Over the River and Through the Woods...

to Oma's house we go!

Yesterday little Robert and I took a road trip to South Carolina to visit Oma and Opa for a week (thanks for the ride Grammy!!!). It was a LONG day for the poor little guy. He spent 10 hours in the car, which is a lot when you're past the "put me in the car and I'll sleep" stage. He actually did amazing well...until the last 2 hours of the ride or so. And the last 10minutes was total "get me out of this seat NOW" baby. We were both thankful to be at our destination and had a great night getting reacquainted with Oma and Opa. Can't wait for the rest of the week!

Our New Stroller

When Robert was born we opted NOT to register for a travel system. We both just couldn't imagine having to lug around those huge, heavy strollers, not to mention they would literally take up my entire car trunk. We decided instead to get one of those Snap-and-Go frames to use with his carseat until we could better figure out what kind of stroller would meet our needs. The time to figure that out though has been quickly approaching as Robert is growing so quickly that he'll soon outgrow his carseat. We decided we wanted a lightweight stroller with wheels that would at least work on our horrible roads/sidewalks, and a huge canopy to protect our little one from the burning sun. It also needed to have a compact fold and a snack tray for when he gets older. I found a stroller I liked to fit these requirements, but being a stay-at-home Mommy really limits the budget, so we watched Craigslist instead. And though it's not the one I originally found, here it is folks---our 2008 Peg Perego Pliko P3 stroller. Robert is already enjoying it, and so are we!

Mardi Gras 2012

This year is Robert's first Mardi Gras. Now really, Mardi Gras isn't such a big deal for Trey & I, but we actually announced we were expecting last year on Mardi Gras (it was much later in the year---in March instead of the middle of Feb). So it seemed only fitting that we make sure to take the little one to a Mardi Gras parade. We steered very, very far clear of anything actually in New Orleans, and went across the lake to a family friendly parade instead. Of course, very quickly into it this is what we had:

 Yup, he simply curled up on Mama and passed out. Now most parents use their little ones to help garner more attention from the floats and get lots of beads and stuffed animals and such. That was kind of hard to do in this case, although one nice lady still threw us a cute little stuffed dog in Mardi Gras colors (purple, green & yellow for those of you who don't know). He did eventually wake up, but even as he caught the rest of the parade he apparently wasn't too impressed:

Oh well, at least Mommy and Daddy enjoyed his first Mardi Gras Parade.

3 Months...

Dear Robert,

Today you are 3 months old. It is absolutely INSANE to us that you have been a part of our lives for 3 months now. And my how you have changed! This month, you:

• Wear size 2 diapers. But not for long---you'll be moving up to size 3 tomorrow!
• Drink 5 bottles a day---a 5oz one in the morning and 4oz ones the rest of the day. We add rice cereal to them too because you were diagnosed with Reflux this month. Because of this, you also take Zantac now.
• Generally sleep 9.5hrs at night.
• Discovered your hands. You shove them in your mouth all the time, & it's adorable how you use the palm of your hand (with your fingers curling over your nose) to hold your paci in as you go to sleep.
• You figured out that you could REALLY put up a fuss if you're unhappy. Fortunately, you only do so if you're hungry or tired, and you usually turn a little fussy first as warning that it's coming.
• You also figured out that you can squeal when you're mad. Not that we don't care you're upset, but your Dad and I find it hilarious. :-)
• You can sit up in a Bumpo seat. 
• You do NOT like naps. During the day you fight sleep like it's a monster trying to get you. You refuse to be calmed and accept your paci and go peacefully; instead you continually eject the paci (because you know it makes you go to sleep) and cry, sometimes almost screaming. The only thing to do is hold you & love you until you finally pass out. Then, as long as you're being held, you might sleep for a little while.
• You smile all the time and talk nonstop. 
• You follow us now with your eyes if we leave the room or walk behind you. You observe EVERYTHING.
• You JUST snuck it in under the wire, but you laughed this month---a real, cackling, grown-up laugh. It's the most amazing thing I've ever heard!!!

