My Baby Daddy

 WARNING - prepare yourself for a super sappy hormonal blog post! ;)

It seems like just yesterday that I came out of the bathroom, walked into the living room and told Eric that I was pregnant. We sat there with mixed emotions of joy, excitement, disbelief and anxiety. We were going to be parents! Now, that day in December seems a lifetime away. 

While I was pregnant, I often thought about what it would be like to see Eric hold our baby. I got to spend 41 weeks hogging the baby and carrying him 24/7. I wondered what it would be like for his daddy to meet him and to hold him. What would it be like to see Eric as a dad?

During pregnancy, it seems like, and feels like I was the one doing all the work and it was hard for me to feel like Eric was included in the process... I mean it was pretty life changing and let's just say my entire body was lost to little Bobby for a while.

Here I am 4 days before Bobby was born. Wow! Can you say huge?! I was ready for my baby daddy to meet our little man. 

It's just the most crazy and wonderful thing seeing Eric become a father. I think about our relationship over the past 8  years and all the adventures we have had together. It reminds me of when we were first married. I didn't think that getting married would really change our relationship and how we felt about each other because we were so in love. However, getting married was a huge statement of our commitment to each other that our relationship did change. Somehow, we became closer.

Now, as I see Eric holding our son and being a daddy, I am amazed. Watching him in the role of a parent to a baby we created makes me love him even more.

Here is the moment I always thought of during my pregnancy, the first time Eric would hold his son. 

Just chilin by the BBQ

In Daddy's lap

Cuddle time!

The boys of my life!

Hey there!

Daddy's little monster

Dressing Bobby

Splish Splash

Bath time. Eric and I took a birthing class, even though I swore I could read up on everything I needed to know online or in books, I signed up for a birthing class at the last minute. ( Just in case Eric needed to learn something.) I remember clearly the night we were learning about newborn care. I raised my hand and asked, "I have heard that giving a newborn baby a bath is really scary because they are all slippery and squirming. What's the trick to make it easy and fun?" The teachers from first five and and pediatrician speaking that night just kind of looked at Eric and me. The response was, basically, it is scary to give a newborn a bath. period. Here is another instance where I thought I could plan and be prepared to be the mom who knew exactly how to get around a task that is just plain tricky. 

Bobby and I came home from the hospital and the next day, Eric and I decided it was time to give our little bundle of joy a bath. We got all set up with our newborn bath tub, baby washcloths, baby bath towel, and baby head to toe body wash. Previously, I was under the impression I could just give Bobby a bath in the sink, use my body wash, a regular washcloth, and dry him with a dish towel.  All of the baby stuff here is actually necessary. I can't imagine handling this slippery little man in a sink.*** Just so you know, these pictures were taken the morning after our first night with a baby. Let's just say we got no sleep. Hello sleep deprivation....my new nemesis, but I digress. Onto the pictures: 

  I have never concentrated so hard on anything. I guess two college degrees and a graduate degree don't make it any easier.

Obviously, Bobby is NOT interested in his rubber ducky.


As you can tell, Bobby is not too happy about this bath time adventure! I felt so bad for him and his little red face. 



And yes, I hate to tell all of you moms to be, it is true. Giving a newborn a bath is difficult and a two person job.

All clean! And hopefully not scarred for life just yet... 

Here he is recovering in his little swaddle. Swaddling is pretty similar to wrapping a burrito or a tamale. We say, let's taco the baby! 








Now,  things do get better or easier or maybe I am just getting used to handling a soaking wet screaming newborn. Or maybe I am just getting used to functioning on 2 hours of sleep at a time... no seriously though, I have a series of photos to prove bath time has gotten fun and easy! Here's Bobby's bath time at 3 weeks old. 

Hmm.. mom, I'm not sure if I like this, but I'll give it a shot. Oooh, what's that shiny object over there?

I can handle this...

This warm water is pretty nice. 

Yay bath time!! 

Ok... mom are you really taking pictures of me or are we going to finish this bath thing?? 

 

Watch out mom! This is pretty slippery jeez!!!

All clean! Gimme some ... pound it!

 Yep much better than the first bath. 

I ha

A Labor Story

Well it's true. You do not know what labor is like or will be like until you are in the moment and experience it for yourself. This philosophy is entirely against my personality and everything about how I approach life itself. I am a planner. I am in control of my choices and what happens when. The process of having a baby and caring for a baby has been and continues to be the most humbling experience of my life.

As most of you know, I planned on having an all natural labor. This meant to me, laboring mostly at home and then arriving at the hospital at the perfect time to deliver pain medication free.  I looked at labor competitively and compared frequently to running a half marathon. However, everything that occurred was the opposite of what I planned for. The end result was more amazing and beautiful than anything I could have dreamed. My little one arrived one week late. I had at scheduled induction for 41 weeks. Pregnancy is supposed to be only 40 weeks long. Well, when week 41 arrived and I had no new signs of labor, I arrived at the hospital at 8:00 am for a scheduled induction.

Here I am all smiling, not knowing what's about to happen. I am hooked up so they can monitor his heart rate and the frequency of my contractions. I was induced with a foley catheter around 9 am. How that works exactly is kind of TMI so ... you can google it if you are interested. They broke my water after that... and then labor started pretty quickly. 

 Here I am using a "birthing ball" to endure the contractions. It is pretty much an exercise ball with a towel on it.  I like this picture because you can see what time it is.

 Well, needless to say, things got pretty intense, pretty fast. Eric told me to art it out. I told the Dr. to get me an epidural. After all  the pain, even after the epidural, and pushing for an hour, at the end of the day... well at the end of my doctor's work day, little Robert James was born !

 Robert James, born at 4:17 pm on July 26th 2012.

Total labor was approximately 7 hours! Wow.
This is a picture of my first moments with my son.








So, there you have it! My labor story. I have officially joined the sacred club of women who are mommies and who have gone through the rite of passage known as labor and delivery. And now for all of the joyous pictures of Bobby' s first few hours of life with his family....