Happy Easter!

"Good times, noodle salad," As Good as it Gets.

We had a very laid-back Easter:  a roast, a little noodle salad, and easter baskets.  Hayden got a pair of pajamas and cute little slippers.

These were so cute and I got them at Walmart.  They actually have cute baby stuff now!

Of course, Hayden has found a couple of things.  For one, he has started noticing the t.v.  We don't let him watch it because I heard it can stunt a baby's development, but every once in a while he get's caught staring at it!

So naughty!  Ha ha.  BTW:  don't mind my finger in the upper left hand corner.

Secondly, Hayden has found his fists!  If he doesn't have his binkie, he will chew on his little fists.  It is adorable, but I worry that he might eventually find his thumb and become a thumb-sucker.  

Happy Easter Everybody!

Back to Normal Life---and a Catch up of our Week

Hayden and I got home from Washington at about 9PM on Monday night.  It was nice to get back home and have a little normalcy.  I missed Paul and so did Hayden.  Hayden did really well on the car ride.  I sat in the back with him and kept him entertained between naps.  He was perfectly happy until about 2 blocks from home when he started SCREAMING!  It took about an hour to calm him down and get him to sleep.

In Washington.

After Hayden got to sleep, Paul said he had some surprises for me.  For one, he had cleaned the whole house.  He got me some tulips, picked up our new ottoman (which is a huge feet because it was in Pocatello...about 1.5 hours away), finished painting the bathroom, got me a gift card to my favorite store Maurice's, and brought home takeout from Winger's.  I was shocked and so excited!


On Wednesday, Hayden was very happy!  It was so good to see him smiling again.  The 12 hour car ride to Washington and then again back to Idaho was hard on him.  I took a few days to get back to some kind of normal.  Here are some pictures of tummy time:

He can pick up his head and shoulders now!

Cute lil' toes!

Oh his cute lil smile---I love it!

On Friday, my sister Mandy went to the doctor for the ultrasound to determine her baby's sex.  She found out that she's having another boy!  So her little girl Mali'ea is 8 mo older than Hayden, and this new little guy will be about 8 months younger.  Yay!

Today my poor boy has his first fever.  It started last night at 99.1 and went up to 100 today.  We're monitoring him closely and giving him Advil every 6 hours.  Hayden has been having a hard time sleeping, so we just hold him in our arms for naps.  Poor baby!  Through it all, he's relatively happy.  I even caught a few of his smiles today.  

Happy even though he has a fever.

He kept poking his feet out of his blankie!

Just a little update on the Kirby family...

I don't really have much to say, but it's been a while since I've updated the blog.  Sooooooo...here's a few pictures that we took of Hayden today:

Little Hayden boy :)  2mo.

He looks way too big when he sits up!

Isn't he cute?!?  ha ha.  Paul sat him up on the couch and I was shocked to see that he stayed there all by himself!  He is getting so strong already---it makes me nervous.  I don't want an early crawler because of all the shenanigans he'll get into, but at the same time, I love to see his progress.  

Also, Hayden and I will be travelling to Washington on Monday to see my parents.  Paul will be staying in Rexburg and working.  This will be his first time without seeing Hayden every day!  I hope everything goes smoothly! 

Bath Time!

We like to bathe Hayden on Saturday mornings.  I bathe him during the week (if necessary), but it's nice when Paul and I are both able to do it together.  I'm usually the one with the washcloth doing the washing while Paul holds Hayden in the kitchen sink, and Paul always dries him off and dresses him.  

All wrapped up!

Paul drying off Hayden.

I love that Hayden is small enough to bathe in the kitchen sink!  When he was born, Hayden was 8lb 5oz and 21in long, so I was worried that he would be too big!  He is now somewhere around 25in long and 11lb but still fits.  When do you move your baby to the big bath tub?

Thinking about this post, I realize that bath time might not seem that significant in an infant's development, but it is!  Play time is so important!  Even better, I think that doing little things like bathing Hayden brings us together as a couple.  We have a common goal to take care of our child, and doing it together is really special to us.   Later on when Hayden sees his parents working together and happy in doing so, I hope that he'll learn how important a loving family really is.

OOPS!

