The day after "B-Day"

Sunday night was a rough night for two of us, the third member of the family slept at his leisure and was warm, comfortable, and well fed; although, he was more interested in sleeping than eating. At around 1 AM, Natalie had a sleep aid and some pain medication. I slept on and off until 3, then I couldn’t sleep anymore. Between 3:30 and 4 I started composing emails and text messages to announce Taycen’s birth to friends, and co-workers. I had already sent mass texts to family the night before leading up to, and directly following his arrival.

At 4 AM I decided to wander to the nursery to see our darling baby boy. He had been bathed and was beautiful. I held him for an hour in the nursery in a rocking chair. He made little baby sounds and quickly cooed himself to sleep. At 5, the nurses handed me a small bottle to see if I could get him to eat a little. He was able to eat about 28 mL of formula bringing his grand total for the night to 38 mL. I burped him and then held him for another half hour or so. At 7 AM I returned him to his bassinette and joined Natalie in our room. Breakfast was served to Natalie and she was able to eat a fair amount. I was happy to see her appetite return. I finished off what she could not eat.

Our first visitors were not until the afternoon. Chantelle, Natalie’s sister, and her daughter Marissa came to visit at around 3:30 PM. They were followed by our neighbor and good friend Steve Larsen. Natalie’s mom and Chantelle’s other daughter Aubrey visited for a short period at around 6:30 followed by Ryan, Natalie’s brother, and his family: Rebecca, Manuel, Megan, and Daniel. The children were so good with Taycen and wanted to hold him, so he was passed gently between Manual and Megan multiple times. Each time was like the first with their big eyes, smiles and eager anticipation to see and hold their new little cousin.

A new tradition at the Alta View hospital that we had the good fortune to experience was their special dinner for two. This was a full dinner for two on a nicely set table that was brought into our room. We were able to select our entrees, sides, and desert from a fairly complete menu earlier that morning. I had a steak and Natalie had salmon. It was a very nice dinner that was provided to us and it was really a nice break from the normal hospital experience.

Video of Taycen Speeping

Marissa holding Taycen

Manuel holding Taycen

Megan holding Taycen

Ryan and Rebecca's Family

Aubrey holding Taycen

Our special dinner for two: Natalie had salmon

Joe had steak