Thursday, February 21, 2013

Family, Friends, Doctors, and Sabres

Week 2 has come and gone and time continues to move rather quickly.  I'll start with last Friday, February 15th where the last post left off.  The cord and circumcision took care of themselves(thank God) and George just looks much more comfortable!  That also means that we were able to begin with the cloth diapers that also seem pretty comfortable and we are excited to see how they work out.  So far so good.  They definitely make his butt look big but if he asks just say they don't. He gets a little self-conscious.

Little Sumo Baby
They've been working out great and are much simpler than I originally thought they would be.  I even hung a clothesline in the backyard all by myself.  Like a big boy.  I'm getting the hang of a power drill finally.  It wasn't too long ago that it was pretty foreign to me.  Anyhow, the sunlight helps to get the stains out and a week later they still look pretty brand new. I'll spare you what's been in some of them but I will say it's impressive how clean they remain.

Where's my pacifier?

Paul, Emily, and Averie came over Friday night and brought some burgers to grill (in February which was nice!) with bacon and a salad.  Good stuff.  We hung out for a little while, watched the Sabres beat up on Boston, and then it was Averie's bed time and they left.  Saturday was a pretty typical day except for the fact that I had to go back to work at Lucky Strike.  That sucked.  Not only because it's work but because it was my first time away for any extended period of time.  I guess I have to get used to it at some point.



On Sunday Matt, Nichole, and Sebastian came over with some brunch and to watch the Sabres again.  They lost this time but it was one of their better games!  Baby steps apparently.  George met his cousin Sebastian for the second time now with many more to come.  Sebastian is almost exactly a year older than George and I see some good times in their future.  George will be joining Sebastian at his day care around May when Courtney goes back to work.  Not looking forward to that day.  We also had our first family picture that day as well.  We actually had the nurse take a few in the hospital but for some reason they didn't save to my camera so we lost them.
Me, George, Sebastian, and Matt
George not having it(we'll get a good one)


Monday was back to work at my big boy job which also sucked.  Tuesday was normal with another visit to Target.  I feel it's been my second home since February 7th.  Wednesday was a big day!  We had George's 2 week appointment to check out his progress.  It was frustrating trying to leave the house, that's for sure.  It was the first time leaving the house, packing a diaper bag, putting him in the car seat, etc.  Of course as we were finally ready to leave, a noise came from George's pants and he had to be changed again.  Needless to say we were about 20 minutes late for his first appointment.  I'm sure that happens often for those 2 week check ups.  There were a couple different tests/procedures that George didn't appreciate but overall it was a success.  He's up to 9 lbs 1 oz and has gained 11 oz in the 10 days since the nurse visit.  Good stuff.  They hope for an oz a day.  He also grew 1/2 inch for what it's worth.  Measuring the length of a new born is nearly impossible.  They don't necessarily stay straight or still.  His dome is holding steady at 14 1/4 inches.  The Dr. was extremely pleased with George's progress and health so we're all happy.  We then had to go to the lab for some blood to be drawn from George's foot.  I got yelled at by the technician for not keeping the heating pad on his heel long enough.  I guess the warmth makes it easier to get blood.  Oh well, she wasn't very clear in the original directions.  She pricked his heel and George was pissed!  That was not fun and I felt bad for him.  He was screaming loud enough, I thought, to disrupt the entire hospital.  Courtney was right outside and said she couldn't hear so I guess I exaggerated a bit in my mind.
We wrapped Wednesday up with a visit from Cody and Jessa(and later Paul).  Jessa made a delicious Tuna Noodle Casserole which is an all-time favorite in this Loehfelm's household.  George slept a bunch and was great all night.  Trying to forget the happenings that took place earlier in the day and I don't blame him.  He continued to sleep great throughout the night as well giving Courtney some much needed rest.
Posing a bit
It's Thursday afternoon now and the day was supposed to be much more exciting than it has been.  Courtney's parents were supposed to arrive at noon today but no dice.  As they were deicing the plane this morning, the truck ran in to the wing of the airplane cancelling their flight.  Wow.  Instead they will be arriving tomorrow late afternoon.  George is pumped to meet Grandma and Grandpa Snowberger.  We'll have a fun week with the Snowberger's and will fill you in on it later!  On a side note, I made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and egg salad for lunch.  Courtney is napping now and I think she's mentally preparing for tonight's Sabres game against Toronto.  First one in 16 years without Lindy Ruff behind the bench and I'm excited about it.  George is too.  Go Sabres!



Some more pictures of from the past week. Not too great, I was just fooling around with a different lens on the camera.







