What's Casey Like?

She seems a little more aware than Tyler was.  You could mess with Tyler a lot before he paid any attention.  Casey wants to be swaddled and snuggled, and then she doesn't want to move.  She's been sleeping a lot, and we've been indulging her because she's had quite a day, and I'd want to take a nap too.  The nursing has gone really well, even though Casey hasn't eaten a whole lot yet.  She's not having any problems, an neither is Jessie, and that's good news?

She's started to be a little curious.  She woke up and didn't feel like eating; she just opened her eyes and looked around, clearly curious about how vision worked.  She likes looking at mom, mostly.  Dad is okay too.  I can't tell what color her eyes are, but they aren't as dark as Tyler's were.  Maybe just a nice, dark blue.  

She has a lovely little nose.  I like giving her eskimo kisses.  

There's less of a 'story' with Casey.  For Tyler there was all this action, all these events, a lot to think of and remember.  Casey has been very direct.  She showed up practically on time, arrived without incident, and has pretty much just been sitting around being a baby.  

The rest of us are just sort of waiting around to see what else she'll do one she gets some more energy.  Will she fuss and cry a lot?  Want to look at things?  Just want to eat?  

Oh, there's one answer.  She got the hiccups.  She wants to hiccup.  

-N

Baby Casey Arrives

I sat waiting in an empty delivery room for what felt like a really long time.  I had all my stuff on, but no baby to go see, yet.  Eventually mom and dad came back from getting breakfast and the nurse came to get me.  Jess was already much of the way open and I sat down behind the screen to chat and keep her occupied.  She made a lot of odd faces; she could feel a lot more of the procedure this time, what with people rooting around in her abdomen for upwards of half an hour.  Jess was doing well, and eventually I got up my courage to look around the screen.

I couldn't see much from my direction, but the entire time the surgical staff was chatting away about whatever was on their minds, clearly so expert at this procedure that we were in quite good hands.  Eventually I saw them reaching in and pulling a baby out.  Casey came out head first, yanked with intensity and care, and was quickly taken to the corner to get checked up.

She was quiet for a little while, but made some cries that were loud enough to ensure us of her vitality.  I went over to check on her and she was squirming and crying a whole bunch and being really cute.  I gave her my fingers to grab, and that seemed to calm her down.  I think she was just really tired.

After a while of alternating between taking pictures, staring at her cute face, and watching Jessie get put back together, we took Casey over to see Jess.  As soon as Casey heard her mom's voice, she opened her eyes.  I made sure they both got good kisses and nuzzles, then held on while the surgery finished.

Jess was reassembled without incident and we rolled back to the room with Baby in mommy's arms.  Jess was in a much better state than after her previous cesarean, very anxious to get a hold of Casey and start breast feeding, and Casey was in the mood too.  She kept searching around with her mouth for something to put in.  She found her hands a few times.

Back at the room the nurses helped us with the first breast feeding, and Casey did really well.  We're still sorting out a few details, especially as Casey is so small, inexperienced, and tired, but things seem to be going pretty well.  It's making Jessie smile.

I took a short nap, got some food at the Cafeteria, and we have spent much of the day sending pictures around to everyone we know of all the cute happenings in our room.  Casey and mom are both doing great.  It's a good day.

-N

Jess is off

Soon someone will come get me and I'll go see my daughter.  I'm blogging mostly because there's nothing else to do in this empty room.

-N

Things are happening!

We have been waiting to see exactly when the C-section would be, and it looks like it will be quite soon!  There was another C-section scheduled for 7:15, and they didn't show up (which is odd) and so we will get to have our Cesarian then.  Yay!  Jess has been suffering through some 'mild' contractions (they still hurt) and waiting patiently for the time to come.

Now things are about to kick off!  We've had anesthesiologists visit, nurses transition, and we've been asked about Jessie's medical history more times than I care to mention.  Doctor will soon be on the way, I'll be putting on my duds, and before you know it, baby pictures!

-N

Babywatch is a go!

Tyler was a little fussy last night, and I got up at about 1:30 to help calm him down.  He wanted a tissue. Well, he also wanted to fuss, but it was mostly the tissue.  When I got back, Jess was awake, and I tried to cuddle her to sleep.  I had my arm over her belly and could feel the contractions starting and stopping.  After a while she got up to go use the restroom and I was relaxing when I heard: "Hey, Noel,, can you take a look at this?"

