Rohan don't play that...

Kleptomania

Rohan has always had a good grasp like most babies do, but lately he has taken it to the next level.  Rohan is grabbing at everything! It is fun to watch him learn and grow.  I try not to worry to much about what he will get himself into in the future months to come.  I will cherish the fun he has now taking both his hands at an object and feeling different textures. I secretly wish has able to speak words when he was born then we could converse over what he is feeling and touching.  Don't get me wrong, I do talk to him and sometimes babble comes back, but it would be nice to know if he is saying "yeah mom, I know what this is stop repeating it", or "where do Lions live?". hahahaha!  In due time.  Fast forward and I will be eating my words.  :) 

Am I the only one that....

• uses the car seat inside the house to calm their baby? ....we even go as far as to push him around in his stroller inside the house.  (Thank god for tile!)
• hopes we hit every green light so the car does not stop in the chance that Rohan wakes up?
• thinks a sick baby feels like you just took 10 steps backwards in fussyland?
• every 10th poopy diaper change you run out of wipes in the wipe warmer?
• once a month you somehow find poop on your finger during/after a diaper change? (eek!)
• would like to personally thank the person who invented the pacifier?
• thinks the saying "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it" should apply to babies in their first year, especially the first 3 months when the mom still has raging hormones. 
• understands why people hire baby nurses/nannies for 10pm to 6am every night...if only money grew on trees!
• understands why you should go into parenting open minded because you may find yourself doing something that you may have thought you'd never do - like fall asleep with your baby in bed, rock your baby to sleep all the time (if that is what gets them to sleep), or let your baby cry it out (because you have exhausted all your other options of making the baby happy). 
• thinks moms with babies out in public made it look so easy before you had a baby?
• goes through stages where my mind is constantly saying "please don't wake up while we are out in public and start crying"
• feels like EVERYONE is staring at you when your baby starts crying? (like you are the worst mother ever and what did you do to him?)
• cannot stand that when your baby is crying and everyone has the solution - the easy solutions (feed, change diaper) that you have already tried?
• feels like everyone thinks daycare is EVIL?  How could you put your baby in daycare?
• has the one friend who is the ultimate baby whisperer and loves her for it?
• doesn't know which baby book to believe?  Let them cry themselves to sleep or rock them to sleep or make sure they nap so they sleep or keep them active so they sleep or all of the above?
• feels like my husband and I are going off trial and error with our son and really have no idea what we are doing?  (the swing didn't work when Rohan was 6 weeks, but it sure does work now!)
• wants the best of both worlds - staying home with our son and working at a job you love (just have to find that job). 
• thinks baby Einstein is great (nice distraction!)!
• thinks babies know when you want to eat and somehow wake up from their nap so you can't fully enjoy eating? ha!
• loves their little snuggle bug!
• there is always something new to buy to excite, distract, spoil, support, calm and comfort your child? (gotta love shopping!)
• is still adjusting to this change in our life even after 4 months? 
• doesn't feel guilty when I have "me" time?  I feel as though society puts this damper on women who aren't always with their babies - it's the only way to stay sane!
• felt helpless at times during the first 6 weeks of our sons life because we didn't always know how to comfort him...
• 15-20min of crying can feel like hours?
• has gotten used to crying in the car - turn up the music a little and wait until the next stop to see what is wrong?  how could I be such a horrible mother?
• is enjoying getting to know our son!
• loves when friends visit and help you out with little tasks like laundry (who would have thought one day your friends would fold your laundry - that's why they are good friends!) and hold your baby so you can take a shower!
• thinks its crazy how many bathrooms don't have changing tables - and pre-baby I never even noticed! shame on me.
• thought with a stroller people would get out of your way? yeah that doesn't happen.
• didn't realized that sometimes babies cry out of boredom and the silliest song you sing or dance you do makes them happy!
• feels like I am constantly cleaning and constantly doing laundry?  Babies should come with a set of 100 bibs and burp cloths! :)
• feels like once you have a baby, your annual exam is really nothing. 
• didn't think being pregnant was the best thing ever?

