First off I want to thank everyone for their amazing amounts of good wishes. Leah, Andrew, and I have been on cloud nine since coming home. I’ll back track a little – The last I wrote, I was home catching up on some sleep. That night, Leah’s blood pressure had gotten substantially better. When I came back to the hospital the next morning around 6:30, Andrew was already looking different to me. It’s amazing, he keeps changing each day and I know I am biased, but he seems to be getting cuter each day. I spent Thursday night at the hospital with Leah sleeping in a chair and getting up with her when she was trying to feed Andrew. It was a solid bonding experience. The good news for me is that Leah is breastfeeding so I’ll be able to get more sleep than anticipated. I figure if I can get 6-7 hours, I’ll be all good. We woke up Friday morning and Leah was doing much better. She felt like she had been through a 12 round boxing match, but overall her strength was improving. So they told us that we could go home that day.
Friday also happened to be my 31st birthday. Many people wrote this to me in emails or told me over the phone and it’s the truth – bringing home Andrew is the best possible birthday present I could ask for. We had some much stuff at the hospital to bring back with us. Everyone had told us that “if it’s not nailed to the ground, take it” referring to diapers, formula, etc. The nurses loaded us up. I have to say that the nurses at Hillcrest hospital were amazing. We had four different ones. The one who was with us during Leah’s three hours of pain ordeal the night before Andrew was born came to visit us Friday morning. I told her she was being nominated for sainthood by me. Sorry, off subject. So we put everything on two different carts, dressed Andrew in his little going home outfit, packed him in the car seat and took him home. It was one of those life moments that I will never forget and always cherish. His first night we had a little birthday/welcome home party complete with birthday cake and pizza. Andrew helped me blow out the candles. We have a night burse that comes three times a week for the first few weeks so that Leah can get her rest and her first night was Friday. We all went to bed with full stomachs thinking we would be awoken by baby cries all night. As it turns out, Andrew slept from 11:30-6:30 on his first night home! Amazing. I know this probably won’t happen again for a long time, but you have gotten give the little boy his due.
Saturday was solid – we are obviously home bound for a while as Leah recovers. Luckily for me, we had a big day of college hoops in HD on CBS. The giant Texas/Kansas game was on and I couldn’t wait for Andrew’s first KU game. He must have been the good luck charm. KU stormed back for the big in to capture the Big 12 title. I wanted to swaddle him in my Julian Wright jersey, but Leah put the ki-bosh on it. He didn’t make a peep throughout the game and that included when I screamed at the TV. I’m telling you – the kid is legit! Before the game, the wall unit I have been waiting for so long had finally been finished, as well as my surround sound system. Now this is THE place to watch sports. Everything has come together at the same time. That morning, my Grandmother came over to meet her 8th great-grandchild. She held him for a while – so much so that when my mom asked to hold him, she said “no.” It was classic. Grandmom then gave me something that was very special – my grandfather had a key-chain for years with his initials “A.R.D.” The same initials as Andrew. It meant so much to me – Andrew was named after my grandfather and my father. It’s amazing to see my 93 year old grandmother look at Andrew with such love. The rest of the day was spent watching more college hoops and seeing Leah feed Andrew. It’s a funny cycle. He eats, sleeps, goes to the bathroom, cries, and falls back asleep. Saturday night we brought in Chinese food – My mom, Max, Stacey, Leah, Jessica, and I. We were all so exhausted from staring at Andrew all day that we passed out as early as we could. Jessica and Max both left Sunday but will be returning Friday. I have to thank them both as they were huge helps all weekend.
Thank goodness for my mother in law. Now I am not slighting my mom one bit – she has been great; Here every day, always offering to hold Andrew, run to the store for anything we may need, etc. But Stacey does all the thankless jobs. Not only is she on diaper patrol a good 65-70% of the time, but she is cooking us meals, doing all of our laundry, running errands – just plain doing it all. I said this when Matt had his kids – I never understand how people do it with nobody in town to help. We have so much help here and we are gladly taking people up on their offers. Andrew already has so many people who love him. But my mother in law deserves mad props. I told her I may cry when she leaves. But that is why we got webcams for everyone in our family – so Andrew can see his Arizona, Chicago, and Detroit families.
This Sunday is Andrew’s baby naming. We decided to have him circumcised at the hospital – I find the bris ceremony to be barbaric and nobody was going to strap my son to some board and have 60 people watch him get clipped and then enjoy tuna fish and lox. It doesn’t seem right to me. Anyways, we are having family and a few friends over for the baby naming ceremony. MD is bringing Jace and Reese in for the first Dery family meeting of the cousins. I cannot wait to see that. They called and were so excited. Reese keeps saying “baby Andrew” over and over. So cute. Scott and Lauren will be in for their first look at their nephew, as will Uncle Justin. It's going to be a zoo here, but should be great.