My ears!!





Thursday, February 14, 2013

and week 1 is over already!

I can't believe it's been a week already!  That went by pretty fast.  It's been full of busy days and busy nights (certainly in Courtney's case!).  He is still eating very frequently and for pretty long periods of time as well.  He definitely likes to take breaks in the middle a meal with a little fuss as well.  Why?  We have no idea but he is getting his fill, that's for sure.
Lounging
...and Lounging













Our buddy Jake came over to meet George Monday night but other than that it's been a pretty quiet week.  Quiet may not be the correct word...visitor-free may be more accurate.  It's nice for the 3 of us to be able to figure things out but we always enjoy visitors as well!  George will love all of the friends and family that support him.
Tuesday was George's first bath at home.  They gave him one in the hospital shortly after he was born.  He didn't like it very much as you can see.  He did warm up to it a little towards the end and I know he'll eventually love them.  Once the cord and circumcision take care of themselves we can submerge him and and get him used to the water(the cord fell today).
Not Happy

Fighting It

Good to Go
This week also brought George's introduction to his 3 cousins Haley, Madelyn, and Devon.  It was great to see their excitement and can't wait for the good times to come!  Wednesday was also a lot of cleaning and Courtney and I finally ordered some wedding pictures.  Almost 3 1/2 years later...not bad.
The chair that Mike and Robyn (who are now an Uncle and Aunt for the first time...that gets over looked) got us showed up today and the nursery is now basically complete.  Courtney made immediate use out of the chair and it's nice for her to have a quiet place to go nurse.  I know George appreciates it too.THANK YOU!
The new place to be
 Some more pictures of week 1 below!!





Thanks Andi for the rocker!!




 I know, he's on the table but he's not going anywhere!!




Monday, February 11, 2013

Sunday Funday...Little different now

Well, Saturday ended with almost getting peed on for the first time and an explosion on my hand that you wouldn't think an infant was capable of.
Sunday began with a normal routine of eat, poop, sleep on repeat.  The first of watching golf with my son which is something I hope we do a lot of in the future.  There's no real good transition from here so watch this video of George hiccuping...

Hiccup Video

At 3 the nurse showed up for our home visit/follow-up.  She was incredibly happy with Courtney's and George's progress.  Courtney was healing and feeling well and George had only lost less than 2% of his birth weight.  Normal is 6-8%.  He continues to latch on well and gets his fair share of milk.  Often.  The nurse did a test for jaundice which turned out well and a few other things.  We found out a lot about her children (she was a proud mother), and showed her and walked her through our Apple TV (I feel we got know her very well in the hour she was here).  After that...nap time.
He digs the swaddle

A burping that became a snuggle

A snuggle with Courtney 
Following the nap we had Facetime with our friends Ryan, Kate, and their daughter Maeve.  It's always nice to introduce George to a friend for life.  We were also visited by our friends Ryan and Ann who brought over delicious homemade Chicken Noodle Soup.  We watched the Sabres lose for the first time in George's lifetime.  There will be plenty more my man!  The sooner you understand what it's like to be a Buffalo sports fan, the better off you'll be.  It makes you a stronger person, I promise.





Sunday, February 10, 2013

Nursery Pictures









The Beginning...Days 1 & 2

OK...I feel like it's not fair if I don't include how we got to day 3.  It started when I got home from work on Wednesday around 5:30 and Courtney was already home.  Not normal.  She said that something just didn't feel right so she came home.  Not normal but not too telling either.  We ordered Chinese food and tried to watch a movie but pausing every 10 minutes for bathroom breaks makes that difficult.  Around 9:30-10 PM some pain and contractions began but I thought it was a warm up for next week.  Midnight came and things got real.  I made a quick list of things not to forget and took turns gathering them and rubbing Courtney's back during each contraction.
At 12:30 things were really real.  She suggested we go so I called the hospital and they confirmed 3 minutes apart was close enough for us to come in.  As I continued to pack in between contractions, and we get ready to leave, Courtney's water breaks around 1.  We head out immediately following that and arrive at the hospital around 1:30.  She was 5 1/2 cm.  To make a short story shorter, she had contractions until 3:30, pushed for 45 minutes and delivered George at 4:15 am(without any medication of any kind) on February 7th, 2013.

