Pure Craziness

Callie has been running with the updates lately so I wanted to get on here and throw in my two cents on everything so far.

Miles is a wonderful little guy and I love him to death.  He is doing very well and growing like crazy, this week we actually had to pull some clothes out of the rotation because he was getting to big for them!  Pure craziness.  Nights are going better in my opinion, we have finally settled on a night routine of bath around 7 then food and finally sleep.  The process is not perfect yet, but he seems to be slightly aware of it.  Another interesting note is that lately he eats a ton, but he seems to like to eat a small meal and then 30 minutes to an hour later eat a larger meal, which holds him longer.  I appreciate his effort to eat regularly and avoid a few large meals a day, but even for me just giving him bottles feeding nearly every hour really puts a damper on getting anything done, especially when you throw diaper changes in the mix.  Usually we can get him settled for stretches, sometimes and 30 minutes sometimes a couple hours, it can be hard to tell how long he will be calm for at times.  One thing that really seems to help is music, Callie plays him a bunch of childrens songs, I push for just classical music, but she says he does not like it as much, so we get a bunch of highly repetitive, somewhat violent and in my opinion scandalous songs.

Saturday night, 1/18, he got the chance to meet his new cousin Daniel Joseph Glass, we went over to my sister (Jess) and her husbands (Brian) house and my parents came over as well and they got to meet.  In terms of them meeting it was pretty uneventful, neither even noticed the other as far as I could tell, they both just wanted to sleep. Grandma and Grandpa were delighted to have them both in the same place at the same time with Madison (Jess and Brians oldest) and they spent as much time holding the trio as they could. This was Miles first trip out of the house other than the doctor since it is flu season.  I  have to admit I am curious how it will go with Miles once we do start taking him out when run errands and stuff, I guess it will just be another one of those little things we get to find out about.

As for me, I started back just after he was a week old, and he is now three weeks old, so I have had two weeks working and coming home to Miles.  So far so good, thankfully Callie is able to handle the night work for the most part and her mother has been able to spend about a week or so down here as well to allow Callie to heal up more from her c-section.  I will say I love Miles and love seeing him and look forward to the weekends with him, but it is nice to be able to work and get out of the house, I feel for Callie being stuck in the house right now while she heals and since it is flu season and all and we are not supposed to be taking him out.  I do enjoying coming home and being able to talk to Miles and play flash cards with him, nothing fancy just black and white drawings that he seems to like, but it is fun and fun to see him react and concentrate on them.  I am really looking forward to him being able to hold his head up and while I know once he starts moving things get even crazier, I think it will be fun as we will be able to be more interactive with him.

Other than all that having a baby has certainly been a change, my favorite thing to mention is about how we had one of everything he needed, but after having him we quickly realized one of most things is not enough as anything he touches or uses will be quickly covered in some sort of baby gunk.  I am still trying to run several times a week depending on my energy level and have not been able to get my morning workouts in at all as I am just too tired, hopefully I can get going again like normal in the next couple weeks/months.  Callie is doing an excellent job of making or at least getting something around for dinner most nights.

Appendix:
Flash Cards - Wee Gallery Art Cards for Baby
http://www.amazon.com/Wee-Gallery-Cards-Baby-Collection/dp/B001CBAJBQ/

Songs
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/100-favorite-childrens-songs/id506561566

All Miles- All the time

In true bunny muffin fashion we've fallen off the blog thing pretty quick again. Despite our best efforts and goal to really update and document his cute little life- here we are- postless again. Sigh. The reason? We're exhausted. C-sections are a horrible, cruel, miserable event- and by the time I'm done tending to Miles and making dinner (literally the only 2 things do in a day) all I want to do is lie down. Thankfully my mom is in town this week again which gives me extra sleep and 5 minutes to collect something that resembles a thought process!

Miles had his 2 week appointment last Friday. We was up to 7# and 3 oz!! Wa-hoo!! Thats 3 oz above his birth weight! I was so nervous for this appointment because breastfeeding has still been a major headache and we are still supplementing with formula. I'm trying to get the supplements down- but at the same time- I don't want to be starving him either. Slowly but surely we'll get there Miles. One day at a time!