I went into the restroom and Jess was looking down at herself wondering if something was going on.  As we both looked, her water broke.  Just a few hours before we were scheduled to do our Cesarean anyway.  First points to you, Casey.

Anyway, we called the nurse line and they asked us to come into the hospital.  We got all our stuff together, woke up the grandparents, left the monitor with Fran, and drove on in.  I was very safe and everything. There was the usual mountain of paperwork, then we got checked into the nice, refurbished Labor and delivery room.  Which is where we are now.

It's 4:30 AM.  Unless labor starts to kick off in earnest, which it might do, we are likely to get Casey out at around 8 AM.  Which means by the time you wake up and read this, you may already have a new relative.

-N

Babywait Day Whatever

Yep, still no baby. But tomorrow, tomorrow.  Right?  Everyone get pumped.  We get to the hospital at 10:30, surgery is scheduled for 12:30.  Kisses happen soon after.

-N

Babywait, Day 4

Still nothing.  Even less, in fact!  Jessie's contractions have been less intense and less regular.  Which is pretty good, because she went to *work* today, for crying out loud.  She made it a little more than half the day then came home for a nap.  It's looking more and more like Wednesday will be the day.  But you never know.  Out of nowhere--BAM!  Water broken!  Time to go!  I might not be able to blog quickly enough if that happens, but I'll let you know eventually.

-N

Babywait, Day 3

Still nothing.  A strong contraction here or there, and occasionally they are becoming a little bit regular, but nothing like actual labor. Guess I'm going into work tomorrow.  Bummer.

-N

BabyWait, Day 2

Are we still here? Yep? That means no Casey so far, we continue to wait with baited breath.

Jess was having weak contractions that were roughly 12 minutes apart yesterday evening, and I was convinced that they were eventually going to progress to full fledged labor sometime during the night. Alas, it was not to be, and we were burdened, *burdened*, with a full nights sleep. Perhaps the last one ever? We can only wait and see.

Grandpa has arrived. Early, because you never know, and it's good to have extra backup. Nana has made it too. So the gang is all here, and we're still just waiting for Casey to make an appearance. Jess has made some marginal progress, though nothing concrete enough for us to want to head back to the hospital for a quick surgery. Still, though, it could be *any minute*. And it's even any-minute-y-er today than it was yesterday. Jess lost her mucus plug which, according to the internet, means that labor can be anywhere between 1 day and...uh...two weeks, away. So again, waiting. It's just, you know, *more* waiting.

Tyler took a huge nap today, I finished putting some shades up in Casey's room to keep it dark (it keeps it really dark) and we've been making preliminary plans for shopping and food and other things. Still, I know you all want to hear about the big news, and there's really nothing I can say except 'stay tuned'.

-N

Signs point to soon

I must be brief, there's a lot to get done, but it looks like Casey will be showing up sooner rather than later. It's all very exciting.

I went up to ReaperCon on Wednesday, painted with friends in the lobby until 1:30 in the morning, then woke up, took some classes, painted some more, talked with people, met new ones, and generally had a fantastic time. Then on the way out of the Hotel to get dinner on Thursday evening, I got a text from Jessie that her water may have broken. After some more examination, she decided to go to the hospital to check, and I turned around and drove home. Turns out the water was still where it was supposed to be, but I finished the drive home anyway.

We slept through the night, and most of this morning, Jess has been having consistent, though irregular contractions. This isn't labor. Labor is when they come much closer together and hurt a bit more. This is pre-labor, and contrary to what I would assume, (based on a doctor visit this morning) this doesn't *necessarily* mean labor is inevitable. We may still be waiting until Wednesday to see Casey for the first time. But it is a strong indicator that we may be on the home stretch, nearly a month earlier than Tyler got delivered, by the way.

So the current status is still just wait-and-see. At any moment the contractions could ramp up in intensity and frequency, and then we'd just head into the Hospital and get cesarean-ed. But we might also be in for a long wait. Only time will tell. Current time is 3:00, though, and Jess is taking a nap. If the pool on whether Casey or Dad gets here first gets started, put me down for Dad. His flight is on the way. Casey's has been delayed.

-N

Not Technically a BBQ

I'm not sure what you're supposed to call these. Here in Texas “Bar-B-Que” has a very specific connotation. It involves smoke, brisket, and a heck of a lot of time. Instead, we just invited a bunch of people over and made hamburgers and hot dogs. I called it a “Grill Party”, but I just made that up.

