One week ago today ....

.... we headed to Greater Baltimore Medical Center with an empty carseat in the backseat. We were full of anticipation and eagerness for our little child to come, but couldn't quite comprehend the fact that we'd be driving back home as a family of three! Here's a brief recap of some of what went on during our life-changing 2.5 day hospital stay.

Monday was a busy night at the hospital so it took a while to get us to a Labor and Delivery Suite and get the process started. At about 9:30 p.m. a foley bulb catheter was (painfully) placed which would manually dilate me to a 3. The pressure from the catheter intensified the weak contractions I'd been having all day, and in just a couple of hours it did its job. Around midnight I was started on a low dose of Pitocin and the contractions continued. They were bearable, but I was kind of bummed that Joe was fast asleep with his Benadryl and the Ambien they gave me definitely wasn't doing a thing. (If I'd have realized I'd be in labor all night instead of waiting to speed things up until morning I wouldn't have agreed to take it!) At 5:00 a.m. they checked me and I was now at a 4. (Only 1 more centimeter! I could hardly believe it.) Things were getting more painful by now, and I told Joe he was "DONE SLEEPING." To really get things going they broke my water and increased the Pitocin. Contractions quickly became faster and stronger and it it wasn't too long before I started asking about the Epidural, which turned out to be much less scary than I had expected. For a while I was in that nice place everyone talks about, not feeling much but watching on the monitor to see all the contractions I was having. After a while I got feeling back on the right side of my body, so I got another Epidural push to even things out. That worked great for a while. Eventually I started getting feeling back everywhere and was in a lot more pain than I thought was necessary, so I asked about another push. My doctor said she didn't want to check me yet because each check increases the risk of infection, and to call her back when my pain had reached a 9 out of 10 on my pain scale. Ahhh!

At this point the contractions were really frequent and painful and Joe was great at helping me breathe through them. We were glad we had taken a childbirth class! Finally I couldn't take it anymore and called the doctor back in. She checked and I was at a 10! Time to PUSH!

At this point I was so exhausted that the pushing was really challenging. Joe and my nurse each took a side and coached me through it. Joe had to get in my face and help me breathe after each contraction so that the baby's heart rate would go back up. Slowly I was making progress. I pushed for 1.5 hours, not including a couple of breaks where we let the heart rate stabilize and waited for my doctor to get back. I was so tired I really thought I might not be able to push him out after all. But somehow I did!!! At 11:36 a.m. Mr. Max was born. Joe was a great coach. I got to watch everything in the mirror and it was amazing. My doctor did a fabulous job so that I only had internal tearing, and our little man was finally here.

Max's first full body shot ... umbilical cord still connecting the two of us. Joe was the one to cut it!
My first moment holding my baby boy. I was overwhelmed with relief, excitement, and pure joy.

They took him from me to wipe him off, and Joe reached out to touch Max for the first time. Max just grabbed right on to his Daddy's finger and looked up at him. They are already the best of pals.

Max was grabbing at everything! Even the nurse's clothes. Many nurses have commented on his impressive strength, and now Joe can understand why I gasped in pain with some of his kicks to my belly!

They brought Max back to me a few minutes later and we got to breastfeed right away. He ate like a champ.

Daddy gets to hold and admire his brand new boy.

Then we moved to a postpartum room and Max was taken away for a while to get his bath, etc. I missed him SO MUCH!! I was so, so excited when he came back to us. Here are a few pictures of our little family taken that evening.

Aunt Lori, our first visitor, took the pictures. We were happy she could come share in our miraculous day.

Our time in the hospital seemed really hectic to me. There were so many checks, feedings, consultations, etc. that of course we got very little sleep. But we loved being there and having great nurses to care for me and our baby. We also loved the few quiet moments we had together just to marvel at this sweet little boy and soak in all the wonderful emotions of becoming a little family. Dad and Max got to do a lot of cuddling as well.

The next day my mom came into town and was able to come see us at the hospital and meet her first grandson! We are so grateful to have her here. I really don't know what I'd do without her.

Max did so well at the hospital. Here he is sleeping like a champ in his bassinet.

Day three, and it's time to go home already. I just love my little Max and couldn't wait to take him home with me so I could stop having nightmares about someone stealing him from the nursery!

Oh, he's just ADORABLE.

On the car ride home I sat in the back with Max. He fussed for about 3 minutes and was an angel the rest of the way.

We are happy to be home and recovery is going pretty well. Thanks for all the excitement, support, and prayers for our little family. It really is completely amazing (and challenging) being parents to Mr. Max. And that's how it all began!

This is Max!

Max Joseph Dastrup was born Tuesday 1/26/10 at 11:36 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs 9 oz. I'll let Lindsey recount the labor story when she's up to it but she and the little guy are doing great. We are so proud of our little son. He did so well throughout the process and has been easy on his parents for the first day of life. Many had told us how wonderful it was to be parents, but we never could have imagined the feelings we're experiencing. Here are a few pictures to introduce Mr. Max, Mad Max, Baby Maximus to all those who have been awaiting his late arrival.