Miles also has good nights and bad nights. Last night he went straight to bed at 8pm. Except for one diaper change- he slept all the way until 10:40. (I had fed him ~ 7:15 before bed so it was time for him to get up and eat) Then he got up at 11:30 again for a diaper change. Long story short- I was up with him until 1am because he was taking what I can only describe as the longest poop of his entire life. (all 2 weeks of it!) I kept changing him, rocking him back to sleep, then I'd hear "it". Sigh. Change him, rock him, wet fart. Finally I just got on my cell phone, played scrabble for 30 minutes, then changed him, rocked him back to sleep, only for him to decide that he's now HUNGRY from all that pooping. Sigh. So then we nursed, rocked, and FINALLY went back to sleep. He then made it til 4 am, where I brought him back in to lay with Matt until Matt gets up for work. It works out pretty well, and is the best of both worlds for us. Matt is usually up by 6 am- so its only 2 hours of cuddling- and he still sleeps most of the night in his own bed.

He still loves the swing, and he loves Matt a lot. They cuddle together and watch ESPN and bowl games, liverpool games, etc. I have a feeling he is going to be a total daddys boy!


Also for the Miles one week birthday we had a photo shoot with JSI photography! Hopefully in the next week or so we'll have those images back and we'll be able to post/share them. :)

Miles comes home and the cats surive

I was in the hospital for a total of 7 days. I went in on 12/26/12 and was released on 1/1/13. (aka i was admitted LAST YEAR and just got out!) Thats a lot of time to be stuck on the 5th floor of a hospital. I wasn't allowed to leave the floor, even to go to the cafeteria! So needless to say I woke up at 5 am ready to rock and roll!!

The most annoying part of our day was the fact that we couldn't leave until Miles was circumcised. Miles was born on FRIDAY. Its TUESDAY. Why are we doing this TODAY? We had Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday to get it done! UGH! So we didn't get discharged until 11:00 and we were discharged with a very unhappy baby who is going to rupture vocal cord when we change his diaper. Oh well- I was going home no matter what they did to that baby today!

We got home, and introduced the cats to Miles. This was a *highly* anticipated moment for Matt and myself! I put the carseat on the floor and held my breath. I waited and waited- but none of them cared. Truthfully- they wanted to see me and Matt- eat their fancy feast cans, and have their head scratched. Then they scurried off and did their own thing. They come up and watch him, or sniff the top of his head, but then walk away. Baby cat gets anxious and upset when Miles cries and he begins to pace. Tonight Deuce is laying on Matts legs and Miles is laying on Matts chest. We don't even think Deuce knows Miles is there. (Deuce is a tough read). Scully comes into the room, looks, and then leaves and hides in the closet. Skeeter is the bravest and sniffs him, but then just runs off. So- there you have it. It might be O.K. in our house after all!

Our first day home with Miles was uneventful. We did a lot of laundry (everything that was in the hospital needed to be boiled- just had to make sure no germs came home with us) and Matt went to the pharmacy to get my much needed pain pills, and then to Target to pick up a few odds and ends of stuff we needed. We folded laundry, tended to Miles every need, watched football bowl games, had dinner, and now we are waiting for Miles 10:00 feeding so we can all go to bed. (fingers crossed it goes well!)

Miles seems to enjoy our house so far. He looks around his room a lot- and his favorite thing is his swing! Seriously- this boy LOVES this swing and I'm so happy we have it! You almost forget we have a baby when hes in it! Hes quiet- sometimes asleep, and sometimes wide awake just looking around, chewing on his hands. This is the swing http://www.fisher-price.com/en_US/products/45667 if you are looking for an awesome baby gift for someone. Because this swing ROCKS! (pun intended- no sleep and percocet make me *think* I'm really funny)

I am still sore beyond words. I keep telling myself it was surgery, but, holy guacamole! Night is the worst time for me. I do great in mornings, alright in afternoon, and night is just a lost cause. All in all morale is high in the Shearer house, the only thing we are anxious about is my milk coming in. It still hasn't so I got one of these awesome devices http://www.momandbabyshop.com/medela-starter-sns-80ml-collection-container-sterile-0097003s.html?utm_source=googlepepla&utm_medium=adwords&id=24706946984&utm_content=pla to trick him into continuing to feed. Matt has been in charge of holding it while I feed, and tonight, he got me a ball cap to clip it to so he doesn't have to sit there and hold it. Its pretty funny- and pretty effective, but using this device, feeding Miles is at least a 30 minute event and overly complicated. When he eats every 2 hours to 90 minutes and it takes 30 minutes to feed him, not counting set up or clean up time, well, it really sucks. But, we are plunging on ahead!

So Miles- cats- and Matt- congratulations on surviving our first day as a family of 3 without hourly nursing care and assistance! Time for that last feeding- and lets hope the night goes as well as the day does! :)

Leaving with Miles hospital shoot photos. :) Because hes so cute and I have to put a photo up of his precious face! (this week our wedding photographers are coming and we are so pumped to see what they can do with him if this is what the hospital photographr could do!)

