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Sunday, July 31, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Baby on Board
So I have always secretly thought that parents with the "Baby on board" signs were kind of cheesy (no offense to anyone). But I think I figured out today why people actually have them.
I had to take Noah to the hospital today to get some blood drawn for his bilirubin (jaundice of the newborn). I wanted Danielle to stay home and rest so I took the little man by myself. I actually had to take him twice today because the lab girl didn't draw enough blood. So I had to take my 1 week old newborn 30 minutes there, 30 minutes back, to sit in a germ filled hospital...twice. On the way there it's like every idiot on the road was trying to run me off the road or hit my bumper. If they only knew what a fragile little life I had in the back seat, would they be driving like the Dukes of Hazzards just to turn into a 7 Eleven?
If I was completely honest with myself, before I was a dad I drove relatively similar to those idiots accept with a different purpose on the road. See, for some reason when I have taken it upon myself to be the enforcer on the road. Anytime I see someone not using their blinker (my biggest pet peeve) I tend to ride their bumper or do everything I can to not let them over. I don't mind if people cut me off in traffic, I understand that you think you're better than me and wherever you're going is more important than where I'm going, just let me know you're gonna cut me off by using a blinker. When I am stuck in traffic and there are a few cars riding in the emergency lane just to try and bypass traffic, I block them with my Explorer to not let them pass, while still staying in my lane.
That was the old way I drove. Now, with Noah in the car I am constantly a defensive driver. I don't blare my music, talk on the phone, switch songs on my iPod, or even pick fights with other people on the road. Whenever I drive it reminds me of a game we played on a college ministry retreat, where we had our own egg that we had to protect, while everyone else was trying to smash it with a newspaper.
I had to take Noah to the hospital today to get some blood drawn for his bilirubin (jaundice of the newborn). I wanted Danielle to stay home and rest so I took the little man by myself. I actually had to take him twice today because the lab girl didn't draw enough blood. So I had to take my 1 week old newborn 30 minutes there, 30 minutes back, to sit in a germ filled hospital...twice. On the way there it's like every idiot on the road was trying to run me off the road or hit my bumper. If they only knew what a fragile little life I had in the back seat, would they be driving like the Dukes of Hazzards just to turn into a 7 Eleven?
If I was completely honest with myself, before I was a dad I drove relatively similar to those idiots accept with a different purpose on the road. See, for some reason when I have taken it upon myself to be the enforcer on the road. Anytime I see someone not using their blinker (my biggest pet peeve) I tend to ride their bumper or do everything I can to not let them over. I don't mind if people cut me off in traffic, I understand that you think you're better than me and wherever you're going is more important than where I'm going, just let me know you're gonna cut me off by using a blinker. When I am stuck in traffic and there are a few cars riding in the emergency lane just to try and bypass traffic, I block them with my Explorer to not let them pass, while still staying in my lane.
That was the old way I drove. Now, with Noah in the car I am constantly a defensive driver. I don't blare my music, talk on the phone, switch songs on my iPod, or even pick fights with other people on the road. Whenever I drive it reminds me of a game we played on a college ministry retreat, where we had our own egg that we had to protect, while everyone else was trying to smash it with a newspaper.
So I may not have the "Baby on Board" sign but with the way I drive now, people probably don't need a sign to know.
Monday, July 18, 2011
The Story of Noah
5 days after Noah's birth and I am just now getting to sit down and write about it (if that gives you any idea how crazy the last few days of been. I have busted out my Mac numerous times to begin, but as any parent knows, something came up. So here I am, finally getting a chance to share with the world how this little guy came into turning our lives upside down. I will do my best to sum up a whirlwind of emotions and events in a these paragraphs. Feel free to skip to the end if you want to.
Tuesday- Danielle woke up at 4:00 in the morning having mild contractions. They were definitely stronger than she had experienced before, but still nothing too severe and occurring semi-regularly. When I got home from work, we decide it was a good idea for us to go into the hospital, just in case. We went got checked out, and they said she hadn't progressed any from her appointment the week before. Our midwife suggested that if we wanted to have the baby soon, to just start walking. So walking we did. We went to the near by mall and walked for 6 straight hours. Eventually how feet were hurting pretty bad, so we treated ourselves to new Sanuk Yoga-Mat made Sandals (fantastic by the way). The contractions continued to become slightly more discomforting, but nothing compared to what the midwife said Danielle would experience. So we decided to go home and walk and wait it out. Danielle called her mom Sophia, who lives in Savannah, earlier in the day to fill her in and decided to go ahead and head down to Orlando so as not to miss any of the action.
