The First Month, And Then Some

DISCLAIMER

This post is meant to be pretty tongue in cheek. When reading, please don't mistake the sarcasm for a bad attitude. We're totally in love with our little girl.

This is a picture of Dave, Jen, and Claire enjoying a "Family" meal before leaving the Hospital. Believe it or not, the food was pretty darned good. This meal took place on the evening before we left (September 16th, 2012).

HEADING HOME

After our stay at the Hospital had exhausted itself, we were on our way home.

Looking back on things, when we met with the Nurse the next morning, the conversation in the Maternity Room could have gone something like this:

Nurse - "You guys ready to go home?"
Us - "Sure! This baby stuff isn't that hard."
Nurse - "OK, let's get you all checked out."
Us - "Groovy! Let's go home and be a family!"

Could we have been any more stupid and naive? Those of you who have kids are already in on the joke.

You can click HERE to see a short video of us leaving the Hospital. The video should open up in a new tab, but if it doesn't you may need to use your "Back" button. FYI.

We were blessed with a Meal Train, which was set up by our friends, Anita and Rhonda. This was a huge help because, after bringing a baby home, and after forgetting about that amazing commodity called sleep, apparently new parents really do not feel much like cooking. True story!

The Meal Train was awesome and a lot of people came to our aid to provide dinner for us. All in all, we had 8 dinners provided, but enough about food... I'm getting hungry.

We were also blessed with a steady stream of visitors, which was really awesome. Do you remember what I said about that amazing commodity called sleep?

ROUTINE, ROUTINE, ROU... WHATEVER!!!

Our general routine for the first two weeks consisted of feedings every three hours, puke, shirt changes, diaper changes, doctors visits (We'll get to this in a minute), and oh yeah, an occasional shower (maybe).

Because of Claire's clefting, she cannot feed like a normal baby, so Jen pumps and Dave does the bottle feeding. We have a special bottle that she can use, which requires no sucking, called the Haberman Feeder. It's quite the invention!

You can click HERE to see a video about how the bottle works. The video should open up in a new tab, but if it doesn't you may need to use your "Back" button. FYI.

One trick with the bottle is that you can't really "zone out" when feeding a baby while using this bottle. First, you have to hold her/him upright (sitting) while feeding, and second, you have to make sure that the bottle is positioned perfectly inside the mouth. A sixteenth of an inch off center means that she isn't getting any milk (at least in our case).

Also because of the clefting, Claire swallows a ton of air, which makes for a fussy baby, but to make feeding more fun, she (we found out later) has reflux, so it hurts her to eat (she's in so much pain, in fact, that she'll practically walk (seriously) right off of your lap during a feeding), and she spits up more than a normal baby. After feeding, because of the reflux, we have to hold her upright for 30 minutes, which helps her to deal with the pain a bit better. Feeding is VERY time consuming and tedious.

This is a picture of Clairelynne feeding from her bottle.

To give bottle feeding some perspective, we did some math... Just for Dave to feed Claire requires 8-10 hours every day.

So, at this point, Jen is in some pretty substantial pain, she's pumping, which is exhausting, and then between both of us, there's laundry, showers, visitors to tend to, insurance issues, pediatric appointments, surgical team appointments, miscellaneous errands, and tons of other stuff to do.

At the first Pediatric check-up, our "regular" Pediatrician was not available, but we couldn't pass up an opportunity for a photo-op.

This is Claire with our Pediatrician, Dr. Gareb. She's awesome!

This is a picture of our Doula, Lindsey (finally), holding Clairelynne. If you were ever on the fence about getting a Doula to help you through your pregnancy, or if you've never even heard of the term "Doula" (like us), look into it. Mad props to this lady!