I still can't get over this boys HAIR! I imagined him 1,000,000 times in the past 9 months. I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined him with strawberry blonde hair. The first thing I asked Matt about him was "does he have any hair?" and when matt said "its blondish red" I think I peed in my cathater! I really hope it stays like this. I'm madly in love with it. If it does get darker, thats OK. Matt and I both have dark hair so it would be expected. But- this hair is AMAZING and I can't stop stroking his head and admiring it. I love it.

Living the dream....... literally!

Matt was the one to write the birth story, because he was there way more clear headed and remembers more then I do. It may have been 36 hours, but honestly it is one big hazy blur to me. By the time they rolled me into the OR they were asking me questions and I was just laying on the table wondering, are they talking to me? What was the question? When are they going to start this procedure and get it over with. Then I heard him cry! I had no idea they had even started yet! I could hardly keep my eyes open after I heard him cry, I was so relieved he was here, and so exhausted.

After Miles was born and we made it back to recovery, I literally crashed. I vaguely remember him getting his first bath, his hepatitis vaccination, and having a nurse walk me through nursing. I don't remember a word she said. At some point I posted on facebook that he was here, and then I literally was asleep or dozing until 3pm. When I finally came around and was somewhat clear headed I felt horrible about being so out of it for the first moments of my sons life. My parents had come to visit and I couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to carry on a conversation. I also say I had literally missed 20 some odd text messages, so if I didn't respond to you, I am very sorry. But most of all, I was upset that I hadn't even really gotten to hold my own son yet. I woke up with this incrediable urge to see his face. 

That night Matts parents came by and met Miles and it was my first real moment as an observer to any aspect of Miles birthday. I can't tell you how it felt to see the look on Matts face when he introduced our son to them. Donna and Dale were very much in love with Miles (as were John and Kim) but to see my husband beaming as his parents cooed over our baby melted me like butter on movie poopcorn. I don't remember much of what Donna or Dale said, or even what my parents said that day. But I will never forget the look on Matt or the smile he had as introduced Miles to them. Later that night Kristen, the most amazing partner a pharmacist could ask for, came over to visit. I still didn't feel like it was real sitting there talking to her- watching her hold my son. It was like I was in a dream- a dream where both my cha cha and stomach hurt very badly- but a dream none the less.

It still feels like a dream now, even today, (day 3) but its a beautiful dream, and as tired and exhausted as I am, and as bad as my stomach throbs, I'm very thankful to have this adorable family. Last night Matt and I kept Miles in our hospital room instead of sending him to the nursery so I'm sure today will feel even more dream like and hazy. But this little face, with these little eyes, and this little nose, literally make every moment worth it. 

Miles Dale- you are a dream come true. Matthew Dale- I wouldn't want to live this dream with anyone but you. 

Miles to Go Before We Sleep

Well 2012 has been a whirlwind of craziness, we were married on February 18th of this year, found out we were pregnant in April of this year, found out we were having a baby boy in August of this year, and now we have a beautiful 7 pound, 20 inch baby boy named Miles Dale on December 28th of this year.

Miles

Miles was due on December 30th, however we opted to be induced on December 26th.  There were a couple drivers behind the decision, one being concern about his size as his last sonogram on December 3rd showed him weighing in around 6 and a half pounds and the second being that in terms of getting time off work, the last week of December and first week of January worked well for that.

Leading up to the 26th we were both incredibly anxious with both excitement for and fear of the inducement, as we counted down the days Christmas came and went.  Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were both wonderful but we both had our minds on the 26th.  We both expected the 26th to be an incredibly slow day as we did not have to be at the hospital until 8pm, however we were very wrong.  The day like most started early with us both getting up around 8am and then both going our separate ways to get ready for the evening.  Callie got herself a massage and her hair braided, while Matt packed and cleaned the house.  Late in the afternoon we finally managed to catch up with each in order to eat a big lunch.  We hit up the Pasta House in Edwardsville to carbo load and then took one final trip to the store for some last minute supplies.  By the time we were back from all of that it was nearly time to leave for the hospital, giving us just enough time to double check everything, load up the car and just after 7pm we were on our way to St. Lukes.

We arrived at St. Lukes right at 8pm and were quickly assigned a very nice room (5708) in the maternity ward and were off to the races.  Callie spent the next 2 hours getting hooked up to all the crazy machines and had the first round of medicine applied (Cervidil) to soften and ready her cervix while Matt reorganized the room and settled in. The plan was then for a solid 12 hours of rest while the Cervidil went to work.  Well it turned out that rest was not really a part of the plan as the nurses were checking in nearly hourly to see how things were going and checking the baby monitor as well, which seemed to be continually slipping out of place.  As we plodded into the next morning with barely any sleep we were both highly optimistic about Miles arriving soon.

