Brandy and Mikayla are doing well. The sleep deprivation is finally catching up with Brandy. She is hanging in there...but she has started to take at least 1-2 naps during the day. I try to help out as much as possible. However, I do not have all the necessary "accessories" needed to feed Mikayla. So I am providing the best maid (dishes and diapers) and cooking services available in the Las Vegas Valley. We had an interesting couple of days. As you know, Mikayla's bilirubin numbers were high. In order to lower the bilirubin count she had to undergo UV treatment. Luckily for Brandy and I, we were to conduct the treatment at home. The treatment lasted approximately 48-60 hours. On Saturday, we got the word that Mikayla's bilirubin numbers had dropped enough to stop the UV treatment. The worst part of the treatment was that Brandy and I could not hold Mikayla except during feedings. Believe it or not, we were going through baby cuddling withdrawals. I did think it could happen so soon but it did.
As many of you know, I am a die hard Boston Redsox and New England Patriots fan. I have also converted Brandy into a Red Sox and Patriots fanatic. I not to saying don't root for the Celtics and Bruins, but if push comes to shove Sox and Pats win out. Brandy and I decided to let Mikayla root for any sports team she wants with one EXCEPTION no Yankees...But that does not mean we won't "guide" her along the way. The next set couple of pictures are of Mikayla just being a cute little baby.I hope you enjoyed the photographs...More to follow.
Brandy and I want to thank everyone for their comments on the last posting. I know everyone has been waiting for the next set of pictures...patiently or not (that is for you to decide). So here you go.
The first pictures is a fantastic photo of a hound dog mix. We like to call him Brumbee. In the picture, he is taking one of the several naps needed during the day in order to conserve energy for lengthy morning walks. His other interest are lying in the sun, lying on the couch, lying on the bed...I think you get the idea
I know many of you have met the star of this picture...Cayman. She is a Shepherd-Whippet mix. She also enjoys morning walks, however hours and hours of fetch is more her style. You may not be able to tell but she is eagerly awaiting her ball to be thrown. Although it is 104 degrees here today, Cayman is always ready for fetch.
Are these not the pictures you have been waiting for...That's right the requests have been rolling in for pictures of Mikayla not Brumbee and Cayman. How silly of me...
Below are a couple of pictures of the new baby. I can only hope this helps hold back your cravings. Some pictures will have commentary and other will not. I hope you enjoy.
Everyone says that pregnancy is tiring and then having a baby is tiring for the mom. However, Brandy is constantly lying in bed...not only that her eyes are closed too. She must be well rested. It is not like she getting up every 2-3 hours or anything.
Next are a few photos of Mikayla looking as cute as a button...I might be a little partial, she is my daughter. Wait a minute...is that..it can't be...a Brandy out of bed sighting...mark it on the calendar. Not sure how many of these rare and extraordinary photos will be available over the next 18-23 years. Yes, I said years, not minutes, hours, or days. Yes...YEARS
Mikayla went to the pediatrian for the first time today. The doctor was very nice. She is now 19.5 inches tall and weighed in at 6lbs 9oz. I think Mikayla cheated on the height, her head was not fully against the top of the measuring tall. The weight was good. The doctor said normally a baby losses 10% of its body weight after birth and then gains it back within 10-14 days. If there is one thing dad may have passed on it would be a love to EAT!!!
We also had to get another blood test done to ensure Mikayla's billirubin count was good. Unfortunately, her count is too high so we will be conducting some at home treatment in order to lower the billirubin count. She will be under the bright lights for a while. We are not sure how long yet. We go back to the doctor's office tomorrow for another appointment.
After being on the road for the last month Hubby/Dad finally got home on Saturday 23MAY09, just in the nick of time. At about 2:00am on Sunday, Brandy had got up to use the restroom without incident then all of a sudden she felt a large release of fluid followed by constant oozing. Her water had broke. Brandy and I being "great" listeners to the birthing class we attended remembered that we do not need to go to the hospital until contractions are 1 minute long with 5 minutes between. Brandy thought it would be a good idea to give her mom a call, I said its 5am in Cincinnati and we went to class that told us 5 and 1. We are good. So we went back to bed.
Well at 5am Brandy decided to get up and give Max a call. Letting Max know that at 2am the water broke and that we were waiting for 5 and 1 before heading to the hospital. Max informed us that we need to give the doctor a call, so we did. And the most unlikely of things occurred, Brandy and I were wrong (it does not happen often, just ask us). The doctor instructed us to get to the hospital. However, before we could leave Brandy needed to eat or she was not leaving. The one thing Brandy recalled was that once you get to the hospital you cannot eat. They will not feed you just in case you need a C-Section or need any type of operation/procedure. So Brandy stuffed her face prior to leaving the house (I do not blame her I would have done the same).
