Aunt Laura and Stuart arrived Friday night. Since then, all current visitors have lavished Gavin with attention. Aunt Laura volunteered to hold him, feed him, clean him, change his clothes, take him off our hands, ditch class to come back and visit, and so on. She, like the rest of us, is enamored by Gavin. In fact, he has received so much attention this weekend that he may be bored with just Nikki and I next week.
Other updates: he's becoming more alert; tracking objects fairly well; no cooing yet, but we're getting close. It's only a matter of time before he starts talking to us...which will only be the beginning. Until, enjoy the photos.
We had a pretty big outing last night: we all went to the Olive Garden for dinner. I think there was a general hesitancy on all parts as we weren't sure how Gavin would do, but he was fantastic. He fell asleep in the car on the way there and slept through the entire meal. Afterward, he woke up, ate, and then was quite content as we did some shopping at Target and Lowes. Nikki was excited about the shopping because she got to use her sling, which seemed to work quite well for both her and Gavin. Plus, I think everyone was just happy to get out for a while. A little "cabin fever" (maybe that should be "Gavin fever") had set in with the last few days of rain and the preference to stay close to home (no need to expose Gavin to too much to soon), so the outing was good for all involved.
Today, Nikki and I will be returning to the OB for her 2-week (since release from hospital) check-up. Hopefully, they will tell her she can resume normal (or moderately normal) activity. I think the restrictions, coupled with her own physical limitations, have been taxing, and we hope that a clearing to do more may help her get back into the (full) swing of things a bit quicker. Of course, there is no need to rush these things either, so we'll just see what the doctor has to say (we're seeing Dr. Hood again today--he's so charismatic that it makes you want to go for the office visit).
Anyways, Gavin is progressing nicely. He tries to be a bit older than he is (as indicated by the rolling attempt in the video below). He is eating 3 oz every 3 to 4 hours now, which is a stark improvement over 2 oz every 1-2 hours. Plus, he has been sleeping in 3 to 5 hour chunks at night (some nights better than others--and the bad nights usually correspond to PawPaw Larry calling me [maybe I should put a block on that occurence?]). But all-in-all, things are quite well, and we hope we just keep rolling along.
The first round of grandparents made it in on Saturday and they have been loving Gavin rotten. It has been quite an enjoyment having them here, watching them spoil him with attention--not to mention the fact that they have been unbelievably helpful, allowing Nikki and I to have a break here and there. Of course, all four of our lives now revolve around Gavin (he is such a gravitational center) and so we have been relatively homebound, but it has been a good past few days.
With their arrival came more gifts; they brought presents from several people, including a fantastic gift of their own: Nancy recorded Gavin's heartbeat off the blog and then had that put into a bear at the Build-a-Bear workshop, so now when you push the bear's hand you hear Gavin's heartbeat...it's pretty cool. Also, we have received cards and money and giftcards from so many of you who have already done so much and we can't thank you enough. We appreciate all of your thoughts, well-wishes, and congratulations, and the numerous gifts have made it really easy for us to transition into the first couple of weeks of parenthood.
And incase you lost track, Gavin is 2 weeks old today! The time has flown by. I literally think I blinked and a week passed. At this rate, he will be 6 months with one good night's sleep.
Anyways, I'm not sure what all this week has in store for us. We're hoping his umbilical cord falls off this week, but beyond that who knows. We just went back to the doctor today for his 2-week checkup and he was fine (weighing in at 8lbs 6oz). We don't have to return there for another 6 weeks or so, at which point he will begin some of his shots--I'm sure that will be fun--but until then we are just going to take it easy and see how the world unfolds.
A couple of blog-keeping things (with a few photos and video).
1) As you can probably tell, I'm not going to be able to keep up the posting everyday. As I rapidly get myself back to work, it becomes a bit more difficult to squeeze in time to post, upload photos, make videos, and such. I will do my best to post as often as I can, to keep everyone as "up-to-date" as possible (especially after important days/events--like Gram Nance and Papa Joe [names yet to be confirmed] arriving today), but daily is probably not likely--though I will try to maintain at least 2 posts a week [hopefully with more]. And again, sorry to those who may have felt "slighted" the last couple of days with the missing posts. I apologize for getting you hooked on the blog and its daily entries and then missing a day or two without warning.
2) It has been brought to my attention that my blog may be "scaring" some folks about parenthood (those friends or family contemplating becoming parents who think the "troubles" and "rough patches" that I post are in fact the way things are all the time). The truth is that it couldn't be further from the truth. Gavin is a really wonderful baby, and we count our blessings everyday that he is healthy and that these are the only consistent issues we have to battle. The minor sleep deprivations (which are to be expected with a new born, and which are quite taxing) and the battles with gas really are the primary challenges we have. Sure, we would like more sleep, but it isn't as rough as it may sound here--I can't always write posts that say, "Everything is good. Enjoy your day" (not as exciting to read). Also, the first few days of trying to get things into some manageable semblance were actually a bit rough--I won't kid about that, especially in the hospital with those stupid leg-compressor/blood circulation things Nikki had on--but now that we have found a rhythm things are quite nice.
