4 weeks old!

quentin is 4 weeks old! he is getting very big and is still eating like a mad man. i think he may have a little bit of a cold. he's sneezing and has a bit of a runny nose. we've gotten to use our booger sucker for the first time! he stays awake a lot more during the day, generally for about an hour after he eats. he's fascinated by everything around him and has thoroughly enjoyed swinging in his swing. it is a very exciting week for all of us, as we will be closing on the new house tomorrow morning and starting to move things in. finally!! it will nice not to be homeless! as you know, all of our earthly possessions are contained in 3 PODS in storage in ludlow, mass. i called PODS yesterday to determine how much it would cost to have them delivered to our new house in hanson, mass. it's about a 100 mile trip so i expected to pay a bit for delivery. i couldn't believe how much they wanted for it - $2480!!! it only cost us $3400 to move all 3 PODS from richmond to here - a 600 mile trip. so needless to say, we will not be paying the PODS company $2480 to take a short trip down the mass pike. instead, the 3 PODS will be delivered to my uncle's house at a total cost of $51. then, we have rented a massive 26' truck from penske for a whopping $286. throw it a bit of sweat equity to get the truck loaded and some gas money and we'll get the same end result at a rough savings of $2000.

the great chipmunk detective

a non-baby post for your amusement...

as you know, quentin, the cat, all 4 dogs, and i are staying at my parents' house while we wait to move in to our new boston house. my parents live in a wooded area and have a huge fenced in backyard that the dogs love. our dog abby really loves it because the dog door from the house gives her unrestricted on-demand access to the outdoors. she loves to be out there sniffing, and only comes in to get a drink of water and make sure no one in the house is eating steak or something like that.

all day monday, abby was outside. but instead of her usual patrolling of the yard, she was OBSESSED with the trailer hitch that my parents have to haul their car behind their rv. she was sniffing circles around it, trying to dig under it, scratching at it, etc. we thought maybe there was a chipmunk or mole hole near by that she was trying to infiltrate. or that the chipmunks were stealing tomatoes from the garden and abby was trying to sniff them back. (abby has fallen in love with fresh from the garden veggies of all kinds.)

after like 4 hours of her pacing out there, i decided to go check out what was so darn fascinating. i watched her circle the hitch and then try to gnaw on the steel center beam. when she started trying to get inside the hitch i finally figured it out. i heard squeaking. there was a chipmunk (likely, but could have been mouse) stuck in the center beam of the hitch. abby is sniffed it out and was trying to coax it out of the hitch and into her mouth. not sure if it couldn't, or just wouldn't come out, but that little squeaker was not budging.

my mom came outside to see what all the drama was. with her help (and now the help of 4 more hounds), we identified two spots where the little bugger could have gotten in and should theoretically be able to escape from. but we couldn't coax it out either, not with all the hounds around.

so when my dad got home, he got involved in the rescue. if there's one thing my dad loves, it's teaching rodents lessons. he had the great idea to prop the (really heavy) hitch on its side with a random piece of metal so that the center beam where the chipmunk was hiding would be slanted upward (see picture.) he then got the garden hose and shoved it in one of the escape holes mom and i had found, leaving chipper no other option but to run for the hills out the other end. the hose was then turned on and the remaining space around it plugged up with a plastic bag so that the beam would start to fill with water and push the critter upwards and onwards.

this is the point where i started worrying about the darwin awards, or at a minimum being that really sad but funny news story posted on the cnn.com front page. i could just see it - man, wife, daughter, son-in-law, grandson, and several hounds killed in tragic chipmunk rescue. i made jeremy take quentin inside - the boy should not have to bear witness to the death of his family at the hands of a rodent. he also corralled all the hounds and got them inside too.

the water was a good idea - it got the critter right to the very end of the beam. it was getting dark at this point, and there are no lights by the hitch, but we could see its beady little eyes.

giving up of the flush it out approach, dad decided to drop the hitch back down flat on the ground - thinking the impact might scare the little bugger out. that hitch is heavy so it hit the ground hard with an intense thud. but the chipmunk did not budge.

jeremy heard the crash from inside and came running out to make sure we were all ok. but he forgot about the dogs so the whole pack came running straight towards the hitch. and that's what did it. the now soaked chipmunk came flying out of the hitch and ran straight into the wood pile to avoid the hounds. he resisted abby's prodding, a thorough soaking slash near drowning, and a massive drop to the ground but the sound of a pack of hungry hounds was enough to make him throw in the towel.