His first bond with daddy moments after delivery.


I told you he was cute and yes, Lindsey looks amazing for what she just went through.


We thank God for letting us have this healthy boy.


Thanks for all your support and prayers. More updates soon!

Update

Well despite what my blog ticker says, I do not have a 1 week old baby! I know many of you are wondering how the little guy (born?? unborn?? what the heck?!?) and I are doing, and are trying (mostly successfully) not to harass me too much. So I thought I would provide a brief update!

My due date came and went last Monday, and by Thursday I still hadn't made any progress toward labor. This weekend, though, we had a couple "false alarms" and were convinced we'd be on our way to the hospital before too long - until the contractions stopped. When I saw my doctor this morning (now at 41 weeks), she said that based on the tests they did the baby is doing just fine, but she still recommended inducing me tomorrow morning. (I am still contracting on my own; the contractions just aren't doing much.) So that it our plan! We will spend tonight in the hospital and they'll use a mechanical catheter device to get the cervix ready for tomorrow morning when they'll break my water and start the pitocin. And hopefully not long after that we'll have our baby boy!!

Even after all this crazy waiting and waiting and waiting it still is kind of surreal that this is actually happening. Somehow the thought never crossed my mind that I could wait a whole week for him to come and then be induced, but here we are, and I am incredibly ready to get him out of there! I'm a little nervous (pretty sure that's normal) but I trust my doctor and feel confident that everything will be fine. I'm just trying to focus on the end result: having my little guy here. No matter how things go, it will all be worth it!

So wish me luck. We've heard that the hospital doesn't allow internet access to blogger, so we'll see when we can post the news (relax - email and texting will also be utilized). I am so scared/excited/overwhelmed/happy!!! We just can't wait to finally be able to see and hold our sweet baby and welcome him to this crazy world. :)

Last of the belly shots (hopefully!)

I am a mess!! I can't sleep. I can't - oh wait, I can eat. But I'm still a mess! Ready to get this baby out of my belly and get on with the show. Ahhhhhhh. In the meantime, I thought I'd share a few belly shots from the last couple months, as well as some pregnancy pictures Lori took at 38 weeks (last week). Now, at 39 weeks, I have the most misshapen belly I've ever seen. Just take my word for it.

28 weeks
30 weeks

32 weeks

36 weeks (yes we are skipping 34 ... I got lazy at the end)

38 weeks!

It was such a cold and windy day when we took these ... but I figured we'd better hurry and do them in case I went into labor early like Lori. Guess there wasn't a big rush. But they were fun. Thank you Lori!!

I can't wait to see the little guy who's been doing such crazy things to my belly for the last 9 months in real life! I'm sure those pictures will be a bit more exciting.

CHRISTMAS (finally!)

I guess I'd better throw up a few Christmas pictures before anything really exciting happens around here and I forget about Christmas altogether! We had a fabulous Christmas in Maryland with Nate, Lori, & Reese, Joe's mom and 2 younger sisters, Michelle and Angelica, and Nate's friend Colton. Christmas seemed to sneak up on us once again ... but once we had made all our last minute preparations, we ended up having a really wonderful and relaxing time.

On Christmas Eve we made homemade pizzas with dough from the Big Cheese (just like last year). Everyone made a different kind, and all were a huge hit. Here Lori & I are rolling out some dough, with Joe's mom in the background (on that pesky iphone!!).
Michelle & Angelica worked on a killer ham & pineapple pizza. It was so much fun having them here ... they are the cutest and sweetest girls! With all the travel craziness they had to endure, Joe and I would have arrived pretty cranky, but they were just as happy as can be.

Joe & I showing off our creation ... chicken sausage, spinach, onion, and mushroom.

The rest of the evening we relaxed and watched Faith Hill's Christmas concert which totally got us in the Christmas spirit. Some people started the Grinch Stole Christmas, but the prego elected to head home around 11 or so and take the baby daddy with her.

Christmas morning: we got together for present opening and a delicious breakfast.

Joe holding sweet little Reese ...

Us with some adorable BYU gear for our little boy! (From my parents, of course.) There is no doubt what color this little guy is going to bleed!

Another highlight was getting to open a package with Joe's baby blanket, 2 week old picture, and the outfit he wore in the picture! (From Joe's mom.) It was so sweet, I was about to cry. I just can't believe we're about to have our own little one - it's incredible.

We got plenty of other wonderful things as well ... and Joe did a great job adding a little flair to a few of my gifts by accompanying them with law-related notes (appropriate for the new Esquire). It is a treat for me to see his funny, creative, and thoughtful side coming out. Kind of reminds me of how my dad would always have a super clever poem to read to each of the kids and lead them to a special gift each Christmas. It is fun to add your own touch!

A good portion of the afternoon was spent on this awesome Lake Powell puzzle my mom sent. I was in heaven because I love doing puzzles!

Nate & Lori's new Wii also kept everyone quite busy and entertained. Evidently I'm not having as much fun as everyone else though ... I am completely horrible at video games!!