We finally arrived at the hospital and the waiting game began. At the hospital, there were smiles and grimaces, a little pain which has led to a lot of pleasure. And 18 hours after having the water break, Mikayla Wren finally arrived 7:41 PST on 24MAY09.
Below are some pictures that chronicle the day. And at the end you get a healthy helping of little Mikayla (the important stuff).
Here is Brandy prepped and ready to give birth. She is smiling like this is going to be easy.
As the day progressed, her mood changed slightly. Brandy's is saying, "Get this baby out of me, NOW!!!" Unfortunately, I did not get any action shots of Brandy pushing. We were a little busy...with the basketball game.
As much as Brandy was saying, "get it out of me", Mikayla Wren wanted back in. As you can see from the photo, Mikayla wants to go back to her home for the last 9 months and cannot understand why mom decided to push her out so abruptly.
Mikayla Wren weighed in at an enormous 6lbs 11oz and a towering height of 19inches. Brandy and I are thinking WNBA or Pro-Beach Volleyball. We will have to wait and see if Mikayla likes to dunk a basketball or spike a volleyball. Jury is still out.
Here are the proud parents of Ms. Mikayla. I know, I know you all want to see pictures of the baby, however I had to get in at least one picture to prove that I was there.
I will be getting back to the baby in a minute. Brandy finally got a chance to eat. I told Brandy that I will go get you anything you what to eat. She wanted a fast food chicken sandwich and french fries. I was expecting a gourmet meal from Mesa Grill (Bobby Flay's Restaurant) or something like that.
Below are multiple pictures of what you have all been waiting for...Mikayla. I will not be doing commentary for each picture. However, I will wrap things up at the end...
I hope you all enjoyed the blog...I have built a blog or two for a class, however I am not a savvy veteran like most of the readers. We will continue to post pictures. I will not discuss the posting frequency at this time...however I will try to post...lets say a couple times a week for a while (vague keeps me out of trouble). I hope that will feed your appetites.
This is the most belated blog I've written as it is over a month overdue, but since baby is still snuggled in the womb, I'll consider it on time. Last month Mom came out to visit for a week for the purpose of setting up the nursery and getting everything in order for Mikayla's arrival. But before we got to work we took a detour to California to visit Marianne and company.
It was a short visit and we packed it full of activities. We spent our day at the Wild Animal Park in San Diego.
Reeder and I didn't think the animals were that wild, we tamed these in a matter of seconds.
The master at work, no baby too cranky for Grandma to soothe to sleep.
I'm perpetually amazed at how much constant attention and entertainment kids require. If I had made this visit ten months ago I could have considered it an intervention!
Once we made it back to Las Vegas it was nothing but work for the next three days.
Every piece of baby equipment we have (which is a lot thanks to all the friends and family at the showers) was scattered around the nursery and I had avoided touching it until Mom arrived. We spent the days taking off tags, unboxing, washing, sorting, assembling, and shopping for the baby (okay, I got in on the deal as well and got some great maternity tops). Once we had everything we needed, we reassembled to room to look what I think is an adorable little space for this baby.
Not this best lighting, but trust me, it's cute and well organized. And all for a child who won't be able to see more than six inches in front of her face for the first few weeks of life and who will have no recollection of what her nursery looked like!
Then as if decorating the nursery wasn't enough, Mom decided the guest room wasn't appropriately outfitted. She happily went to work sewing pillow cases for decorative pillows that would "tie in the colors of the room". We had Mom busy at the sweat shop until late in the evening before she left.
I stayed up to make sure she stayed on task, I can't have my free labor quitting on me!
We had a great visit and I'm feeling ready for our new arrival, she should be here in three weeks, but no more than four. I apologize for not having better pregnancy pics, they are on Mom's camera, so you'll have to wait for her blog.
From last blog's poll, hotdogs won by a landslide, they're my favorite baseball game food as well, so I can't blame you.
We had an interesting couple of days. As you know, Mikayla's bilirubin numbers were high. In order to lower the bilirubin count she had to undergo UV treatment. Luckily for Brandy and I, we were to conduct the treatment at home. The treatment lasted approximately 48-60 hours. On Saturday, we got the word that Mikayla's bilirubin numbers had dropped enough to stop the UV treatment. The worst part of the treatment was that Brandy and I could not hold Mikayla except during feedings. Believe it or not, we were going through baby cuddling withdrawals. I did think it could happen so soon but it did.
As many of you know, I am a die hard Boston Redsox and New England Patriots fan. I have also converted Brandy into a Red Sox and Patriots fanatic. I not to saying don't root for the Celtics and Bruins, but if push comes to shove Sox and Pats win out. Brandy and I decided to let Mikayla root for any sports team she wants with one EXCEPTION no Yankees...But that does not mean we won't "guide" her along the way.
The next set couple of pictures are of Mikayla just being a cute little baby.
I hope you enjoyed the photographs...More to follow.
