Eli's Big Day Out

On Thursday, Eli had his first fun trip out of the house. No Kaiser appointments this time. We headed down to Stockton to show him off (wait, I mean ... no, I guess I do mean show him off) to the extended Families and spend a day having good stuff. We got to see all of his Great-Grandparents, all of his Grandparents, his Uncle, and a few Friends too. It was a really nice day. We had an incident on the way down which I won't go into here, but when we finally reached town, it was smooth sailing with bright skies, good wind, and lots of poopies.

Here's Taryn first thing that morning feeding the Lil Man. You'll see a lot of these feeding pictures. All this kid does is eat and sleep. What a life. I'd say that I'd wish to come back as a baby in my next life, but then you'd have to grow up all over again. So I'll settle for one of our cats - probably Momo.

Here's Anti-Gamma helping us to get ourselves ready by taking Lil Man off our hands.

I don't think she minded too much ...

Here's Great-Tita (is that right?) getting herself some Lil Man, and helping with a feeding.

Here's Great-Tita getting some burpies.

She got some pretty good ones too ...

Here's Great-Grandaddy teaching the Lil Man some of his old boxing moves. We thought he had strong legs - you know, soccer legs or swimmer legs - but if Bill has any say he'll be practicing his jabs just as much, if not more.

Here's a family shot of the Greats from the Cooper side. They weren't happy or anything. You could tell by how little they paid attention to the Lil Man. We're very appreciative to have Family so loving and attentive.

Here's Great-Grandaddy getting himself some Lil Man.

Same haircut, right?

Here's Uncle Kendall laughing at a joke that I can only assume was made at the Lil Man's expense. Get used to it Eli. You are now nothing but fodder for one-liners and mimickery - good thing Uncle Kendall is funny, and great with kids.

Here's Great-Grandma Rosie getting herself some Lil Man. Just as we had gotten Eli into his car seat, all strapped in and ready to go, he let loose with a poopy. It took another ten minutes to get him back into the seat ...

Here's Eli's Grambot (thanks Denise & Jay, I think that one's gonna stick) getting herself some Lil Man. She got herself a lot of Lil Man, and he couldn't have been happier. Grambot also helped out with a feeding.

Here's Grandpa Dave getting himself some Lil Man, and helping out with a feeding.

Here's Grandpa Jim getting himself some Lil Man.

After we got home that night, we settled down for our first really relaxing night since everything went down. Taryn was feeling great, I was good, Cathy was good. It was nice to see what it would feel like with everything done, with all of the crazy health things taken care of, and all the time in the world to dedicate to just staring at this little guy.

Here's the Lil Man getting some "Tummy Time" on his surf board. This is great for muscle development as well as visual and sensory stimulation. We were pretty impressed (and proud) in his ability to raise and move his head, push his legs, and track the movements and sounds of the toys attached to the board. I know we're biased, but this little guy's freakin' incredible!

Here's our Lil Man in his Aries get-up. Aries is the first astrological sign in the Zodiac and symbolized by the Ram. Aries is considered a masculine, positive and extrovert sign. It is also considered the Fire sign, as it is one of the four cardinal signs of the Zodiac, representing fixed signs as well as the four cardinal elements (just like his Daddy is an Aquarius, another cardinal sign, and the one that represents Air). In Chinese astrology, Aires is associated with the Dragon. Cool.

Here's one last one of Eli, with the quickness, jukin' Daddy and messin' up his picture.

A Chaotic Couple of Days ...

On Wednesday morning, Eli had his first check-in appointment with his Lactation Specialist, as well as an appointment for his tongue-clipping procedure. Cathy, Taryn and I all woke up refreshed from another good night's sleep (so far we've been really blessed as Eli will only wake up once or twice during the night to let us know that he's hungry or has had Action Pants. He's usually back out within minutes, so of course we are too. We're crossing fingers that this trend continues). We made our first trip to Starbucks on our way to Kaiser, and Taryn really enjoyed being able to order herself a latte for the first time in 9 months.