THINGS ARE GETTING REAL ALL UP IN HERE

To make things more fun, on Thursday Night (September 20th), on the advice of our (previous) pediatrician, we started administering Poly Vi Sol - a thick, horrid tasting vitamin supplement to Claire via a dropper feeder. On the first dose, the vitamins went down Claire's windpipe, and she stopped breathing. After an emergency call to 911, a (this was a first) ride in an ambulance to the ER, and a lot more stress, we really did not know how sleep deprived (and stressed) we really were.

There is a LOT more to that ER story, but for our own sanity, we'll just go ahead and leave it at that. Needless to say, it was very stressful.

On Friday (September 21st), we went into the Doctor's Office for a lactation consultation, and we literally broke down in tears.

Remember that our week before the birth was all about finding out about the cleft, learning about the cleft, and getting our emergency C-Section out of the way. The shock of having a newborn during the following week, coupled with that ER visit, and all of the other stresses, we were really at a wits end. But the nurses at the lactation consultation were awesome.

Here's how that conversation went (after our nervous breakdown):

Nurse - "The Grandmas are in town, right?"
Us - "Yes."
Nurse - "And people are providing you with food for a while?"
Us - "Uh huh."
Nurse - "Put a note on the door which states 'No Visitors except for Meal Train', give the baby to the Grandmas, and go to bed."

And that is EXACTLY what we did. The sign stayed on the door until October 26th (well over a month).

BABY AT HOME BY THE NUMBERS
Since Leaving the Hospital on September 17th:

45 - Days since the birth of Clairelynne
20 - Visits to the Doctor's Office (Including the ER Visit)
3 - Different Reflux/Heartburn Medicines tested on Clairelynne
1.5 - Number of Quarts of Milk Jen Pumps Every Day (WOW!)
1,000 - Miles Driven in the Truck
30+ - "Congrats" Cards Received (Thanks, by the way)
20 - Loads of Laundry (no kidding)
39 - Days it took for Jen to get to her Pre-Pregnancy Weight (Wow, again!)
3.5 - Pounds Claire has gained since leaving the hospital

A NOTE ABOUT FOOTBALL

In our primary bathroom (It's a Notre Dame themed bathroom), we have a song hanging above the doorjamb titled "Why Did You Have To Get Married On The Day Michigan State Played Notre Dame?"

The above picture is of the song above the door jamb, and just in case you didn't believe me, here are a few pictures of our Notre Dame Bathroom in all of its glory (below)!

Jen is VERY understanding.

Anyway, Clairelynne was born on the weekend of the Notre Dame/Michigan State Game (a game that Notre Dame was expected to lose, mind you), and since her arrival, our beloved Fighting Irish have not lost a game.

As a matter of fact (and I'm trying not to get too ahead of things), but Notre Dame is still undefeated and ranked #3 in the BCS Polls.

The only thing that can be made of this is that Claire is a good-luck charm. When you see her, make sure to rub her head for good luck (but not too hard because we don't want to lose her hair)!

How is THAT for some hair!!!

The first picture is of Dave and Claire watching their first Notre Dame game together (Michigan/Notre Dame). She is obviously very into the game. The second picture was Jen's idea.

VISITORS ARE GOOD...

We've had a pretty nice stream of family coming out to visit.

Grandma Lynda and Grandma Kathy were out first. They got to witness all of the excitement with the ER visit, the sleepless nights, and the nervous breakdown.

Pop Greg came out next. We actually got to play some cards with him - trying to stick to our plan of a baby NOT changing things. We're still the same fun couple as we were before we had a baby (Yeah right!).

This is a picture of Pop Greg trying to play cards while holding Claire.

This is the evidence that WE are still fun, albeit a bit distracted.

After a little bit of a break, Aunt Michelle came out, and we actually started braving the outside world. We took Claire to Church, Bible Study, a Restaurant, Softball (Dave plays in an Intramural Softball League), Wal-Mart, and, of course, more Doctor's Visits. Things finally started calming down a bit, which was really nice, specifically for Jen.

Here are a couple of pictures of proud Aunt Michelle with Clairelynne.