bet he never goes in the hitch again. rodent lesson learned. poor abby has been depressed since - she worked all day for the chipmunk and never got a taste.

happy due date to you!

happy due date quentin! i think he was hoping we'd due something special today to commemorate the day he was supposed to be born. but the combination of a still-sick (though feeling better) mom and dad and the fact that the heat index here today was 110 degrees meant that we stayed in the only air conditioned room in the house all day. i think this disappointed him because he has been cranky all day. or he's hot, sick, and/or going through a growth spurt. he's been sneezing fairly often - baby sneezes - so cute. he's also been eating like a fiend, demanding 4 ounces (or more!!!) every two hours. and then there's times where he's been fed, changed, is being held, and still just screams his head off. fortunately he really seems to like the womb bear which calms him down. and he also digs the pacifier. probably hurts less than his little talons :) the boy's finger nails have gotten a little sharp. he's got a little scratch on his face. it's a little weird that the day i had spent months anticipating was so uneventful, but i suppose very few babies are born on their actual due dates. quentin just couldn't wait to get out!

just so darn cute

my fever is gone!

now to eat something!!!

i forget the best part...

he latched for 45 minutes last night and was actually getting milk. i could see a bit dribbling down his cute little chin. it's hard to say how much he actually got, and he did take about 2 ounces from a bottle afterward (after some serious bloody murder screams!) but progress is being made!

3 weeks old!

the little doodle is 3 weeks old today! he's getting huge - it's already time to loosen the straps in his car seat a bit. he's putting back 4 ounces a feeding. making it difficult to keep up with pumping. but we're doing the best we can and only supplementing formula as necessary. he keeps his eyes open much longer each day now, usually for about an hour after eating so he's got a little brightly colored toy dangling from the handle of his car seat. he can barely reach it but he just stares at it and i've even seen him grasping the very tip of it when he's sleeping. not surprising because he has very busy little hands! his social security number came in the mail today - he's legit!! now hopefully my insurance will hurry up and finish processing his application so the pediatrician can get paid! in other news, it is my turn to be sick. i don't seem to have what jeremy or my dad had but some other fun crazy virus. i have a fever and alternate back and forth between the worst chills ever and the deepest sweats ever. one minute - sweatshirt on, socks on, slippers on, burrowed in blankets, next minute dripping in sweat and have to lose all the layers and change shirts because the other one is soaked. i slept all day yesterday and the day before which i think helped. today i have been able to stay awake but the chills, sweats, and fever are still here. i really just hope quentin doesn't get sick. he's been sneezing a bit but doesn't seem to have a fever and he's not fussy. fingers crossed!

Father of the Year?

Unfortunately, not right now. Sunday morning I got up to feed Quentin and noticed my throat felt a little scratchy. This had me worried because Mr. Bard had been dealing with a sinus infection. All day Sunday, I had a runny nose but it felt like bad allergies. Then it happened, it was like I was hit by a ton of bricks. I started hacking, had a thick mucousy snot, and chills and aches. At about 8PM I told Keira I was going to lie down and then didn't get out of bed until almost noon yesterday. When I did get up, i felt a little better and helped out with the boy for most of the day. Last evening again, I felt horrid again. I literally had the aches so bad I felt like I was in pain. I haven't felt this sick for almost a year and half. Keira will tell you that I can be a little "dramatic" when I don't feel well, but this time was different. I truly felt KO'd. Hopefully, Keira and Quentin do not get this. I just feel awful because I have to go back to work tomorrow and have been no help to Keira and haven't been able to spend a lot of time with my son :( It just really hurts.

belly button!

quentin's cord stump finally fell off today so he now has a belly button! he's got an innie!

2 weeks old!

time flies!! the little dude is already two weeks old. he's getting big - weighed in at 7 pounds 14 ounces at the pediatrician on monday - so he's regained his birth weight (and more!) the little newborn onesies barely fit anymore and the newborn sized diapers cannot contain his incredible emissions. he certainly eats enough. last week he took about 2-2.5 ounces of milk per feeding. now he easily puts back 3.5 or more each time! i have created quentin's first excel spreadsheet to track feeding times and amounts each day - i'm sure folks at capital one will not find this surprising!!! what can i say - i love excel and so will quentin :) (cof folks may also have noticed that i conveniently didn't go into labor until after i had finished reviewing the 10131 moi! quentin knew he should let his mommy do her thing!) it is a little depressing that my paid maternity leave is already 25% done, but oh well!

