blueberry eyes?

I've been meaning to write this post for a while now...but I have a cute little man that has prevented me from getting any length of time at the computer to write. Let see...Ty is really starting to be more active and awake during the day. He loves looking around at Ruddley and I and he's also been smiling a lot too. He's got a dimple on the right side and a smaller one on his left side. I could really sit and look at him smile all day, I love it!

He's eating well...sometimes I feel like too well. He eats MANY times during the day and I'm trying to pump in between feedings. My boobs hate me! For a while I thought he was eating every 2 hours...now it's not so predictable. Of course he always wants to eat when we are out and about like at a restaurant, or on a walk, at the neighbors or at the concert in the park! Ugh! I said to Ruddley the other night how I would love to be able to go out and not have to feed him. I even try and be proactive and feed him right before we go out. ugh...oh well. That's life! We have just started trying him on a bottle so Ruddley can do some of the feedings and give me a little break:-)

Last weekend we went up to my parents house in hopes of going sailing. We were given a "newborn" life jacket from one of Ruddley's customers at work. We were all packed up, the boat cleaned out, and ready to go when my mom suggested trying the life jacket on him before we left to make sure it fit. It did not. Haha. Here he is trying it on. Mom and I were dying laughing:-)

the life jacket that doesn't quite fit yet:-)

resting on our family picnic

my mom and her boy

This week we went on a walk with Christine and Mackinna. Mackinna has declared she is a "baby hog" and loves little Ty. We also took Ty to his first Concert in the Park at the local park. We discovered that he really loves music. We met our neighbors Christine and her kids Mackinna and Kaden as well as Dan and Katie and their son Nicholas. Nicholas decided that Tyler has "blueberry eyes" and then pretended to eat them. It was pretty cute. At this point they are still a slate color but we are hoping he gets Ruddley's blue eyes!

daddy and ty at the Concert in the Park

Ty also went to his first Sea Dogs game over the weekend!! We had such a blast.

doctors, doctors and more doctors....

Ty had his 2 week checkup at his PCP yesterday as well as a follow up with the Cardiologist and today he had his weekly visit from the home health nurse. Phew. I learned a few things in the last 24 hours:
*don't schedule doctors appointments back to back...it messes up our feeding schedule thus making a cranky Ty
*ty pees when he is upset...like when getting an EKG which he needed to be naked for.
*bring lots of extra diapers/extra outfits when going to the doctors. we went through 4 diapers and 3 outfits!

Overall all the appointments went well and even though I messed up our daily eat, sleep, poop, pee schedule Ty did very well. I had some time to kill between the PCP and Cardiologist so I went to visit people at work with Ty. It was nice to share him with everyone:-) He of course, slept through it all...again! We also bought a lullaby cd for him to listen to at night, hoping that it would help him get back to sleep (I was tired of trying to come up with songs to sing at 2:00am). I think he really likes it. He is currently next to me in his bouncy seat thinking about going to sleep and I have it playing. But really, who knew Twinkle Twinkle had so many verses!?

Yesterday after his appointments we met my mom and brother for lunch and then went to zach's doctors appointment and finally a nice walk around back bay! It was a busy day!!

Today the home health nurse came and gave him two thumbs up. He has cut our weekly visits back to every 2 weeks now! Even though Ty is a healthy baby overall it's been nice to have weekly medical support since I really have no idea what I am doing and learning as I go.

Results from all his appointments:
9.1 lbs
22 in
His heart murmur is about .5 millimeters big down from 1.0 millimeters and he wants a follow up in 8 months.

Overall a good day and today we will try and get back on our regular schedule!:-)

2 weeks old!

At this time 2 weeks ago, I was sound asleep drugged up on Ambien and Tylenol PM. Ruddley just pointed out to me that the first pitch of tonight’s ESPN Sunday Night baseball game with the Sox/Yankees is Ty's official 2 week birthday (8:00pm). So much has happened over the last 2 weeks...

When we arrived home from the hospital I still was having a very hard time getting around! I really felt like I had been run over a truck. My legs/feet were very swollen. Infact Penny had cut me back to part time at work the Thursday prior to my delivery since my feet didn't even fit in my crocs. While in the hospital they pumped so much fluid into me that it only got worse. It hurt to stand for any amount of time. I couldn't sit very well since I had so much stitching done. Laying down was my best option and even that hurt. My mom stayed with me for a few days and I honestly don't know what I would have done without her. I had no idea how difficult recovery would be. Thanks mom!:-) I took Ty to my mom and dads for a few days and he met lots of our family friends while we were home.