We got to Kaiser just slightly late (apparently with an infant in tow I've been told that we have to throw the "on time" thing out the window. But I'll be fighting that one for as long as it takes ...). We learned that Eli was within the acceptable weight loss limit, having gone from a birth weight of 8 lbs. exactly to 7 lbs. 9 oz. over those few days. We were told that he was the picture of baby health - always good to hear when you're a first-time parent and freaking out over the slightest thing. Which we are.

Next stop on our trip was the Head & Neck department to have his tongue clipped. For those of you who aren't familiar with the term, "tongue-tied" means that Eli's frenullum (the thin strip of tissue that connects the tongue to the bottom of the mouth) was latched too close to the tip of his tongue. This had caused Eli to have difficulties feeding, and could have caused problems later in life with speech. So Taryn and I decided to have it taken care of as soon as possible so as to save the Lil Man feeding frustration, and ourselves the cost of speech therapy down the road. The procedure took less than 5 minutes - the doctor simply held Eli's head down, numbed the inside of his mouth, and used a pair of special scissors to cut the frenullum down. Eli took it like a champ! He wailed as his head was being held in place, but as soon as the procedure was finished, he was back in Daddy's arms and quiet and content as could be. When we got to the waiting room, we fed him right away, and he took to it with no problems, and showed no signs of discomfort. What a guy.

Throughout the 5 days since Eli had been born, Taryn had been complaining of severe headaches, and had been having a real hard time being active, or finding true pleasure in all that was going on. On the way home from Kaiser that Wednesday, Taryn made a call to Kaiser's advice nurse to ask for guidance on how to alleviate her pain (or, ideally, get rid it entirely). She was forwarded to an anesthesiologist, who in turn forwarded her to Kaiser's Emergency Room for immediate care. Apparently, when Taryn had received her spinal block during the C-Section, the hole that was created in the spinal column either didn't heal entirely, or didn't heal correctly. When a hole is created in the spinal column it allows fluid to leak out, which in turn causes a change in pressure in the head, which in turn causes severe and debilitating headaches. We got to the E.R. in Walnut Creek at about noon, and luckily Taryn was taken back immediately (the anesthesiologist had called ahead for her). However, she was left laying on a gurney for 45 minutes in the back hallway waiting for a room to open up. When it did, she was taken back, put into a hospital gown, then left there on a hospital bed (without a call button!) for hours, waiting for someone to not only take care of her, but communicate with her at all. When someone did come for her, instead of taking her to another room (a sterile room!) to perform the procedure, they simple stuck a couple needles in her, and told her that she couldn't move for a couple more hours. Needless to say, Taryn was pissed. She was in pain, was confused, was angry and frustrated, was scared, was everything under the sun except okay. It's bad enough that the procedure that she needed to have (what they call an epidural bloodpatch) involved taking blood from her arm and injecting it into her spine so that it clotted and clogged the leak, but to have had such a terrible and ridiculous experience almost put her over the edge. I think she was a bit traumatized. Finally, after 6 hours, Cathy, Amy (who had showed up in the middle of it all expecting to spend the afternoon cooing at the baby) and I got Taryn back into a car and back to the house. We put her in bed (hooray for sleepnumber beds!), put the Lil Man in her arms, and set up shop in the Master for the night - all four of us. We even had a pizza party in bed (it was like being in a real life chic flick, but with really good pizza). But on the bright side, her headache was rectified immediately, without a single recurrance since. I think Taryn was really disappointed that she wasn't able to be as big a part as she wanted to be in caring for Eli for those first couple of days. But now that she's back to 100%, she's back with a vengeance. Now I can't get the baby out of her arms long enough to change a diaper (which is really okay if you think about it).

Horray for Eli and his new tongue! Hooray for Pie and her new head! Hooray for me just because I don't wanna be left out!

Eli's First Days Home

After all the Hellfire and Crazy, Eli Scott Bacon came home for the first time ever at 2pm on Monday afternoon. Our stay in the Hospital was great - we couldn't have been happier with the accomodations, the level of attention and care. And each of the Nurses, Doctors, Lactation Specialists and support staff were incredible. Thank you all for your energy, knowledge and kindness.

