First Bath at Home

We gave Ian his first bath at home - he is three days old today. He took a sponge bath since we couldn't get his umbilical cord wet. By the microwave, you can see the green froggie sponge that came with his bath set. We ended up using a towel instead so it would absorb the water and not get the counter all wet. Daddy did most all the bathing and did a great job!

Getting undressed.

Cleaning his face and eyes.

Of course, Ian didn't like having to be a little cold and wasn't too fond of the end of his bath. Here he is telling Mommy about it. (Mommy looks tired, huh?)

Day 2 - Homecoming!

Whew! Having a newborn in the hospital was a lot of hard work! We're still trying to get to know Ian and figure out a schedule for him. The nurses wanted us to feed him every three hours, which didn't work very well. He's often not ready to eat at the three hour mark, so we would spend some time trying to feed him and then eventually give up and try and get some sleep. About twenty minutes into our sleep time, he would wake up and be ready to eat. Sigh. We'll get there, I'm sure. Next time, I'm following my own sense of schedule for the baby. I do have to admit that it was nice that the nurses would take him to the nursery for a while though. All this to say we are thrilled to be going home!! Three days and two nights in the hospital was enough for us and we are ready to be back in our own bed.

Still at the hospital - our little munchkin making a munkinhead face. (Haha - he seems to have inherited my ability to have weird stuff sticking out behind his head in pictures.)

James and his sis!

I love this picture of Aunt Julie and Ian!!

Getting ready to go home with our little bundle! He's wearing the same outfit that James and Kt wore home from the hospital.

However, our little buddy has bigger feet than they did. So, we changed him into another little outfit. Haha - he looks like a little golfer!

Melts my heart!

All safely strapped into his car seat ready for the ride home.

Walking out to the car - it was drizzly that day!

Cousin Ace saying bye.

Little buddy with all his things.

Home at last! Well, sort of. Home to Nana's for now. I was so sick that I wasn't able to work, so we started out with Aunt Julie and ended up at Nana's house until the baby was born.

III, IV, and V.

In the swing for the first time.

He's staring cross-eyed at the little tiger toy.

I can't say enough how thrilled we are to have Ian on this side of the belly! He's such a precious little guy! We're so blessed to have him in our lives (and a little sleep deprived too...haha).

One Day Old!

Happy One Day to you,
Happy One Day to you,
Happy One Day dear Iaannnn,
Happy One Day to you!

Daddy sang Ian this song today. Hard to believe our little baby boy has been on this side of the belly for over 24 hours now!

I just love looking at him! I am so glad he is finally here and I'm afraid I am not going to be able to memorize his face (haha - although those cheeks are hard to miss).

Daddy holding our little cone-head. Apparently James was even more cone-headed than that when he was born.

Aunt Kt with her first nephew!

Siblings and cousins...sweet pix!

Aunt Kt, Aunt Julie, and Grandaddy got us a beautiful door hanger. Everyone kept telling us it was the best one on the floor!

Our precious bundle snuggling with his Froggie from Aunt Lissie.

A quiet moment with Grandaddy.

Catching a nap with Daddy.

Gramma K brought Ian a cute little onesie (right). It compliments the little shirt James had when he was a baby.

Nana and Ian snuggling.

Family photo with the sock flower boquet Gramma K made us!

We found out tonight that Ian absolutely does NOT like dirty diapers. He started screaming shortly after dinner time and we had no idea why. We thought he was hungry, so family bid us farewell and went on home. I tried nursing him, but that didn't work. We finally checked his diaper and realized what the problem was. Go figure! I've never seen a kid that couldn't stand a dirty diaper the instant it happened. I'm sure we have much more to learn about our little baby - hopefully the trial and error process will go quickly!

Introducing James Emory Christian V!!!

After a morning of labor, an epidural, and an afternoon with family, we were finally getting ready to meet Ian!

Around 5pm, I was complete (dilated to 10cm and 100% effaced). I could tell that the pressure was building in my lower back and I was starting to get pretty nauseous. It was time to start pushing! I have so much respect for moms who give birth, espeically those who do it without any pain meds! It was pretty intense, even with an epidural. James, my mom, and his mom were all in there helping me with ice chips, cold rags to keep cool and keep the nausea at bay, and pushing - I had a great support team! I really don't know what I would have done without all of them. The nurse had me hold onto one end of the towel during the contractions while she pulled on the other end - it was like tug-of-war! I am so glad she did it that way though - it was the only way I could push without being too nauseous. I totally recommend this method for any mom giving birth - it got a big baby down the birth canal much faster than the regular way of pushing.

Two hours later, we got our precious little bundle of joy! He has somewhat of a conehead, just like his Daddy did when he was born. James got to cut the umbilical cord and then I got to hold him immediately.

Meeting James Emory V for the first time. What a precious little baby!

He was soooo good - hardly even cried the whole time he was being dried off and weighed! Nursing took a bit of work, but we got it going without too much hassle (at least the first time).

So sweet - he's holding onto Daddy's hand while the nurse finishes cleaning out his nose and mouth.

Weighing in at 8lbs 7oz!

