That Seahorse

A while back, when I was still pregnant, I blogged about a seahorse. I thought the seahorse would help Braysen sleep, but when I played it for him when I was pregnant, he went nuts.

Well, we've had quite a few sleepless nights lately. Braysen seems to have his days and nights mixed up. He really would like to be up until 3:00 in the morning. He would also really like to be held during this time. He is fine and wide awake if you're holding him, but the minute you set him down, he wants nothing to do with it. By the time we get him down, it's almost time to wake up for another feeding. The other night, we'd had enough. We were both really tired, and had tried pretty much everything we could think of to get this little guy to go to sleep. Grasping at straws, we stuck the seahorse in the Pack n Play with him. This was his response the first time we turned it on.

The second time we played it for him, we got a little yawn, then he just stared at it.

By the third time we played it, he was OUT!

I used it again then next day when I put him down for a nap during the day. I only pushed it one time. I checked on him after it finished playing. By the time it was done playing through the first time, this is how I found him:

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

Braysen got to meet the Easter Bunny today!

Newborn Photos

On Saturday we took Braysen to have his newborn pictures done. We took him to a place in Riverside called Barefoot Photography, which is where we did our maternity pictures. We got to proof them and order what we wanted last night. I spent way too much money, and will probably have to eat Top Ramen for the next month in order to pay for them, but they were so worth it! Here is Braysen at 6 days old.

Tony's Baseball Glove

He's here!

So, Braysen decided to arrive a little sooner than I would have liked him to. I really wanted him to wait until at least his due date, but he decided that 39 weeks was long enough for him.


Sunday the 14th was supposed to be our big moving day. We spent all of Saturday getting everything ready for the big move. After my mom and I cleaned the house from top to bottom, I was pretty tired and still needed to finish packing, so I went home. Tony was out at our new house finishing everything up so the house would be ready for the next day. I was at home packing up the last of our things. At about 10:45 that night, as I was sitting on the living room floor packing up our plates and glasses, my water broke. I called Tony to come home and off to the hospital we went. We finally got checked into the hospital at about 1:00. After they hooked me up to an IV with pitocin, I was given an epidural. They wanted to start pitocin because my water had already broken and they wanted to get my contractions moving. They also said that they suggested I get the epidural right after the pitocin because the contractions would start coming quickly and much stronger (they were already about 3 minutes apart). Since I planned on getting an epidural anyway, I told them to go for it.

Things started to get rough after that. The baby's heart rate was erratic and kept dropping. My blood pressure was extremely low. At one point it was 78/30. They had me switch from different sides to help the baby's heart rate. At some point they took my temperature and noticed I had a fever, so they started antibiotics in my IV.

They continuously checked my dilation and things started off pretty slow, then progressed very quickly. When they checked me at 3:00 I was 2 cm, shortly after this is when they started the pitocin. Then at 6:20 I was at 4 cm, then when they checked me at 10:15 am I was at 9 cm! It was at this point when they told me that the baby was what they call "sunny-side up", meaning he was face up instead of face down. Babies are much harder to deliver this way because of how their heads and necks have to bend to come down under the pelvic bones.

Once I began pushing, the nurse told me that if I wasn't able to deliver the baby quick enough, they would have to take him C-section. I was really frustrated because I felt like I was pushing and pushing but he just wasn't going anywhere. Finally, They decided he was close enough, and had to use a vacuum to assist the delivery. After I finally delivered, the doctor told me that if I hadn't gotten him out with that last push, she would have taken him C-section.

After he was delivered, I didn't even get the chance to see him. The doctor plopped him on my stomach for a split second, but all I could see was his back, then the assistants took him immediately. My mom and Tony got to take pictures as he was cleaned up. Because I had a fever during the delivery, he also had a fever, and they were concerned that he was very tired after the delivery, so they took him to the nursery. After I finally got checked into the postpartum room, Tony brought him there 2 hours after delivery.

I know, long birth story, but I feel like it is easier to write it than to keep telling it. :)

So after that long night and long morning, we finally have

Braysen Gage Schuler

Born March 14th

3:26 pm

6 pounds 15 ounces

20 inches

Our New House - BEFORE

Here are some of the pictures I took of our house late last night.

The dining room, which when finished will actually serve as our bar.

The living room, stained carpet and all.

The kitchen with its yucky vinyl flooring.

Kitchen again with the broken vertical blinds.

Master bath, and yes, that is CARPET in the master bath.

Master bedroom.

Our LOOOONG entryway!

Guest bathroom with the yucky vinyl flooring again.

Laundry room, yes, vinyl flooring again.

These pictures I took this afternoon when we visited to see the progress so far.

Tony and Bud taking a break after a long night last night and long day today.

The new entryway tile in progress.

The painters had also started painting when my mom and I went by there today, but we couldn't get into those rooms because they were still laying the tile. Maybe tomorrow. :)

38 Weeks and 4 Days...

...and there's s much going on!

I had a doctor appointment yesterday. Apparently I'm dilated 1 cm. WHAT? I know that 1 cm dilation doesn't really mean much, but it does mean that things are beginning to happen down there, and I'm currently trying to stall for more time!
Closing escrow is stressful enough as it is, but with the situation we're in, the stress is ten-fold. There was drama with the tile that we originally picked out, and the tile guy was going to start today, so we needed to find new tile ASAP. The people at Lowes probably thought we were nuts when they saw my 9-months pregnant butt, still in my work clothes and high heels, not only picking out, but BUYING tile at 8:30 last night! What a sight I must have been! Last night after all the tile drama, I went out to take some "before" pictures of the house. I'll post those later. Tony and Bud spent most of last night at the house ripping out all the flooring and baseboards so the tile can be laid today. After the tile comes the paint and the carpet, then our furniture.

Hopefully things with the house will get moving before this baby does any more moving of his own!