. It is by far one of her best places to be. She is also very much a wiggle worm, and you better watch her. She is not a week old but yet she likes to try and roll over and it is amazing how strong her legs are. Well we have had a lot of fun but each day that goes by is one closer that I have to get back to work.

Joanna is getting stronger but is still pretty sore. Each day is better for her but she knows she still has a little way to go. The good thing is that each day she sees herself getting stronger, and she is feeling better. Below are a few photos of the days at home.

Homeward Bound

Finally time to head home. The day started with Ruth coming into the room a little before 7:30am, so much for sleeping in till 8am. She came in wide eyed and bushy tail and was ready to eat at 8am. After getting all the paperwork taken care of, doctors coming by, and packing up we were ready to go by 11:30am. Hey here is a funny for you. Watch two new parents try and put their newborn into a go home outfit as well as in a car seat for the first time. I think I broke a sweat trying to get her into the car seat. My thought is if I can get her in the seat quickly then she won't cry. I will give Ruth credit she sat still and never made a sound as we were trying to get her taken care of. We were able to finally get her in the seat and below is the proof!

Let's go home dad!

Now I have to say Ruth has been great in the hospital and really has been quite easy on us. I think Ruth knows we have no idea what we are doing. Well, then we go home and things changed...

It all started with a spit-up that lead to a quick clean up that lead to a scream fest that neither of us had heard of. I can say this much, neither Joanna nor I panicked and has she kept on screaming we went through our checklist that they gave us.

1. Is she hungry (nope, just fed her)
2. Is she dirty or wet (nope, just changed her)
3. Gassy (Well how in the heck do you check that!!!)

Ok so we figured it was number 3 because that made the most sense. I was able to get her to calm down for about 30 min and then she fell asleep so into the bed she goes. Well 20 min later she is screaming again, COME ON!!!

Well this time grandma took her but that did not work, so it was mama time and you know what... That worked! Joanna took her and walked down the hall and sang Jesus Loves Me, and to sleep she went. As I speak now she is still asleep and will wake up in about an hour to eat. It has been a lot of fun and I cannot see how a person could do this by herself. Anyway below are some photos of the day!

Busy Saturday

The weekends are always a lot of fun, especially Saturdays. Ours started this morning with Ruth getting her check-up for the morning and then she came into the room at 8:30am. She was wide awake and ready to eat. Joanna was feeling better today as well and she is moving around pretty good, considering. We also had several friends and family come by, and that really lifted Joanna's spirits. All in all a really good day. As far as tonight goes this will be our last night in the hospital, and that means the last night we get actual sleep!

Ruth has been a trooper and has really done a great job eating. She is a strong little girl and can kick and squirm with the best of them. Everyone loves to come and see her and it's funny to see how she makes everyone smile. Below are some of the photos of the day.

Kim Shirley from our small group at church

Ruth and Joanna got flowers

Grandpaw

 

Lunch time!

Daddy's Girl

We would also like to thank Justin and Allison Wilkerson, also in our small group, for bringing us dinner tonight and just hanging out! Oh that reminds me, some of you have asked about cooking for us and we are all for it! Below is a link for you to click on and let us know when you are coming.

http://mealbaby.com/viewregistry/470475

Good night!

The Day After

Wow what a difference a day makes. A little sleep and no pain goes a long way. Joanna is doing great, sore of course from the c-section but is getting better and better each day.

The morning was a little rough but after lunch things have really looked up. We have had some family and friends come by and it has been nice to visit with them all. Of course Ruth was the star of the show! It is now 9pm and we are both pretty tired. Ruth is down for a nap but before she did fall asleep she showed us how LOUD she can be. Of course she does not act like this when company is here but for Joanna and I she decided to show off! I now have two women that pull at my heart strings when they are hurting, the problem with Ruth is, she can't tell me. No worries as the nurses here said it really is only one of three things, hungry, diaper change, or needs to be burped. Once you check all of those she should be good. So I put her in Joanna's arms and grab a bottle and feed her, and you know she stopped crying! Guess she needed some mama time. Well tomorrow is Saturday and we have more friends coming by and we look forward to that. Now its off to bed but before we go here are some pictures from the day.

Ruth Lily Hopkins, May 5th 2011

Let me first say it has been a day. I can truly appreciate what it entails to having a baby. So recapping the day, here we go.

Joanna was awake at 10:30pm on May 4th with light contractions. These did not go away and at 1:30am, May 5th I was made aware. We started counting the contractions and when they were 5 min apart for 45 min, we called the doctor. We were told to come in and we arrived and got checked in right around 3am. The contractions were off and on, but they were picking up with greater intensity therefore we knew we were staying and having a baby today.

Later that morning the epidural was given and how grateful I was to see that. This helped Joanna out with the pain, little did we know it was not all it was cracked up to be. Joanna had her water broken and things started happening, not fast but at least there was movement. Then came some serious pain. It was like a spot and it seemed to move from the left to the right all the way back to the middle. After hours of no relieve, and plenty of pain they decided to give another epidural. This seemed to work and for about 45 min it did, however that was when the cervix pain came on strong. Ruth was ready to go but the cervix was not and she was only at 8cm.

