Poop and circumstance

Jon and I were finally christened. Not by pee, mind you, although we've experienced the firehose several times. As it were, Jordan has quite the range when it comes to poop.

They don't tell you that newborn poop is really watery and yellow. That sh** stains. And had somebody told us that, I'm sure we would be constantly wearing plastic body suits. But que sera, sera.

The first incident happened while we were all contently watching Project Runway the other night. I had missed the premiere but fortunately there was rerun, so I wasn't about to miss a minute. Well, that's what I get for putting off changing Jordan's diaper, because next thing I know, just as Heidi was about to announce who's out, I hear an explosive poot come out of Jordan's nether regions. Jon and I looked at each other incredulously (how could such a tiny being make such a huge noise?!) and next thing I knew, I felt something warm running down my leg. Equally repulsed and in awe, I realized Jordan's poop had shot out of his diaper and propelled itself a good inch or two onto my leg. He almost seemed pleased with himself.

The second incident happened to Jon today. Again, we were both contently watching tv, when again, we hear the explosion come out of his diaper. When I say explosion, I'm talking Fourth of July fireworks out his butt. And after each time, I swear I see him smirking.

Poor Jon got hit on his shorts but this time, he wasn't taking any prisoners. He immediately stripped bubby (that's my nickname for Jordan, btw) down and drew a bath. Take that, pooper!

You know what they say--s**t happens! We just didn't expect to be wearing it all the time.

First day alone

Jon went back to work today. It was a fast two weeks! Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck. Would I have time to take a shower? Would Jordan cry inconsolably? Would I remember to feed him???

We did ok, afterall. And I did manage to take a shower (around noon, after I was sure he was good and asleep). But even then, it was like a camp shower--fast and furious. The whole time, I was afraid he'd wake up and start bawling. Alas, all that worrying was for naught, because he slept through the whole thing and even slept through my hair drying.

So, I'm sure many of you are wondering what motherhood is like. It's remarkable and scary. And painful. Painful, you say? It's like a Chinese torture camp. Just when you start to fall asleep, you're awaken by a shrill. And then, you have this tiny little being sucking at your boob despite the fact that your nipples are cracked and sore. Sorry for the gory detail, but I've gotta tell it like it is.

But with the bad, ineveitbly comes the good. Looking at Jordan makes me realize how lucky we are, given all the circumstances surrounding his birth. Things could've gone a lot worse (and how weird is it that I had this worst-case scenario after sailing through nine months of pregnancy?) I am so in love with him. I could just stare at his big eyes all day.

Speaking of eyes, we're all waiting on pins and needles to see what color his eyes will turn. Right now, they go between gray and brown. It's hard to tell whether or not his eyes will go dark blue or brown. I'm really holding out for blue.

JORDAN HAS ARRIVED!!!

This is Jon by the way, for some reason I can't post under my log in.

But anyways . . .

So after several months of anticipation, Jordan is HERE!!!

He is a healthy, beautiful baby boy. He was born at 5:08pm, July 2, 2008 (duh!). Weight was 5lbs 9.9 ounces and 18.25 inches long. He was 2 weeks earlier, so he is a little on the smaller side. He is doing great and so is Mommy G.

So a little back story to his birth. . .

Typical Giselle fashion, there had to be a little excitement and drama. It started on Monday night with Giselle having a really bad headache that kept her up most of the night. She took some Tylenol Tuesday morning and went to work. The headache went away around lunch time and she seemed to be doing better. That night it came back with a vengeance. The pain was overwhelming, she was hardly able to sleep at all, the only comfort was to get up and walk around. Again, she went into work on Wednesday, and after a lot of pain from the headache she was finally convinced to call the doctor. They wanted to see her ASAP.

So I picked her up and we went home to get our bags and other things, just in case. We went to the doc for our 2:30 appointment and they ran some urine and blood pressure tests. The final diagnosis was that she had preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia is a narrowing of the blood vessels, is a dangerous condition unique to pregnancy. Because of this narrowing, women with preeclampsia can have decreased blood flow to the kidneys, brain, liver, retina, and placenta. Symptoms of preeclampsia include high blood pressure, swelling of the hands and face, and protein in the urine. Preeclampsia can cause fetal complications such as stillbirths, premature births, and low birth weight. The only definite cure for preeclampsia is delivering the fetus. (Taken from WebMed)

So the doctor recommended that we head straight over to the hospital and that they would induce Giselle using pictocin. Giselle was not very pleased to hear this because she heard that pictocin causes contractions to be even more painful.