The name of Dave's softball team is The Righteous Fielders. Claire is ready to root for Daddy. He is #14 (because of his birth date in August), and coincidentally, Clairelynne was born on the 14th of September. How about that?

Finally, as of this writing, Grandpa Merle and Grandma Suzy came out.

Apparently the baby isn't the only one who needs sleep.

Grandpa Merle and Grandma Suzy are having fun trying to figure out the Haberman Bottle. It's not as easy as it looks.

A few weeks ago, the Space Shuttle Endeavor flew all over LA in commemoration of all of the many businesses and people who worked on the Shuttle, and then it was towed through the streets of Los Angeles - quite the site!

Unfortunately, we missed the whole event because Claire was just newly born and Jen was really suffering from residual pain from her C-Section.

The retired Space Shuttle found its home at the California ScienCenter, and was unveiled on October 30, 2012. Grandma and Grandpa Milhoan, Jen, Dave, and Claire decided (Claire didn't really do much deciding though) to make the trek down to Los Angeles to see the Shuttle.

Claire has found her calling... Flight Chief Brunsman!!!

The trip to the California ScienCenter was Claire's first "real" outing since being born (aside from Doctor's visits, shopping at Wal-Mart, cheering for The Righteous Fielders, or going out to eat.)

A DOG AND HER BABY

Peyton (named after Peyton Manning), our dog, is a bit unsure about what to make of Clairelynne, but she is curious. Every time Claire cries, Peyton is right there, looking into the case. Peyton loves to lick Claire's hands (giving her kisses) a LOT (don't know if the baby likes this though).

We are pretty sure that Peyton's attentiveness to Claire is really her way of saying, "Hey, pay some attention to me too!".

This picture, of course, was staged.

This was not.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

The general consensus is that Clairelynne is a total bundle of joy.

We agree!

In the next post, we'll write about the upcoming surgeries for little Clairelynne, which, as of right now, have been postponed. We'll also provide a LOT of photos and we'll write about Halloween (we have a very cute costume for Claire and wait until you see our pumpkin!), bath time, belly buttons, rolling over, and a beautiful Baptism (hopefully with video to boot!).

In the meantime, and as always, thanks for reading!

Love,

Dave, Jen, Clairelynne, and Peyton (the dog)

Celebrate!!!

We were so fortunate that we were able to have three baby showers (one was a baby party, though (ha!)!

The first shower was hosted on June 3rd, 2012, by two of Jen's student's parents from school, Kristen and Lisa. This party was specifically for the parents who had kids in Jen's class during the 2011/12 School Year. There was a great turnout and it was fun to see the kids outside of school. The kids look at a teacher like an alien when she's away from the classroom. Dave did not attend this party (because guys don't go to showers), but it was apparently a lot of fun.

The third (I'm skipping for a moment - I've been know to do that from time to time.) shower was on August 25th, 2012, hosted by some of the people that Jen works with, Sue, Mia, and Kim. Teachers from her current school, Rosedell, and teachers that she worked with at Bouquet Canyon came, and it was great to see them all.

These pictures are from the "Teacher" Party. Having that many women in one room can't be a good thing (that's what the host's husband said, anyway).

Also from the "Teacher" Party... that's a heck of a food spread, huh? Perhaps Dave should re-think his "Guy's don't go to showers" thing.

One of the cute activities from the third party was a series of note cards called "Advice for the Mom-to-Be". Everyone at the party was asked to fill out one of the cards.

Here are some of our favorites.

"By Costco wipes. Don't get name brand clothes (they grow too fast). Bathe your baby 2X a week instead of every day :)" - Carin

"When you think you have enough diapers and change of clothes, put more in both cars. Little girls ALWAYS wipe front to back only. Always take a moment to step back and enjoy this crazy ride called Parenthood!" - Keni

"Trust that God knew all your strengths and (a few) weaknesses you and Dave have when he picked you to be parents so keep laughing through tough days and loving always." - Gretchen

"To remember that your precious baby girl is a gift from God and to enjoy every moment - good or bad! And breathe!" - Anita

"Have a glass of wine the moment after your daughter is born. You deserve it!" - Alyssa

There were a lot of other great comments (you saw how many women were in that room), but Internet space and binary code is a total commodity so, let's move on.