Fatherhood so far has been all its cracked up to be and more. I wake up in the morning and cannot wait to see his face. The pure joy that fills me just being with him is indescribable. I have typed this whole blog one handed because he is in my other arm! People keep telling us that he is adorable and that newborns usually aren’t. I’m obviously biased, but I agree. Andrew is truly THE WHUP.
Friday also happened to be my 31st birthday. Many people wrote this to me in emails or told me over the phone and it’s the truth – bringing home Andrew is the best possible birthday present I could ask for. We had some much stuff at the hospital to bring back with us. Everyone had told us that “if it’s not nailed to the ground, take it” referring to diapers, formula, etc. The nurses loaded us up. I have to say that the nurses at Hillcrest hospital were amazing. We had four different ones. The one who was with us during Leah’s three hours of pain ordeal the night before Andrew was born came to visit us Friday morning. I told her she was being nominated for sainthood by me. Sorry, off subject. So we put everything on two different carts, dressed Andrew in his little going home outfit, packed him in the car seat and took him home. It was one of those life moments that I will never forget and always cherish. His first night we had a little birthday/welcome home party complete with birthday cake and pizza. Andrew helped me blow out the candles. We have a night burse that comes three times a week for the first few weeks so that Leah can get her rest and her first night was Friday. We all went to bed with full stomachs thinking we would be awoken by baby cries all night. As it turns out, Andrew slept from 11:30-6:30 on his first night home! Amazing. I know this probably won’t happen again for a long time, but you have gotten give the little boy his due.
Saturday was solid – we are obviously home bound for a while as Leah recovers. Luckily for me, we had a big day of college hoops in HD on CBS. The giant Texas/Kansas game was on and I couldn’t wait for Andrew’s first KU game. He must have been the good luck charm. KU stormed back for the big in to capture the Big 12 title. I wanted to swaddle him in my Julian Wright jersey, but Leah put the ki-bosh on it. He didn’t make a peep throughout the game and that included when I screamed at the TV. I’m telling you – the kid is legit! Before the game, the wall unit I have been waiting for so long had finally been finished, as well as my surround sound system. Now this is THE place to watch sports. Everything has come together at the same time. That morning, my Grandmother came over to meet her 8th great-grandchild. She held him for a while – so much so that when my mom asked to hold him, she said “no.” It was classic. Grandmom then gave me something that was very special – my grandfather had a key-chain for years with his initials “A.R.D.” The same initials as Andrew. It meant so much to me – Andrew was named after my grandfather and my father. It’s amazing to see my 93 year old grandmother look at Andrew with such love. The rest of the day was spent watching more college hoops and seeing Leah feed Andrew. It’s a funny cycle. He eats, sleeps, goes to the bathroom, cries, and falls back asleep. Saturday night we brought in Chinese food – My mom, Max, Stacey, Leah, Jessica, and I. We were all so exhausted from staring at Andrew all day that we passed out as early as we could. Jessica and Max both left Sunday but will be returning Friday. I have to thank them both as they were huge helps all weekend.
Thank goodness for my mother in law. Now I am not slighting my mom one bit – she has been great; Here every day, always offering to hold Andrew, run to the store for anything we may need, etc. But Stacey does all the thankless jobs. Not only is she on diaper patrol a good 65-70% of the time, but she is cooking us meals, doing all of our laundry, running errands – just plain doing it all. I said this when Matt had his kids – I never understand how people do it with nobody in town to help. We have so much help here and we are gladly taking people up on their offers. Andrew already has so many people who love him. But my mother in law deserves mad props. I told her I may cry when she leaves. But that is why we got webcams for everyone in our family – so Andrew can see his Arizona, Chicago, and Detroit families.
This Sunday is Andrew’s baby naming. We decided to have him circumcised at the hospital – I find the bris ceremony to be barbaric and nobody was going to strap my son to some board and have 60 people watch him get clipped and then enjoy tuna fish and lox. It doesn’t seem right to me. Anyways, we are having family and a few friends over for the baby naming ceremony. MD is bringing Jace and Reese in for the first Dery family meeting of the cousins. I cannot wait to see that. They called and were so excited. Reese keeps saying “baby Andrew” over and over. So cute. Scott and Lauren will be in for their first look at their nephew, as will Uncle Justin. It's going to be a zoo here, but should be great.
Fatherhood so far has been all its cracked up to be and more. I wake up in the morning and cannot wait to see his face. The pure joy that fills me just being with him is indescribable. I have typed this whole blog one handed because he is in my other arm! People keep telling us that he is adorable and that newborns usually aren’t. I’m obviously biased, but I agree. Andrew is truly THE WHUP.
Song of the day: "Baby Boy" by Beyonce
1 comment:
we all read this together...we have to agree- andrew looks adorable and we can't wait to meet him!
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