Visit with Fr. Michael

On Wednesday, Michael Jr. had his first non-family vistor: Fr. Michael.

Michael Jr. was on his very best behavior for our pastor, and was as calm as could be when he was being held.

Michael (Daddy Michael--I have to clarify because between Fr. Michael, Michael and Baby Michael, my mom and I were pretty outnumbered with people who celebrate their feast day on September 29th)...Michael reminded us of a beautiful and profound truth:

By virtue of his ministerial priesthood, and his ability to communicate the sacraments, which give Christians supernatural life and configure them more perfectly to Christ, priests are "fathers" to us in the real sense of the word "Father." In that regard, people like Fr. Peter and Fr. Michael are even more of a Father to Baby Michael than Daddy Michael is, because Michael gave natural to Baby Michael, but priests give supernatural, eternal life.

What a gift the priesthood is to us!! A great reminder to pray in thanksgiving for the men who have been called and live their calling faithfully.

Feeding Frenzy

Michael Jr. was born weighing a hefty 8lbs 11oz. However, all babies go through a weight-loss period where their weight drops dramatically after birth. This has to do with a loss of fluid from birth and their getting sustenance from their reserves while their mother's milk comes in.

However, not long after, their weight should start to increase steadily until they reach, once again, their birth weight, and ultimately surpass it.

Michael was weighed 3 days after birth and weighed only 8lbs, and the nurses were hinting at needing to keep a close eye on it, because while babies are suposed to lose weight, any more than losing 10% is cause for concern, and Michael was heading in the direction of losing that 10%

...Until Tuesday....

On Tuesday, Michael went to the doctor to check his weight and he weighed 8 lb 4oz...the doctor furrowed his brow a little and thought maybe there was some discrepancies between scales because 4 oz is a lot to gain in a 24 period of time...there must be some issues with the equipment (it was at this point I informed Dr. Delgado about my sister's and my long-standing theory about fat scales and thin scales in his office.)

So we made our appointment, somewhat skeptical that he was doing as well the scales indicated.

....Until Wednesday....

On the next day, we dutifully came in for our next appointment to weigh him again on the same scale. As we took off his clothes and diaper and put him on the scale, we were pretty surprised at the nurse's response.

"8 lbs, 9 ounces" she announced.

So he gained five ounces in less than 24 hours?! Yes...this is not a matter of "fat scales" or any equipment problem. This kid is just growing. I was proud of our growing little boy, who seemed to be able to eat a healthy, but normal amount and yet put on a surprising amount of weight quickly. Yes, he was eating a normal amount...

...Until Thursday...

At which point Michael Jr. went on a feeding frenzy. Feeding frenzy, I tell you, where, aside from a period of time after his Daddy got home when he was on his lap for a few hours, Michael Jr. was eating, and eating and eating and eating and eating.

He would feed for about 25-30 minutes, then get burped. Then get changed, then go back to eat. Then get burped, then get changed out of his outfit which he moistened with one type of substance or another..then eat more. Repeat cycle until the wee hours of the morning.

No. Seriously. The longest sretch of time he went without feeding was about 30 minutes.

Otherwise from 7:30 pm to 3 am, he just ate and burped and needed diaper changes.

So when he got on the scale today he weighed 8 lbs 14 oz...our little butterbal keeps growing big and healthy!

In honor of this, I decided to construct a little storyboard of the past 24 hours.

________________________________________________

"Hey you!"

"Yeah...I'm talking to you!"
"Listen! I'm starving here!"

"I need you to do sumthin' about it! I'm hungry!"

"I'm not talking about a baby-size hunger."

"Or a medium-size hunger"

"Or even a large-size hunger"

"But a HUGE hunger."

"So what are you going to do about it, eh?"

"Wait...now here comes Daddy. Can he help me?"

"See, Daddy, I need to eat...you know...the stuff that goes in your mouth? Yeah, that's right...in your mouth."

"I need it to grow up big. So I can flex my muscles like this...."

"....and like that."

"You gettin' all this?"

"Now, can you please go get mommy? She's over there."

"Thank you!!"

Tummy Time

Here is Michael Jrs first go at Tummy Time, which he needs to do to build up leg and neck muscles. It made him a little mad, but even when mad, the little grub is sure cute!!

Also, I uploaded more pictures on Flickr.

And here's just one more video for your enjoyment.

More Pictures

I am quickly becoming one of those people who take a gazillion photos of their baby....and most of them look the same. Well, I hate to apologize, because I firmly intend to keep doing it...

Here is a website where I have been uploading them. If you feel like browsing, help yourself....but you've been warned!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/barberpics/

Time at the Hospital

Well, we are home from the hospital...we got home yesterday evening, and it is sure nice to be here and beginning our life as a family the way life is going to be like, not just life in the hospital with people coming in and out all the time.

Everyone at the hospital was absolutely great. The doctors, the nurses, and even the food wasn't half bad!

Here is a little glimpse of our time there.

First:

The bed, or as I call it "the Nest"

It is where I spent nearly all the time. I had to keep piling pillows to prop up the baby to nurse them, and the pillows kept losing their "spring" so much that I needed to keep getting more and more. The problem is that after a C-section, a simple task like organizing pillows and sitting up in the right position to feed the baby is a huge one!

I was so happy to leave my little nest. While it was nice to have a bed that adjusts and has railings, there is nothing quite like being able to leave the place where you are confined.

