More Max!

Today Max is 11 days old. I can hardly believe we've been home from the hospital more than a week! The days just fly by. I can already tell it's going to be hard to watch him get bigger ... I just know I'll break down crying the first time he outgrows an outfit. Joe and I love, love, love having our sweet little Max to cuddle and hold. Here are some pictures of life the first week at home. Home sweet home ... the first night.

Hanging with Grosi. We are sooooo glad she's here (and thanks to the snow we get to have her for another day or two).

All clean after the first bath at home.

A few family pictures taken at five days old.

Max is a great sleeper. He has his fussy times and fights sleep sometimes but once he's out he's OUT! (Even all the fire alarms going off in our house didn't wake him. Wow.)

I'm a bug!

And a baby moose!

Napping with Dad.

And with Mom.

Max's first visit to the doctor. He was exceptionally well-behaved (except for when he peed on the doctor!).

Our first walk around the block.

10 day old Mr. Max.

We feel fortunate to have a great baby on our hands with little Maximus. I get so excited to see his cute little face every time he wakes up ... and then am just as happy to have those eyes finally close so I can get some rest. ;) Since we can't take him out and show him off just yet, we'll have to keep showing off via the blog. Enjoy!

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.