As we were prepping Eli for his ride home, he decided pretty quickly that he didn't appreciate being put into something as confining as the car seat. But once inside, he decided pretty quickly that he was tired and didn't care. He screamed for 5 minutes, then passed out and didn't wake up until after we had gotten home, had some lunch and put most of our stuff away.

We got through the first at-home feeding without difficulty, then lay Eli down to rest, and sat down for a quick rest ourselves.

By then Cathy had arrived. And can we just say, Cathy, you are a Godsend. Thank you so much for everything that you have done, are doing, and will probably get stuck doing in the near future. You are the best. So far, she hasn't decided what she wants to be called in place of Grandma. Taryn and I have been refering to her as Anti-Gamma. Here's the proud Anti-Gamma with her new Lil Man.

We've had a lot of calls from friends and family, and even some visits already. Katy and Anders came by the Hospital to see us that first night, as did Linze. We even had a visit from The Matt (that's Duke Chin to You) on his way back north to Seattle. Sorry Laura, he beat you to it. Now Eli's tainted forever by The Matt, and will probably never understand you because of it. To everyone else, please come by and visit! We love the company and appreciate the break.

Here's a great shot of the Lil Man while feeding with his Daddy. I love his eyes, and the fact that he's always so ready to have a "Face Down" with me - a game that I never win, because, I mean c'mon, just look at that face!

Taryn left the house for the first time today (Tuesday) with her Mom, and left me with Eli for the better part of the afternoon. It was only 2 1/2 hours, but it felt like days! I had 2 poopy daipers, 2 spittle burpies, a clothes changing, and a feeding all by myself. It was work. When she came back, I asked that Taryn never leave me again. She laughed and said that my sincerity was more touching than on our wedding day.

Here's an after-shot from the feeding. Looks just like his Daddy with a full belly - sprawled out and ready for some sleepies.

When he got a bit restless while I was alone with him, I let him try out his Bouncer from Uncle Kendall. He seemed a bit unsure, but did enjoy the motion. (Crazy how big the baby clothes can look until you put them on and realize that the baby's way smaller)

Eli's Comin' ...

So yesterday ...

On Friday, Taryn finished her final day of work. She had spent the last two weeks making sure that everything was ready to transfer her caseload. She had scheduled herself an entire week of free time. This was meant to allow her to relax, to get things in place around the house, to make some finishing touches, and most importantly, to take some much needed time for herself.

But Eli had a different plan ...

I worked a 13 hour day on Friday, and got up at 3:45am Saturday morning to get to work by 4:30. At about 6 that morning, my phone went off. Taryn was breathing hard, was in a considerable amount of pain, and was very worried that something wasn't right with the baby. Even more so, she was terrified that she might be in labor. She explained how when she had gone to bed the night before, she had noticed some increased activity and pain in her abdomen. She chalked it up to too much pizza on top of the normal baby movement, and came up to sleep. When I got up that morning I unintentionally woke her up, and by the time I left the house, the pain started getting worse. She lay in bed for a while, trying to calm down, to fall back to sleep - to do anything to quell the pain. But at 6am, she couldn't hold out anymore and called me at the store.

I suggested we do exactly what our doctors had instructed us to do - to call the nurse practitioners at the hospital and let them know exactly what was going on to determine what our course of action should be. And that was the last level-headed thing I did or said all day.

I asked Taryn to call me back when she had spoken to a nurse, then spent the time in between making sure that I had someone to come in for me if I had to leave. Taryn called back to say that the nurses were pretty certain her pains were contractions, and that she should take a warm bath or shower, time the frequency of the pains, and call back if they were regular enough. She said she'd give it a try, then call me back before she called the nurses to keep me in the know. Sure enough, I got the call saying that we needed to get our butts to the hospital.

I ran out of the store and sped home to find Taryn hunched over the couch by the door waiting for me. She had apparently not just taken a warm shower, but had done her nails and toenails, fixed her hair, washed and dried the sheets for the bassinet, the changer and the crib, put together the crib tent, and dragged our luggage down the stairs to put it by the front door - all while gasping for breath from the pain. Crazy, right?! I came in the door, and like a chicken with my head cut off went running around the house trying to pack things that had already been packed, trying to change my clothes, and pretty much making a mess of things. But within 5 minutes we were out the door and on our way.

