Day 8 and no Tony

I had to work today... and I really really really miss my family :(

This morning Nik and I ran a solid 4.5 mile run and it felt great. Meanwhile Catherine was feeding Caden and he ate well. After my run I ran up to Palo Alto to verify the baby seat was correctly installed in the Pilot. Next week we verify the Volvo as the company no longer handles multiple family cars in one appointment, the demand is too high. In fact the next open appointment is late Nov!

The seat in the Pilot was setup good but not good enough. You see, although the Pilot has the Latch system, they are only installed on the outside seats and not the middle seat where and infant needs to sit. So if I was to use the outside seats, during a crash the Latch bars could flux inward and snap, so we had to go old school, using a seat belt, which works very well. The best spot is still the middle of the seat where there is amble but minimal flexibility of the seat during a crash. Any less flexibility and the base unit will snap during a crash.

Catherine and Caden are at their first New Mommy Support Group and I hope she is having fun! Many Mom's have suggested a support group for so many reasons, the obvious support reason and of course to obtain insight from other recent New Mom's for what works for this and what doesn't work for that and so on. Looking forward to hear what she has learned and shared.

Sleeping with Rain

I am working on editing my Caden Picasa album. God knows how many pictures I have snapped in the last 192-or-so hours since he was born. As I edit and rock in his Mom's rocking chair a few feet from Caden's bed, one ear is hears him grunting in his sleep and the other ear is picking up on the rain pouring outside.

Only our second rain of the Fall/Winter. The thunder has rolled through which was a beautiful sound and as you know we don't get much of that around here. With the way our valley is formed, with these parallel mountain ranges, apparently the storms have trouble breaking through to us. Sure it rains here but we rarely see lighting and rarely hear thunder. (I can't recall the technical reason for this but feel free to Google it.) Coming from the East Coast, I sure miss those large thunderstorms where the thunder was so loud you thought the windows in the house would shatter. And to think that I just washed our dog and put new flee liquid on him. Well, at least the flee meds will stay on him even though he might smell like a damp sponge ;)

Caden is grunting again.. we all know what that means... yes, Daddy will be changing a messy diaper soon. Yee-Haw! And with that it is time to go.

Update Spoke with Ethan and he had lightning at his house! Just a few minutes away and yet I saw nothing from home. You lucky dog Ethan!

Caden on Day 6

Still trying to catch up on posting pictures for everyone. This batch comes from his Day 6 with us.

As you'll see in the pictures, Boone is always by their side. It was nice for us to see for the first time that Boone actually choose to be laying in front of Caden's room instead of laying beside us in the house when Caden was sleeping in his room.

Caden on Day 5

Day 5 was a long day for both Mom and Caden but concluded it with a family walk to the park. It was our first walk together as a family. A day that I'll remember for a very long time.

In retrospect this was probably too long of a day for Caden. After spending the night at the hospital we then went to the park in the hopes he'll receive some indirect natural light to help his Bilirubin levels.

Jaundice as you know is a part of all of us when we are born. Some have it more than others and sometimes this is due to our culture or environment. For Caden is was due to him being a preemie. Sure he was technically only a week early but none the less he was born on week 36 and not all of him was fully developed and one aspect was his red blood cells. If I understand that correctly. So since his bilirubin count was at 17, the Dr. wanted him to under go some Phototherapy. We headed to the hospital that hour and started his overnight ordeal. It was hard for Mom because this meant another night in a sterile hospital room in which she just wanted to be at home with her new Son. Understandably so! The Dr. wanted to see his level drop to at least 15 in which she felt this was a manageable level for Caden to handle. By the next morning his level dropped to 13 and we were all very happy.

Going forward we need to watch that he has solid feeding habits as he'll get all his important nutrition from Mom. And so far this is working very well and the key to make sure he is awake to feed as Jaundice causes him to be sleepy. We also need to assure he is indirect receiving natural sunlight. Hence why we took a walk in the park.

We have an appointment later this week to check his status.

One hungry little Bean

It is 3:18am and Caden is feeding for the second time in 40min.

At 2:40am Caden feed for 20 min and was his longest feed to date. We then hung out for 20 min in bed together, just watching him. After re-wrapping him in a larger blanket (yes, buritto style) we laid him in his bed. Only 30 sec later he broke out of his wrap and was sucking on two fingers. Back to Mom for another feeding.