Anyways, Nancy and Joe will be arriving very soon, and so I am sure I will have photos and video to post in the coming days of them meeting Gavin. Nikki and I are really excited for him to meet them, with him being their first Grandchild (and a grand one he is), and we are "chomping at the bit" for their arrival. It should be a fun week (and then Aunt Laura and Stuart will arrive...and all bets are off at that point).
Nikki took the 7:ooam feeding this morning and shortly thereafter, when Gavin was in a decent bout of sleeping, she noticed that there were some similarities between him and I as we slept. So, she decided to take a photo or two to show me (and I guess everyone else). Anyways, last night was actually a fairly decent sleep night. He slept in three to four hour chunks and all was well with the world.
Of course, maybe it was because we visited the Vitanzas last night (had to return some dishes from the meal they provided us last week) and that extra excitement of people helped wear him out...then again, it could have been Toni's soothing touch or Victor's magical burping abilities (photos below). Toni even volunteered to keep him.
All in all, for his second outing into the world he did quite well.
Gavin felt great last night. No gas. Had eaten plenty. All geared up for bed. Except, he didn't want to sleep. Nikki and I missed the memo, but apparently there was a party last night, a one man party. He was so tired last night and would just about drift off to sleep before catching himself and waking up, refusing to sleep. It was some kind of battle: us coaxing him into a coma-like sleep state; him squirming, fighting, and refusing. In the end, I think we all lost. Who knows what tonight will bring...he has such an unpredictable personality--in both good and less-than-good ways.
We turned a bit of a corner last night, however short lived it may be. Gavin slept in roughly 3 hour chunks, and things were relatively pleasant. Sure, we had a 2:00am and a 5:00am feeding (with accompanying diaper changes, burps, and whatnot), but he was a fairly content baby through the night, which made life a bit easier on us all.
And today has been a relatively pleasant experience as well as he has been pretty content and happy (comfortable) all day...as you can tell from the image below (taken just after his 7:30pm feeding).
But we prepare to settle in for the night and do it all again tomorrow. What joy this game is!
Another sleepless night, which seems to be the norm.At least this time it wasn't due to painful gas but rather a perpetually wet diaper…he must have gone 5 times in the middle of the night.Of course, let's not forget the first peeing instance yesterday evening when Lane and Dustin were visiting…my shirt ended up absorbing most of it: one of the things they forget to tell you about circumcision is that the Vaseline care ends up preventing the diaper from absorbing most of the urine, but that's okay because Dad's shirt works quite well.In fact, he has peed on me and spit up on me on more than one occasion so far, but not really either on Nikki—maybe I'm just a lucky charm for his bodily fluids.It's the least I can do.
And, before I forget, Nikki wanted to say thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes—it may not have been the most glamorous birthday she's ever had (need I remind folks of her 21st at 7 West), but I would say it was one of the most satisfying: spending the day with your newborn son isn't a half bad way to spend the day.
Also, we both wanted to say thank you for all your wonderful comments about Gavin and the blog and everything else.It means a lot to us that so many people care about us and spend a few moments a day checking to see how things are going.
A few sleepless days in, but we are still holding on strong. Gavin is doing really well during the mornings and early afternoon, but tends to get a bit worked up in the evenings and nights...with a peak time between 10:00pm-3:00am. Not ideal, but we are managing.
One thing that is helping us manage is that last night the Vitanza family (Toni, Victor, and Roman) provided dinner for us and tonight it was the Swanson's (Lane and Dustin). These things make it easier for us to focus on Gavin and figure out how best to navigate this great parenting journey. Of course, I keep looking for the manual that comes with him, but the hospital clearly forgot to include that in our discharge papers, which I think is just poor planning on their part.
Anyways, to help aid in the "who does he look like" poll--and just for general curiosities, I have included baby pictures of Nicole (first picture below), myself, and Gavin (I repeated the image from the other day because I liked it so much and because I think it is one of the better shots of his face to use for comparison). Enjoy! More Gavin photos coming soon...
We left the hospital late yesterday afternoon, but not before we packed up at least half of the hospital. Seriously, we went in with like two or three bags and came home with a small apartment's worth of stuff (as shown below...also, notice my "bed" under it).
The drive home was fairly smooth as Gavin slept the entire way. When we got home, Amanda helped us get in the house (carrying Gavin while I loaded up like a pack mule and Nikki cautiously made her way up the back steps). Also, Amanda was kind enough to bring us brownies, a baby gift (courtesy her, Jason, & Serg--all fellow RCIDers), and to stick around for a few hours while we got pseudo-settled.
