Ceiling fans and Bumbos

I've really tried not to become a "baby stuff" mommy. I've tried not to get sucked into every little baby gadget or toy or item that is supposedly going to make our lives easier. Note: I said "try". In any event, I've heard nothing but great things about this thing called a Bumbo Seat. I'd heard so much about it that I got "Bumbo envy". But I didn't like the Bumbo pricetag. $40 for a foam chair! So I searched our local Once Upon a Child. Apparently, they are popular because all they had were NEW ones. Checked Ebay. You really can find anything there! Found one (slightly used) for half price. So I "won" it and it was delivered last week. We weren't sure how Tyler would like it, but we sat him in it and the "big boy feeling" washed over him and he just grinned! He loves sitting like a big boy and this way he gets to do it by himself! Good investment! (Still wouldn't have paid the $40 for it.....)

Daycare is going well. We bought Tyler a mobile that he can use on his crib there. He loves it! There were 2 days last week that I showed up to pick him up and he was laying in his crib, staring up at the mobile, just laughing and smiling and cooing. I asked the teachers, "Where's MY baby? My baby doesn't like to lay on his back and laugh and smile and coo." They claim something called "daycare rules". Interesting.......

In any event, as much as I still hate leaving him each morning and being away from him all day long, there have been a few positive changes that we have noticed. He's able to entertain himself for more than 5 mintues at a time, which has given us a little break. He also wants to nap in his crib (or bassinet), as opposed to napping in the same room that we are in. We noticed this for the first time at Grandpa Ed's this weekend. He started to melt down, which we knew meant that he needed a nap. So Travis laid him on his chest as we usually have to do in order to get him to sleep during the day. He still fussed. So we thought we'd experiment by placing him in the pack-n-play bassinet. Out like a light. We were impressed and amazed. The rest of the weekend's naps were spent this way as well. We aren't 100% sure that it's daycare's influence, or if it's a combination of that with the fact that he's getting older (& BIGGER) by the minute. Either way, we're happy about these changes. And very happy that he seems to be enjoying daycare.

Speaking of Grandpa Ed's, we had a great time this weekend. We had Mama Ange & Jim, Bridges & the boys, Great-Nana Woody, & Uncle Eddie over for lunch on Sunday. Tyler did a great job entertaining the crowd. And he was in a great mood for most of the day. He also met a new "friend" this weekend. The ceiling fan. He's checked out the fans in our house from time to time, but never seemed as amused by them until he saw Grandpa's. There's a fan in every room and he stared at them all and laughed. He laughed and smiled so much that the adults in the room usually had to look up too, just to make sure we weren't missing something. I don't think we were. But they sure made him happy!!!!

We did have one minor setback this weekend. While at Dad's, we had planned to give Tyler a bottle of expressed breastmilk, to make sure that he didn't fall into the old habit of "bottle strike". Well, I ended up giving the bottle to him, because Travis went fishing with Eddie on a much needed outing. Yeah, that didn't work. He screamed bloody murder again. For 20 minutes. I finally caved and nursed him instead. I thought maybe he was just tired and cranky and figured that this would be a one-time thing and he'd go back to be a happy "bottle baby" on Tuesday in daycare. Not the case. I picked him up this afternoon to hear, "We aren't sure why, but he acted like he didn't want his bottles this morning." *Sigh* I know why. He wanted to be nursed. We've got ourselves a "boob man". I guess I will never be able to give him a bottle......ever. I better get over my inhibitions about breastfeeding in public!!!! (Oh, and if you're concerned, he did end up taking his final bottle of the day, so hopefully the strike is over......)

We've got a short workweek this week and a big weekend ahead of us. We're hoping to transition Tyler into his own bedroom and his crib. Now that he is sleeping consistently until about 3:00 in the morning before wanting to nurse, we feel that it's time. My friend Meredith even made a good point - maybe we'll all sleep better this way. Right now, we're probably waking him up when we come to bed at night or get up to go to the bathroom. And he keeps me up some nights as he makes his sweet little baby noises. This may work out best for us all. Hope to be able to share that good news next week!

Week One - DONE!!!

Whew! Contrary to what I truly believed, we made it through the first week! I returned to work on Monday and there's really no other word to describe it other than "hell". Pure hell. Many tears were shed (mainly mine) and I counted down the minutes until I could leave and pick Tyler up from daycare each day. I was going to go with Travis on Day One to drop him off, but in the hours leading up to that final moment, I changed my mind. I decided that I couldn't do it. Travis was going to have to fly solo on this one. And it's probably for the best that I chickened out. Travis said that the drop off was kind of like taking off a bandaid. If I had been there, I would've dragged it out for hours, making sure that the teachers knew every little detail about him. (Instead, I sent a typed page of "Tyler-isms".) I only called the daycare once to check on him during the day. I was pretty proud of myself for that. I finally told my boss that I was leaving at 4:00, I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to be with my baby boy. I rushed to daycare, hitting every stoplight and getting behind every 145-year-old driver along the way. And once I got there, it was going to take an act of Congress to get that baby out of my arms. I was slightly reassured by the teachers as they told me what a good day he had. He had "tummy time" every day this week. He took his bottles like a champ. He was going to adjust and adapt just fine.....now Mommy had to do the same.