After calming down a little at the doctor's office, we started to leave but Giselle needed to use the restroom. I got on the phone with David, G's brother so he could start getting the family notified. A woman then rushed out of the restroom asking if my wife was in there and if so then she was having a seizure. I hung up on Dave and ran into the bathroom to find Giselle on the floor of the stall, wedged between the toilet and the wall and convulsing and making gagging sounds (Damn, this is even hard to write about, it was the scariest thing I've ever seen). The woman who got me also ran next door to get the nurses and doctor from the office. In no time 3 or 4 nurses were in there followed shortly by our doctor, Dr. Smith. They immediately called 911 and began assessing Giselle's condition. She was completely out of it and wasn't responding to any ones questions. Three nurses were able to unlodge her by getting a blanket under her and pulling hard. She must of hit a couple of things during her fall because she was a little banged up.

The EMTs showed up and Giselle was slowly starting to come around. They hooked her up to some IVs and loaded her up for the quick ride across the street to the hospital. During the commotion, Dr. Smith determined that Giselle was going to have to have an emergency c-section. After getting her to her room in the hospital, the nurses began prepping her and getting her stabilized. I was handed a bunch of releases to sign which I did without even knowing what I was signing.

After getting her stabilized, she was taken into the surgery room and I was given my hospital issued "bunny suit".


Jordan was delivered at 5:08pm without any further complications.

(Sorry, a little long; just a little more)

When Giselle was a little stable after the delivery, she was finally able to hold her beautiful baby boy.


During the night on Wednesday, Giselle was losing a lot of blood and in a lot of pain. A doctor finally came in and helped with some blood clots and got her some really gooooood pain meds.
The next couple of days went well in the hospital with G's blood pressure and bleeding getting under control.

We were finally released on Sunday after 4 nights at the hospital, and let me tell you, those damn fold out beds for the dads really suck!!!

Again, sorry for the long blog, but just wanted to fill everyone in on things and let you know that mommy and baby are doing well. G is still a little weak from her blood loss but she is recovering nicely.

I'm going to take a break now and get back in touch with all of you and let you know how the first few days and nights have been . . . .

The incredibly growing woman

I feel like I'm getting bigger and puffier by the minute. I'm now officially walking like the Michelin tire man, waddling every chance I get.
And the record-breaking heat isn't helping matters any. It's making me more swollen and way more uncomfortable. That's what I get for saying back in the winter that June and July won't be so bad. (How was I suppose to know Austin would hit 100 degrees every day in June?!)
Aside from the swelling, my hips feel like they're being ripped apart. It hurts to walk around. As a result, I'm walking like a pachyderm.
But what's worse are the legs and feet. Holy cow. My legs look like tree trunks and my once-slender feet are now the size of large Russet potatoes. Check out the photos. Yep, I have cankles. Which means, no more heels. Say it ain't so!!!!
I've been wearing wedges and espadrilles, but even those are starting to feel uncomfortable. Soon, my wardrobe will consist of muumuus and flip flops.
Oh! But here's one bit of good news--we bought a bassinet! I found one on Craigslist for $30. It's hardly used and it looks really cute! So as far as baby gear goes, we're all set! I'm very excited about that.
I think I can safely say, I'm ready. Well, except for the whole actual labor pain part. But who in their right mind is ever ready for that??

False alarm!

Well, we had a bit of a false alarm yesterday, something I'm sure every new mom-to-be experiences. In the morning, I felt some cramping in my lower abdomen. I ignored it and went about my day until I got into the office and felt my entire midsection tightening up (was it those pesky Braxton-Hicks contractions again?) I called Jon, who told me to immediately call the doctor. Apparently, he's much more well-read than I am and he was afraid that I was experiencing signs of early labor.