Second:

A snuggly baby who loves to be near people.

Much like his father, we predict baby Michael will be highly sociable and great with people. Michael does not like to be alone, and just wants to be near people. He wants to snuggle, he likes to cuddle, and he likes to be kissed and hugged. In fact, as endearing as these qualities are, it becomes a little bit of an obstacle when it comes time to getting the baby to sleep. He likes being around people so much, he doesn't like to be alone in his bassinet!

So in order to calm a crying little baby, Michael and I just keep him with us when all his other needs of changing and feeding are satisfied but he just won't sleep...we hold him as much as we can. Even it just means having him next to us, he is more content that way than to be alone in his crib.

Here is a picture of me and my buddy next to me in the bed.

Third:

His amazing Daddy.

Michael is one amazing man. From his constant care and coaching and prayer in labor, to his round the clock attention in recovery, Michael has shown us so much love and care. He really is the "priest" of the family...laying his life as a sacrifice for those under his care. He never complained, never slacked off, never made an excuse, was ever short-tempered..just steadfast and attentive.

In return for his care and love, Little Michael has bestowed on his daddy the coveted "Favorite Person" award. No one can calm the baby like Michael. No one can more quickly turn a cry into quiet. No one can capture his attention, no one get him to make cute faces like his daddy.

The only time I have anything close to him is when the baby is hungry: an unfair advantage I have as the materfamilias.

Having a baby has multiplied love in our home in unexpected ways: First, of course having a new person to love, and be loved by. But in addition to that, the love that has multiplied between me and Michael is so profound. From pregnancy to labor and delivery to recovery to home...our love and marriage has been so blessed in countless ways by God's grace of our baby.

So, these are just some reflections onour life for the past few days.

He's Here!

I'll post more details later...I'm off to get some sleep, but Baby Michael was born this morning (the 18th) at 4:53am. He's a wonderful, snuggly little baby who we just love love love to pieces!!





I stole this picture from our cousin Beau's facebook, and I"m posting it here because it is a great picture of him!





Enjoy!

Love,

Michael, Kim and Michael Jr.

The Decision: Evacuation

Michael and I went to our 40+5 doctor's appointment yesterday, and after determining that my body was still not progressing past a snail's pace on its own, we will be inducing labor imminently.

Tonight, I go in for them to give me some medicine to help encourage my body to be more receptive to the Pitocin, the medicine they will give me to induce labor contractions and hopefully get this little guy out.

We're not super-thrilled with the outcome....of course, we much would have preferred to go into labor on my own, and the doctor was willing to do let us do it, even waiting until 42 weeks. But he thinks this baby is way too darn big and will just keep getting bigger. His primary strategy is avoiding a C-section, which, with a big baby who will just keep getting bigger, and a relatively small body structure like mine, he thinks it's best to hedge our bets and try to get him out sooner than later.

Of course, we are excited about having the baby, God willing by the end of the weekend, but we know it is going to be a long process that doesn't guarantee a regular birth. We may still be looking at a C-section in the end....but given what we know (the relative size of the baby, my lack of progress on my own, and the fact that at a certain point, the womb is not as safe of a place for the baby as the outside world), we want to do what's best for him. As the doctor put it, C-section is actually safest for the baby.

So, while God has chosen to answer our prayers that we go into labor naturally with an apparent "I have different plans" (well, there's still 12 hours before I go in) please, please pray that I can deliver without a C-section. Even that is not the worst thing in the world, but I would really, really prefer to not go that route. But, even that, we've accepted with a "It's not so bad, and we still get a baby out of it."

Of course, after the somewhat long road of waiting, the disappointments of not going into labor naturally, trying every method we can think of do induce labor on our own, and the long road we will probably be headed down these next couple of days, it's easy to miss the point of it all, which is, barring some tragedy (which I won't even think about), in a few days at the most our little baby Michael will be in our arms!!!

We can't wait to smother him with hugs and kisses....to pat his little diapered bottom....to snuggle his little chubby cheeks....to touch his soft baby hair....to identify what features look like which person....ah...it's almost like there's been this fog hovering over us that has kept us from truly looking forward to the grandest of prizes: our little baby!!!

In a few days, we'll get to hear him cry for the first time....we'll actually get to look into his eyes, and this person, all his own person, will look back at us for the first time!! He'll see the faces of the voices that have been his companions these 9.5 months...he'll get passed around from family member to family member and friend to friend as he gets introduced to the network of people who already love him. He'll get to meet Jack and Thomas and Peelo for the first time.....his future best friends and lifelong playmates.

It's true....this last part is a trial...it has been a trial waiting...it has been a trial being helpless to do much about getting him out...and the labor and delivery will be a trial. But at the end of the trial is life. Little Michael's life, and the redefinition of life that will affect us by his being here. All things will be made new again. Things in this world which are old and commonplace to us now, will once again will be riddled with newness as little Michael experiences them for the first time. Bedtime stories, imagination, baseball games, reading, speaking, walking....all things will be "firsts" for us too.

I can say this as an aunt, everytime Jack or Thomas does something that they weren't able to do before, I marvel....every funny thing that comes out of their mouths, or expression on their face, or new ability...I want to share it with everyone...because it's new. I love telling people what funny thing they said or did. Children make things new...what a blessing to be a part of it!

Here's to the end of our old life and the beginning of our new one....see you on the flip side!!!