I was told a million times this week, "Welcome back, we missed you." Every time that was said to me, I honestly replied with, "Sorry, I can't say the same." Rude? Maybe. But it is the truth. Priorities have changed. Luckily, there was enough going on at work this week that made the days not seem so long. But the week still sucked. No other way to put it. Yes, I've heard that it will get easier. But for now, it hurts like hell when he leaves in the morning. And I feel like there is so much that we are missing. Our time with Tyler is so precious. And there's so little of it now. We get home after 5:00 and he's in bed by 7:00. That leaves very little awake time together. But we just make the most of the time that we do have. I treasure our nursing sessions so much more now and Travis has bath time with him. And the weekends are OURS. ALL OURS. Make the most of what you have.

To backtrack a bit, I enjoyed my first Mother's Day. I spent the day with my two favorite guys in the world. Travis & Tyler gave me a sweet card and a Willow Tree figurine called "Angel of Mine". It's a mother holding her newborn baby. Travis also made me a wonderful dinner that night. Filet mignon topped with hollandaise sauce and lump crab meat. It was a perfect day.

And we're about to hit a pretty big milestone around here.....12 weeks. It's so hard to believe that Tyler is almost 3 months old. Sometimes it feels like he just got here, and sometimes it's hard to remember what life was like without him. I fear that before we know it, he's going to be walking and talking and all that. The cliche term "they grow up so fast" is so true.

Tyler's still working on trying to roll over. He has it in his head that he WANTS to roll over, but hasn't quite figured out the logistics of the whole thing yet. His head and neck control gets better with each day and he "talks" to us a lot more. I swear that he's bigger every morning. He doesn't have another doctor's appointment until the end of June, but I can't wait to find out how much he's grown.

So that's really all that there is to report this week. I wish there was more, but honestly, a lot of the week was spent in a fog. I had one goal - get to my baby. We should have some interesting stuff next week! We're headed to Lynchburg for a long weekend visit!!! It's been a few weeks since we've traveled, so it will be interesting to see how it all goes!

One good week together

I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry. OK, that's out of the way. Tyler & I had a great week together. We had lunch with Travis on Monday. We've been able to meet him for lunch several times while I have been on leave. So we had to fit one more lunch in before D-Day. As usual, Tyler slept through lunch. It's a miracle, really. It seems that whenever we take him into a restaurant now (which isn't often), he sleeps right through the meal (which is nice). There are a few exceptions, but all in all he behaves.

On Tuesday, Tyler & I went over to the daycare. I wanted to meet with the director again and ask some questions and make sure that I had all of the paperwork that I needed to get him started on Monday. We hadn't been over there since November, so it was a good idea to get back over there and get reacquainted with everyone and everything. As I expected, I burst into tears the second that I walked in the door. I felt like a fool - I wasn't even there to drop him off!!!! But they reminded me that I wasn't the first parent to have that reaction, and I most certainly wasn't going to be the last. We took him into the infant room where he met the instructors. One of the girls, Renee, picked him up and played with him and talked to him. At first, he seemed a bit wary but warmed up very quickly. He even started to flirt a bit with a little girl in a crib nearby. Not even there and he's already causing trouble! I felt a little better after I left. Again, we are very happy with the decision that we made to go with this daycare and we have no concerns about it. We know that he will be in very capable hands and that he will undoubtedly handle this transition better than Travis or I. But it's still hard. I have spent the last 10 and a half weeks with my little boy and 9 months before that.....I'm not ready to give him up.

Moving on, Tyler had his professional portraits done on Wednesday at JC Penney. We never got any real smiles out of the session, but the pictures came out great anyway. I'm really pleased with them and can't wait to get them back. This is the outfit that he wore in some of the pictures. He looks like such a BIG BOY!!!!! Go figure...he smiled for me at home, in his carseat. What a professional-looking background - haha! But it was a special day for the pictures to be taken - it was his "10 week birthday". Wow, has it really been 10 weeks already???? I say it all the time, but time really does fly.

After the portraits, we had lunch again with Lori & Evan again. We put the boys in the pack-n-play again and watched them interact. I just kept watching them thinking how much that they had changed in just a few short weeks. Before we know it, Tyler & Evan are going to be tearing through our houses together. It all goes by so fast.

Other than our excursions, we've been working on sleeping at night around here. Tyler used to go to bed when we went to bed. It worked for all of us, and we didn't really notice any issues. But as he got a little older, I noticed that he seemed to be tired more often and he was fighting Travis at night to go to sleep. At the recommendation of our pediatrician, I started reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Though we aren't following the practices in the book very strictly, we have taken a few things from it and have seen a wonderful difference. We start Tyler's bedtime routine sometime between 6:00 and 7:00 each night (depending on his mood). Travis gives him a bath (which he now LOVES), gets him dressed for bed, then gives him a bottle of expressed milk. Yes folks, I just said BOTTLE. Tyler must have known that I was bad-mouthing him to people about his bottle-taking abilities because last Monday was the first time in over 2 weeks that he took a bottle with NO complaints! It was as if he had never stopped taking a bottle! We still aren't sure what caused the "bottle strike" around here, but all we do know is that it seems to be over....and boy are we happy!!! Anyway, after the bottle, it's off to dreamland for our little one. He usually falls right asleep (though as I write this, he is upstairs with Travis fighting sleep tonight....go figure) and will usually sleep until anywhere from 1:00 to 3:00, when he wakes to eat. Then it's back to sleep until 5:00 or 6:00. So we are really proud of him, and are expecting that he will start sleeping longer at night within the next few weeks. At that time, we will transition him into his room (you know, that nursery that we worked so hard on before he was born???) and his crib. We're hoping to have that accomplished within the next month.