For the second party (skipping backwards now), Jen and Dave wanted to do something really special. During this past year, when Jen was in RCIA (it's a class for becoming Catholic), one of the classmates, Jen Paz, who was also pregnant, told us that she was going to do a Gender Reveal Party. Of course we were intrigued because we're always looking for something new and different.

Basically, the gist of the idea is that everyone at the party learns about the baby's gender at the same time as the parents (in this case, Dave and Jen) do. Jen Paz's idea for revealing the gender of her baby was to use a cake where, if the baby is a boy the cake part (under the icing) is blue, and if the baby is a girl the cake part is pink. The parents cut the cake and then everyone finds out together. Pretty cool, huh?

We had a few logistical issues to work out before we could commit to this type of a party, though.

First, our Anatomic Ultrasound was scheduled for May 21st, and the proposed Gender Reveal Party was to be on June 30th. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the method in which the gender is actually discovered and distilled through the proper channels.

We went to our Anatomic Ultrasound on May 21st and the technician wrote (it was actually a picture of the anatomy), in a sealed envelope, the sex of our baby. Instead of holding on to this type of information for a whole month (because honestly, would you be able to trust yourself (a.k.a. Jen) with this kind of information for a whole month?), we gave the envelope to one of our family friends from church, Gary and Shelly, for safe keeping.

Here are a couple of pictures from the Anatomic Ultrasound on May 21, 2012. The first one, just in case you're not that good at reading Ultrasounds, is a picture of the profile, and the second one is a picture of two feet (all 10 toes!).

This is a picture of the actual contents from the sealed envelope. In the upper left of the picture, you'll see "GIRL" and then, in the middle of the picture, you'll see an arrow. We'll leave it at that :)

Neither Jen nor Dave knew what was in the envelope. We thought that the Ultrasound technician had just written "Girl" (or Boy) on a piece of paper.

Jen and Dave were then scheduled to drive across the country beginning on June 19th (with a Dog and a pregnant wife) - 2,000 miles in two days!

We did end up making the trip in two days, staying the first night in Amarillo, TX. Jen is a total champ, by the way!

This is a picture of Jen enjoying her time in the passenger seat of the car on the way to Indiana. If you can make it out, in the foot-space, we've built it up with a cooler, several pillows, and a blanket, so that she can keep her feet on the dash. Apparently this was comfortable for Jen. Since I was her "servant" during this time, and she was, well, a little big, we (Jen laughed at this, by the way) called her "Jabba the Wife".

Before we left, we got the sealed gender envelope back from Gary and Shelly, and we had to trust ourselves (more Jen than Dave) with this information in the car until the party on June 30th.

On June 25th, we brought the sealed envelope into Gramz Bakery in Columbus, Indiana and we told them what we wanted to do. They took the envelope into the back of the store, opened it up, made sure that there was no confusion in any way shape or form, and we ordered a cake which was to be picked up on Saturday.

These pictures are of the business where we got the cake. I can't remember the name of the girl who helped us out. Hopefully she doesn't mind having her face plastered onto the internet.

In order to make sure that there was no possibility of a spoiler, we had a friend, Bob Drake, pick the cake up. Who knows? The bakery could have put "It's a Girl" on the top of the cake or they could have made the outside icing pink, or some other crazy thing. So many things could have gone wrong. We didn't want to take any chances. It's a good thing we had someone else pick up the cake because "GIRL" was written on the receipt. Close call!

Here is a picture of the cake.

This Gender Reveal Party (not a shower, because guys don't go to showers - ha!) was put on by Jen's Sister (Michelle) and Mom (Lynda) and they did a really great job.

