Daily Sean

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Originally uploaded by psycling

Sean feeling a little "drunk" after a nice long feeding session.

A Good Appetite

Pretty much all babies loose a little weight just after birth. Sean was born at 7 lbs 1 oz, and then went down to 6 lbs 10 oz. Doctors like to watch and make sure that they regain their birth weight by the end of week 2. So, just yesterday, we stopped by the doctor's office for a weight check and Sean is now 7 lbs 4 oz! Clearly he's eating well. And we're excited because this means we can slowly move towards a feeding schedule instead of being 100% driven by Sean. Of course, we still don't expect to be sleeping "normally" again anytime soon. But that's a fair price to pay for all of the joy that Sean has brought to our lives already...

Daily Sean

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Originally uploaded by psycling

Sean is showing off a new outfit and sporting the "cool" look of having his hat down over his eyes (i.e., he'll grow into it soon enough!).

Daily Sean

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Originally uploaded by psycling

Thea came over for a visit last night to spend some more time with Sean. She sniffed and sniffed, but was very good and didn't touch Sean in any way. Thea will be returning home soon, so we're grateful that it looks like she'll adapt nicely to the family's new addition.

Daily Sean

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Originally uploaded by psycling

Sean often makes some funny faces when he's getting up from a nap. This video shows off some of his special talent ;-)

Recovery

I am quickly learning that recovery from childbirth is a slow road. I've never been very good at slowing down and taking it easy, so it has been a challenge for me to rest and give myself the time I need to let my body recover. But I am getting better every day. Surprisingly, most of the pain and swelling and discomfort of childbirth has passed (or at least faded) and it's time for me to rest up to get my energy back. I'm still pretty drained and exhausted, though I'm sure some of that can be attributed to Sean wanting to eat almost every hour through the night...

Today was the first day since coming home that I ventured out of bed and downstairs for the bulk of the day. It's really nice to see something other than the walls of the bed room, and the couch is much more comfortable to sit on than the bed! Our associate pastor came by for a visit this afternoon, and it was nice to have the company. I realized last night that I'm definitely starting to get a little stir crazy. Since I don't have the energy back to go out yet, it's nice to have people visiting to bring a little bit of the outside world in.

Right now, we're taking it a day at a time, resting, getting to know Sean, and trying to settle into a routine. But now, I think maybe it's time to rest before Sean needs his next meal.

Daily Sean

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Originally uploaded by psycling

Seeing Sean lying next to Bryan's arm and hand really puts into perspective how tiny he is!!

Daily Sean

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Originally uploaded by psycling

Sean starting to fall asleep after a good feeding.

Daily Sean

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Originally uploaded by psycling

Sean and Daddy getting some rest.

We Made It Home

Today we came home from the hospital. It's great to be home and it somehow makes this all seem a little more real. Although it's crazy to now be truly on our own (no nurse available at the push of a button!). The first lesson we learned today was the importance of using the pee pee tee pee at diaper changes :-) Everyone continues to do well, although the tiredness is certainly setting in. Hopefully we'll zero in on a schedule that is somewhat sustainable...

Sean Close-up Pictures

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Originally uploaded by psycling

Here's a closer picture of Sean. He seems to enjoy winking ;-)

Sean Thomas Payne

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Originally uploaded by psycling

We're pleased to introduce the newest addition to our family. Sean Thomas Payne was born this morning at 11:18a. He was 7 lbs 1 oz, and 20.5 inches long. Both Sara and Sean are doing great!

Time To Induce

Things haven't progressed on their own, so the doctors have decided to go ahead and induce labor by giving Sara pitocin. They are hooking up the drugs now. There's no real telling how quickly it will kick in, but she will likely start having contractions before too long...

It Has Begun!

Sara's water broke this evening shortly after dinner. We're at the hospital now, and will stay here until the baby is born. So far there haven't been any noticeable contractions, so we're just resting up. But, the word at this point is that either labor will start on its own sometime over night, or they will go ahead and induce. Stay tuned for updates!

In the Dark

This afternoon my co-workers were generous enough to throw us a baby shower. They reserved a space in an awesome local pizza place. They arranged for a variety of pizza to be served, as well as the yummy bread sticks and spinach-artichoke dip. The shower started at 4:00.

Around 3:50, a HUGE thunderstorm blew in, with insane wind, lots of rain, and dark threatening clouds. Though it only lasted about 10 minutes, that was long enough to knock out power to everything in the area. So...we made our way to the pizza parlor along a busy road where all the traffic lights were out (As an aside, why is it so difficult for people to treat a broken traffic light as a 4-way stop?), and arrived at Everybody's Pizza to discover that their power was out too.

They had a couple pizzas made for us, but no power means no ovens, so they informed us they wouldn't be able to make more. So instead, we ordered some salads (since those didn't need to be cooked), and everyone seemed to have a good time, and enjoyed the food we had!

My co-workers were extremely generous, and the baby tub full of all sorts of baby stuff (rubber ducky with sensor to tell you if bath water is too hot, teethers, onesies, burp clothes, bath toys, washcloths, etc.) was gorgeously packaged and wrapped. And my jaw dropped when I opened the pack-n-play! Though the gift that got the biggest laugh was the Pee Pee Tee Pee. There was a car seat head rest for infants, seat protector for the car, a couple of hand crocheted blankets. We really appreciated everything! Thank you!

After opening the gifts, we enjoyed the cake, and chatting, but by about 5:30, everyone was sweating from the lack of air conditioning from the power outage (this is July in Atlanta after all). As the party broke up, we all walked out to our cars to find the sun shining as bright as ever. While not exactly according to plan, it was a good time, and certainly a memorable baby shower!

Getting Smarter

In a previous post, I told you about our first baby class. Since then, we have taken a few other classes that are offered through our hospital. Being first time parents, these have all been very helpful. Plus, it's been fun to meet other people in the classes that are going through many of the same experiences that we are. In fact, on our way into a recent class, we ran into someone that we met in a previous class only to find out that his wife just gave birth. It was fun to share that excitement with him! So here are the new classes that we have completed:

• Newborn care and behavior. In this class we learned a lot about what to expect after the baby is born. We learned about newborn appearance, how to wash a baby, getting into a basic routine, how to dress your baby properly for the weather, etc. All very basic stuff, but it was nice to be able to ask some questions and just know what to expect a little more.
  
• Prepared childbirth. This is the stereotypical child birth class. We learned everything we need to know about the actual labor and childbirth process from hospital procedures, to positions and techniques for managing pain. I'll spare you the details :-)
  
• Breastfeeding I. This was just what it sounds like. I attended this class with Sara so that I could learn more about how to provide support and make it easier for her to breastfeed. Part I of the class, which we took last week, was all the basics. We'll take part II next week which will get into pumping and other issues related to Sara returning to work.

After next week's class we'll be all done with classes. While a lot of the information that we learned in the classes could have been learned from books, talking with friends, etc. It's been a good process for us because we could ask questions, get comfortable with the hospital (the classes are held just down the hall from the labor and delivery rooms), and they even provided some incentive for us to stay on track with our planning.

We're back!

Over the weekend, we moved back into our house. The new floors are installed and the smell is all but gone. Of course, the timing is pretty good too, given that Sara's at 36.5 weeks, and most people consider 37 weeks to be "full term". Translation: the baby could come at any time! Of course, it's more likely that he'll come closer to the Aug 2 due date, but we're doing our best to get prepared.

Over the next week I'll make a few more posts to catch you up on how we're getting ready. So be watching for news on our classes, baby showers, nursery setup, and more!