So Tyler & Mommy's last week together was a success - and a fun one. I'm really going to miss being at home full time with my baby boy, but I know that he will be just fine at daycare. As if I didn't already do so, I will learn to cherish every waking moment that I have with him. And Travis will be there to help us all adjust to our new routine.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there!!!! I can't wait to spend my first Mother's Day with my 2 favorite men in the world.

The countdown is on.....

Yep, one week til Mommy has to go back to work. And boy, does the thought of it suck and make me cry like I've just had my own 2 month shots. I'm not ready to leave my little boy full-time in the care of strangers. I'm not ready to pump 3 times a day so that a stranger can give my baby boy a bottle. I'm not ready to have all of his "waking hours" spent at daycare, while we are left with very few "awake hours" and all of the "sleep hours". I'm just not ready. And neither is Travis. We have a feeling that Tyler will adapt better than we will. One week til we find out..... OK, I'll stop complaining about this now.

As previously mentioned, Tyler had his 2 month appointment this week. He's now up to a whopping 12 lbs. 9 oz and he is 23 inches long. This puts him in the 50th percentile for height and 75th for weight. The doc is very happy with his progress! She gave us some reassurance that we are doing the right things as far as sleeping at night and bottle feeding are concerned. (Not sure if I have mentioned this or not, but all of a sudden, he no longer wants to take a bottle and screams bloody murder each time that we give him one. But the doctor promises that the tide will turn.....yet again.) And he did very well with his shots. He had 4 shots in his little chunky legs and one oral vaccine given. As promised, Travis held him for the shots while I paced the exam room with my back turned to the table. Tyler wailed for a few moments but was quickly soothed. I, on the other hand.........But he did so well and sucked down that oral vaccine like it was candy. We all got a good laugh out of that. He didn't have any ill side effects from the vaccines. He just slept it off for the remainder of the day, only waking to eat. On the plus side, I got a lot done around the house that day! Luckily, he never developed a fever or anything like that. All in all, it wasn't as bad as I expected. And our son was quite the trooper. He got a "Perfect Exam" from his doctor and we don't go back until his 4 month appointment at the end of June. Ugh, more shots......

Developmentally, our little one is doing well and is right on track! He's already holding his head up really well! He loves to look around and we are amazed at his neck strength and control for his age. He's starting to look like he might roll over soon too. When we have "tummy time", he gets really excited and starts to kind of bob back and forth. It looks like the beginnings of a roll. He's also really vocal now and we love to "talk" to him about his day. He "oohs" and "ahhs" and coos. It's the most wonderful sound in the world! He'll stand up on those chunky legs of his when we stand him up on our knees. He'll hold his toy keys if you place them in his hand and he's starting to maybe reach for his toys on his toy bars. We just bought a bouncy seat this week and he loves it and just stares forever at those toys. (Note: We have a Baby Papasan chair too. He used to love that chair when he was a newborn. But it doesn't bounce and apparently, we didn't realize the importance of the bounce when we registered. So he has rejected the Papasan and embraced the cheap-o bouncy seat. Go figure.) Before we know it, he's going to be crawling and talking and driving (wait, I jumped a little on that one, huh?).

We've got a busy week coming up, as it is mine & Tyler's last week together before D-Day. We're having lunch with Travis one day, lunch with our friends Lori & Evan another, a meeting at the daycare, and portraits at JC Penney. I plan on cherishing every single moment that he & I have together..........

Visiting North Cacalacky (aka North Carolina)

We left for Union Mills on Friday afternoon once Travis got home from work. What's in Union Mills? My mother's grave. And my Papa's grave too. Dad, Eddie, Nana, Kevin & family, & Harry & family were all there Friday afternoon to remember Mama, but we were all able to stay in the same hotel that night, so we were able to visit. It took us right at 6 hours to make the trip. We made one stop the whole way, which was amazing. Tyler slept for the most part. We stopped outside of Greensboro and fed ourselves and the little one too. Tyler decided to make the trip more interesting at this point by producing a poop like we had never seen before. Seriously, it was so bad that after I changed his outfit, we made the executive decision that we were moving him to the next size up in diapers upon our return home. (And we did.) Anyway, once we got checked into the hotel and got the boy fed, we were greeted by our family. All of the above mentioned individuals came by our room to visit or meet Tyler. Tyler did a pretty good job when you consider that he was in a new place and it was his first hotel visit.

Saturday morning, we had breakfast with the family and then the 3 of us made our way up the mountain to Round Hill Baptist Church in Union Mills. Travis strapped Tyler into his stroller and we walked around the cemetery and spent some much-needed time at Mama's site. I hadn't been there since my Papa passed away in late September. It was a beautiful day in the mountains of NC. We also stopped by the old Homeplace, as we call it, the house where my Papa grew up and where my Mama spent many weekends as a girl. The picture at the top of this post is from that house. The land is about to be sold finally so Travis thought it would be a good idea to get one last picture, especially one with Tyler in it. What a wonderful idea!!!!!Once we were ready to go, we made the 2 1/2 hour trip to Lexington & High Rock Lake, where we spent the night with my Uncle Kevin & Aunt Debi. Tyler got his first glimpse of the lake, and even had his first boat ride.