I think this month has brought the most changes in you so far. You've really blossomed into your own little person with definite thoughts, feelings, and opinions. You remind me very much of your father. He constantly needs to be moving or doing something. At this stage for you, that means someone needs to be entertaining you and you don't generally like any one activity for more than 5 minutes at a time. You also still constantly have your feet and arms going. Like him you are quick to smile and generally get along well with everyone. You crack me up every day and make my heart so happy sometimes it feels like it will explode. You are amazing and I [we] cannot wait to keep getting to know you over the next month!

2 Months

It's hard to believe another month has gone by already and that our little man is 2 months old today. I'd like to say that it seems like you've always been here, but it doesn't---we are definitely still trying to get a hang of all this. Some days you make it harder than others, but we know that these times will soon be gone and we're loving getting to know you. Here's some highlights from this month:

• This month you learned how to smile and "talk", and how to sort-of laugh. It is SOOOOO much fun! You are especially talkative/smiley in the mornings. 
• You're still not sleeping through the night yet, though you are very close. For awhile we reached that milestone, with you sleeping from 10:30p-5a, but our trip to SC for Christmas definitely messed that up. 
• You eat ALL the time, though I suppose that shouldn't be surprising given that we determined last night you're probably around the 50th percentile for a 5 MONTH OLD (we'll find out more definitively at your 2-month checkup in a few days). You are not overweight or anything--in fact I believe you're right on given your height--but it's really crazy to have you already be such a big boy. Dad's already dreaming of you playing in the NFL or NBA. =)
• You are staying awake longer and longer, and by that I mean you pretty much don't nap during the day. Already you FIGHT sleep, which doesn't really bode well for your toddler years, but hopefully this too is just a phase. You need your sleep little buddy!
• You are a very strong boy. You already hold your head up much better than you should be able to at this point, and you can use your legs to push yourself up and even to hold much of your weight. 
• You are starting to recognize Mommy and Daddy---you'll follow us with your eyes, light up with a smile when we walk in to get you in the morning, etc. 

Yup, it's been totally awesome. We cannot wait to see what happens in this next month!

1 month

Wow baby boy Robert, I cannot believe that you have been with us for 1 whole month. You are already changing so much. You make the BEST faces. You now open both eyes instead of doing your "Popeye" impression all the time (you have the most beautiful blue eyes). You have NOT figured out the eating and sleeping thing yet--you are pretty much all over the map--but you generally still do well during the nights (usually we get a 3.5-4 hour stretch). You can sometimes be quite a fussypants, and we're not really sure why. We're having trouble figuring out formula for you as you're having a few *ahem* digestive issues, but otherwise you are a very healthy boy. At your 1-month well baby visit we discovered that you are in the 95% for height and the 75% for weight. Daddy is so proud of his "big little boy"! Sometimes we catch one of your spontaneous smiles---best thing ever. I cannot even imagine what it will be like when you actually smile AT me for the first time. I hope you've enjoyed your first month out here in the world, and if not, please cut Mommy and Daddy some slack because we're having to figure all this out as we go. One thing we know though: WE LOVE YOU!!!

The birth of our baby boy...

November 7, 2011. That was the day set for our little baby to come into the world. My due date was 11/13/11, and we had no intention of inducing early, but at my doctor's appointment on 11/4/11 it was discovered that my blood pressure had suddenly spiked and I was spilling protein in my urine; not good signs. After being ordered for blood work and monitoring of the baby, the decision was made to induce. I was SO upset and scared--I didn't want to induce and was worried that it would make labor worse or cause us to need more interventions. I just wanted things to go naturally and work the way they were supposed to work. Labor never started before the induction day though (and we tried everything), so we checked into our hospital at 4am.

The original plan was to start me on something called Cytotech (or something like that) to see if it would get labor started, but when they checked me I was already 4cm dilated and having contractions. We decided to skip the Cytotech and just went ahead and broke my water and started the Pitocin drip. My parents and in-laws showed up soon after this, and we all hung out as labor progressed. Around 9am or so the contractions were really intense--lasting over a minute and coming really close together. I went ahead and ordered my epidural, which wasn't scary at all. It took a long time for it to completely kick in as I seemed to have a "dead zone" around my left hip that just wouldn't numb. Once that was taken care of though it was just sweet relief and I got to enjoy the rest of the morning and early afternoon hanging out with the family. They checked me every two hours and I pretty consistently dilated a cm an hour. Around 3pm we got the go ahead to start pushing and everyone but Trey left the room in anticipation of shortly meeting our little one. Labor had progressed so smoothly that we were all in high spirits and just couldn't wait.