Anyone have any to add?

Rohan Ducky it is Bath Time!

Rohan loves his bath every night. He is growing so fast soon he will be too big for his baby tub.  He's been pushing off the end of the tub with his feet so his head rubs on the top of the tub.  We can't wait for him to be big enough to sit up in the tub and play with bath toys. It is even cuter when we dry him off in the hooded towels!



Playing with Daddy

Farmers Market Fridays

 Every Friday during season there is a Farmers Market at a local park.  I try to make it there with Rohan to get inexpensive fresh produce, homemade guacamole (yum!), flowers, and great food from the Nosh Truck (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Nosh-Truck/158663804163407?sk=wall).  Rohan loves to stroll around and get fresh air, I get exercise and enjoy the sunshine, and we are both happy. :) We will be sad when season is over and the farmers market goes away. 

Rohan ready to leave for Farmers Market.

This week we found tomatoes, organic romaine lettuce, and organic red potatoes!  I grabbed a smoked pulled pork sandwich from Captain Bob! Yum!

Rohan & Sophie

Rohan enjoys his Sophie Giraffe as a playmate. :) He likes to give her hugs while he swings.  When Rohan was born he seldom enjoyed the swing, but since he turned 2 months he really enjoys it and usually if we are lucky he takes little naps in it! :)

Happy St. Patricks Day! 3.17.2011

Rohan's first St. Patrick's Day!  Rohan spent the day at daycare.  Apparently it was picture day at daycare.  We are looking forward to how his picture turned out.  He was dressed in St. Paddy's Day attire. :) Meanwhile, his dad didn't wear a speck of green to work and his mom definitely wore green and celebrated with a St Patricks Day potluck of foods that were green. Here's a picture of the little lad wiggling around before Aaron took him to daycare. 

Rohan's building his immunity

(I'm going to start blogging from the present on out and update from the past 4 months here and there. I'd be so behind if I went through his last 4 months)

Rohan won the battle of the bronchiolitis war!  He finally stopped coughing after his bout with a virus he caught after starting daycare.  We were called to come pick him up from daycare because he was coughing and breathing funny.  We got him in to the Pediatrician and we noticed he had started wheezing. Scary! Poor little guy had nebulizer treatments three times a day for a week, and two times a day for the second week.  His followup appointment with the Pediatrician was great! No more wheezing!

Rohan started back at daycare yesterday and had a great day. We know that he will get sick many more times from going to daycare so we will be ready for those days and enjoying the good days!

Rohan does enjoy his baths and we can't wait for him to be able to sit and play in a real bath tub.  But for now we enjoy the time he spends in his baby bathtub. :)