Note: Well, it was more like a "boat tease" as Kevin called it. The boat kind of crapped out on us a few hundred feet from the dock. Poor Kevin rowed us back. But it was still fun and Tyler still had his first boat ride......and we think he LOVED it!

Travis got to fish for crappie for a while and I got a little break to just enjoy the nice lake weather while Debi & Amy watched Tyler. Again, though he was fussy at times, we think that Tyler did pretty well, considering that he was once again in a strange place with new people.

Sunday morning, we had some breakfast with the family, fed Little One, and got in the car to make our trip home. Since we decided to make the stop in Lexington the day before, we shortened our car ride home to just 4 hours. And once again, our Little Man did a great job. We made just one stop to feed the adults and baby. However, we knew that the weekend away was going to wreak havoc on the next couple of days in the Snead household.

As I type this, I can hear my precious little boy screaming at the top of his lungs as his poor, defenseless father tries to calm him down to go to sleep. Travis has been working on this for a while now.....only 30 minutes or so after he got home from work. Tyler has decided that he does not want to go to sleep when we think that he needs to (and believe me, he needs to....he's fighting sleep like you wouldn't believe). In addition, he has decided that he no longer wants to take a bottle with the ease that he has been taking it for WEEKS. Go figure.....2 weeks before "Day Care Doom Day" and he won't take a bottle anymore. Not from me, not from Travis, not from anyone. Change the nipples, change the temperature of the bottle, change it all. It doesn't matter. We really thought that we had missed a huge hurdle with the fact that Tyler had been taking bottles since he was only hours old. Not the case. 2 freakin' weeks before he enters day care. Go figure.

Tyler has his 2 month appointment in the morning. I am not looking forward to that. To those of you that have children, you know the worry that accompanies the 2 month visit. To those of you without, the 2 month visit is when your little one receives his first big round of shots. He'll be getting about 4 shots tomorrow. Ugh. So I have asked (make that DEMANDED) that Travis take some time off of work tomorrow to be with me, um I mean US. I suspect that Daddy will be the "holder" while Mommy will be the "comforter". I'm taking the Tylenol just in case........On a more positive note, I can't wait to see how much Tyler weighs and how tall he is. I know he's becoming such a big boy.

We love you, Mama.....

Tomorrow at 5:55 p.m., it will be one year since my Mom passed away. I still miss her every single day and I know that I will for as long as I live. I know that she is watching over all of us, especially her new grandson. We will tell him all about her as he grows. He WILL know his Oma.

Mama, we love you very much and miss you. Please continue to watch over us from above.

Field trips

This week we had a few outings - too bad that it was still a chilly week!!! (Thank goodness the nicer and WARMER weather is finally here!) On Wednesday, we headed downtown to introduce Tyler to my co-workers. It was a very strange feeling to be back in that building. I hadn't been there since February 5. And being there made me realize that going back to work is going to be a lot harder than I originally thought. But it was nice to see everyone. And they were all happy to meet Tyler. Tyler showed his excitement differently - he slept the whole time he was there!!!

On Friday, I had my first hair appointment since January. I was really looking forward to this. I had to cancel my previous appointment because I had been on bedrest. So we packed it up and headed to the salon. Everyone there just adored him and commented on his hair and asked when his first haircut will be. (For the record, I'm not rushing to cut it anytime soon, but if it keeps growing like it has been, Baby's First Haircut will be sooner rather than later. Travis laughs and says that he is getting a "Baby Mullet" - fitting for Mechanicsville.) Again, Tyler behaved very well on this outing. He slept right through it. He started to stir a little bit towards the end, but as soon as Ken (my hairdresser) turned on the hairdryer, he was out like a light again. Thank God for "white noise".

After the hair appointment, we met up with my friend Lori and her little boy Evan for lunch. Evan is 6 days older than Tyler and it's so nice to have a girlfriend that is going through the same things that I am. We compare notes and use each other as a sounding board. This time, we put the boys together in the pack-n-play to see how they would interact. Tyler was fixated on Evan, but Evan wasn't really "into" the meeting. In any event, it was fun to watch the boys together. We can't wait to do this as they get older! We hope that Tyler and Evan will become friends, as their parents have. Eventually, Lori and I were able to get out to lunch after this play session, and the boys slept the time away. We were both very lucky!! We both kept commenting that we were definitely on "borrowed time". That's a very popular phrase when it comes to outings with an infant - especially a breastfed infant.