And it was classic!

I was speeding down Sycamore Valley Blvd. yelling at all of the cars in my way, and Taryn was in the passenger seat gripping the safetly bar at every contraction and gritting her teeth.

When we got to the hospital we ran inside, put Taryn in a wheelchair and sped her up to the Labor & Delivery department. She was put in a room right away, and while she was being attended to, I stepped out to take care of the paperwork stuff. When I got back, she was already in a hospital gown, propped up on a bed and attached to a machine that was reading her vitals, the baby's vitals, and monitering the intensity and frequency of her contractions. Within minutes it was pretty clear that she was in active labor. Not just that, but she was already 4 centimeters dilated, and the baby was low in her tummy and ready to go. We met with the doctor on duty who could perform the surgery (not our scheduled doctor unfortunately), finished the paperwork stuff, and got Taryn hooked up to an IV, dosed with a good amount of Happy Juice, and prepped to go.

They gave me a set of scrubbs to put on, and within 25 minutes of our arriving, Taryn was being wheeled into the O.R. for her spinal block. I wasn't there, but I heard that even though the nurse flubbed-up and took 4 attempts to make it happen, Taryn took it like a champ. I did hear a few really good laughs - you know the ones. Go Babe. We all know you hate needles with a passion.

It took them about 20 minutes to finish prepping her for the operation. That whole time I was standing in the hallway in my scrubbs, just pacing and wringing my hands. By the time they finally let me into the room, Taryn was on the table, the drapes were up and they were ready to start.

I took a seat next to her head, talked to her and held her hand while the doctors did their thing. It was only 7 minutes or so until we heard some serious crying and they told me I could stand up and take a look at my baby boy. Here he is fresh from the womb.

He came out screaming with Gusto! I followed him over to the warming station where they started to clean him up and take his vitals. I kept looking back at Taryn to make sure she was okay, and to let her know that Eli was fine. I then got to cut the umbilical cord. It was nuts, and not at all how I thought it would look. I had pictured something dark pinkish-red, skinny and leathery. Kinda like a Slim Jim. This was swollen, squishy, a milky color and very thick.

Eli was born at 11:25am on Saturday March 28th. He weighed 8 lbs exactly. He measured 20.5 inches. When I got to hold him for the first time, it was incredible. It really was hard to believe - that he was here, that he was ours, that it was actually happening. He didn't smell very good, and was still pretty gooey, but he was freakin' perfection. He squeezed my pinky for the first time and I couldn't believe the strength he had. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. Unfortunately, when I took him over to Taryn, she had just gotten pretty nauseous from her medication and wasn't able to hold him herself. But she had a good look, and was able to touch him and let him squeeze her fingers and coo at him for a good long time. Looking into her eyes, I don't think she could believe it either.

I left the O.R. with Eli to follow him into the nursery where they really got down to cleaning him up. They wiped him down, washed his head and hair, checked him out from head to toe, and put him under a heating tray to keep him warm while they took the remainder of his vitals and provided him the tags he needed for identification and safety. That was another weird and unnexpected thing - they gave him an ankle bracelet, like he was on house arrest. And the first time he made poopy, because it was so heavy for him, in kicking his feet around, the ankle bracelet fell into the feces and got pretty nasty. And guess who got to clean that up ...

Here he is all cleaned up and screaming his head off at this crazy new world he's just been thrust into.

This whole time Taryn was in recovery. She did such a great job, and reacted so well to the operation, that within an hour she was able to be wheeled into the hospital room where we would spend the next 72 hours. And there she was finally able to hold her son for the first time. It was surreal - still is.

Eli is amazing. The lactation nurse has said that she's just astounded at the strength and control he has in moving his head and neck. And his grip is crazy strong.

We've already decided that he has Taryn's tongue and mouth. And he has my nose, and cowlicks - one on the back of his head like alfalfa, and one at the front right of his head. And he has lots of hair - it looks like he's already balding because he's got this Friar Tuck thing going on.

