Isaiah likes fake boobs...

Warning: Boob talk follows. If you'd prefer not to hear about my boobs... please disregard. :-)

Well today we have a success. Now, keep in mind that tonight may be a different story. I had mentioned the friend in CA that had a daughter with a similar nursing difficulty. She suggested nipple shields (a thin silicone fake nipple that fits over mine). Not what you want to start out with... but as Isaiah's been eating from a bottle for a solid week with no interest in reverting back to the original containers, this seemed like something to try. AND IT WORKED!!

Today at 2:30 Isaiah had a great nursing session with almost all original parts.

Now, let's hope this proclivity for silicone does not extend to his older years.

Many thanks for all the encouragement and ideas that you've all sent. I've tried nearly everything and will continue as, at some point, we'll need to transition away from this little helper.

Also, Isaiah goes in tomorrow for his 2 week check and on October 3 for a more extensive hearing evaluation. He didn't pass his hearing test on his left ear. Most likely it was residual fluid (he's continued to sneeze these last 2 weeks) but we'll see for sure next week.

It's a little easier to have faith on Sundays

Here he is... our beautiful baby boy... all ready to go to church for the first time... in outfit #2 (he peed on the first one).

But wait... We're standing in the entry way waiting for the rain to let up. You can see our parking lot here, the extent of the rain is hard to make out, but trust me... it's a downpour. (Also notice the cop car. Here they take them home with them and use them as their primary car most of the time. Since the storm, the police dept. is trying to create more of a presence.)

Church went well. Isaiah slept through the service just as we had hoped (he's a good little Lutheran already). A friend of ours was preaching.

I got a chance to talk to a friend in CA and she also experienced a similar "container" issue with her daughter. She loved the milk, it was the deliver system that was an issue. Thankfully it didn't last long and we're hoping that Isaiah gets it all figured out soon. It's been a day filled with a little less stress. I think leaving the house helped.

Tomorrow we'll get to go see Daddy's office and meat the Ward Room (his coworkers). And... I might even stop and get a cup of coffee.

Much love from the Spies house on a better day!

More Drama...

Since early Thursday morning our beautiful baby boy stopped eating from me... Granted, he's still alive. I pump then give him a bottle, but that's not a part of the deal.

So after a very stressful day on Thursday I went to see the lactation consultant on Friday. The good news, I'm doing everything right. The bad news, he's still not interested in "nursing aggressively." I've never wanted to be corrected so badly before in my life.

So, any ideas? I've tried just about everything and am now opening the floor. Also, if you're the praying type, please add this to your prayers. I don't know how much longer I can keep up the try for a while, pump, and feed.

We're looking forward to visits from family in the coming week. The house needs their care :-) and we'll get to see the kitty again. Here's hopping for good news soon...

Another day as Mom and Dad

It's odd... already I can't think of a day that Isaiah has not been with us. Today our little one is eating well (about every 3 hours) and eating more. I'm also learning how to keep him awake a little longer during each feeding. We learn new stuff every day. I've felt a little crummy today, but it's getting so much easier to stand up that I'm still in a rather good mood.

Dan is a wonderful dad. Isaiah now has more expensive furniture that we do. (See more photos.) His dresser came in and Dan put it together yesterday with a little help from one of the other chaplains. Dan also found a recliner that I wasn't sure I would like (you're supposed to have a glider for babies... right) but we love it! It's big enough to fall asleep in without being worried that Isaiah will take a dive.

Tomorrow is Dan's last day at home with us so we're going to do a dry run. My problem solving skills are greatly impaired so we're going to solve as many of the problems that I might run into at home by myself. Like... what do you do with Isaiah when you have to go to the bathroom? I know, put his little bouncy chair in there - this took me 2 days to figure out. Baby brain is wonderful.

This is harder than it looks!

We are doing well. So far, this has been our first near normal day. I'm getting all healed up... slowly. Isaiah is eating more regularly... thankfully!! And, thanks to friends here... our fridge is full + a chicken in the oven. :-)

These last few days have been hard. As my hormones are totally out of wack, I've ended the last few days in utter sadness. As Isaiah has started to eat more regularly, the wonderful chemicals in my brain are kicking in and I'm feeling great so far today. We've posted a few more photos and there's a great video too. Isaiah does this little move we call the "old Jewish man." Watch the video and see what you think. www.picasaweb.google.com/d2spies

Dan is wonderful and doing really well. As we always knew, he's a great dad and is also doing a really good job of taking care of me too. He's done all the shopping, cooking, and is an expert diaper changer for our newly circumcised little one. And, to make sure we're actually eating well, there's a constant supply of fruits and veggies out on the counter (thanks Linda for teaching him so well.)