People keep asking us how Ty is doing and we really have no complaints. The first few nights he didn't want to sleep anywhere except in my arms or on my chest. Which makes sense since he spent the last 9 months curled up inside me. It was difficult for me to get some sleep at first. We are figuring out the eat, sleep, poop, pee schedule and things are getting better each day. He usually goes to sleep in his bassinet next to our bed around 9 or 10. He wakes up somewhere around 12 or 1 to eat and get changed. When he gets up, he is usually up for an hour or so and then goes back to sleep. At this point I usually bring him into bed, I find that he sleeps better there. He will usually sleep until 5 or 6 in the morning at which point Ruddley changes him and I feed him and then depending on the day we will usually go back to sleep until 8 or 9. Some nights are better then others, but overall we can't complain.

Ty has a home health nurse that comes weekly to check up on him. The first checkup he weighed 8.6lbs (down from 9.0 at birth). His last checkup he was up to 8.9lbs and I'm sure by now he is back to 9.0lbs if not more. He has been eating about every 2 hours and eats very well. The nurse has also been checking his heart rate, which is within the normal ranges. On Tuesday he has his first visit to the doctors and then he will go see his cardiologist. When I was in the hospital on Friday Penny noticed an arrhythmia in his heart and when he was born he had a heart murmur. The cardiologist in the hospital saw him and he didn't seem too worried about it and thinks he will grow out of it but wanted to see him in the office.

This weekend was the Beach 2 Beacon 10K a very popular road race along the coast of Maine There are 6000 runners from all over the world and it's extremely difficult to get in to. Ruddley and I both ran it last year, but for obvious reasons were unable to run it this year. However, we had so many friends running it this year so we went to watch. Ty slept through the whole thing, but I'm sure he loved it:-)

Here is a view from the finish line of the race. I love Maine!!

Ty also had his first bath last night (and yes, I googled, "how to give a baby a bath". Danielle I knooooow you would do the same thing:-)) He did not sleep through this. It was a short bath:-) Thanks Tanya for this great bath tub and accessories!:-)

OH! and his name...some people have asked me where his name comes from. Tyler is just a name that both Ruddley and I have liked for a long time, it really didn't have special meaning behind it. Ruddley's grandfather's name is Jack and having a family name as a middle name was important to me. Jack is very important in both of our lives and so we came up with Jackson.

And me? I've lost 26lbs over the last 2 weeks...24 more to go!

beautiful boy

I was playing around with Photo Booth today and captured this great picture of me and Ty. I just wanted to share it with you.

A marathon of a different kind...

I decided to keep my running blog separate from this one. This blog will be used to keep family and friends everywhere updated on Ty's life since many of you are not near by. I'll do my best to update it on a regular basis...so check back often!

Before you begin reading...be warned that this entry will include details of my labor and delivery. Some of them are not so fun and may be TMI for you. I hope you'll read (obviously, or I wouldn't be sharing it with you!) but don't say I didn't warn you:-) Ok, here goes.

I'm going to split up this post into 3 days because the story wouldn't be complete if I didn't share the entire weekend with you.

Friday July 23, 2010

My due date was July 26 and on this day I had an appointment with my midwife Penny. I was already 3cm dilated, 80%effaced and his head was at -1 station. The purpose of my 1:30pm visit was to check and see if I had made any progress and to strip my membranes to "speed up the process". Penny was on call that weekend so we both really wanted me to deliver Friday night. As I was getting ready for work that morning I went to the bathroom and had this sudden and paralyzing sharp pain up the left side of my back. This was the WORST pain I had ever felt in my life followed by some power puking. Ruddley had already left for work and I remember crying out for him and was sure that I was in labor. Once the pain passed I jumped in the shower and rushed to the hospital (which is also where I work).

I got in around 8:00am and they put me on the monitor, sent me to ultrasound and eventually told me that I was not in labor but had most likely passed a kidney stone. WHAT!? No, I have to be in labor. Ugh. I was not happy. Penny ended up stripping my membranes then and sent me home around noon.

I slept until around 4:00pm when I woke up with that same back pain and some more puking. I called Penny and she had me come in (mind you, its a 40 minute trip to the hospital) for a renal ultrasound. Ruddley got up to 100mph on the interstate as I am in the passenger seat throwing up in a plastic bag. mmmm classy. We arrived at the ultrasound, me in tears and Ruddley not really sure what to do. They got me a stretcher to lay down on while we waited for the doctor to come from his house to do the ultrasound (it was after 5:00pm on a friday). It was there that I threw up some more and had that nasty pain in my back. After my ultrasound they ended up admitting me to the maternity unit for the night. My A-MA-ZING friend Danielle met us at the hospital and spent the night with us! They gave me morphine for my pain, something for my nausea and hooked me up to IV fluids. I was in heaven and flyin' high!! I apologize to anyone I texted or called while I was in this state of mind, but I was feeling goooooood (This is why I avoid pain meds at all cost!!) Danielle and Ruddley were getting a big kick out of the fact that I couldn't put a sentence together to save my life. I think I had gone through 2 liters of IV fluids and 2 liters of water from my water bottle when Danielle pointed out how much fluid had been pumped into me and I had NO urge to go to the bathroom. Can you say dehydrated??? The rest of the night was pretty much a blur. At some point I passed out and Ruddley and Danielle went to bed.