But the best part is how aware he is. He's really good at opening his eyes wide and staring you full in the face if you're close enough for him to see you clearly. And he is really good at following sounds with his eyes too.

I could go on forever, obviously ...

Here he is in the middle of one of Daddy's famous daiper changes ...

And here's the new Dad with his Lil Man. Can you tell I haven't slept in two days? So be lenient on the blog info, I have no idea if I'm making any sense, and no energy to go back and check.
And the little guy's already giving me the once over ...

And here's the beautiful new Mama. She looks amazing for having just had a baby, right?

Unreal ...

And here he is, Eli Scott Bacon.

Nursery: Take 3

Here's an overview of the Nursery as it'll be when Eli gets home next week. After a couple baby showers (thrown by Family, Friends and Co-Workers), tons of shopping, and a few last-minute scrambles at the store, Taryn and I have just about everything we'll need for the Little Man. Of course we're sure that there'll be a hundred more things that we'll need that we didn't think of, or a hundred more things that we already have, but have already run out of - and most likely both. But that's the fun of it, right? (Just say "yes")

Here's a close-up of the crib. You can see the blanket that Cathy has made for us, and the matching bumper will be in soon. We have a few learning toys in there for visual and auditory stimulation, but mostly the Octopus from Lamaze was just so we could accurately position the baby monitor camera on the wall. The mobile is one that Taryn found that is supposed to be great for visual stimulation, and the cards that it contains can be switched out at any time for any number of other ones. It's very colorful and has a lot of different shapes and images.

Our changing table is all set up, with diapers out and ready to go. Also, Taryn found that shag rug, and it's the most comfortable, squishiest thing ever. Freakin' incredible. She's come into the room a few times to find me and Momo sprawled out on it together. Oh, and the monkey's on the chair ...

Thanks Casey for the stuffed animal hammock. We've got the hummidifier, the organizer, the sanitizer and even the Constellation Turtle all set up and ready to go. Niser and Jay, here's a shot of the Pirate Piggybank that you'll find on your doorstep any day now.

Not only do we have a huge stock-pile of diapers, but we finally have enough clothes to make even Taryn comfortable with the amount. And that's saying something, right? I dig the dividers that tell you exactly where which sizes go. I need help like that most of the time.

In the mesh cabinets we even have overflow of everything that couldn't get hung (because we ran out of hangers), and that stuff that just needed to be folded. Lots of beanies, bibs, booties, binkies ... now we just need a baby ...

I had The Matt (Duke Chin to You) come through and visit on his way south earlier today, and he asked if we put "something baby" in each room of the house just to remind ourselves that we have one coming. I told him Taryn was reminder enough, and was extremely thankful that she wasn't home yet. We joke, we kid, but she hits hard. Gotta say this car is pretty sweet though ...

Here's the bouncer playpen springy thing in the other room. I never know what to call these things. We have 50 different versions of what I think do the same thing, or work to the same purpose, until someone (Taryn) corrects me and makes it clear just how far I have yet to go in my understanding of everything baby.

Here's what used to be our dining room. Now it's a warehouse for everything baby. Good thing we haven't yet upgraded from the card table to a real dining set. We wouldn't have the room. I guess we could take down the mounted wine shelves, cork wreath, wall mounted bottle corker and wine rack from the opposite wall to make extra space, but what would be the fun in that? The point is, the highchair is awesome.

And here are our bags. They are packed with everything that we'll need for a comfortable stay in the hospital. We even went out and got some chocolate assortments for the nursing crew to say thank you and butter them up while we're there. Now all we have to do is wait for Eli ...

The Nursery: Take 2

So the Nursery is really starting to come together. We have all of the furniture pieces in place now. About half of the bedding/decorative pieces that Taryn and Cathy are working on are finished. As you can see, since we're renting and unable to paint the walls, Taryn got creative and found some great decals. Nice and retro. The valance is up, the crib skirt is on, and the pillow for the glider is ready to go. We still have some record albums to frame and hang around the room, plus a clock for the wall and a lamp for the bookshelf, but we're getting there.