Wednesday The next morning when we woke up Danielle was still feeling about the same, so we started once again to walk around the neighborhood. After 45 minutes, we decided it was basically to hot for Danielle to be walking out side and we headed back to the house to get ready to head to the mall again.
Just before we were getting ready to leave for the mall Danielle was eating some chips in the kitchen and asked me, "Matt, what does it feel like when your water breaks?" I said that I had personally never experienced that feeling, but I have heard its different for different people and that some people describe it as a gush, trickle, or felt like they wet themselves. To which she replied, "Ok then, I think we should go to the hospital" So, I shaved and Danielle showered (no way was my son going to think that his dad was homeless looking) and we headed to the hospital. Sophia, at this point had gone for a run so in order to inform her of our current situation, we decided a note would not capture the excitment of the moment. We then raced our Toyota along the running trail until we flagged her down and through her in the car.
12:30- We arrived a the OB triage were they checked Danielle out (whose contractions strength/intervals had stayed the same for about 24 hours now) and confirmed that her water broke. Apparently the maternity ward was slammed with patients that day so we were just admitted to the triage room. Knowing that sitting around can only stall labor, Danielle began to get her walk on around the hospital, reporting back to the room every hour or so. My mother, Julie had been in Crescent Beach for the week and also met us at the hospital to wait with Sophia.
4:00pm- Danielle's contractions have remained the same for 28 hours. She is just as happy as an expetant mom can be, laughing and joking around as I was on the phone with her mom ordering our Panera coffee and dinner.
4:10pm- I literally can not leave Danielle's side because she is in so much pain. They are coming at about 2-3 minutes apart now and are not treating Danielle to lightly. The stress of laboring in a cold, barren triage room instead of the warm, calming, soothing labor room we saw on our hospital tour was starting to get to Danielle. A little Bob Marley, Jack Johnson, and Caedmon's Call calmed her right down. Our midwife took one look at Danielle and decided she needed a room immediately.
5:30pm- We finally make it to our labor room and Danielle immediately hops in the jacuzzi infused with lavender. After a little while of that, we began to try different standing/sitting positions to take her mind off the pain. At one point we were swaying with each other in the dimly lit room like a middle school dance listening to Jack's Mannequin "Swim" on constant repeat. Even though Danielle was in the most amount of pain a woman can experience you wouldn't be able to tell by her facial expressions. She was a straight rockstar.
8:57pm- Danielle, after only 5 hours of true labor, no drugs, and no more energy...pushed our son, Noah Austin Sheehan into this world. He weighed 7 lbs 11 ozs and was 20 1/2 inches long (He is now 21 1/4 inches) and had all the signs of a perfect, healthy baby. We know that God was right there with us the whole time in that labor room, just like he was for the past 9 months. Everything just went so smooth and perfect, it truley was amazing. Danielle and I just stood in awe of what we had created together and how beautiful he was. My parents and her mom celebrated with us in the room as Danielle and I were still in shock of the feat she had just accomplished. We then moved to the VIP birthday suite(thank you Florida Hospital) in the postpartum unit where Noah never left our side until we were discharged home on Friday.
In order for Danielle to prepare herself for the labor of giving birth without any pain medication, we had typed birth plans, motivational notecards, videos, music, aromatherapy, yoga ball positions, and everything in between. In the end, all we needed was each other.
It would take a long time to type everything else that has happened since last Wednesday, and this blog post has been long enough. Here are bullet points to some it up.
**Danielle's mom, Sophia, has been here the past few days cooking and cleaning up a storm (which we could not thank her enough for). She will leave Tuesday morning, Danielle, Noah, and I will have a few days to ourselves then my mother will come for a few days.
**We have been overwhelmed with thoughts, prayers, dinners and desserts from the best friends and family any one could ask for
** Mom(Danielle) is doing great, needs a little encouragement every now and then to take it easy and rest up when Noah's resting
** Noah is fantastic, we've had to take him twice to get heel pricked(poor little guy) to monitor his bilirubin levels (jaundice) nothing to worry about though
**The nights are long, but are getting easier
**I got my mancub and he is the best thing that has ever happened to us
Tuesday- Danielle woke up at 4:00 in the morning having mild contractions. They were definitely stronger than she had experienced before, but still nothing too severe and occurring semi-regularly. When I got home from work, we decide it was a good idea for us to go into the hospital, just in case. We went got checked out, and they said she hadn't progressed any from her appointment the week before. Our midwife suggested that if we wanted to have the baby soon, to just start walking. So walking we did. We went to the near by mall and walked for 6 straight hours. Eventually how feet were hurting pretty bad, so we treated ourselves to new Sanuk Yoga-Mat made Sandals (fantastic by the way). The contractions continued to become slightly more discomforting, but nothing compared to what the midwife said Danielle would experience. So we decided to go home and walk and wait it out. Danielle called her mom Sophia, who lives in Savannah, earlier in the day to fill her in and decided to go ahead and head down to Orlando so as not to miss any of the action.
