Hospital Living

Maximus gets some rest...something he is very good at

We have been residents of Baylor Medical since 4pm on Tuesday.  It's a little rougher than we're used to.  Our wifi has a firewall that limits nearly every website on the internet, including Netflix and Pandora.  We don't have a neighborhood pool.  And we certainly don't have a back patio with a porch swing.  We do, however, have something that our house has yet to contain. Max.

Nap time with Daddy

The rooms here are nice.  We have a a TV and DVD player, dark brown wood laminate floors, and a wonderful view of downtown Dallas.  Black and white photos of babies of Baylor past adorn the walls, some with hidden shelves behind them like a wall safe for medical supplies.  It's a great facility with an even better staff.  There are a lot of unexpecteds in this process, and the staff has definitely been the nicest surprise.  Nurses can easily get taken for granted, but they are your direct contact 24/7 for nearly all your needs.  From rubbing your back through contractions (while your husband slept) to nursing to checking vitals to fluffing your pillows to honoring Courtney's request for ice cream, they've all been very professional and personable.  A mix of young and older nurses have provided the perfect blend of personality and experience.  They're all good in their own regard, and all have been essential to giving us a wonderful visit to the hospital, which we didn't know existed.

These forceps ain't no joke

Everyone seems to absolutely love Max.  Perhaps it's just because he's a sweet, innocent, adorable newborn, or perhaps they're in front of his parents, or maybe they genuinely do love him.  His is undeniably precious, if I do say so myself.  The biggest trait that everyone picks up on is his RED hair.  Apparently they don't get many gingers around here.  And now that we gave him a bath this morning, there's no debate about the color of his hair.  It's not orange or blond, but an aesthetic strawberry blond.  For now anyways.  We get a new nurse and tech every twelve hours, so every time we start chatting about something, they're like "He's a C-section baby, right?" Well, he's not.  Max came to us with a pair of forceps at the helms of a Master Forcepsman in Dr. Gunby.  Max has just the slightest of a bruise and just two minor abrasions on the top of his head.  We're told they're usually littered with battle scars, but we got lucky that we have Dr. Gunby on our team.

We've also had a carousel of visitors as Max turned 1 day old today.  Don't worry, we aren't going to make blog videos about every day of Max's life...unless we get a fat corporate sponsorship.  Yesterday we had Laura Crawford, Nicole Pierce, and the Schweizer's  and today  we had Melanie (Murray) Eidson, Robert and Laura Crawford, Nicole Pierce and Forrest Perry all stop in for a round of visits.  Along with the beautiful flowers in the room, everyone made us feel right at home.

Happy Mommy just moments after delivery

Max has passed all of his mental and physical exams with flying colors.  He can hear great, see great, cry great, and shit great.  We've already gone through at least a dozen diapers here, so I think I had better get some extras on the way home.  Whodathunk?  I've learned to swaddle, kinda, and change diapers, although my first one did fall off when the nurse picked him up.  We're making progress and learning new things every hour.  By the time we get home, we'll know all we need to know about parenthood (right?).

Daddy (left), Mommy (right), Max (middle),
and Lucy (not pictured) ready for home

The only hiccup we've had so far is breastfeeding.  He got off to a slow start, mainly because he has been sleeping so much, but he's managed to pick it up a bit.  With several successful feedings under our belt, we're confident we'll be able to continue down this route.  The on-site lactation consultants have been wonderful, as well as our doula.  We've received a lot of good, professional advice albeit sometimes conflicting (and I don't think we need anymore).  It was the plan in the beginning to breastfeed, but we all know how quickly those can change.

All in all, we are ready to go home and be a happy family with our true first born Lucy.  We know she's going to be a fantastic big sister, provided Max doesn't wear a headband (Lucy loves to pull off hair bands and headbands off your head).  She is holding down the fort and has been very well taken care of by our wonderful neighbors.  Courtney and Max will be discharged on Friday, provided everything else goes smoothly.  The nursery is ready. The car seat is ready.  WE are ready.

-Tyler