And speaking of that, we have started to introduce a bottle of pumped milk to Tyler's day in order to prepare him for what's to come at daycare. Last week was one bottle a day, we started two bottles a day tonight, and we will progress to three bottles a day in about two weeks. He'll be getting three bottles a day in daycare and we want that transition to be as smooth for him as possible. Plus, it gives me the opportunity to get used to pumping that much during the day (aka feeling like a cow). So when we go out for a few hours, I pack a bottle of pumped milk for him. I tried to give him some of it while we were at Lori's and he wouldn't take it. I chalked it up to the fact that he wasn't hungry, probably because he was in a new place with lots of new things to look at and listen to (they have three dogs and they were barking and playing around). I didn't force the issue and went about our visit. So when we finally got home, I tried to give him the bottle again so that it wouldn't go to waste (throwing away pumped breastmilk is enough to make any breastfed mother weep - loudly). He screamed. And I mean this was an ear-shattering, glass-breaking scream. And it kept on and on and on. No matter what I did, he wouldn't take the bottle from me. Now, I had read about this and saw that some breastfed babies will all out refuse a bottle from their mother, as they can smell the milk on her and know that the "real thing" is there so why bother with a bottle. And I had also read that breastfeeding mothers should try and get the baby to take a bottle from another person in the beginning so that they don't associate the mother with the bottle, as opposed to the breast. So, Travis has been feeding him his nightly bottle and it's gone really well. It gives Travis a chance to bond with Tyler and it gives me a little break (though I'm acquainted with my pump during these times). Anyway, back to the screaming-while-Mommy-is-trying-to-give-me-a-bottle-of-milk story. He wasn't buying what I was selling. So after about 15 minutes of this, I finally caved and put the bottle away and let him nurse. He nursed like a champ. He nursed quietly and happily. He just wasn't about to take a bottle from me. Guess all that crap you read in the parenting magazines isn't all crap, huh? Better renew that subscription to "Parents".....

Friday was also Hokie Hope Day across the nation, as you probably know. Our neighbors are Tech fans (Seth is an alum), so I called ahead and asked if I could borrow a t-shirt for myself. Not only were they able to let me borrow a shirt, they produced a VT romper, socks, and bib for Tyler! Their kids had worn this ensemble when they were his age, and it fit him pretty well! So as we were out and about that day, many people commented on my "Little Hokie". I was so glad that we were both able to show our support. We continue to keep the VT family in our prayers.

We have another week of outings ahead of us. I hope to get to Genworth to visit Travis and his co-workers this week and then we have the big outing on Friday. We head to Union Mills, NC to visit my mother's gravesite on the one year anniversary of her death. Tyler will get to see his great Nana Scoggin again, as well as Grandpa Ed & Uncle Eddie. We will also be spending Saturday night with Uncle Kevin & Aunt Debi at the lake. I am very excited about this because I haven't been to the lake in years and Tyler will get to meet this family as well as my Uncle Harry's. So wish us luck, and I will be sure to update next week!!

Starting to have some fun

As you can see, we are smiling now!!! The first one came about a week ago, and I have been desperately trying to capture the toothless grin on camera ever since. Just today I was successful. And that grin makes it all worth it - the sleepless nights, the fussy afternoons, the unbelievably poopy diapers, the spit-up, everything. We've even started to get a few "laughs" here and there. It's kind of hard to tell what's truly a "laugh" and what's the beginning of an all-out breakdown, as the sounds are pretty similar. But we think we're getting the hang of it. When we get Tyler on the floor and play with him, his face lights up and he just has the best time. It's amazing how this just kind of developed overnight. And we're loving every minute. And we think Tyler is too!

We've hit another mile marker as well. Tyler is 6 weeks old (well, 7 weeks tomorrow.....I'm a little late on this). And we think he's hit a bit of a growth spurt. We were getting about 3 to 3 1/2 hours between feedings during the day, and getting about a 5 hour stretch at night between feedings. All of a sudden, that changed. This past weekend, our little man decided that he couldn't stand to go more than about 2 1/2 hours without some milk and wasn't going to go more than 3 hours at night. We seriously felt like we had just brought him home from the hospital. But he's gotta grow!!! Luckily it seems as if his growth spurt is slowing (lucky for me, that is!). However, according to all of the books and websites and doctors, we're in for another spurt here in a few weeks. I'm trying to prepare myself now!

Oh, and on the 6 week mark, I had my post-pardem appointment last week. All is well with me. My incision is healing very nicely, and the doctor says that it won't be too long before I won't notice it at all. Also, my blood pressure has FINALLY stabilized. I am now off of the meds that I've been taking since February 6 (when I started bedrest). I left my appointment feeling pretty happy and "recovered".

And on a sad note, a date has been set for me to return to work. May 14th will be "doom day". I am not looking forward to this, but unfortunately those lotto tickets haven't paid off (probably because we haven't bought any). Tyler will be going to a daycare center less than 5 miles away from the house. We looked at several centers and this one was by far our favorite - not to mention the most convenient. We struggle with the idea that he will be in the care of other people for 9 - 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, but you do what you have to do. And we feel very good about the facility that we have chosen. The owners and instructors all seem very dedicated and we had a positive experience when we visited there. And he'll be able to interact with other children, which will be good. Not to mention the germs. Everyone always talks about how great it is to expose your kid to all the crud that goes around a daycare. (We'll see how true that is.....) But it still doesn't make the idea any easier. If we could, I would stay home with Tyler, at least for the few couple of years. Who knows.....maybe I'll really play the lottery one night and we'll win.

One last note: Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire community of Virginia Tech. It's very unnerving to know that this tragedy took place at all, let alone in our great state, or at one of our best universities. We pray for the students, faculty, staff, families, and friends to heal from this horrific event.

Road trip!

