Two Weeks Old!

Holden is two weeks old today! Since we already have more pictures of him in his two weeks of life than both me and Reo have of our childhoods combined, I thought I would post a couple of our favorites over the last couple of weeks.

An American Girl Tragedy

Today I got my American Girl Doll catalog in the mail. I know, why would a grown up woman be getting an American Girl catalog, right? Because, ever since I was little I have looked forward to getting my catalog and wishing that I could have the Samantha doll. I would pretend that I had all her clothes and accesssories, since there was no way in real life that I would get the doll since she was $90. So, for sentimental purposes, I still get the catalog occasionally.

BUT, what should I see on page 2 of the catalog, but that they are retiring the Samantha doll! She is now only available while supplies last! I couldn't believe it. My first instinct was to call and order one right then, but I realize that is not the most practical thing to do, given that I just brought home a kind of expensive addition to my family.

So instead, I will just tribute this blog post to an American Girl legacy, and hope that I get her for Christmas ;)!

Reo's Daily Beef - It Begins

So, Julie and I (along with her sister and brother in law) have joked about me posting a blog with my "Daily Beef". I know it seems unlike me, but sometimes, things tend to get on my nerves. Crazy, right? Well, now that we have a blog, I finally have an outlet for all this "beef". Unfortunately, Julie won't allow me to post these things daily, for fear that it would make our blog seem something akin to "Creed Thoughts". But, I can post these gems occassionally, so here we go.

Yesterday was the first day of early voting in my area. I figured that since I have the day off, and since I despise crowds, I thought I would vote early and get it out of the way. No big deal, right? Wrong, and here comes my beef: Old people who door bust on early voting day. I had to wait for 5 minutes just to get in the parking lot of our library. Then, I had to wait as the droves of elderly folks shuffled across the driveway and into the library. Since I had already waited 10 minutes just in my car, I made the U turn and got out of there. After all, I do have a new son to get back too, plus, I'm very impatient.

There is nothing wrong with old people wanting to vote. I'm all for it. But really? Did all these people need to be at the polling place right when the polls opened on the first day? Don't they know that I can't normally participate in these things because I'm not yet at retirement age? Perhaps not. Either way, today's (or technically, yesterday's) beef is old people door busting the polls on early voting day.

Back at Home

So we brought little Holden home today. He was not a fan of getting dressed in more than a shirt, but then again, who likes pants anyway? The outfit we took for him to come home in was a 3 month outfit, we figured that it wouldn't be that big of a deal. We were wrong. He was swimming in that thing. Even the hat was too big, which is weird for a kid with such a huge head. Either way, we made it home. Here is Holden being very angry that he had to wear real clothes:

We took him to Julie's parents' house for a family dinner and he was very well behaved. He was even awake while we ate dinner, but didn't make a fuss, which was good since he was not being held. So far so good, although, we aren't quite at the "first night". Right now he is sleeping next to mom and they are both pretty peaceful, I'm sure it will change.

On a non-baby related note, I had the chance to see my favorite NHL team play here at the E Center two weeks ago. Initially I was just going to go by myself, thinking that Holden would have possibly arrived by October 5th. But, Julie was nice enough to go with me at the last minute. So I dragged my 39 1/2 week pregnant wife to a hockey game, and she was nice enought not to complain or look bored the whole time, which I appreciated. Either way, the Kings lost 3-1, but I was just psyched to see my favorite players in person. I took probably 50 pictures (which Julie referred to as "nerdy"), here are a few that I like best and thought I would share.

Here is Kings goalie Jason LaBarbera. I tried to get a better shot of him, but the "no flash" and rink netting made it difficult.

Here is the back of Kings center Anze Kopitar. Not an exciting picture but I just thought it was cool that I was seeing him in person.

Baby Holden Is Finally Here!

Holden Robert Manning arrived on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 at 8:18 PM.
He weighed a whopping 8 pounds 15 ounces (most of it in his head, taking after both of his parents.) He was 21 and a half inches long.

We went to my 41 week appointment on Wednesday morning. The doctor checked me, and my blood pressure was sort of high. He asked me if I wanted to have a baby that day. Uhh, of COURSE I did! He told me to go home and get my stuff and go to the hospital.
We arrived at the hospital at about 11 AM. We got all checked in and into our room and they started me on the Pitocin at about 11:15. I started having contractions pretty much right away, and soon after that they started to HURT (who would have thought??) They broke my water at about 2:30. It was a resident that broke my water, and she kept saying "look at all this fluid, you are going to have a HUGE baby!" The nurse kept looking at her like what are you doing telling this poor girl she is going to have a huge baby?
Anyways, soon after that I got my epidural. It was great, I could still feel enough to tell when I was having contractions, but it took the edge off.
So, at this point, I am not making much progress, I was still at about 4 centimeters. We start to notice that every time I had a contraction the baby's heartrate went way down. That was when they put me on oxygen. The nurses said it was fine, probably just a kink in the umbilical cord, but it was starting to make me nervous. I think it was making them nervous as well, because they kept asking me if my doctor had said what time he was going to come see me.
Then, my contractions started getting further apart instead of closer together. This is not the way it is supposed to work! By now it was about 6:30 PM, and I was still only to 5 centimeters dilated. The nurses pretty much hadn't left my room in about an hour, so I knew that they were getting more and more concerned about the dropping heart rate.
At about 7:30 they called my doctor, and he said he was on his way, and that we were going to do a C Section. He didn't know how much longer I would be in labor, and he didn't want the baby to have to go through more ups and downs in the heart rate. They got me all prepped and ready, and got Reo into his sugery garb so that he could be in there. My doctor got here at 8 and they whisked me into the operating room. By 8:18 baby was here! I was super scared, but Reo handled it like a champ and calmed me down...Also, whatever they stuck in my IV when they saw I was shaking like a leaf couldn't have hurt either :). They took the baby away right away, and told me that the cord had been wrapped around his neck which is why his heart rate kept going so far down but he came out crying just like he was supposed to, so that was good. I didn't get to see him until he and I were all cleaned up and put back together.
Anyways, even with the unexpected C Section, things are going well. We are still in the hospital, so of course we think we have the best behaved baby on the planet, since there is a team of nurses and a little baby hotel we can send him to whenever we want! We will see if it is still all so easy when we get home!

So we have a blog.

So, after months of talking about starting a blog, it has begun. Hopefully we'll be go getters and post lots of stuff about our baby, if he ever gets here. That will probably be what Julie posts. I'll probably post the random rants that make you wonder if you're actually reading the blog of an 8 year old. Either way, it should be fun, right?

We'll Give It A Shot...

So, I have learned that in this day and age (and state) you cannot have a kid without also having a blog. And since I have HEARD that no one is pregnant forever (although this little one is testing that theory) I will soon be among those with children. Therefore, a blog is required, right? Since follow through is not exactly my strong point, and I have closet full of unfinished projects to prove it, I will do my best to keep this blog going!! I am sure that Reo will add in his fair share of random posts for your entertainment as well. So, here is our blog, ready for you to stalk, mock, or enjoy as you please!