Nana and Gramma K watching the nurse put on the HUGS tag (to keep strangers from running off with him).

Warm and dry snuggled in Daddy's arms.

First family photo.

After the nurses were done with his initial cleaning and measuring, Daddy took Ian upstairs to the nursery for his first bath and to finish checking his measurements.

First bath - not too happy about it!

Enjoying a "sun" bath under the warming lights. All newborns stay here for an hour after their bath to warm their body temps and ward off jaundice.

It has been a long journey, but we have an adorable bundle of joy to show for it! Thanks to everyone for all your support and understanding during such a difficult pregnancy!

It's Time!!!

For those of you who enjoy knowing the details (so don't read if you don't want to know)...

My water first broke around 8:15 this morning. It was a very light trickle at first, so I wasn't even sure if that is what the case was. James actually had the day off (yay!) and was sleeping in, so I didn't even wake him up at first. I started having contractions within about ten minutes of the first trickle, but I still wasn't convinced it was the real thing since I have had so many episodes of Braxton-Hicks contractions that petered out after a few hours. Within the next twenty minutes, I was pretty sure my water had broken, so I woke James up and we started gathering last minute stuff for the hospital.

I had fleeting thoughts about doing my hair and make-up, but the contractions were about two minutes apart and intense enough I had a hard time standing through them. I did jump in the shower for a few minutes, which was actually pretty soothing. Since none of the Braxton-Hicks contractions had been that strong, I was getting more and more sure it was the real thing. After a huge gush in the middle of the hallway (tiled floor, fortunately), we were certain this was the day!

Of course, it was raining (which we actually may have the storm to thank for Ian's arrival - we've heard changes in barometric pressure can induce labor) and the car needed gas. So, after a quick stop at the gas station, we were on our way. We recently moved, so we had about a 45 minute drive to the hospital. The contractions were getting stronger - James was a great coach and talked me through all of them. Breath in-2-3-4. Out-2-3-4.

Once at the hospital, they had me change into a gown and wait for a nurse to check and make sure my water had broken. I guess the fact that I was leaking all over the place wasn't convincing enough. After they had confirmed my water had indeed broken, I had to wait another 30 minutes for my nurse to show up. They were pretty busy today - every room was full. In the meantime, my mom showed up. She and James got me through the next several contractions while we waited for the nurse.

I was only dilated to a four when the nurse finally checked me, which surprised me since the contractions were intense. She was great though and sped through paperwork and labs so they could get an epidural going ASAP. It still took about an hour or so though and the contractions were about a minute apart and barely tolerable. I tend to think I have a high pain tolerance, but I don't know how much more I could have tolerated. Fortunately, the nurse hunted down the anesthesiologist, who was in high demand today, and got him to come see me before he went to a C section. It was about 12:15pm when I got the epidural. My ob came by just a few minutes later and found out I was dilated to 7cm.

The epidural definitely slowed things down a bit, but I was so thankful for the pain relief I didn't care. James' dad, sister (and her cutie 10 mo old son), aunt, and mom showed up too. We had a good afternoon chatting - it was nice to have the company since the epidural kept me from experiencing the worst of the contractions. Everyone was so sweet to come wait it out with us.

Here's family in the waiting room while I got the epidural.

James, me, Gramma K, Aunt Kt, and Ace. Just waiting on baby! I was feeling so much better after that epidural!


Posing with Grandaddy!

Can you tell that we are excited to finally get to meet this little guy?!

Updates

As many of you already know, James didn't get the Old Guard position. Here's an excerpt from an e-mail James sent out about the results:

As you all know, I went up to Washington, D.C. this last week to audition for the Army Old Guard Fife & Drum Corps. If you haven't already heard, I didn't get the job. One of the auditionees was a former member of the Old Guard, and he already knew their marching and playing style. So it was difficult to compete with that. I believe they made the right decision for their purposes. I was really impressed with how good all the other auditionees were. They said this was the most competitive audition they've ever had.
In the past, they said they've received video auditions, and no one met the minimum standards, so they rejected all the applicants and re-opened the position. But this time, they said that the top ten would have all likely made it. And they only brought in the top five, so it was a difficult task.

I really enjoyed watching and drumming with the Old Guard members. I was really impressed with what they were doing. They don't cut corners, and they play a lot of "unnecessarily" difficult parts just because they can. Everyone there said that they really loved their job (quite a contrast from my Marine band days), and I've decided that, if at all possible, I really want to re-audition next time there is an opening. In the meantime, I have several other job opportunities lined up, but I'm definitely going to keep my eyes pealed for future audition openings.

We're both disappointed that he didn't get it, but James now knows how much he would like to be a part of the Old Guard. He will definitely be on the lookout for any openings and will keep practicing. In the meantime, he has a few other job opportunities in the works. It's been a very frustrating process for both of us. I do think we have both grown quite a bit through the job hunt experience, but I know we are more than ready to have this part of our lives behind us and be a bit more settled.

We are still waiting on Ian to show up. I'm 38 weeks now and hoping he comes soon! I have another doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon and will be able to find out if we are any closer to having him than we were last week.