The weather is in that sweet spot of very nice between the colds of winter and the blistering heat of summer, so Jess decided, despite being very pregnant, that it would be a good idea to invite over some families (mostly friends of Tyler from School and the neighborhood) and feed them. It went really well. I'm getting better at grilling (via practice) and the 'Sausages in Beer' were a big hit. The kids liked playing in the tree house, we brought out our “bucket 'o trucks” and dumped them all in the tree house. The kids also had a great time chasing each other around with Frisbees and ringing the bell and making huge noises. Then we all went inside and Tyler and his friends spent the afternoon chasing me around the house with foam swords. It's a good exercise routine if you can manage it.

Casey will be here in (at most) two weeks and 3 days. So close! We've done most of the big preparations: the room and crib are ready for her. We're going to have a bunch of help for the first few weeks, so I'm not too worried about the little things. We could always give the house a going-over to re-baby-proof it after letting that slide as Tyler got older. Past that, we're just going to have to wait her out, she'll probably just be a baby for a good long time, one that needs a lot of attention and lots of sleepless nights.

I am getting excited to meet her, though.

-N

T-minus 4 weeks

Casey is, at most, 4 weeks away. Knowing the date like that is odd, but really cool. Especially as Jess is heading back into the unpleasant parts of pregnancy, where you feel really, really big. It's good to have an end date.

Tyler's birthday happened this weekend, and it was a lot of fun for all parties involved. I always like getting lots of stuff for people, and we got to invite a bunch of friends of Tylers (yes, he is old enough to have friends) out to Kiddie Acres, give them a bunch of tickets, feed them lots of food, and everyone had a really great time.

Kiddie Acres is a little fun-park down the street a bit from us. The rides are all out of some old carnival, but for little kids it's a fantastic time. Everything is their size, there are essentially no lines, and they get to go around to do all sorts of stuff. Tyler rode on all the rides and got really excited when people he knew from school showed up. They all ran around and had a blast. Tyler even rode a pony, which was great. A couple of the girls from his class wanted to ride the horses, but got scared when they were close. Then they watched Tyler do it without fuss, and when he was done the moms asked him if it was scary, to try and motivate their daughters. He's so brave.

Right about the time the boys were getting hungry, the pizza came out. We ordered too much, but that's part of the fun. Then we had cake! Pro tip: getting the cake for your 3-year-old's birthday from Whole Foods might be overkill, but they do make a tasty cake. The parents all appreciate it, at least. Then everyone got to run around a bunch, we gave away a bunch of copies of books, and heard a lot of people tell us that they drive by this place all the time and had no idea it was here.

I liked it.

I've been getting poked a lot recently. I got a DTAP booster because Casey is on the way and because other people are stupid about vaccinations, and we brought Tyler along to watch daddy get a shot. Tyler had just gone for his 3-year checkup and no shots for him (Lucky guy) so we thought he would get a kick out of watching daddy go through it. We asked if he wanted to sit on my lap to watch, but that seemed too scary for him. As if being so close might accidentally get some needle in him, too. Anyway, I was very brave, and Tyler got to see the process. He gets a lot of shots at age 4.

Oh, and then the next day I had to go to the lab to give some blood for tests. Yeesh.

Casey has been very mean to Jessie today. She's graduated from big kicks that get Jess right in the lungs to an uncomfortable stretching that makes Jess have to lean over and grimace. I can usually wake her up by talking to her belly. It's a neat trick, but I don't think Jess appreciates it. Jess also often has Tyler jump up on her lap when she's snacking so he can get some of her food. She told me that now she has two kids stealing food from her.

Tyler has moved up a grade! We wanted to get him into his new class as soon as we could, so that he'd be used to it by the time he had to go through a second transition when Casey comes. He's really liking his new class. The first day he came come with a worksheet where he has started tracing letters. He did some pretty good work on the letter 'L'. That afternoon he told us how much he liked Ms. Patty's class. The next day he gave us a worksheet with a bunch of W's on it. They looked really good! We were quite proud of him. After that he asked if he could just stay with Miss Patty all day. The transition period is supposed to last for a week. Tyler made it 2 days. When we came to pick him up today he was playing in the *big kid* playground. They have some raised stepping stones that the kids like to jump between. Tyler was on his knees carefully stepping from stone to stone and chatting with the others. We stood to watch for a while. One of the other kids came up and told Tyler that his parents were here. He got a big smile and ran over and crashed into us. It's nice when he does that.

I ran for 4.25 miles today, and couldn't manage 1.5 miles on Monday. No idea why.

-N