Tomorrow we go back to get Isaiah weighed again. We'll post more photos and details soon.

Much love - the Spies family :-)

more photos http://good-times.webshots.com/album/560698828WbeTyl?vhost=good-times

Air Force Baby

11 years to conceive, 15 hours of labor, all worth it.

Isaiah Daniel Spies
September 12, 2007 -- 9:20 AM


6 lb. 8 oz.
20 in.



We just got back home on Fri. afternoon. Cleaning and rearanging and waiting for Isaiah to wake up and eat.

Underway

Well, as of about 2:30am I think we're officially underway. Dan is still asleep (not out of laziness but because I haven't woken him up yet). My contractions are about 15 minutes apart and I just had the most wonderful snack of toast with peanut butter on it. Mmmm.

We'll hang around here for a while, go for a walk, pack for the hospital, install the car seat... normal Tuesday morning things. We will have all of our phones with us and will call as time permits. There's no Wi-Fi on base (I know... that doesn't make sense at all) so we'll call when the little one is here. Some time today I would imagine.

Keep all three of us in your prayers.

Still faster than most people...

This morning we got up and headed to base where Dan ran in the SeaBee Mud Run, a 4.5 mile race through mud and such. At 36, he came in 40th at about 42:20 beating about 200 others who where mostly younger. The especially cool part is that he hasn't really been training. Just out for PT (physical training) 3 times a week.

I know, he's the best husband ever!

This weekend we said goodbye to the first of the 3 chaplains that came to Gulfport from Dan's Chaplain class. He is headed to Okinawa for a few weeks then his battalion is headed to Iraq. He'll be back in December. We prayed him off and will be loving on his wife while he's away. This is a whole new part of the Navy. Selfishly, I'm very glad Dan is not going anywhere right now. I'm enjoying having him home. He puts most of the baby furniture together. :-)

What to bring to the hopsital?

Looking for ideas... This weekends project is to gather all the things I want to bring to the hospital so I'm looking for ideas. What do you think?

Happy Baby... stressed mom-to-be

Went in for my standard Week 38 appointment. Baby still has a 150 bpm heart rate and is still up high (-3) and moving around well. The bummer was that my blood pressure has been high these last 2 visit. So... best case scenario: I have gestational hypertension - high blood pressure that will not hurt me or the baby and will go away when he's delivered. But... just in case, we're testing for preeclampsia. That's not particularly fun but better than the alternative.

The strangest part of all of this: These last few years at work have been crazy, and I worked 100 hour weeks for a few years too and never had high blood pressure. I've also spent the last 7 months happy and content and now my blood pressure is high. Go figure.

I should know by end of day Monday what the test reveals. As I don't have any other symptoms, we're probably fine so I'm going to continue washing and folding the smallest clothes ever and getting things ready. I should have my new phone delivered, plus all the extra baby stuff within the next few days. Ooohhh - presents!

Meeting the family and getting schooled

It was a great day and I'm so ready for bed. Dan came home with a cold on Friday and now I have it a bit. Not the end of the world, but another reason to sleep well.

Today the Ward Room (all the offers that work directly with Dan) had lunch with their wives so that we could all meet. It's like meeting the family. There are only 6 of them total for the whole school (150+ staff, 450+ students). All but the highest ranking person - the CO - was at lunch today. A great group of people. The XO (Executive Officer), who is Dan's primary contact from day to day, continues to remind me that he will be home as soon as I go into labor. It's very comforting and a little cute that he thinks that he's in charge of that at all. They are a great bunch and it was really great to meet "the wives" also.

Then, I made dinner. Nothing fancy, but very domestic. And it was all hot at the same time. Very exciting.

Then, off to our third birthing class. The Major who's teaching it has been doing this for 30 years. She is very into natural child birth and gives us tones of info. She makes it sound so easy and the video we watched last week had 3 couples that made it look all peaceful and clean. It's been wonderful. I've had such a happy pregnancy, why not continue to live in my fantasy world were labor is bearable and everything will be over in 6 hours. It's nice in my world.

We see the doc again this week. The baby was head down facing my back at the last visit, so we're in good shape. We've finally ordered everything else we must have when the baby arrives so that should be here soon. And I've been cooking and freezing things so we might survive a few days after we get home.

Update on the house coming next.