Saturday July 24, 2010

There's not a whole lot to say about today. I really don't remember too much of it. Ruddley left in the morning and went home to get some stuff done at the house. Danielle stayed until noonish when my mom showed up. I spent the entire day at the hospital and finally came to grips with the fact that I indeed was not in labor and it was kidney stones. Penny told me to do some walking and that may help. She is also a fellow runner and knew that 29 laps around the maternity unit was equal to 1 mile. With the help of Danielle, my mom and my friend and co-worker Chris who stopped by I was able to walk 4 miles!! Sadly, it did not help and around 8 or 9 that night I was sent home....again. They sent me home on Ambien to help me sleep and when I got home was in some pain so my mom called and asked if I could take Tylenol PM. That combo put me to sleep until 1:45pm Sunday...

Sunday July 25, 2010

I didn't wake up until 1:45pm that day. I got up, went to the bathroom and then started downstairs to say hi to Ruddley. I made it to the top step when my water broke! YAY!! This meant I HAD to be in labor. I called Penny....again...and she again told me to come back in. Poor Ruddley got me back in the car for yet another trip to the hospital and again pushing the speed to 100mph. We got there and I asked him to get a wheelchair and he wheeled me up to maternity. I remember getting off the elevator and saying to the same nurses I had seen all weekend "I'm NOT going home this time and I want an epidural!" They were kind enough to put me in the same room I had been in all weekend. The rest of the night was a blur to me and I will try and recall as much as I can. Penny confirmed with me that I wanted an epidural and made the phone call. As the contractions got closer I was in more and more pain and the anesthesiologist could not have come fast enough. I remember him trying to explain how the epidural worked and I could have cared less. I think at one point one of my awesome nurses told him to just do it and forget the explanation. With that, he gave it to me. ahhhhhhhh best.idea.ever!! Life was sooo much better and I made several comments about people who give birth naturally are crazy and I would NEVER do it. I even said "THAT is my favorite doctor ever!"

I have no idea how much time had passed but my contractions were starting to hurt again. I remember saying "Penny, they are getting worse, like when I came in!!". My epidural site was checked and found to be leaking. Apparently the entire back of my shirt was wet. Penny had to break the news that not only did the epidural leak, but I was too far along to do anything about it and I would have to go at it naturally at which point I said "that is NOT my favorite doctor anymore". At this point I was so frustrated and in so much pain I didn't think I could do it. Penny had me roll over onto my right side and she held my hand and said "This is easier then running a marathon, you can do this Sarah!" to which I responded "Then I'm never running a fucking marathon". But it was her confidence in me at that moment that made me dig down deep and work through the pain.

Ruddley was there holding my hand the entire time and kept reminding me to breathe. I just wanted this all to be over. I remember Penny telling me it was time to push and that she was getting her table ready. She swore that pushing would be less painful then riding through the contractions (I agree!). I'm told I was an excellent pusher...for what that's worth:-) I felt like I had been pushing forever and kept asking if I was almost done. Penny and the nurses were so great and every time they made it seem like I just needed one more and kept me going. At 7:55pm one nurse said "He will be born by 8:00". I looked at the clock and felt like the end was in sight. 35 minutes of pushing and my little boy, Tyler Jackson Emerson entered the world at 8:00pm on July 25, 2010. Weighing 9.0lbs and 20inches long.

Unfortunately the next 2 hours were spent stitching me back together. That part didn't hurt...it's the week following where I can't walk that hurts! Each day gets better and better and soon I'll be back to running again:-)

I can't say enough about Penny and the Nurses at the hospital. They were wonderful and put up with me and all my visits over the weekend! The next few days were filled with visitors. It makes it easy when you work at the hospital that you deliver at for co-workers to stop by. Danielle came back up Monday morning and was my very first visitor. She came in and said "Where is everyone!?" haha, shes so cute! At one point I really wanted to take a shower and she said "I'll babysit him while you take a shower...although I don't really know what to do with him" and me being a first time mom responded "That's ok, neither do i" haha. Danielle brought me a sweet gift a bag of doritos...mmm and this kick as running tank top...

With that....I think this post is long enough. Stayed tuned to watch Ty grow...I'll be back with pictures and stories! I'll leave you with a few of my favorites from the last week.