Wednesday The next morning when we woke up Danielle was still feeling about the same, so we started once again to walk around the neighborhood. After 45 minutes, we decided it was basically to hot for Danielle to be walking out side and we headed back to the house to get ready to head to the mall again.
Just before we were getting ready to leave for the mall Danielle was eating some chips in the kitchen and asked me, "Matt, what does it feel like when your water breaks?" I said that I had personally never experienced that feeling, but I have heard its different for different people and that some people describe it as a gush, trickle, or felt like they wet themselves. To which she replied, "Ok then, I think we should go to the hospital" So, I shaved and Danielle showered (no way was my son going to think that his dad was homeless looking) and we headed to the hospital. Sophia, at this point had gone for a run so in order to inform her of our current situation, we decided a note would not capture the excitment of the moment. We then raced our Toyota along the running trail until we flagged her down and through her in the car.
12:30- We arrived a the OB triage were they checked Danielle out (whose contractions strength/intervals had stayed the same for about 24 hours now) and confirmed that her water broke. Apparently the maternity ward was slammed with patients that day so we were just admitted to the triage room. Knowing that sitting around can only stall labor, Danielle began to get her walk on around the hospital, reporting back to the room every hour or so. My mother, Julie had been in Crescent Beach for the week and also met us at the hospital to wait with Sophia.
4:00pm- Danielle's contractions have remained the same for 28 hours. She is just as happy as an expetant mom can be, laughing and joking around as I was on the phone with her mom ordering our Panera coffee and dinner.
4:10pm- I literally can not leave Danielle's side because she is in so much pain. They are coming at about 2-3 minutes apart now and are not treating Danielle to lightly. The stress of laboring in a cold, barren triage room instead of the warm, calming, soothing labor room we saw on our hospital tour was starting to get to Danielle. A little Bob Marley, Jack Johnson, and Caedmon's Call calmed her right down. Our midwife took one look at Danielle and decided she needed a room immediately.
5:30pm- We finally make it to our labor room and Danielle immediately hops in the jacuzzi infused with lavender. After a little while of that, we began to try different standing/sitting positions to take her mind off the pain. At one point we were swaying with each other in the dimly lit room like a middle school dance listening to Jack's Mannequin "Swim" on constant repeat. Even though Danielle was in the most amount of pain a woman can experience you wouldn't be able to tell by her facial expressions. She was a straight rockstar.
8:57pm- Danielle, after only 5 hours of true labor, no drugs, and no more energy...pushed our son, Noah Austin Sheehan into this world. He weighed 7 lbs 11 ozs and was 20 1/2 inches long (He is now 21 1/4 inches) and had all the signs of a perfect, healthy baby. We know that God was right there with us the whole time in that labor room, just like he was for the past 9 months. Everything just went so smooth and perfect, it truley was amazing. Danielle and I just stood in awe of what we had created together and how beautiful he was. My parents and her mom celebrated with us in the room as Danielle and I were still in shock of the feat she had just accomplished. We then moved to the VIP birthday suite(thank you Florida Hospital) in the postpartum unit where Noah never left our side until we were discharged home on Friday.
In order for Danielle to prepare herself for the labor of giving birth without any pain medication, we had typed birth plans, motivational notecards, videos, music, aromatherapy, yoga ball positions, and everything in between. In the end, all we needed was each other.
It would take a long time to type everything else that has happened since last Wednesday, and this blog post has been long enough. Here are bullet points to some it up.
**Danielle's mom, Sophia, has been here the past few days cooking and cleaning up a storm (which we could not thank her enough for). She will leave Tuesday morning, Danielle, Noah, and I will have a few days to ourselves then my mother will come for a few days.