Well, we did it! We survived our first road trip with an infant! We went to Lynchburg to visit with Grandpa Ed and Uncle Eddie for Easter weekend. Tyler got to meet LOTS of people: his great Nana and great Grandaddy Woody, Diane & Wendell, Snookie, Lawrence, & Terry, "Aunt" Angela & "Uncle" Jim, "Aunt" Bridges and her family, Robert & Debra, and many more!

The trip wasn't bad at all. We left almost immediately after Tyler's morning feeding on Friday. As soon as the car was moving, he was out like a light. And he stayed that way until we got to Dad's house. He even slept through our mini-stop in Madison Heights to see our friend Davina! So it was a very peaceful trip. Once we got to Grandpa's, it was time for another feeding and then we headed to visit with Nana Woody. Tyler was very well-behaved and Nana was absolutely in love with her very first great grandson. Back at Grandpa's house, Tyler was greeted by Grandpa Ed and Uncle Eddie, as well as the Leamons (Grandpa's wonderful neighbors).

Saturday was a very busy day for everyone. Tyler had lots of visitors and was very well-behaved once again. He was passed around like a little hot potato and he loved every minute of it. We've been (kind of sort of) joking that we will have a rough couple of days ahead of us as we try to break him of being held 24/7. I think we can count on one hand the number of minutes that he was put down on Saturday. He had no complaints! But it was wonderful to have so many friends and family stop by to meet our little man. So many people love him! And we're happy to share him with them all! Oh, and Tyler received his first Easter bunny this weekend as well! It was a very thoughtful gift from Robert & Debra - THANK YOU!

We packed it up and left Grandpa Ed's on Easter morning. We once again left right after Tyler's feeding and he did a great job in the car again. He slept all the way home, and only started to stir once we were less than a mile from the house. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend and we look forward to the next trip home so Tyler can meet more people and show the others how much he has grown.

Once we were home, Travis took Tyler to his Grandma & Granddad Snead's house where he was given his very first Easter basket loaded with his very own Peter Rabbit and book! We're looking forward to reading this book with our son! (A very thoughtful Easter Bunny also got Mommy & Daddy some nice gifts too - gift cards to Applebee's and a pedicure!!!!) Tyler also visited with his Aunt Jenn and soon-to-be Uncle Brian. Busy, busy day!!!

Our next road trip will be here very soon, as we are planning to go to Union Mills, NC at the end of the month to celebrate my Mom's (Tyler's "Oma Woody" - what Mom had once told us that she wanted to be called when she finally had a grandchild) life on the one year anniversary of her death (that's a whole separate blog). That will be a much longer trip - an almost 6 hour drive from our house. But we will let Tyler dictate when we need to stop and will travel on his schedule, not ours. We are hopeful that he will do just as well on this trip. It will be good preparation for our summer vacation to Emerald Isle in July. We need all the practice that we can get packing this little guy up! It's a wonder that one little 10-pound baby requires so much stuff to travel! Good thing we bought that Highlander last year (though now it's feeling quite small)!!

Happy Easter everyone! Hope that you were able to spend it with family & friends!

One month....

Our little man turned one month old on Wednesday. We still can't believe it! Time passes very differently when you have a newborn. This past month has been the longest month of my life, but at the same time it has flown by.

And Tyler has changed a lot in this past month. He's hellbent and determined to start holding his head up already. He loves to do this while we are holding him on our shoulders. He's also making more eye contact now, which has been neat to watch. He doesn't go cross-eyed as much anymore and he really looks enthralled with your eyes and your face as you hold him. He loves to watch your mouth as you talk to him, and sometimes he'll try to talk back to you a bit. His little legs have gotten MUCH stronger and he loves to demonstrate his strength as he is being fed or held. He'll just start to kick those legs of his and Travis swears that he is trying to get moving already! He thinks we'll have an early crawler on our hands, much to the dismay of the cats.

Tyler also had his one month appointment at the pediatrician's office today. He weighed in at 10 pounds even, and was 22 1/4 inches long. This puts him in the 50 - 75th percentile for weight and the 75th percentile for height (no surprise there). His doctor was very pleased with his growth and progress. He did have one shot today - his second Hepatits B shot. I wasn't prepared for that. I thought that all the shots happened at the 2 month visit. Thus, I told Travis that he didn't need to take off work today for him to come with us. I made him promise that he would be at the 2 month appointment. But luckily, the Hep B shot wasn't all that bad. Tyler came through it like a trooper. And Mommy did too!

So we continue to do well here in the Snead household. I'm looking forward to the continued warm weather so that Tyler and I can start taking walks around the neighborhood during the day. It'll do us both some good! I've only got about 10 pounds to go to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight (though I'd like to lose a few more in addition to that - but who wouldn't!) and I know that the walks will help the process along. And Tyler likes the outdoors already! We've sat outside on the deck while Travis grills and he just listens to the sounds and looks up at the sky in awe. It's so neat to watch him experience something new!