Exactly as we had hoped but didn't think it would actually happen that way.  Lucky for us, it did.
The hospital was big on skin to skin contact for the first hour and a half of life while mom nurses and they exchange good vibes.  George latched on immediately and hasn't stopped eating since.  He eats a lot.  I wasn't going to cut the cord but the nurse basically called me out so I did.  I'm glad I did.  After an hour and a half of skin to skin, they weighed and measured George.
8 lbs 9 ozs    20 1/4 inches long
14 1/4 Head

I added in the head measurement because the nurses laughed while measuring.  It's substantial but fits his body.  He's a pretty big dude in general.  After that they took some foot prints, wrapped the placenta, and we were on our way. 

I did go back to move the car and gather our belongings for the next few days.  I remembered everything on the list but my bag of course.  That's fine.  My good friend Paul brought me some of his clothes the next morning and we weren't there very long any how. 
At this point we were moved out of the delivery room(which was nice!) to a more hospital feeling room(not nearly as comfortable but not bad).  We never left George once throughout any of it which was nice.  And they never took him from us.  I should mention Marcia.  Marcia was the nurse from our check-in through delivery.  She was amazing and I think made the whole thing possible.  It seems as though nurses should be making the big bucks(sorry Dad!).  The Doctor's were great as well but were not in the room very long.  Marcia kicked ass.   
Now we're alone in our room with a baby!  People are in and out continuously checking Courtney and George for everything and anything.  Thank God everything continued to be fine.  Courtney did almost pass out earlier in the delivery room.  An hour and a half after delivery she went to use the bathroom.  Everything was OK but as she was about to sit back down in the wheelchair to be transferred to the next room she lost it and almost passed out.  I was holding George and was facing the other direction, helpless.  Thank God for Marcia.  Marcia grabbed and wrapped Courtney up and landed her safely in the wheelchair. Marcia, Marcia, Marcia. 
Hours go by and Thursday morning begins.  Our first visitors were our friends Pete and Erica.  Erica is a Doula and was there to gather the placenta for encapsulation.  The rest of the day was filled with staring at George, a lot more visitors, texting, taking pictures, emailing pictures, more visitors, more staring at and caring for George, not eating, not resting, more visitors, staring at George, exhaustion, and unparalleled excitement.

Thursday night arrives and George is pissed.  Courtney and I have had zero sleep and should have spent more time resting earlier in the day. We didn't and now we would pay.  Oh well, up most of the night figuring out parenting is something we might as well get used to.  Friday morning came soon enough and eventually we would be on our way home.  A few important things to take care of first.  It worked out that as he was being taken away for his circumcision, I had to go downstairs to have the car seat installed.  I'm grateful for this.  Courtney said when they brought him back from his circumcision he was, understandably, VERY upset.  By the time I returned he was sleeping comfortably and I was able to pretend it never happened.  A few hours later we were on our way home.  Exactly 36 hours after we arrived.  Not bad!!

Friday night our friends Paul and his daughter Averie, and Cody and Jessa came to visit with plenty of pizza to last us for a bit.




Saturday, February 9, 2013

Settling In

His 1st picture ever!  On the scale weighing in at 8 lbs 9 ozs
Well...this blog is being created on day 3 of The Life of George.  So far, in George's existence, the Sabres are 2-0 and the Bills haven't lost either.  Tomorrow we go for 3-0.  Not bad.

We've been home for over 24 hours and so far so good.  A relatively sleepness night but to be expected.  I feel bad even saying that because it is easier for me to sleep than for Courtney.  George is pretty much nursing every 2 hours with a nap in between.  It's like they say...eat, sleep, poop and repeat.  We feel he's developing trust and definitely getting more comfortable being home.  Less crying in the bassinet, less crying while being changed, less crying all together.  All Good Things!!

Today we had visits from Nichole and Sebastian(Ortiz) and Andi Wagner.  Nichole and Matt were nice enough to allow us to borrow their swing and rock n' play that Sebastian has outgrown.  They also brought some toys and cool outfits for George to rock around the house. Sebastian is exactly 366 days older than George, born on February 6th, 2012.
Andi is a great friend of ours and brought George a Baby's Bouncer and some more cool outfits, one of which is a sailor's theme and says "Captain Adorable".  I told her that now I would have to change my nickname.  There can only be one "Captain Adorable" in this house and George wins that title now.  I enjoyed my 32 years with that self-given nickname and will happily pass it on!
Andi and George
The rest of today's photos are below!
First Thing in the morning
Stretch it Out!

 Some Close-Ups

 It's Good!

Eye's Open!











Tomorrow we have some more friends visiting George for the first time and an at home visit from a nurse to see how everyone's doing.  She will weigh him and check him out to make sure the first few days at home were everything he could want!  I think it's a pretty cool service our insurance provides as well!