**We have been overwhelmed with thoughts, prayers, dinners and desserts from the best friends and family any one could ask for
** Mom(Danielle) is doing great, needs a little encouragement every now and then to take it easy and rest up when Noah's resting
** Noah is fantastic, we've had to take him twice to get heel pricked(poor little guy) to monitor his bilirubin levels (jaundice) nothing to worry about though
**The nights are long, but are getting easier
**I got my mancub and he is the best thing that has ever happened to us
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Hurry Up and Wait
The bags are packed. The nursery is all done. The showers are all over. The crib is at the bedside. The toys are sterilized and the baby blankets washed. So now we wait.... Technically the due date is July 26, but according to our midwife it could be game time at anytime.
Throughout these past 9 months it is unbelievable how much love and support has overflowed from friends and family. From high school friends, to college buddies, family all over the country, and new friends right here in Orlando, they have all shown almost as much excitement as Danielle and I. One of those friends rewrote a poem that she wrote after her son was born. She altered it to fit me and Danielle. From the day we found out we were having a boy, Danielle has been extremely excited, and extremely nervous about the idea of raising a boy. She only grew up with a sister and I grew up with 2 brothers. I would feel just as lost and scared if we were having a little girl. After reading this poem it really encouraged Danielle and got her excited about having a boy (mancub) all over again.
Oh My, What an Adventure
In just a few weeks,
Noah will be on his way.
You will breathe fast.
(and Matt will drive fast.)
You will push hard.
(and Matt will pray hard.)
And finally, my sweet friend, you will meet your son.
A few days later, you will take your new family home.
You will walk slowly
(and Matt will drive slowly.)
You will rock softly.
(and Matt will talk softly.)
And your heart will melt into a puddle on the floor.
Oh my, what an adventure.
By then, it won;t matter what color you've
chosen for his room,
Because you will be undone by the color of
his eyes.
You will, (I promise)
forget about the pregnancy pain.
You will be in awe,
in love and
Over the moon.
What an amazing adventure.
He will cry in the middle of the night and the
middle of the day
(and many times in between.)
Your mom will say,
"He looks like Matt!"
Matt's mom will insist,
"I see Danielle in those eyes."
And you will think, oh my, what an adventure!
There are many adventures to be had, of course:
forts in the living room, safaris in the back yard,
camp outs under ten million stars, and most definitely,
a dolphin encounter or two.
Everything will be an adventure.
There will come the time he will choose the
path less chosen or be honest when it's hard,
and your heart will swell, and you will think,
"This is my son, with whom I am well
pleased"
He will get scrapped knees
and have scary dreams
and want to jump from high places.
He will have his first day of school,
his first big test,
and his love.
He will get his first speeding ticket,
and probably a second and a third...
And it will feel like the years are speeding
away...But you will always be eager to hear
the latest adventure of your baby boy.
Noah Austin Sheehan
Of my, what an adventure
With love,
Catie L.
Throughout these past 9 months it is unbelievable how much love and support has overflowed from friends and family. From high school friends, to college buddies, family all over the country, and new friends right here in Orlando, they have all shown almost as much excitement as Danielle and I. One of those friends rewrote a poem that she wrote after her son was born. She altered it to fit me and Danielle. From the day we found out we were having a boy, Danielle has been extremely excited, and extremely nervous about the idea of raising a boy. She only grew up with a sister and I grew up with 2 brothers. I would feel just as lost and scared if we were having a little girl. After reading this poem it really encouraged Danielle and got her excited about having a boy (mancub) all over again.
Oh My, What an Adventure
In just a few weeks,
Noah will be on his way.
You will breathe fast.
(and Matt will drive fast.)
You will push hard.
(and Matt will pray hard.)
And finally, my sweet friend, you will meet your son.
A few days later, you will take your new family home.
You will walk slowly
(and Matt will drive slowly.)
You will rock softly.
(and Matt will talk softly.)
And your heart will melt into a puddle on the floor.
Oh my, what an adventure.
By then, it won;t matter what color you've
chosen for his room,
Because you will be undone by the color of
his eyes.
You will, (I promise)
forget about the pregnancy pain.
You will be in awe,
in love and
Over the moon.
What an amazing adventure.
He will cry in the middle of the night and the
middle of the day
(and many times in between.)
Your mom will say,
"He looks like Matt!"
Matt's mom will insist,
"I see Danielle in those eyes."
And you will think, oh my, what an adventure!
There are many adventures to be had, of course:
forts in the living room, safaris in the back yard,
camp outs under ten million stars, and most definitely,
a dolphin encounter or two.
Everything will be an adventure.
There will come the time he will choose the
path less chosen or be honest when it's hard,
and your heart will swell, and you will think,
"This is my son, with whom I am well
pleased"
He will get scrapped knees
and have scary dreams
and want to jump from high places.