ESP

We are constantly asked by well wishers, "How are things going?" And we can thankfully say that things are going well. We're trying to adjust to life as new parents and dedicating every second of every day to this new little life that we have brought into the world. But there's something that has me puzzled. Tyler has ESP, meaning he eats, sleeps, and poops. That's about it at this stage. He is starting to stay awake a little more during the day (and unfortunately at night after feedings as well on occasion) so that's kind of neat, but for the most part it's just ESP. So how come this ESP makes us so TIRED?!?! It's amazing how differently time passes when you are living in 3 hour intervals (his current eating schedule - yes, I know....we're fortunate there too). We diaper, feed, burp, sleep. And just when you think you have a few minutes to yourself, it's time to do it all over again. And you feel a little silly for saying that it makes you tired. But it does. And I start to feel a little like a milk machine by about 3:00 in the afternoon. But we're not complaining. Being parents to Tyler is the most rewarding thing that we have ever done. And I know that one day very soon, I am going to look back on these first few days and wish that he was still that little........





Just a couple of highlights since we have been home: Tyler had his first bath the day after we came home from the hospital. Note to self: Tyler does NOT like bath time. I'm hoping that once we are able to give him tub baths that he does a little better.





The cats are doing very well around him. Gracie really doesn't seem to care one way or another that he is here, just so long as she continues to receive her daily cat treats and nighttime rub-fest with Travis. Beemer is pretty much intrigued with Tyler. Every time that he passes him in his bouncy seat, he needs to stop and sniff him. Same goes at night when we are feeding in bed. Beemer likes to jump up on the bed (that's where he spent all of his time before Tyler) and sniff his feet while Tyler eats. Tyler doesn't seem to notice that this is taking place....yet. All in good time, I guess. All in good time. One day he'll be as fascinated with Beemer as Beemer is with him now. Then it's "Look out, cats!!!"

Tyler had his 2 week appointment this week and he weighed in at 8 pounds, 12 ounces. So he is above his birth weight again, which is great! It's also reassuring to a breastfeeding mother to hear, as you never know just how much your baby is eating so you constantly worry if he's getting enough. His doctor said that all was well with him, and we go back in 2 weeks for his 1 month appointment (already?!??!!).

Travis also went back to work this week, which was hard for all of us. Travis misses his little boy terribly during the day, Tyler misses his daddy, and I miss having Travis here to talk to and to help me when I feel lost. But we all make up for lost time as soon as he walks in the door each night, and we are looking forward to spending lots of time together this weekend (and every weekend thereafter). Seeing how hard it was for Travis to go back to work makes me dread the day that I have to return. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it......

We've had lots of visitors: Nana Scoggin and Great Uncle Kevin, Grandma and Granddad Snead, Aunt Jenn & soon-to-be Uncle Brian, Grandpa Ed (we don't have a "grandfatherly" name for Dad yet - we're all working on it), the neighbors on our street, my friend Lori and her little boy Evan (who is only 6 days older than Tyler), and so many more. And we're sure that there are more to come! So many people for our boy to meet!

So that's where we are now. We're doing well, really well I think. Each day we learn something new, or get a little better at something (i.e. diaper changes). And things will only get better.....

The beginning.....

Well, it has happened. We are officially the parents of Tyler Kenneth Snead. And boy, what a journey we had in order to get him here.

I went to the hospital as planned on February 27 to begin the induction. I had my "last meal" and Dad came to visit with me for a while. Later that evening, Travis went home to get his last night of good sleep and I settled in for a pretty uneventful evening at the hospital. It was funny though....I kept looking over to the right of my bed to see the warming table that was to hold our son sometime the next day. The little blankets were already set up and ready for his arrival. It made the whole experience seem so real. Travis came back early the next morning and my doctor started the Pitocin (the drug given to help put me into labor). She also went ahead and broke my water at that time. Man, I'll tell you - that was the weirdest feeling in the world! I just giggled and giggled! After that, I just settled in, watched some TV, chatted with Travis and my friend Laura, and waited for the fun to begin.

I started having some contractions soon thereafter, but they weren't really regular. They were getting stronger though, so I quickly ordered my epidural. (Hey, as Laura says, they don't give you a medal for "toughing it out", so I had no intention of doing so! Haha!) Because of the swelling that I was having due to the blood pressure, I had to have the epidural done twice. It wasn't the most pleasant experience in the world, but the relief that followed once it was complete was well worth it. I continued to have contractions (but I wasn't feeling them - woohoo!) and I was SURE that I was progressing past the one measley centimeter that I was dialated earlier that morning. My doc came in around lunch time.....yeah, I had progressed. To a whopping 2 centimeters.

Long story short(er): By mid-afternoon, a few things were apparent. I wasn't progressing at all. The baby didn't react well to contractions when I was lying on my right side (his heart rate would drop). I was running a fever and had to have an antibiotic. The baby was at a -3 station (that means he was nowhere NEAR dropped in the birth canal). The verdict? C-section.