Before the actual party, Jen and Dave decided (a month before) that they wanted to renew their wedding vows in celebration of their 10th Anniversary. We felt like this would be an interesting time do to a vow renewal because we were celebrating our 10th Anniversary, but also because we were nearing welcoming our baby into the world - the start of a new life, so to speak. The ceremony was officiated by one of Jen's family ministers, Brian White.

Dave, as usual, was a total balling mess (Jen was too, though). After the ceremony, Jen's dad said "You know what? I guess I never really would have thought that a vow renewal would be so emotional, but it makes sense because now you've really been through some stuff and you know how hard life and marriage is."

This was a pretty interesting comment because, seriously, when you get married and you hear "sickness and health, richer or poorer, blah-bity blah blah" you make that promise looking at all of the optimistic outcomes, and you don't really understand "sickness, poorer, etc..." After 10 years of marriage, those words definitely have much more of an impact. We are so lucky to have each other!

Here are a couple of pictures from the Vow renewal. Apparently there is to be no more kissing when you are married for 10 years. We're an old married couple now!

A ton of our family and friends showed up at the party, which made the whole celebration all the more special. We were able to see some people that we hadn't seen in 10 years (since we moved to California).

The whole party went off without a hitch, and the cake reveal worked perfectly.

The first picture is right after the cake was cut (see the pink?). Apparently, no one took an actual photo (everyone switched their cameras to "video") of the actual cake cutting. The reveal was DEFINITELY a lot more exciting than this picture leads on. The second picture is of our great party-planners/hosts, Michelle (Jen's Sis) and Lynda (Jen's Mom).

This is a picture of the excited Mommy and Daddy To Be.

I don't know if this will work or not, but I uploaded a video of the actual cake cutting. Here's the link.

You can see a video of us cutting the cake HERE. The video should open up in a new tab, but if it doesn't you may need to use your "Back" button. FYI.

We can assure you that we were just as surprised as everyone else in the room. We had our assumptions and thoughts, but we had NO IDEA about the gender at all.

Afterwards, Jen's dad, Merle, and Step-Mom, Suzy, hosted a huge BBQ at their house.

On the way to Merle and Suzy's house, Jen and Dave drove past the Columbus Movie Theater, The Crump, and this is what was on the billboard. We're pretty sure that this was just a coincidence (perhaps a wedding), especially because no one has claimed ownership of this little stunt. Pretty cool nonetheless - thought we'd get a snapshot of it anyway.

This is a picture of all of the cars at Merle and Suzy's house.

For the first picture, apparently the fan at Merle and Suzy's was not working, so Dave felt the need to get a little bit of his Cap'n on. Jay, Jen's Bro-In-Law, is the one doing the actual "work".

The second picture is of our dog, Peyton. There was a thunderstorm that evening and she wasn't really taking part in any of that. She's hidden behind the couch. Weenie!

We were able to visit lots of people during the rest of the week we were home.

Dave's sister, Jen, and Bro-In-Law, Evan, host an annual Luau in conjunction with their neighbors. The party is quite the ordeal, but Dave and Jen had never been able to go. Jen and Evan were nice enough to organize the party for the time period when we were expected to be in the Midwest. We got to spend some good time with niece, Grace, and nephew, Holtz, along with many other family members and friends. Jen and Evan really put on a show!

Dave's Dad, Bob, and Step-Mom, Billie, hosted a nice BBQ at their house during the week, and everyone on Dave's side of the family was in attendance - including his Gram and Grandad Sell (who is 96 years old!) from Arizona.

But alas, after an awesome, and exhausting 10 days, it was time to head back to California. So, we packed up all of the gifts (and there were a lot!) into the car and headed back home.

The big difference was that, on the return trip, we knew we were going to have a little girl.

In the next post, we'll tell about the first month at home, including a visit to the ER, and about our (already) scheduled surgeries for little Clairelynne.

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Dave, Jen, Claire, and Peyton (the dog)