He will have his first day of school,
his first big test,
and his love.
He will get his first speeding ticket,
and probably a second and a third...
And it will feel like the years are speeding
away...But you will always be eager to hear
the latest adventure of your baby boy.
Noah Austin Sheehan
Of my, what an adventure
With love,
Catie L.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Lessons From Thumper
The other night after an amazing barbecue dinner, Danielle and I were discussing with some close friends about how much people judge you as a parent. This is one of the most exciting times in a couples life and there are some people, sometimes total strangers, who just like to rain on our parade. It even started from the very beginning when we told people what names we were considering (a decision in hind site, I regret). It's amazing to me that people would actually sneer or cringe at certain names we were thinking about naming our son. Why should their opinion matter at all, what we call him? Comments like, "That sounds kind of girly", or "Don't name him that" are just a few of the ones we received.
One of the most common negative reactions we have had is when Danielle tells people that she doesn't plan to use any drugs during the labor process. I am not sure what the underlying motivation of these negative reactions are. Maybe since they do not feel like they are strong enough to withhold medication during such a painful process, they don't think Danielle is strong enough either. People actually make her feel guilty for wanting to expereince birth as God intended. She is in no way naive about the pain involved and understands that if medically necessary, she will do whatever it takes to bring Noah into this world. We recently had a negative encounter at a hospital as we were touring their baby unit with a nurse. Danielle simply asked the nurse that if we wanted to bring in our own crockpot, what we would have to do (crockpots are sometimes used in labor to provide relaxing scents and keep warm cloths in). The nurse then proceeded to lecture Danielle for 5 minutes about how she needs to be flexible and that not everything works out how laboring mothers intend. This nurse immediately labeled Danielle as some devoted-hippy kook without knowing her at all.
It is also unbelievable to me when strangers find out how far a long she is and make statements like, "Oh thats when I lost my first baby" or "Better enjoy life now, because it will end soon" Did they really think those comments were productive in any sort of manner? Or the mother in the Target parking lot yelling at her 3 kids in the car that turns to Danielle and says, "See what you have to look forward to". How come none of these people have positive things to say? I don't need to here your 20 minute birth story about how painful and awful your pregnancy was. I feel sorry for these bitter, angry people who spread negativity like wildfire, we are not those people.
By now we have accepted the fact that people will judge you for every thing you do as a parent, and in the end, their faults, stories, and mistakes are not ours. We will make our own mistakes and form our own story. We welcome all positive comments and constructive advice, but We have always done things the way we want to. In the future when we see a couple expecting their first child, no matter what, we have vowed to only say positive things. Like Thumper taught us growing up, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"
One of the most common negative reactions we have had is when Danielle tells people that she doesn't plan to use any drugs during the labor process. I am not sure what the underlying motivation of these negative reactions are. Maybe since they do not feel like they are strong enough to withhold medication during such a painful process, they don't think Danielle is strong enough either. People actually make her feel guilty for wanting to expereince birth as God intended. She is in no way naive about the pain involved and understands that if medically necessary, she will do whatever it takes to bring Noah into this world. We recently had a negative encounter at a hospital as we were touring their baby unit with a nurse. Danielle simply asked the nurse that if we wanted to bring in our own crockpot, what we would have to do (crockpots are sometimes used in labor to provide relaxing scents and keep warm cloths in). The nurse then proceeded to lecture Danielle for 5 minutes about how she needs to be flexible and that not everything works out how laboring mothers intend. This nurse immediately labeled Danielle as some devoted-hippy kook without knowing her at all.
It is also unbelievable to me when strangers find out how far a long she is and make statements like, "Oh thats when I lost my first baby" or "Better enjoy life now, because it will end soon" Did they really think those comments were productive in any sort of manner? Or the mother in the Target parking lot yelling at her 3 kids in the car that turns to Danielle and says, "See what you have to look forward to". How come none of these people have positive things to say? I don't need to here your 20 minute birth story about how painful and awful your pregnancy was. I feel sorry for these bitter, angry people who spread negativity like wildfire, we are not those people.
By now we have accepted the fact that people will judge you for every thing you do as a parent, and in the end, their faults, stories, and mistakes are not ours. We will make our own mistakes and form our own story. We welcome all positive comments and constructive advice, but We have always done things the way we want to. In the future when we see a couple expecting their first child, no matter what, we have vowed to only say positive things. Like Thumper taught us growing up, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"
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