Nixon's Arrival

Wow. I have been a MAJOR blogging slacker. But......in my defense, I just had a baby so it's okay right? Anyways, since I've been on vacation the past couple of weeks I've had a bit of down time and I figured I better bite the bullet and update or I'll be so far behind that I won't ever do it! So this post is dedicated to telling the story of Nixon's arrival as well as how he's been doing the past couple of months. Yep, that's right - yesterday he turned 2 months old! Crazy how fast time flies.

I wanted to post a few more pictures from the hospital, but since I'm down at my Mom's and don't have access to those pics right now I'm just including a few that I already posted on facebook awhile ago. My sister took them for us at our house when Nixon was 3 days old.

Okay. So here's the story. When you have a planned C-section all of the fun/stressful elements of surprise are taken away so we were pretty laid-back when thinking about going to the hospital. I admit that I was a little disappointed I wouldn't get to have the whole crazy experience of labor, and I wouldn't get to see what kind of reaction Nick would have had in that situation. I'm sure he would have been one of those husbands that has sympathy pains or faints at the sight of blood. But on the other hand it was really nice to know beforehand when and how everything was going to happen. After all, I like to be a planner ;) Nick and I really only started to get nervous in the last 24 hours.

We got up around 5am on May 11, got ready and drove to the hospital. My surgery was scheduled for 8am so when we got there they assigned me to a room (the last available private one - YAY!) and we had to wait there for an hour or so. They told us a nurse was going to come by to start my IV and then we just had to sit there (which was quite painful since we were getting really excited to just meet him already!). Anyways, as soon as we got there Nick decided to look around and check out what would be our home for the next three days. In our bathroom he discovered a "bidet" and thought it was pretty cool since he'd never seen one in person before. So he decided to turn it on and see how it worked. B.A.D. idea. It was like a freaking Old Faithful geyser explosion and water sprayed straight up at fire hydrant pressure hitting the ceiling and spraying all over the bathroom, getting water on the walls, mirror and on mine and Nick's clothes. It was seriously so funny, we were laughing so hard. Before he could even clean it up a Nurse walked in and asked what happened. Nick told her and she just laughed, saying that he wasn't the first guy to do that. hahaha

They came to take us upstairs around 7:45am where Nick changed into scrubs and we put on our attractive hairnet things and waited for the Anesthesiologist and my Doctor to get there. They told Nick that once I went in to get started on my spinal he would have about a half hour to wait before the surgery got started. But it actually went WAY faster than that and was more like 5 minutes later when they called him into the operating room to come and sit beside me. I looked at the clock and it was 8:13am when they started. When Nick came in, my Doctor had already made the incision and they were operating away so Nick got a full on view of my insides before he even sat down! Gross (and I better mention that Nick may or may not have a weak stomach at the sight of blood....).

The spinal anesthetic felt so weird. It was probably the only thing that I worried about going in, because all I'd ever heard was that the needle was SO big and hurt really bad going into your back. Surprisingly it hardly hurt at all, but it was crazy how fast I went numb and how much of my body was frozen. Pretty much from my armpits down, and even my arms and hands were a bit tingly. But I was glad that I could still feel Nick rubbing my hand as he talked to me. After only a minute or two of us talking, Nick started to look a little queasy. (In his defense - it smelled like laser burned tissue in there and he could actually see the whole surgery out of his peripheral vision since the little barrier sheet they had up was so low. And like I said, he's not so good when it comes to blood). I asked Nick if he was okay and he said yes but was looking a little pale. I think the anesthesiologist heard us talking, because he asked Nick if he was okay and and Nick said, "No" and looked like he was going to pass out. So the anesthesiologist told him to get off the stool and sit on the floor. A nurse came over and made him lay down and put a cold wash cloth on his forehead. I remember laying on the table looking down and telling him to take deep breaths and to just stay there. A little ironic don't you think? I was laying on an operating table with 90% of my body frozen, telling him HE was going to be okay.

The nurse made Nick go out into the hall to clear his head, and he waited out there until he heard the baby and they let him come in to watch Nixon getting cleaned up and to take some pictures. I literally felt nothing. They'd told me that I would feel some heavy pressure as they pushed on my abdomen to move the baby lower and pull him out of the incision, but I didn't even feel that. I was just laying there wondering if Nick was okay and when he'd be coming back into the room when I heard a baby crying! I remember thinking, "That's it? So fast? I didn't feel anything! Am I really ready for this?"

Nick was able to be the one to bring Nixon over to meet me, and we both got a little teary eyed. It's so amazing to see your child for the first time and just appreciate what a miracle bringing a child into this world truly is. Like I mentioned in my last quick post, we named our son Nixon Shane Famulak and he weighed 7 lbs 15 oz and was 19.5 inches long. He was born at 8:41am (see I told you it was fast!).

We were in the hospital for 2 1/2 days, then home to recuperate. We are so lucky to have such great family and friends that love and support us, and we are so grateful to all the help they gave us in those first few days, and even now. Thanks again everyone! My recovery has been going really well and (aside from some pregnancy pounds) I almost feel like I'm back to normal. Nixon was a bit jaundice for the first few weeks, and had a hard time having the energy to eat. He didn't get back to his birth weight until after he was 3 weeks old and even after he'd gained a bunch of weight he started to lose some and we along with our doctor were concerned. He just wasn't getting enough food, so we ended up having to go to bottle feeding with formula, and he has been doing great ever since. He's really starting to chub up, and I'm hoping to get down to weigh him tomorrow to see exactly how much he weighs now. He is honestly such a great baby and only cries if he has a dirty diaper or is really hungry. He only wakes up 1-2 times a night, and will usually give me a 5 hour stretch before he wakes up for the first feeding. Pure bliss. Though on average I am definitely getting a lot less sleep now than I used to. But who would have thought you can function on so much less sleep?

It's been a busy and tiring time adjusting to life as parents, but we are loving it and wouldn't have it any other way. We love Nixon and are excited to just be able to watch him grow and discover everything around him. Hope you enjoy the pics, and (if you actually made it to the end of this massive post) hope you enjoy the plethora of posts to come!