I was prepped, given more numbing meds through my epidural, we called the families, and Travis dressed in his "sterile wear" (It was a great look for him. Once I get the pic from Laura, I will post it here!). I'll be honest. I don't remember too much from the delivery. I do remember that the surgery was uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. I felt no pain from the incisions or anything like that, but the pressure that I felt was like nothing I had felt before. Lying there, I wondered why any woman would ELECT to have a C-section. Just not fun for me. I did hear the anesthesiologist say at one point that the baby had a nice head of light brown hair. I looked at Travis in shock. I never thought our baby would have hair. Then I heard my OB say something along the lines of "Come on, hoss". We knew then that we had a big boy on our hands. We heard a small cry from him and my doc said that his cord was wrapped just slightly around his neck. This is probably why he didn't tolerate labor well when I was on my right side. They took him to the warming table, Travis went to take pictures, and we heard them call for the NICU team. Our baby wasn't breathing well on his own and had apparently taken a pretty big gulp of amniotic fluid right before he was pulled out of the womb. Another moment of honesty here. I don't remember too much after this point. I remember being very worried, but everyone kept telling us it was going to be OK. They brought Tyler to me as I was being closed up, and I was able to give him a little kiss on his forehead before they whisked him out of the room. Things are fuzzy past this point, but I know that my Dad and brother visited with me, Travis got to go to the Progressive Care Nursery to see Tyler (and brought me pictures), and the neonatalogist came to let us know how our little man was.

Once I was able to move my legs, I was moved to the post-partum wing. But first I was wheeled into PCN so that I could finally see my son. I was still a little doped up, but I remember being scared because of all the tubes and monitors and what not. But I was assured that he was in the best care. In fact, this is the unit that Laura works in so I knew that he had the best nurses. And off I went to post-partum for the longest night of my life - away from our newborn son.

However, he got the greatest care in the world, and he was finally moved to the newborn nursery late Thursday night. Travis, Tyler, & I spent the next few days in the hospital getting to know each other and becoming a family. We were finally discharged on Saturday, March 3rd. Both Tyler & I were given a clean bill of health and we were on our way home!

And here we are.....home. Travis & I now have a family of our own. Tyler has completed us. And we couldn't be happier.

A bunch of "one lasts"

Well, tomorrow night I go into the hospital for the beginning of induction. By dinner time on Wednesday, we SHOULD have our baby boy! (I say "should" because, well, it's not up to us!) So tonight is our last night in the house together as a childless couple. Though there is plenty to do to prepare for our son's arrival, we can't help but get in the "one lasts":

-one last pregnancy craving. Travis, as we speak, is on his way to Dairy Queen to get me one last Blizzard. Yes, it is 30-some degrees outside. Since I don't leave the house, this isn't a big deal to me.
-one last quiet dinner at home. OK, it was burritos (my request) but Travis did a great job making them and the only distraction that we had were the cats.
-one last conversation with the baby in the belly. Travis likes to rest his head on my belly and have talks with his son. The baby plays all sorts of "hiding" games from him. It's cute and funny. I think we are both going to miss that.
-one last evening of "belly watch". We've also become quite accustomed to just sitting in the living room and watching my belly dance as the baby attempts to make more room in there for himself. It's more exciting than this season's American Idol. And I am so going to miss it.

I'm going to miss a few things about pregnancy. I think the biggest thing I am going to miss is feeling my baby move inside of me. It is such a miracle and I am reminded of this miracle everytime he kicks or squirms (or punches me HARD in the bladder - probably won't miss that so much). But I have a feeling that having him in my arms, looking into his eyes, and having him HERE with me & Trav will make up for whatever I might miss.

The list of things that I WON'T miss is much longer and here's just a sampling: heartburn, frequent urination, insomnia (yes, I realize I won't get much sleep once he's here, but pregnancy insomnia is BAD), not being able to get out of bed without a fight, BEDREST, swollen feet, hands, face, etc. All in all, this pregnancy hasn't been bad, but I am ready to move on to the next stage. We're ready to meet our son.

And he'll be here before we know it. The nerves are starting to set in now. For both of us. Right now, I am nervous about the induction process and the whole labor and delivery thing. Trav is nervous about bringing the baby home. And I know I will get to that point....just as soon as I get that epidural. Haha! But for tonight, we will enjoy being a "couple" on the verge of becoming a "family".

We'll be sure to update everyone as soon as we can! HERE WE GO!!!!!!!!!

I guess he just can't wait to get here....

First and foremost, welcome to our blog. I hope to be able to keep this up after the baby is born to keep everyone up-to-date with the latest news on our son and our adventures as new parents!

Here's a little recap of what's been going on in this pregnancy lately. All has been well and pretty much uneventful.....until about 33 weeks or so. I have had medium-high blood pressure for the majority of this pregnancy, and as the weeks have gone by, my doctor has been watching me closely. I started to have some excessive swelling and at our 35 week appointment, and my blood pressure sky-rocketed. I was told that my working days were over and that I was going to be put on bedrest until delivery (bedrest, by the way, is NOT fun....in fact, it's downright frustrating and boring at times - not to mention it's extremely tiring to lay around all day!!!). And delivery was going to come about 2 weeks sooner than the original date of March 15. This is typical for women diagnosed with pregnancy-induced hypertension (what I have). We had an ultrasound on the day of that appointment and found that our little boy weighed approximately 6 lbs. 5 oz. at 35 weeks. So he's a good size, we just want to make sure that his little lungs are developed. I have been scheduled for an induction on February 28 (I'll be 38 weeks pregnant at that point). So it looks like we will have a February baby and not a March baby as we always thought! Just goes to show you - we don't call the shots around here anymore!

So that's where we are right now. I suppose the next post here will be all about the joys of childbirth with a few pictures here and there of the newest addition to our little family. We look forward to meeting him and sharing our experiences with you all! Thanks for stopping by!!!!