After that, the night was pretty uneventful...that is until a serious bout with gas led to an unbelievably difficult night for all involved. He finally fell asleep for about an hour right around 4am. The morning went in spells with his fussiness, but he finally settled down around 8 or so for a couple hour nap...right before we went to the pediatrician for our first visit, which went well and I think we were pretty pleased with Dr. Bruce.
Below is a photo Nikki took this morning, and following that is a brief photo montage...hope you enjoy!
Here is some video of Gavin and I hanging out on the rubber sofa/bed last night after a feeding. Early on you can hear him coo, but there is some odd minor noise interference in the background that I can't get rid of.
Anyways, we are suppose to be venturing home today, so hopefully this afternoon we can get some images and/or videos of us back in the comforts of home.
Last night was another taxing one. He decided to cluster feed around 1-2 in the morning...it was an insatiable kind of hunger. But we survived...though I'm not exactly sure how. Luckily, again this morning he decided to sleep for 3 hours, so that was helpful.
Nikki is healing well and we will be heading home tomorrow. Despite the surgery-related pain, she has been amazing (pushing through the sleep deprivation better than some of us--at times I felt like a walking zombie...though a round of Starbucks and now I'm on a roll).
As requested, I've included more videos. It's tough to catch him cooing because he's either content or hungry (or so it seems). Plus, with the lack of sleep, all the camera buttons start to look the same. But below are a few short unedited clips.
Also, the photo of the three of us was taken by Lane Swanson, a friend of ours from Illinois College who is also here at Clemson University while her husband Dustin finishes his Ph.D. in Entomology. Lane stopped by yesterday evening to check on us, meet Gavin, and make sure we had everything we needed. Lane is one of the many people who have offered to help us out, check on us, provide food or support, and generally take care of anything we might need help with, and we greatly, GREATLY appreciate all of you: especially, we would like to thank Lane for checking in on us and for the several meals she has already made for us (and for taking this photo); Toni Vitanza, who has food waiting for us (all we need do is place a call) and who is willing to help at the drop of a hat (which is unbelievably comforting), and Amanda Booher, who will be helping us transition back home tomorrow, among many other things.
We had a rough night. Not so much because of Gavin, though his hourly (to half-hourly) feedings and whatnot were a bit challenging. But the night was mostly rough because Nikki was hooked up to a leg compression machine that compressed and released tension on her legs off and on all night. Roughly about every 24 seconds. Just enough space between it kicking on (in a loud, growling, angry, vibrating way) to prevent sleep from being a possibility.
Luckily, they took the machine off Nikki this morning and for the first time Gavin decided to sleep for a few hours. So finally, at about 9:00am this morning, we all got about 3 hours of sleep.
I know not everyone is necessarily up at 2 in the morning, but I had a few moments while he was feeding and thought I would finally upload some more photos.
And I updated the ExpectNet pool...I came out a winner (I guess more ways than one today).
Got to hospital. Got settled in. Turns out she is making progress on her own. So now we just wait until morning to see how she progresses overnight and we go from there. Though, undoubtedly, one way or the other he will be coming out tomorrow (Tuesday, early morning at the latest).
Below is the last photo of pregnant Nikki right as we left the house this evening. The other two are of the LDRP (Labor, Delivery, Recovery, Post-Partum) room we will be inhabiting for the next few days.
I'll keep you posted as things develop and as time permits.
One way or the other, he's coming out sooner rather than later. Our latest visit has shown little progress, but we (and the doctors) want to give a good faith effort for it to happen on its own. But, if the Bean isn't here by the end of the weekend, he will receive some help from modern medicine. Hopefully, things will progress nicely and he will show up in the next day or two (maybe Friday, so I can win the baby guessing pool), but if not, we will be scheduling an induction for Sunday/Monday. We'll see how things go.
We saw the doctor again today, Dr. Hood, who is just so good, and he says things look great. The mother is doing well, the Bean is doing well, and we are making slow but steady progress. Dr. Hood's only hesitance was that the Bean is still sitting a little high, but he said it wasn't any sign of alarm or anything we should be concerned about at this point.
He did tell us that Nikki could go into labor any day now and he would be fine with that...he kept repeating that she should have more contractions...but he also indicated that she probably wouldn't go into labor this weekend. So, we keep waiting. We'll be patient and take things as they come. Hopefully the Bean will decide to arrive next week sometime (maybe Friday???), but if not we will just return for another visit and go from there.
If I get a chance this weekend, I will take some photos of Nikki and post them, but that is, of course, if she is willing to pose...then again, I guess she can't really run away.
Aunt Laura and Stuart arrived Friday night. Since then, all current visitors have lavished Gavin with attention. Aunt Laura volunteered to hold him, feed him, clean him, change his clothes, take him off our hands, ditch class to come back and visit, and so on. 
She, like the rest of us, is enamored by Gavin. In fact, he has received so much attention this weekend that he may be bored with just Nikki and I next week.
starts talking to us...which will only be the beginning. Until, enjoy the photos.