So I called the nurse who, of course, tells me I have to go in within the next hour or so. Jon picks me up and it's immediate panic mode (for me anyway). I hadn't even packed! So I threw a mish-mash of clothes in my bag (realizing on the way out that I had forgotten to pack underwear) and we went --or flew, rather -- to the doctor's office. You know that saying, the waiting is the hardest part? Nowhere does that ring true than the waiting room. We waited for damn near 40 minutes. The entire time, I was thinking, "Holy cow, we haven't cleaned the house. We haven't washed his baby clothes. Hell, we don't have anywhere for him to sleep!"

Finally, they called me in. They do all the routine stuff (I'll spare you the details) and then hook me up to a fetal monitor. Sure enough, I was having some contractions, but not the real kind. And his little heartbeat was really fast at some parts, but the nurse assured us everything was o.k.

So it appears we've officially experienced and survived our first fire drill. But the whole experience really drove it home for us. We went that night and bought a mattress for the crib, just in case. And we did start doing laundry. I'm happy to say we're all done washing his clothes and blankets for the first couple of months.

Oh, and we found a glider and ottoman on Craigslist for only $35. A remarkable deal, if you ask me, considering these ugly rockers usually go for $130 and up.

And you know, regardless of the chaos surrounding this whole drill, we were both really, really excited at the possibility of our little guy finally coming into the world. We feel if he were to come sometime soon, we're somewhat ready.

We're still looking for a bassinet, however. But I'm ok with that. At least he'll be clothed, warm, and most importantly, loved!

Sign of what's to come?

The other night, I was woken up by a strange feeling. Normally, I’m awaken in the middle of the night by Jordan’s kicking and flopping about, but this time was different. In fact, it hit me so hard, I literally gasped and sat up in bed.
It was a Braxton Hicks contraction, or rather "practice" contractions. And man, did it feel weird! Kind of scary, in fact. Not that it hurt, it was just unsettling.
For all of you non-mothers and guys out there, it sorta felt like how it feels when you’re about to puke, only across a wider area. So my entire midsection tensed up for a few seconds and then it went away.
I made the mistake of telling Jon that very moment and of course, he couldn’t sleep for like an hour afterward. Neither could I, to be honest. And we were both thinking the same thing – holy crap. What are we gonna do if I go into labor sooner rather than later? We still don’t have anywhere for our kid to sleep (the crib is in pieces in the guest bedroom closet), we haven’t washed any of the infant clothes that we have, and we still don’t have the basic-basics, like baby lotion and stuff. We don’t even have an infant carseat, which the hospital won’t let you take your baby without.
Now I know some of you will say, in the Pioneer days, they didn’t have any of that fancy stuff and they made do. Well, we’re in modern times, people. And I’m a control freak. So unless every t is crossed and every i dotted, I won’t rest easy.
But we did make some progress—we ordered the carseat yesterday, and I went ahead and ordered some hospital outfits! Baby steps….

Best baby shower ever!

Man, these past couple of weeks have flown by. We just had our baby shower last weekend and it already seems like an eternity has passed.
We had a great time and it was so good to see everyone! The weather was a bit hot. In fact, I'm sure it hit 100 degrees at one point! But with all the great friends and family there, it didn't even matter.
In the days leading up to the shower, the gifts started rolling in. First to come was the much-talked about (and anticipated) Uppa Baby stroller, courtesy of my parents. The minute it came, Jon immediately put it together and soon thereafter we went outside like total dorks and took pictures. I'm sure our neighbors were wondering what the hell we were doing. One elderly couple even stopped to see if they could take a picture of the "three of us," thinking there was an actual baby in the stroller.
But really, the best gift came on Friday. I had a week from hell at work and was so busy I barely had time to breathe. It was so bad, I had Jon run an errand for me Friday afternoon. He called me when he was downstairs to come pick up whatever it was I had him get me and my bestest friend in the whole world Krista greeted me! Turns out she flew in from Florida to surprise me! And man, was I surprised. I really had no idea she was planning on coming to Austin. And it turns out Jon, Dave AND Lisa and Darren were in on it! Given my intrepid reporter skills, I can't believe I didn't see this coming.
Overall, it was a fantastic weekend. We really couldn't have asked for more!