Yay! We are back! After moving to a 2-bedroom place from our old 1 bedroom apartment, we finally have internet. That means I can tell you all the crazy things that have ocurred over the past week. Lucas as of last Friday was 11 lbs 7 oz! He's an even bigger, heavier baby now. I think he could already be 12 lbs. Stephanie had her baby Samuel on early Friday as well, and we got to see her in a joyful state in the post-partum room. Samuel seems so tiny when going from a monster baby like Lucas.

Lucas has now turned over on his own twice, but they are special circumstances. The first time was on the bed and I think mommy was leaning so he kind of rolled downhill. The second time was a little more legitimate. He was on the floor, but he was able to push off daddy to roll over. He enjoys watching light so much. He stares at our lamps, and watches streetlights go by when he is in the car. One time, daddy was holding him up above him by his chest and arms and he stretched his head up to look straight at the lamp and stuck his legs straight out. He was in an almost complete Superman pose. Well, that's all for now. I will be posting more soon.

Lucas sometimes makes the funniest noises when he is sleeping. Most of the time, they are so spontaneous I can't catch them on video, but today I caught one for you to all hear. I didn't doctor the sound on this video. It's all Lucas. So enjoy!

The umbilical cord is gone! Baby Lucas finally has a belly button. I for one am very glad. I was wondering if he would just keep it around until puberty, but on his tenth day in the world it has fallen off nicely revealing a little baby belly button.

I am glad for the help we have received recently. With the move coming up soon and the baby just here we have a lot to do. My mom has come up several times to help with cleaning and packing. We also have had help from our friends at LGCC, who have provided some great meals for us. Thank you Heather and Dorthy for the great dishes! We hope to see you back in church soon.

Happy Mother's Day everyone. I know Sarah had a good one. It was her first and we were happy to get chicken and ribs brought up by my parents (Thanks Mom and Dad!). My mom got a little DVD of Lucas's first moments to treasure. Sarah got the best gift from baby Lucas though. She got a nice long nap.

A little update on the past couple of days. We went to the emergency room after Sarah's temperature got up to 101 degrees, and my parents came up to help watch Lucas. He had his first attempt at eating from a bottle and did excellently. It helped that he was hungry by that point. We found out that Sarah did in fact have an infection and got medicine that was safe for both mommy and baby. It was all over by 2:30am. We were all so tired that even Lucas slept in with us. The next night he let us sleep. He even slept in his cradle for the first part of the night. Here's to hoping that he continues to give his mommy and daddy an easy time.

Sick day.

Last night I got sick and threw up right as Sarah was coming to check on me in the bathroom. We knew we were going to need help today. After calling the doctor to make sure there was nothing seriously wrong, I had a sleepless night from the pain, and Sarah had a sleepless night from not having any help with Lucas (doctor said not to come in direct contact with him). In the morning, I called my mom, who gladly drove up this afternoon and helped watch Lucas and keep our sanity. Thanks mom!

Later this evening Sarah came down with a fever. I don't think I gave it to her because my temperature was never above 98.5 degrees. The illnesses must be from the stress and sleeplessness we have put ourselves through for Lucas. It's a small price to pay for the joy he has already brought to our lives.

Bath time! We gave Lucas his first bath today. Well, actually, while it was in the bathtub, there wasn't any water except on the sponge. We had a fun time trying to get the water the right temperature. Stephanie bought us a little ducky with a temperature gauge on the bottom. If the temperature. First it was too cold. Then it was too hot. By the time it was just right, Lucas was getting cold. I think Lucas prefers to remain dry and warm.

Lucas hiccups video
Lucas has the hiccups. The funniest thing about a baby having hiccups is it is one of the few things that isn't new to them in the outside world. Unlike all the other invasive experiences in the outside world, hiccups don't cause crying or fussiness. Hiccups happened to him quite a bit in the womb, and from the video here, his hiccups don't seem to bother him one bit.

Lucas has been a very hungry caterpillar last night and today. Sarah and I were worried about waking up to feed him since he was difficult to wake up during the day. We really shouldn't have. Lucas kept us on our toes all night. Between changing and feeding we barely got any sleep. For the moment, our daytime naps will have to do.