Here's a close-up of the bookshelf. It's originally from Taryn's nursery. Her father made it, her mother kept it all these years, and her brother painted it for Eli to use. You can see the Fraggles - friggin sweet! Gobo and Whimbley! Also all of my old comics - a ton of Spiderman, X Men and Superman, plus a bunch of randoms like Venom, Sabertooth, etc. Not to mention all the monkeys ...

Here's a shot of the glider. You can see the pillow that Cathy made. That's the same theme that we'll have on the crib bedding/blanket. The glider is the most comfortable thing ever. And it's huge! I called dibs on it after Eli gets bigger to use as my football chair. No backsies.

Here's the hutch all cleaned out and ready for the diaper necessaries. Our little gray cat (Momo, or Monkey, or Hyde, or Scruffy Fluffy ButtFace) has claimed the changing pad in the name of the Mo. When he's lost, that's where we find him - curled up and squish-faced. Makes me wish we had sheets made out of the thing ...

And here's another shot of the closet. Still can't get over how nice it is to have a walk-in for the nursery. The extra shelves we got are fantastic. We have a huge stash of diapers, plenty of room for the swing and bouncer, and the Belly Fun Time thing - Thanks Margie! And as you can see, we're collecting a nice supply of clothes. I still think the coolest is the Atari onesie. Or the gray long sleeve shirt that says "I drink until I pass out." His stuff is already cooler than mine ... Taryn told me to get used to it ...

New Belly Pics!

Here's the Babe at 32 weeks plus. Still pretty petite, considering we only have 7+ weeks left.

Here's the Belly in all its Glory. Behold the Baby! Behold the Comfy Pants!

Surgery Update

My Surgery is set for February 13th. I'll be in Pleasanton at the Deer Valley Medical Center. Taryn and Mom will both be coming with me. I say it's to keep each other company - they say it's because I'm a big baby. I'll be stuck at home going stir crazy for about a week and a half. I'll be appreciating the PS3 Taryn got me for my Birthday more than ever. I think Kendall's planning on coming up to hang out and keep me company for awhile. I asked him if he would be my Wet Nurse. He said he'd get me ice cream, but no sponge baths. What a rip-off. So if anyone else is bored between the 13th and the 23rd, I'll have plenty of time.

The House

So here's the place. A beautiful area of Danville, CA. 2k square feet, 3 stories, 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bath. And we finally have a garage! And a backyard! Here's the front door ...

Our main family room. Hooray for vaulted ceilings and high windows.

Here's the formal dining area. Still don't have our dining furniture yet, but we're working on it. Sexface, you might notice your wine shelves mounted on the wall - and Bill, your wreath is center stage.

Here's our living room. Looks familiar, right? It's just like our old apartment. Oh, and it's Christmas time ...

Here's our kitchen.

Our backyard. Nice brick patio leading all the way through the side yard to the front of the house. We even bought a chiminea for those cold Bay Area nights. As you can see, the cats love it.

A shot from our stairway.

A shot from our catwalk. To the left is our master bedroom, to the right are the two spare rooms (the guest bedroom and the nursery).

Here's our guest room. We even have Bill's water color hanging on the wall.

Here's Eli's crib. We're still working on the bedding. Taryn and Cathy are doing it themselves. Also the curtains.

Here's our glider. May not seem all that special to you folk, but this bad boy is gonna be the best thing we've ever owned (aside from the sleep number bed, of course).

Here's a random shot of the nursery closet. It's nice that it's a walk-in. Plenty of room for all of Eli's crap. Again, we haven't yet decorated, or even had all of the furniture arrive, so things are still in the works. We'll update as we finish.

So Eli's nursery used to be the office. Here's a shot of the loft (which used to be my special music space, with guitars mounted on the wall, my amps out and hooked up, and all that good stuff), which is now our library/office. Since I spend more time reading, writing and working than playing music these days, it's still a nice getaway space.

This is looking out from the loft to our master bedroom. As you can see, my music equipment has been strtipped down to the guitars that fit on a single rack. Everything else has been relagated to storage in our finished attic. We must be getting old ...

Belly: Week 27

Here's the Belly at week 27. Still pretty petite, but looking good.

This is the Sexy shot ...