November 24, 2011

Rohan was welcomed into our world on Wednesday November 24, 2011.  The day before Thanksgiving.  We arrived at OB triage at 4am.  The nurse walked us up to our room on the labor and delivery floor. Even though the nurse commented on how well rested I looked (must have been the makeup), I was very nervous.  So nervous that my blood pressure was through the roof.  At one point they thought I had pregnancy induced hypertension and took some labs but they came back negative.  As soon as the nurses left the room and I was able to relax my blood pressure came right down.  Whitecoat syndrome is what they call it.  Around 5am they checked me and I was 3-4cm and they started the pitocin, 6am my doctor broke my water (eeek!), and soon after I started to feel more consistent contractions.  Around 8am I got out of bed and sat in the rocking chair and watched the TODAY show eating a popsicle.  Aaron was paying our bills on the couch before the excitement started.  I had an awesome nurse who explained everything and helped me into different positions to help move the baby's head back to center, he was a little lopsided.  Around 10am Veronica came to the room with goodies for us to munch on (for me after the delivery of course).  My contractions were getting stronger and stronger by now, but  was still able to talk.  Soon after I realized I needed some type of pain medication.  The nurse offered Nubain or an Epidural - so I tried the Nubain. I was open for the epidural the whole time, the nurse had told me that some people the Nubain works well. Nubain made me feel drunk for the first time since I got pregnant.  I kept apologizing to Aaron and Veronica. As each contraction got stronger I kept asking them if it was coming down on the monitor and most of the time they said no! The contractions were vicious! So about 10 min after she gave me the Nubain I had Veronica find her to tell her I was ready for the Epidural.  My nurses other patient had just asked for an epidural and the nurse said it would be about 30 min.  I figured I could get through 30 min of this, right? My nurse came in to check me and I was 5-6 cm at this point.  45 minutes go by....my initial thought was by the time they come in for the epidural I will be too far along. It's now about 1145am and my doctor comes in and wants to know where my epidural was she ordered it an hour ago.  By now another nurse was in my room checking on me and told her the CRNA was having a difficult time with the epidural in the other room and was almost finished.  By the time the CRNA got to my room, minutes after the doc was in the room, my contractions were really bad.  Fortunately she was able to get it in between contractions.  Unfortunately because I had been progressing the epidural didn't help with the contractions as much as it helped with numbness from my waist down.  So I could still feel when the cntractions were coming.  My nurse checked me and I was at 8-9cm right after I laid back down after getting the epidural.  She said we were going to start pushing!  My team members, Aaron and Veronica came and held my legs while I pushed.  Soon after the doctor was in the room and suiting up to catch the baby.  Half way through they turned down the epidural so I could feel more.  With every contractions I pushed as hard as I could.  At one point I looked up at Aaron and Veronica and they both had tears in their eyes, and all I could say was don't cry trying to hold it together. ha! I had been pushing for about an hour and the doctor said we weren't getting anywhere so she did an episiotomy thinking that would help the baby come out, no cigar.  Next was the vacuum on the baby's head to help him on his way out, nope.  At this point it was 130pm and everytime I pushed the baby's heartrate was going down so this was concerning.  The doctor looked at me and made the decision that we needed a c-section.  Going into this birth I didn't have a birth plan because how do you plan for something like this?  You don't know what is going to happen, so I stayed open minded.  I was ok with a c-section.  But once I heard the words come out of her mouth, I just nodded and tears came streaming down my face.  My fatigue set in and I let it all out.  She explained that if I was her family member that's what she would recommend.  I was ok with it because I knew the baby wasn't doing well.  In seconds a team from the OR and NICU were in my room and I'm getting taken away to the OR with Aaron following.  Thankfully Veronica was there to help bring all of our bags to recovery!  On the way to the OR the anesthesiologist was figuring out a plan for me since they had stopped the epidural in the room.  He gave me some medication that he was hoping worked, if it didn't I would have to be put under and Aaron wouldn't be able to be in the OR.  Fastforward, it worked and Aaron was able to come in and sit with me.  Although when he finally got in there his mask was all wet from tears and I was shaking so I glanced at him and then shut my eyes to focus on not shaking.  After feeling a lot of pressure, I waited to hear a cry - and we did! (or so we thought it was a cry).  At 2:15pm Rohan Graeme (pronounced Graham) Sustad was born.  He had the umbilical cord wrapped around him twice when they were pulling him out.  Poor little guy.  He came out "grunting" and his apgar scores were 5 and 6, so he was taken immediately to the NICU.  His lungs were expanding all the way,so they put him on a CPAP with room air to help him breathe.  On our way to my room the nurse brought us by the NICU so we could see the little guy.  Aaron had gone with the nurses when he was born, but I had only seen him for a few seconds when he came out.  When we got to him he had been pulling off all his leads (who wouldn't???), but was still our little pumpkin.  Rohan stayed in the NICU for a total of 1 week, he went to the stepdown unit after 2 days. We took him home on his due date November 30th.  So for the days he was in the NICU we felt like we had gone through this traumatic and exciting time but came home with no baby.  It was very weird to say the least, but we were able to sleep so that was nice we were soon in for the shock of sleep deprivation.  :)