One thing
that Lucas is proficient at is filling a diaper. He can do that in no time. We have already had two times where he filled one right after changing him. But today Lucas took it one step further and before Sarah could get the second diaper on, he had already exploded out a yellow poop. Exploded is Sarah's word, and I could hear it loud and clear from the other room.

Lucas's tummy time video


Lucas's tummy time video is here! Click on the picture to see Lucas almost turn over. I hope you're as excited about it as I was. This is proof, at 3 and a half days old, that he can almost crawl. Stop laughing at me. Just look at the video. You'll see.

Last night went very well. Lucas only woke us up three times and he got his food. We had

a doctor's visit this morning, and Lucas is down to 8lbs 11oz. I told him he needs to eat more. Another thing the nurse told us is to get Lucas to have "tummy time". She demonstrated on the exam bed with his blanket. Lucas seemed to like it, so as soon as we got home, I put him down on the blanket and watched him go. After a bit of effort, he was able to shift his head position from one side to the other, and he got it so that he could almost turn over.


We also had our first outing. Stephanie was having her appointment at the same time we were (less than 3 weeks to her due date). So she met us and we met her husband Ian at the Sonoma Chicken coop. Lucas had a poopy diaper, so we had our first public changing session (actually Sarah and Stephanie did in the womans restroom). After that, it was feeding time, so we also had our first public (but modestly covered) feeding. Once Lucas ate, our food came and he slept like a log in his car seat. I am amazed he slept through all the noise, but he did look very comfortable.

Success! He is eating! He latched on successfully and won't let go without putting up a fuss. We're relieved we don't need to go the pump and bottle route though. Now with Sarah's mom departing, we are on our own, but Lucas has given us more sleep than I thought we would have gotten by now. He was fussy overnight, but it was because he got cold. Now we might be overbundling him. Ah the joys of a first-time parent.

We made it home. That was an event, and it would not have been successful if not for our friend and former birthing class fellow student Stephanie. She helped us remember all the things we needed and kept Sarah company when I needed to go down and pack the car. A lactation consultant helped out with the breastfeeding, and Lucas tried his best to sleep through the lesson. On the bright side, he is a very sound sleeper. We might have to go back to the hospital if he doesn't learn to eat soon.

At home the first challenge was to go up the stairs. Sarah bravely made the journey and kept her sense of humor too. This time, we tried just keeping Lucas at the ready, hoping he would figure out that food was retrieved by sucking. I said he'd be out of the baby genius category if he died of hunger with his face on his mother's bosom.

At home, Sarah's mother is a huge help with getting food, cleaning, doing laundry, rocking the baby and allowing Sarah and I some sleep after the sleepless nights in the hospital. From Friday to Monday felt like one long day that was finally going to come to an end.

The first night with Lucas would have been uneventful. He is a relatively calm baby and it takes quite a bit of discomfort for him to cry. In the first night's case, this discomfort came from trying to feed him. Lucas just didn't understand the whole process of breast feeding. Occasionally he would start sucking at the right moment, only to give up on the whole affair a few minutes later. Being dutiful parents, after he had gone to sleep for some time we would attempt to wake him again to breastfeed. After some time of this, we had a tired cranky baby who was still hungry but didn't know why.


Actually, there is one more thing that made Lucas cry. It seemed like Lucas had swallowed a quart of fluids inside Sarah before being born so that he could burp them up once outside. Unfortunately, he burped it up a tablespoon at a time in between and during attempts to feed him. When he wasn't burping up fluids he was burping up gas that he would swallow when he was nervous. Feeding, of course, would provide plenty to be nervous about.

The fold out chair/bed in the hospital was uncomfortable enough, but Lucas made sure sleeping was impossible until 2-3am, when we finally decided that if Lucas didn't want to breastfeed we could wait until morning. Sarah rested him next to her and slept until 6am when he woke up. Then we retried with a nurse's help which would work for a while and he stopped.

Lucas is finally here! (9 days late) His birth weight is 9lbs 6.3oz and he is 22 inches long. He stayed quiet at first, but the nurses prodded him enough to give out a healthy first cry. Boy he is strong! The nurses had a hard time getting him in the basin after his bath, and when he was being swaddled his legs were strong enough to push the baby cart they set him in.