And this is when everything went downhill. I started pushing and was told that I was a good pusher, which was a huge relief for me because I had this weird fear that I would be a bad pusher and would be all embarrassed and stuff. They were telling me I was doing well though, so push I did. We tried a few different techniques and I really tried to put my all into every push--I wanted this baby out quickly. My left hip started hurting again (BAD) so they called anesthesiology, but they didn't show up. We kept pushing and pushing, with the pain getting worse and worse, but the baby wasn't moving down. I asked for anesthesia again because my hips and pelvis were screaming in pain, made worse with every push. I'd been working with a doctor (intern), but then my doctor came in too. We'd been pushing for an hour and a half but things weren't progressing; they told me they thought the baby's head was stuck on my pelvis and if they could get him loose, he should come right out. They tried the vacuum and had me push as hard as I could, four times per a contraction. They got the head loose and assured me that things should really move along now, but after more hard pushing (and unbelievable pain) nothing was happening. The head was right there, but I couldn't get it out, and that turned out to be because the baby had a shoulder dystocia---even though we'd gotten the head past the pelvis, one of the shoulders got stuck too. Anesthesiology never showed back up and I was FEELING IT ALL, but you could tell the atmosphere had suddenly become much more serious. Although the baby's heart rate seemed to be ok, my doctor said we had to get this baby out. We finally got the head out, but since the baby was so stuck both the doctor's were pulling and twisting, trying to corkscrew the baby out. I could literally see them leaning their weight backwards as I pushed, trying to get this little one out. I'd been pushing for just over 2 hours and was exhausted, but I knew we had to get this done. In the end, I was pushing for all I was worth with two doctor's pulling on the baby and nurses standing above me & shoving their fists as hard as they could into my pelvis to try to push him out. Finally, finally, our baby boy slipped into the world.

Things still weren't ok though. He came out completely blue. They quickly cut the cord & ran him to the other side of the room, to the incubator. Definitely not the "Congratulations, it's a boy!" and laying him on my chest that we'd pictured. He wasn't crying, he was having trouble breathing, and suddenly the NICU team was bursting into the room. I couldn't see anything over the two doctor's who were standing in front of me, though my doctor was constantly asking for updates & telling me what the responses meant. He assured me that the baby was going to be ok, he was just stunned from the last part of the delivery. Trey was sitting next to me, trembling and trying to see around everyone, and one of the NICU nurses was keeping him updated too. All I knew was that my doctor was saying "He's going to be ok", and so in shock I would just nod my head and say "Ok" back. After what seemed like a million minutes a tiny little cry could faintly be heard. He started pinking up and breathing a little better. They brought him over to me just long enough to kiss him and then they took him off to be hooked up to monitors. Meanwhile, my doctor worked on putting me back together and stopping all the bleeding. I felt...numb. The delivery had been so hard after such an easy labor, and I didn't know if my son was truly ok and when I'd get to see him again. But he was here and that was all that mattered.

Robert E. Ryals IV was born at 5:13pm on 11/7/11. He was 9lbs 0.8oz and 22 inches long. Because of the traumatic delivery he looked like he'd been beaten up, with bruises on his face, head, neck, and arms. Because of the shoulder dystocia he also suffered a broken right clavicle. After 4 or 5 hours on the monitors they let us see him for 30 minutes, then took him back again. It wasn't until early the next morning that we got to keep our little one. It was the wildest ride of our lives but we had the most awesome prize in the world to show for it.

We are so thankful that our little boy ended up being pronounced healthy in every way. The bruises have faded and Mom is pretty well healed up too, so now we're working on figuring out life together. Welcome to the world little Robert, we love you!

Our brand new baby boy

Robert E. Ryals Jr, the III, and now the IV

Going home!