Finally the first round of medicine had been completed around 9:30am on the 27th and Callie was switched from Cervidil to Pitocin, which is designed to increase contractions now that her cervix had been softened by the Pitocin.  Also thank you to John and Kim for bringing some breakfast for Matt (Bread Co.).  As you know we are both planners, so at this point our plan was to help encourage Miles to drop and further increase contractions naturally by walking.  However, that plan fell through as the Callie and Miles monitors would not work in the hallway.  As you can see our limited planning was not quite going as expected.  In regards to the monitors, at times we had trouble with them picking up a signal with Callie laying in the bed right next to them, so that was frustrating as well.  Now being limited to the room did provide some positives as it allowed us to continue watching The League (just starting season 4) and then also start re-watching Arrested Development for the 5th or 6th time, we love that show.  This also gave Matt a chance to try the hospital cafeteria which he felt was pretty meh, not terrible, but not really good either.  Also as a general note, Callie was not allowed any food through all of this, her last meal was the lunch at Pasta House on the 26th.  By 2pm Callie had finally dilated to 1cm which started to get our hopes up further for a delivery on the 27th.  Well as the day continued no further progress was being made. Also thank you to John and Kim for brining some dinner for Matt (Potbelly).  Finally our doctor, Dr. Wagner, was able to make it over from his office and normal appointment schedule, this was just after 7pm, and check the progress.  With no additional progress having been made despite Callies rather intense contractions, still at 1cm, the decision was made to go ahead and break Callies water to speed things up. This would now combine the bodies natural process with the Pitocin to further increase the contractions and dilation.  With the water broken around 7:30pm the countdown to delivery had now officially started with the doctor and nurses saying that Callie would ready to go within the next 12 hours.  Over the next three hours the contractions increased considerably in terms of both frequency and pain.  During this time Callies pain threshold was exhausted and she was finally allowed to be given an epidural.  Around 10:30pm on the 27th Callie could finally lie down without constant pain and after 30 hours of near sleeplessness this was greatly appreciated by all.  

With the epidural now in place and the water broken everything started to speed up as expected.  Moving quickly to 2cms by midnight, 5cm by 3am, 7cms by 6am, 9cm by 7am and finally to 10cm at 8am.  Over the course of the night we continued to get very limited amounts of sleep as they checked on Callie hourly. A few of the hours were particularly non sleep-able due to the amount of activity in the room such as at 3am when they had to put in place an internal baby monitor.  With the magic number of 10 being hit the pushing could be started!  Dr. Wagner arrived around 8:30am on the 28th and we began pushing on a regular basis.  This was a very tiring, frustrating, and concerning time as every time Callie pushed Miles heart rate dropped quite a bit, thankfully it would recover but this was not a good thing.  Due to the heart rate dropping after about an hour pushing it had to be abandoned to ensure the his safety as well as Callies.  This lead to the decision to perform a C-section.  The primary drivers for this decision being that the pushing was very hard on Miles and that he was not descending which they speculated was the result of the cord being around his neck.

The decision to perform a C-section was not welcomed by either of us, but 37 hours after arriving at the hospital we were in no mood to argue and just ready to have him out.   This was a terribly nerve wracking experience for the both of us, as while c-sections are common, they are still pretty serious surgery.  Once the decision was made everything went very quickly by 10am we were in the operating room with Matt dressed in scrubs and Callie on the operation table.  With the last 38 hours wearing on us, Miles cry as he was delivered was an incredible feeling.  He had a plenty loud and continuous cry but calmed down and pinked up quickly once he was under the heat lamp.  Miles came out at 7 pounds and 20 inches and perfectly healthy, which we are both incredibly thankful for.  Callie while not overjoyed about being unable to use her ab muscles came out of the surgery just fine and is working on recovering.

With Miles here we have been kept as busy as ever.  After the C-section we had to move rooms (now 5551) since we will be staying two extra days to allow Callie additional recovery time.  A ton of family and friends have visited and a huge thank you to everyone who has visited/texted/called/emailed/facebooked/google plused to wish us congratulations.  And we have had to start adjusting to a baby in our midst at all times and needing fed every couple hours.  Thankfully we have managed to get more sleep than the previous days in the hospital, but having to wake up every few hours for feedings or vitals checking does not allow for the best sleep you have ever gotten.  Miles and Callie are both still doing very well and we are anxious to take Miles how are start adjusting to our new reality as a family.

And then there was Miles part 2

More Miles!

And then there was Miles

We will be posting more details later, but fo now we just wanted to get a few pictures out here for everyone to enjoy.