Let me say I have seen people in pain and I don't like it. I have witnessed small injures to larger ones, but nothing prepared me for what I had to watch my wife go through. Time felt like it was standing still and there was no relief in site. Finally after more attempts they finally calmed down, with the help of some drugs. At 6:45 the doctor came in for one final check, still no progress. So the decision was made for a section, and if Joanna could have ran into the operating room she would have. However we still had a problem with the epidural. If it did not work in the room was it going to work in surgery?

They ran some quick test and found out it would not so the decision was made for Joanna to be put under. Since this was the case I had to sit in the hall and wait, put did not have to wait long. They put Joanna under at about 7:15pm and Ruth was here at 7:22pm! So if you are counting the hours at home that would mean Joanna when through labor for almost 21 hours!!

However she is now resting and is not in any more pain. To say we are both exhausted would be an understatement. However our baby girl is here and we are soooooooo glad she is. Thank you all for your messages and as I promised below are a few pictures!!

Light at the end of the tunnel

Ok so after a second epidural it appears that the pain has finally stopped. THANK YOU GOD!!

We are now at 7cm, close to 8 but the biggest thing is that we are comfortable. Our doctor will not be here for the delivery but we are in good hands with doctor on call. Like they told us earlier today this is a long process but we are almost finished

Hanging in there

Well for the first time since around 8ish Joanna is finally able to sleep. She was given the epidural and that seemed to help with the pain for a while, then it got strange. Depending on what side Joanna was laying on the other side could feel the contractions. Of course these are what we call "chart toppers". I came up with that name because when you look at them on the screen they are at the top line.

They came back in and checked the epidural and then gave her a little extra boost. For the time being that worked and like I said Joanna is asleep. She is already exhausted and we have not even gotten close to pushing. She and I both agree that Ruth needs to come on out after about 20 min of pushing. Of course she has been difficult so far so I am not sure this will be any different.

Not sure when they will come and check her again but once we have any additional news I will update you all. Thanks for the e-mail and texts, sorry if we are not responding but know Joanna is getting them and appreciates you all!!

Funny what can happen in a few hours

Ok so here we are blogging from Woman's hospital. Yep you guessed it Ruth will be here today!! So I know you want the details so I will tell you my side of the story.

At about 1:20am I heard Joanna call for me but of course I was so out of it I had no idea where she was. She was in the bathroom and asked for her phone, water, and a bath cloth. So I "quickly" stumbled into the bathroom to see what the heck was going on. Joanna then informed me that she was having contractions and had been having them since about 10:45pm. So of course I asked the obvious question "why did you not wake me?" Her response "I have been calling for you for a good 30 min, plus I was banging on the wall, as well as clapped my hands!!"  Oh.... Well the dog never moved either so give me a break here.

Then I started counting the contractions with her and after an hour of steady contractions about 5 min apart, we called the doctor. We were then told to come on up and so at 3am we were here. Once in the bed they started monitoring the contractions. Of course they slowed down, but when they came they were longer and stronger.

At 6am the doctor was called and it was decided that Joanna would be having the baby today. She did give us the option to go home, but we both knew we would be back here this afternoon. We were told this will be a long process and to try and rest. Ok really??? If the contractions woke Joanna up, how the heck is she going to sleep? I mean I can... but let's not go there.

Stay tuned as I am sure we will keep updating as we can. And yes once she is here we will upload some photos. I will let you all know that Joanna and baby are doing well, as well as can be!

39 Week Doctor Apt. - COME OUT!!!

Well I am 39 weeks and 3 day pregnant and VERY ready for this baby girl to get here!!! Unfortunately the doc says that's probably a no go judging by the signs of my body. I am still stuck at 50% effaced and 1 cm dilated!! UGH!!! Stubborn little girl!! I have to say I was and still am a little disappointed to hear that news. I was for sure hoping to have progressed a little bit further along, especially with all the contractions and movement this week. I just feel like I have a long week ahead of me. She is not showing any signs of slowing down or giving me a break - except to maybe break a rib!! I sent last night from 11 to 12 walking the living room and hallway because she was so active I could not physically lay down and sleep. The only way it was bearable was to be up and moving - which makes for a really long night. It also doesn't help when you can hear your husband snoring away in the bed throughout the whole house. I keep telling myself this is good practice but I mean come on at least she will be here in my arms and I'll have something sweet to look at- right now all I can do is yell at my belly!! UGH oh well I guess I need to quit venting and just be happy that she is healthy and coming out next Wednesday!!! I just need some prayers for my sanity and a safe delivery next week! I am excited about meeting our newest addition I just wish she would make an early arrival!! :)

Walking and Exercise

Well no baby as of this exact moment so everyone just settle down.

It has come a routine around here to go for an afternoon walk once I get home from work. Of course this is a great form of exercise but they say this is also supposed to help the baby come quicker. Well there are other things as well like eating spicy foods, and well this other thing that I won't mention, but I am starting to think they are old wives tales. Ok so since we have been going on these walks I think the dog enjoys them more than anyone else. Well today he got an extra treat not only did we go for a walk but we then came back and played "attack of the killer bubbles!!" It's a great game, we blow bubbles and Blitz tries to eat them as fast as he can, see the photo evidence below.