 Yesterday we had a few "OOPS"'s.  To say the least.  


OOPS #1:  Our friends had their baby so we went to the hospital to visit.  The baby was adorable and we had a great time chatting with our friends.  One problem:  while getting Hayden ready to go visit his new friend, we forgot to fasten him in his car seat!  He was just tucked inside!  


I guess what happened was that I laid Hayden in his car seat when we were getting ready to leave.  Paul assumed that I had buckled him in and I assumed that he did the same.  Please say that we're not the only first-time parents to have made this huge mistake!  I am so grateful that nothing happened.


OOPS #2:  While at the hospital, I fed Hayden and noticed that he needed a change.  I handed him over to Paul and gave him the honors.  Paul checked his diaper but he was still clean.  He fastened it back up and started burping Hayden for me.  We were all talking and laughing when Hayden spit up ALL over Paul!  It was everywhere.  To make matters worse, Hayden (with a mouth full of spit up, mind you) sneezed.  Spit up sneeze went all over Paul and I'm pretty sure it hit him in the face!  We all just busted up laughing!  Paul had the most horrified look on his face---just pure disgust.  My poor boys were both covered in spit up!


A day in the life of parents, I guess.

Paul holding Hayden (1 mo.) and Jake holding Mary Elizabeth (1 day).  On the way home from the hospital, Paul admitted that he didn't think he had shaved since Hayden was born!  My mountain man ;)    

How do we know Mary's parents?  Jake and Paul have been friends since they were like....12...(?) and Paul and Jake's wife (Rachel) were in the same mission together.  How awesome is it that we just happen to have babies so close together?!?  My due date was February 12th, and Rachel's was February 28th, but I had Hayden 2 weeks early and Rachel went a day over.  

A New Arrival

Hayden Parker Kirby was due February 12, 2011.  He came to us a whole 2 weeks early!  He was such a surprise.  


Here's the story:


I went in for my weekly appointment with my doctor at 37 weeks, 6 days.  It was another normal appointment for me.  I hadn't really been feeling any contractions (which was weird because I had been getting them for months).  The doctor checked me and was a little startled.  He asked, "Have you been having any contractions today?"  When I replied, "No," he hooked me up to a monitor and told me at was dilated to 4.5 centimeters and 75% effaced!  That kind of put me in a surreal state-of-mind.  I was supposed to have 2 weeks still!


I was monitored for about 30 minutes.  Sure enough, I was having contractions and the baby was handling them really well, however I couldn't feel the contractions one bit!  As I left the office, the doctor told me to stay nearby, as he would probably see me again soon.  YIKES!  


I called Paul right away and told him what was happening.  He asked, "What does 4.5 centimeters mean?"  I explained that, at 10, you're ready to push.  That put things into perspective for him.  I got off the phone and ran a few errands in town (while I still had time) and went home to wait.


Paul was working in Twin Falls that day which is about 3 hours away from Rexburg.  We were both so nervous that I would go into labor that day and he would miss the whole thing.  When I got home from running errands, I started getting contractions and thought that this was it---the baby is coming!  I called Paul and told him he needed to come home. He started the long drive but didn't get home until about 5:30.  That whole day waiting for him was just horrible.  I was so nervous and anxious!  The second he walked through the door though, I calmed down and the contractions stopped.  


On Sunday morning, I went into labor.  The contractions came all of a sudden and were so painful that I knew this was it!  We raced to the hospital and, after what seemed like FOREVER, were admitted at about noon.  The next couple of hours were painful.  I had asked for an epidural as soon as possible, but due to an anesthetic emergency in the E.R., I would have to wait a few hours.  My doctor gave me an I.V. drug to take the edge off of my contractions.  I could still feel them (especially in my back), but they were manageable.  Paul thought I was HILARIOUS on the drug.  He said that I kept giggling and talking really softly.  At one point, I said to him, "Am I talking really loud?  I feel like I'm talking really loud!"  Apparently, I was pretty much whispering.  He just laughed at me!


Finally at 5pm (that's right, I had to wait for FIVE hours), the anesthesiologist came in.  I was SOOO grateful when he walked into the room.  My new best friend, Jared!  Ha ha.  Paul sat with me on my hospital bed as Jared administered the drug.  Soon I felt sooo much better. 


