Smiles & Smirks

Fussing During Tummy Time

October Photos

Smiling!!

Dylan has started to smile at times in response to me talking to him. He did it several times in a row the other day and I managed to capture one of them.

Dylan's Big Brother

Evan has adjusted pretty well to having a baby brother. At the hospital, our delivery nurse bent the rules and let Evan come into the room a few minutes after Dylan's birth. Evan's first words at the sight of his tiny little brother were "I want it! I want it!" and then "Touch?" Now he usually starts each day by coming up to Dylan and saying "Hi baby, hi baby, hi baby..." about 20 times! We're still trying to drill in the idea that he isn't supposed to put anything in the baby's bassinet or car seat, etc. Evan has offered Pop Tarts, stuffed animals and his action figures to Dylan, and at one point, put a book over Dylan's face, saying "Here ya go, baby! Elmo book!" He likes to help me push Dylan in the stroller, though. Hopefully he will continue to find ways to be a big help to his little brother (and his parents!)

Dylan - A Birth Story

Saturday Sept. 4th was a strange day. My due date was 3 weeks away but I woke up with an overwhelming hunch that the baby was going to be arriving much sooner than that. Even though I didn't have any physical clues to go on yet, I called my parents in Arkansas at 7 am and suggested that they start their 2-day journey to our house asap. They'd been planning on coming the following weekend, as they wanted to be here before the birth so they could watch Evan while we were at the hospital. They ended up hopping in the car that day. That afternoon, during Evan's nap, I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to clean out and organize the garage...a project that had been ignored for months. It didn't occur to me at the time that I was 'nesting.' All I knew was that the garage had to be cleaned THAT day! That evening, Tom and I took Evan outside to play and I felt pretty good and started thinking maybe it was silly to have made my parents change their plans.

However, at 4 am, I woke up with the most intense back pain of my life. I didn't realize at first that this was "back labor." I tried to manage the pain by using a heating pad and doing my stretches, and I finally ran a warm bath. Around 6 am, I started getting contractions in my belly and I realized what was happening. I woke Tom up and he immediately sprung into action. I called my doc who said to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Tom called Jodi, my doula (birthing coach), and his brother Jimmy, who agreed to meet us at the hospital to watch Evan so that Tom could be in the delivery room.

When we got to the hospital, the nurse checked me and said "Wow, you're at 7 centimeters already. You're definitely having this baby today!" She asked if I'd had any recent sudden urges to clean and I told her about the garage. She said "Oh yeah, a classic case of nesting!" She set me up in the delivery room and Jodi arrived. The contractions started coming on like gang-busters, and in less than an hour, I told the nurse that I had the urge to push. Jodi went out to the waiting room to change places with Tom so that he could be in the delivery room for the birth, but his brother arrived at the same time. Tom and Jodi both came in and the pushing began, and in 15 fast but difficult minutes, Dylan was here!! He was born on Sunday Sept. 5th at 8:39 am. He weighed 6 lbs 12 oz and was 19 and 3/4 inches long. Welcome to the world, Baby Boy!