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First Week

I know all you guys want is pictures, pictures, pictures. But there are some things that pictures alone cannot convey. Experiences that can only be shared using words… Like this one: Twice now, while I have been holding Ruby in my lap, she has proceeded to pump her tiny right fist in the air with the angst and fervor of a downtrodden peasant rising up against her king, punctuated by the largest and loudest bowel movement you can expect from a person so little. See, how can you capture THAT in a picture?

The first week has been nothing short of thrilling. Mom and Dad have been working very hard feeding, cleaning, changing and holding their precious little bundle. You’ll have to forgive me for using the word ‘precious’. I used to think it was too trite and hackneyed of a word to be issued as a compliment. However, it has taken on new meaning and just rolls off of my tongue everytime I gaze at my little girl. Enough of that…

Nancy and I have survived week one nearly unscathed. Ruby is on a much more regular sleeping schedule and actually slept unattended for 4 and half hours straight one night! Don’t worry, this appears to have been an isolated incident, but we thank her for it just the same. Ruby has been gaining weight and appears very healthy (to us). We made it through week one with only two after hours calls to the pediatrician! I never knew there were so many words that you could use to describe a baby’s bowel movements.

On Sunday, Nana, Uncle Jim and Holly stopped by for a visit. Uncle Jim was thrilled to meet his new niece. His favorite part is touching the soft wispy hair on her tiny little head. Next time, Uncle Jim better bring Ruby’s little cousins with him.

This week, Mom and Dad dressed Ruby up in the sweater Aunt Kim knitted for her and took her for her first stroller journey over to her new friend, Sophia Ann’s house. While at an infant CPR class two weeks ago, Nancy and I were lucky enought to meet Jim and Sabrina who coincidentally live just a few houses down from us! Sabrina went into labor that night and Sohpia Ann was born just 5 days ahead of Ruby. Sabrina dispensed with a wealth of advice and gave us warning of some things to come (like cluster feedings and growth spurts). You wouldn’t think a 5 day head start would give them that much of an advantage, but in the cutthroat world of baby raising, a lot can happen in just 5 days…

Special thanks to Grandma Kim for all the food, the loads of laundry, the cleaning and weeding she did for us this week!

First Night

Our first night at home with our little Ruby might not sound that extraordinary to those readers who already have children. To the rest of you, you’re probably thinking the same thing we thought when we walked in your shoes (”the thing sleeps all the time, how hard can it be.”) Well, it turns out that she does indeed appear to sleep all the time, and everyone at the hospital tells you that this is to be expected since birth is just as traumatic for the baby as it is for the mother (if not more). They also tell you that within a few days she will become much more alert and active. What they neglect to mention is that this can happen at any time of day (or night.)

Our little Ruby, a bit confused by her 39 weeks spent floating in a dark amniotic sac emerged from her post-birth coma at 11:00 PM on our first night at home, which was just about the time Nancy and I were eager to catch up on the all the sleep we had not been getting since Ruby was born. I actually set 3 alarms just in case we slept through her crys for food. Silly me…

Ruby wanted to be fed (this is indicated by crying) about once every hour or two. Each feeding lasts just under an hour or so. Then there are the explosive BM’s that happen at about the same frequency (once again, indicated by crying). So, anyone who has taken an introductory statistics or probability class will know that there are is almost an inifinite number of unique timing combinations that can happen between the pooping, peeing and feeding. Each and everyone is a new experience…

Since Dad cannot actively participate in the feeding process, he plays a supportive role by adjusting pillows, hydrating mom with a glass full of water and a straw (this is quite a scene, me feeding Nancy and Nancy feeding the baby. During one of these chain reactions I exclaimed with serious concern “But who will feed me?!”) and changing diapers. As I said before, these things can happen all at once, or just when you think you might squeeze in a 10 minute nap. During one of these rare naps, Ruby’s crys prompted me to see what the cause of her discomfort was. I remembered a piece of advice my brother had recently given me. He said “Babies cry for 1 of 3 reasons, they need to be changed, they need to be fed, or they are tired. There is a fourth reason but that won’t be an issue for you for at least a few more months.” Since Nancy was sleeping, there was no need to wake her if the only thing I needed to do was change a diaper. I snuck my hand inside of her sleep sack so that I could use my diaper wetness detector (finger) to determine if a change of diaper was necessary. I wish you could have seen the look of surprise on my face when instead of a encountering a big fluffy diaper, I got a handful of baby butt. Turns out that during the last frantic diaper change, I forgot to replace the dirty, with a clean. Lucky for ME, this was a hunger cry, and not a dirty diaper cry.

I apologize for not including any new pictures with this post, but quite frankly, there is not much time for picture taking. Secondly, besides cute photos of baby sleeping, there isn’t much to take pictures of. Ruby becomes more alert and much more active with each passing hour. Expect more photos in the days to come.

Pictures of Ruby

The last 3 days have been the happiest days of our lives. There is so much to write, and so many stories to tell (if you took out the word cute, beautiful, and amazing, the stories actually wouldn’t be that long). However, we have never been so busy in our entire lives. This leaves little time to share all of our incredible experiences with the newest member of our family.

That news is probably not going to bother most of you since the overwhelming majority have been screaming for MORE PICTURES! So, here they are…

It’s a girl!

At 7:25 PM, Nancy gave birth to an ever so beautiful baby girl named Ruby St. John Sadecki. Details to follow… Until then, enjoy these photos!