At about 8pm I was at 7 cm and the doctor started pushing Pitocin.  Some time later that night, the doctor broke my water and about 30 minutes later, I was at about 9.5 cm.  We were so close!  At this point, the nurse started teaching me how to push and was shocked by how fast I learned.  After 9 pushes, she called the doctor to come in and deliver the baby.


One problem...the doctor had been called to an emergency in the E.R.  Have I ever mentioned that I now HATE the E.R.?  He could not come and deliver me.  The nurse had me "labor down" which means lie in bed and let the contractions come, but don't push.  yeah...DON'T PUSH!  Even though I had an epidural, the pain was excruciating!  Hayden wanted to come and there was so much pressure that, after 45 minutes, I couldn't take it.  I started crying because I was so frustrated!  I didn't care who delivered Hayden...but I wanted him out!  The nurse was so angry with my doctor.  She called him and had him in my room within 2 minutes.  The second I saw him walk in the door, I started pushing.  He was still putting on a new gown.  He rushed over and, within 1 minute of him coming to my room, Hayden was born.  So crazy!  


The nurse put Hayden on my chest and I just didn't understand that he was now mine!  It was so strange to have a new baby.  I kind of patted his head and looked at him and then let the nurse take him to clean him off.  Awkward first meeting!  Paul got to cut Hayden's umbilical cord (which he thought was awesome and weird).  Hayden ended up weighing 8lbs 5oz, and measuring 21in long.  How crazy is that?!?  I'm so glad that he came early!




I think we were both in shock that I had actually given birth and that we now have a son.  The whole experience was hard, amazing, shocking....the best word I can come up with is that it was traumatizing.  Good trauma and bad!  Once the dust settled a little bit, we realized that having Hayden in our lives makes everything complete.  We just can't wait for him to start growing a personality and turning into the man that he will someday be.


A few hospital pictures:

Me holding Hayden in the Mother and Baby Unit at the Hospital.

My cute lil boy!  The nurse had taken him for his first PKU test and apparently he got upset and spit up on his hat.  So the nurse gave him this one---it was BRIGHT yellow (as you can see), and so big that it wouldn't stay on his head.  

Lesley came to the hospital to visit us.  She stayed for a couple of hours while Paul ran errands in town.  He also drove down to Pocatello (about an hour drive) to pick up our new couches and ottoman!  (I swear, babies prompt such expensive spending!  We bought a second car, house, washer and dryer, and couches and an ottoman to prepare for Hayden coming!)

Paul was sooo excited to hold Hayden.  He called his family right away to tell them the good news!

Grandma Sutton (Paul's Grandma) came to visit Hayden.

Can you just see Paul's excitement?!?

Apparently Hayden was really comfortable in that position!

This is my FAVORITE picture of Hayden in the hospital.  He HATED to be undressed or have his diaper changed, but my sister Deena called and wanted to hear him cry.  I undressed Hayden and Lesley snapped this picture!

Catching Up: The only Souvenir we Brought Back from our Honeymoon...

I know it's crazy, but we didn't bring a single thing back from Mexico when we went on our honeymoon.  It made getting through customs a breeze, although I think the customs agent was a little shocked.  Oh well!  

Well, there was one little thing that we brought back with us.....

Hayden's sonogram.

We found out that I was pregnant when I was about 5 weeks along.  We were so shocked!  It took Paul and I a while to come around to the idea, but soon enough we were both sooo excited.  We even got to shock our dad's---for father's day we sent our dads cards.  On the inside, there was a baby footprint that announced their present was another grandchild to be arriving in February of 2011.  

We got a few excited phone calls the day they got their cards!!

Not too long after discovering I was pregnant, Paul and I decided on a name for our baby.  I was surprised by how easy it came to us.  Paul suggested "Hayden" and I fell in love with it!  For some reason, it just fit.  Then I suggested his middle name be "Parker".  Paul didn't really get it at first, but I told him I picked it because he grew up in Parker, Colorado.  After that, it was set:  Our baby's name (if a boy) would be Hayden Parker Kirby.

...At 20 weeks, we found out the baby was a boy!!!!