Apparently when I wrote this, at 3 in the morning, I was half asleep. I verified this data in the morning with Catherine and I was totally off base.

Caden on Day 3

Some pictures of us hanging out at home on Day 3.

And Baby Makes Four

Good morning from Santa Clara, home of the new born Caden! As GrandPa Mick and GrandMa Kathy strive off the smoke of the San Diego fires, Catherine and Baby Caden are sleeping after this mornings feeding.

Caden has taken well to latching, sometimes a bit too hard, and is now eating very well. He started off not eating consistently which is understandable having to learn how to eat and it was more worrisome for Mom & Dad rather than Caden.

As you might have heard Catherine and Caden came home yesterday morning. For Catherine and I it was very exciting to be home together with our new son. Boone is taking very well to Caden and he lies out on the floor watching and listening as Mom feeds Caden. Catherine and I were chatting on the way home from the hospital and equally shared that although this no longer feels surreal we both feel a bit on Cloud 9. That there is this sort of peaceful disorientation that we are feeling. And let me say, it is very peaceful.

Last night, his first night at home, was a busy one. Caden was fussy most of the late night and early morning hours. I pulled the first shift of Caden-Check-Ups while Catherine caught up on some much needed sleep. It seemed like he was fussing every ten minutes and of course most of the time he settled down by the time I reached him. By 3am or so Catherine took over so that I could sleep. We all awoke at 7:12am to a beautiful Northern California typical fall morning, all four of us hanging out in the bedroom. Catherine noted that Caden ate very well at 3am, feeding for 20 min, a solid sessions and well needed. Sweet!

We enjoyed some visitors yesterday. Candace and Reece dropped of a yummy dinner, homemade enchiladas... yummy!! Reece is fast becoming a big boy. Ted & Liz came bye with the boys too. Ted showed me how to install the infant car seat using the Latch system in the Pilot. I never thought I would see a grown man be able to stand inside the Pilot like I saw Ted perform ;) haha

For the most part we have updated everyone to Caden's arrival but there are a few outstanding friends to notify. So if you are reading this and was surprised, sorry, we have been squeezing in calls between, well, everything Caden. :)

What is next; pictures are being uploaded and Catherine is putting together the Labor & Delivery breakdown. Now off to make some breakfast burritos.

Day 1

Today our Baby Boy is 24 hrs and 17 minutes young. We are at the hospital for at least another day.

Hardwood floors

Finally posting the pictures of the new hardwood floor. Going from old carpet in the family room, dinning room and Baby's room to Oakwood is a nice change that the house needed. Should help our resale value too!

Sleeping with Watermelon

Catherine & I woke up this morning to find an 8 month ripe watermelon in our bed.

I am writing this from my iPhone as we wait to have our 35 week check up this morning. Looking around in the full Dr's office we were reflecting back on our first visits. Back then we always noticed the ladies that were in their final term, now Catherine is one of those. :)

The appointment completed with positive results. The Baby and Mom are doing fine and the Baby's size and weight are right on schedule. The Baby is actually measuring according to this date and no longer two weeks ahead, so maybe the Baby will deliver as planned in mid-Nov and not earlier, as thought. The Baby's heart beat sounds great! Cath provided her delivery wish list for the Dr. to review and he'll provide feedback on our next visit. The pelvic pain that Cath has been feeling is indeed the Baby's head since it is already in the vertex position. Possibly the Baby's head is touching a nerve when it moves.. nothing to worry about.

It was a great visit, look forward to the next... now we are off to work.

Getting ready for Baby Mazur

Last night we prepared the master bedroom to accommodate the Baby's bassinet. It looks cute and yet surreal!

Prior to my trip to France our book case fell over one night, books scattered everywhere, and I just finished anchoring them to the wall last night. I fastened two 500lb anchors to each with a wire, which I forget the tension, but they should hold. If not, then I'll secure a heavier wire gauge next time. So Boonie move over, there is room needed for four of us, very soon.

Speaking of soon, we have a bet as to when the Baby is arriving. I think Cath is saying Nov 7th and I think Oct 28th. While Boonie thinks Nov 22nd I think he is confusing Baby delivery with food delivery for Thanks Giving ;)

Now that the Baby's room is complete, I'll upload those pictures this weekend.