Home, sweet home!

Hello! We've almost been home 24 hours! Nathan and I were discharged from Rose Medical Center at about 3:30 yesterday afternoon, which left us in early Friday rush hour traffic....which worked out well so we could drive slow with our precious cargo. :) My mom met us here and stayed the night to help us out. Not only is she contributing her housecleaning and cooking skills, she is right there to help soothe the baby should we need some extra hands. She is staying tonight as well and we really appreciate her help. I also don't know what I would do without the amazing support of my friends and family. I have some great super-mom mentors to lean on!

Our first night was tiring, but we made it. My milk has come in, so little Nathan is quite full after eating and likes to snuggle up with me (I may like it, too!) with his full tummy. He is a good eater, but we are still learning about each other to make to help the feedings go smoothly. Chuck was up with me for each feeding, offering swaddling, pillow adjustment, and fussy baby management support.

I'm continuing to heal from my surgery. Getting up from sleeping is the most painful part (I guess those hospital beds are good for certain things), even though I am "propped" up on pillows. Chuck is great at helping me manage my medications to stay as comfortable as I can. I may have an adventurous walk to the mailbox today to get some fresh air and also walk a bit as walking is a great way to help my recovery.

We may attempt a sponge bath of our little man today...we'll see how adventurous we feel. I clipped and filed his finger nails today successfully, so I may not push my luck.

I have a lot of photos to add to our album...I promise I get them loaded soon. But for now a blog post is all you get. :)

Important Statistics as reported by Daddy (someday he will post to this blog himself...):
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NAME: Nathan Robert Nellis
SEX: Boy (it was a surprise)
BIRTHDAY: 1/12/10
TIME OF BIRTH: 6:41 pm
WEIGHT: 8 lbs, 9 oz
LENGTH: 20 3/4 "
HEAD CIRCUMFERENCE: 14 1/4 "
CUTE: Yes
SWEET: Definitely
HAIR: Brown and lots of it
EYES: Maybe blue, maybe hazel
METHOD OF DELIVERY: C-section
ALIASES: Nate, Nate Bob, Nater, Nater Tater, and Nater Salad
LIKES: Mom, Being held, being swaddled, and his pacifier
DISLIKES: Taking him out of his swaddling makes him lose his mind.
OTHER: If his pacifier isn't in just right he shakes his head side-to-side like Stevie Wonder

IT'S A BOY!!!

Chuck and I welcomed Nathan Robert yesterday evening! Details and more photos to follow. :)

All we need now is the baby :)

Hello! So the plan for tomorrow evening is that we call the Labor and Delivery unit at the hospital at 7:30pm to see if there is a room for us. Assuming there is, we'll head to the hospital and get checked in. :) Our next post will likely be virtually introducing you to our new son or daughter. We are anxious and very excited to finally meet our little one. And we can't wait for each of you to meet him or her. Oh, and don't forget to vote on the gender on the right side of the page...so far GIRL is winning.

Here is a video I made today of the baby's room. Everything is ready in the room, except that once we know his/her initials, we'll put them up to the left of the window (on the green wall).

This is my first video attempt, so sorry it is a bit jerky. I tried to get a higher quality version to upload, but it isn't working, so here is a bit of a lower quality, but you get the point. :) Also, it seems the blog site is having some issues and the video may not load and you'll get a "try again later" message, so....try again later. ;).

And now I sit home and wait

So, together with my boss, we decided to have me start maternity leave as of yesterday. We had a baby false alarm on Wednesday morning (1:30am) when I thought my water had broken. After waiting a bit to confirm (or so I thought) we called the doctor and headed to the hospital at 4am. Alas, my water had not broken, and we were sent home after they monitored the baby (which looked great) and checked me out. So, we got some good practice at packing our stuff and making the trek to the hospital. We both stayed home yesterday from work (to sleep!).

It is seriously cold here in Colorado today, and we got enough snow yesterday to make things ugly on the roads today. So, my boss didn't want me to be on the roads, and since I have really already tied things up with my workload, I'm taking the rest of the week (Friday was going to be my last day anyway). The kitty doesn't know why I am home, but he is quite happy to have someone at home to snuggle him!! :)

Sometime between next week and now....

....we'll have a baby!! Together with my OB/GYN, we have decided to have me induced next week (at 39 weeks).  We'll go in Monday night (sometime after 7:30pm, assuming there is a bed) and I'll hopefully get some sleep before the morning. :) We are excited....and nervous!!

Now, what to do with our last week of baby-free life....

Oh, and the gender poll is back on the right side of the page. :)

Pregnancy....

As my time of no longer being pregnant gets closer and closer, I've been thinking a lot about what I'll miss (and not miss!) about being pregnant...so, here you go:

Things I will miss about being pregnant (in no particular order)

• Feeling the baby move in my belly
• Pregnancy nails and hair!
• The sound of Chuck's voice when he talks to the baby in my belly
• The feeling of never being alone
• Being waited on! :)
• Getting frequent pedicures since I can't reach my feet
• Unsolicited back rubs from Chuck
• The constant feeling of being so very lucky to have this experience

Things I will enjoy about not being pregnant any more (also in no particular order)

• Sleeping on my stomach and without hip and back pain
• Wearing pants with zippers, shoes that tie, and heels!
• Not having to always find the restroom where ever I go
• Recognizing my feet, ankles, and hands again
• Wearing my wedding rings!
• Watching stretchmarks fade - instead of ARRIVE!
• Being able to roll-over in bed without having to wake up, dress without grunting, get off the couch unassisted, and bend over to pick stuff off the floor!
• Snuggling with Chuck and the kitty (too many pillows and too much belly for any proper snuggling with either these days)
• Forgetting all of these minor things as soon as I see our baby for the first time. :)

Happy New Year!!

2010!! The year we add to our family. :) So much for a tax deduction in 2009, but we had determined that it wasn't likely anyway. Ha! We had planned to go to a friend's house, but Chuck is battling a cold so we stayed in. We made it to midnight in New York (10 our time), toasted with Martinelli's, and tucked into bed.

2010 will be a great year! Cheers!!