So I kept busy helping with Christmas dinner, and working like crazy on the puzzle. Everyone got into it and we ended up putting together the entire 1,000 pieces in one day!

It was a lovely Christmas ... but this year I didn't end up with the typical end-of-Christmas depression that next Christmas isn't for another 365 days. Every day down means we're another day closer to welcoming our new little baby, and that's about all I've been able to think about lately.

Babymooning in the Big Apple

I don't know who came up with the babymoon concept, but we have a lot of friends who are strong proponents of it. Everyone kept telling us to get away and enjoy ourselves "while you still can," so we decided we'd better do it! NYC is about a 3.5 hr drive, which is a little further than I'd planned on traveling at almost 36 weeks, but we really wanted to do it and I figured I'd be fine. They have hospitals anywhere you go, right?

I picked up Joe from work on a Friday afternoon and to our dismay it took us over 6 hours to get there! Maybe the fact that it was the weekend before Christmas had something to do with it. Whatever it was, sitting in traffic for hours on end had us wondering if this really was such a good idea after all. Joe even got in a 'fight' with a guy when we were trying to pay a toll to get into the city (fight = windows were rolled down, choice words were shared, fists were shaken). Apparently he is trying to get all of that out of his system before the little guy comes so he won't be a bad example with a child in the car. And he did feel pretty badly afterward.

Since we got in late, we didn't do much other than check out our surroundings and find a snack before heading back to the room. We stayed at a Marriott by the Brooklyn Bridge which was really nice!! My younger brother works at a Marriott and was able to get us a good deal, and we were close to several subway stops so we could easily get anywhere we wanted to be.

On day 2 we knew a storm was coming in so we shopped around Brooklyn for a while to find me some boots (I didn't think we'd do so well at Saks 5th Ave. in Manhattan). We found some just as the first snowflakes started to fall. Next stop was Times Square:
It was pretty cold out, but with boots, gloves, and scarves we kept out the chill (for the most part). Here I am pushing aside a few layers to show off the little guy that made this trip a babymoon!

Next we headed to Rockefeller Center to see the tree and other Christmas festivities. It really was fun to be in NYC just before Christmas! So many decorations, lots of energy, and plenty of people.

After walking a lot and ending up at FAO Schwarz, my legs were about ready to give out on me and I crashed in the reading corner.

When I finally regained my energy, we did some more window shopping - including admiring some beautiful Christmas windows at Bergdorf Goodman. This is just one picture to give you an idea, but there were at least 10 totally unique windows and they were all amazing!

Then we headed downtown to have dinner with one of Joe's high school friends and his girlfriend at a little hole-in-wall Italian place, which had delicious raspberry crumb cheesecake. :) And then ... we made our way back uptown to see Phantom of the Opera!! Having seen it several times before I was rightfully very excited ... and having never seen it but always wanting to Joe was excited, too. I loved every minute of it, and was happy to hear that Joe was 100% pleased as well (we have been to shows before where the cast didn't quite meet his expectations). By the time we got out, we had a full-blown blizzard going on! It was kind of exciting ... and I was super glad I had my boots!

The next morning was cold and clear. I stayed in bed while Joe went out to get bagels and muffins for breakfast in bed (just like he had the previous morning). Then we checked out of our hotel, put our bags in the car, and got on the subway headed for Central Park.

It was a absolutely perfect day to enjoy walking around Central Park. We've been there before but haven't ventured far or stayed long. This time we were in the middle of the Park and walked around finding all kinds of fun places. It was beautiful.

It was really fun to see all the New Yorkers out and about with their kids, dogs, and sleds! A few of the hills were packed, as you can see.

After lots more walking (I was such a trooper, but I can only take so much), we found ourselves lunch and hot chocolate. Yummm.

Then we took the subway back to Brooklyn, and it was time for us to say goodbye to our hotel (the tall building in the middle) and head back to snowy MD!

Fortunately, even after all the snow of the day before, the roads were clear and we made good time getting home. All in all (and despite the rocky start on the drive up), it was the absolute perfect babymoon! And you only get ONE of those a lifetime!!

Becoming an Esquire

I want to remember December 15, 2009 as the day I could finally call myself an attorney. Really! Me!! Finally! I can't really think of any other goal I have worked toward so hard and for so long. Here is a picture of me on an elementary school career day - my business cards read "Lindsey C. Lewis, Public Defender."
To earn the title (once I'd graduated and passed the bar), I had to drive to Annapolis on my appointed day and take an oath in front of the Judges of the Court of Appeals (the state's highest court). Sadly Joe couldn't take the day off of work so I was all alone (but I did have my big belly of boy for company!). I made sure I got someone to take a picture of me outside the Court of Appeals building so the day wouldn't be completely forgotten.

These days, I no longer want to be a public defender (yikes!). I want to be a tax attorney doing work for corporations, partnerships, LLCs, etc. Although I accepted an offer at a large firm to do just that, being "deferred" by the firm has made it so that I'm filling my time working with low income individual taxpayers. But since it means I get to sign my letters "Lindsey C. Dastrup, Esquire" it's good enough for now!