look at me!

some random pics

just a few cell phone (hence the low quality) pics of my favorite little guy!

on our own

jeremy flew back down to richmond today to wrap things up at the richmond house - the project that little quentin so dramatically interrupted last time! he'll be back on thursday and hopefully we won't need to go back! taking care of a newborn by yourself is tough! i had to do the 6 a.m. feeding entirely on my own since jeremy was already gone and my mom was back in bed after bringing jer to the airport so early this morning. by the time i finished changing his diaper, changing his onesie, attempting to nurse, pumping, feeding, burping, washing the pump parts, washing the bottle, and changing his diaper again it was almost time to start the whole routine over again. so much easier with two sets of hands!! is it thursday yet?!?!

Wicked Pissa'

To borrow from the Boston vernacular, Quentin is a wicked pissa, literally. This kid pees like a race horse. He's a little small for the 8-10 lb diapers but we have to use them. If he's wearing the newborn diapers and lets fly, he soaks through the diaper! We have been averaging ~6-8 onsies per day. Since going to the bigger diapers he stays dry longer :) BTW, the down side to the bigger diaper is when the little waste factory drops a mega-deuce, which is often. I think you can imagine what i'm talking about it. It's okay, he's so cute and daddy loves him :)

hope is not lost!

quentin has latched twice in the last 24 hours, once last night and just now! he still loves the bottle, but at lease he's still giving the boob a chance! :)

quentin and the pups

we were a bit worried about how the dogs would react to the new baby. the four hounds have been our "babies" for so long and they are a teeny bit spoiled. we worried about jealousy issues, especially from bailey who is the ultimate mama's boy. but so far so good. jackson, abby, and martini have shown almost no interest in the baby. bailey has, but it's been pleasantly surprising. he LOVES his new baby brother. he loves to sit on the couch with us when we hold quentin. he follows us to the nursery when we need to change diapers and lets us know when quentin is crying. it's very very cute!

it's been one week

happy one week birthday quentin!

give em what they want!

baby pictures!!! he's really hard to get with his eyes open!

adventures in breastfeeding

all through my pregnancy i planned to breastfeed little roo, even though the thought of it kinda freaked me out a bit. there's just so many benefits (better for baby, cheaper than formula, etc.) to not give it a try. before we left the hospital, quentin and i worked with the lactation consultant a couple of times. he really didn't latch on very well, but she said that's normal for early babies. we just needed to keep at it. we kept trying and he'd get it it eventually each time we tried. we would just have to be patient with him as he fussed and slurped for 30 minutes. unfortunately, his laziness at the breast was worrying the nurses who didn't think he was getting enough to eat. they really wanted us to give him some formula but we resisted, being super stubborn about nursing and being patient with quentin. when we left the hospital, he had only lost 5% of his birth weight - perfectly normal, so we must have been doing something right! the hospital sends a nurse to the home of all newborns the day after they leave the hospital. so sunday roo and i saw a nurse at home. she checked us both out, making sure we were progressing as appropriate. when she weighed quentin, he was down to 6 pounds 14 ounces which borders on 10% weight loss and is a bit of cause for concern. quentin was a bit jaundiced so that could have been contributing to his suppressed appetite. she insisted we immediately start supplementing with formula and feed every 2 hours. we really didn't want to, but we also didn't want to starve our baby. unfortunately this was around the same time when quentin decided to flat out refuse nursing. not wanting to switch to 100% formula in fear we might not ever go back, i decided to give the dinky manual breast pump the hospital gave me a try. i was able to pump out enough that we could minimize formula intake. damn was it tiring, all that squeezing, but worth it for my little baby. each time, we'd try to get him to take the breast but he just wouldn't. the nurse also consulted with our pediatrician (who happens to have been MY pediatrician!) and they decided that he needed to go in first thing on monday for a weight and jaundice check. when they weighed him at the pediatrician's office, he weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces, so i am thoroughly convinced that the home nurse's scale was off and caused a whole lot of unnecessary concern. oh well. he is still a little guy, measuring in the 25th percentile for height, weight, and head size. but to be fair, he's being measured against full term babies, not early birds like himself. it only took a full day's worth of feedings using the manual pump for us to go to babies r us and buy the industrial strength pump we had registered for. and of course as soon as we got home from the store with our new gadget, guess who decides he'll nurse again??? but it didn't last long. we got through 2 feedings before he was back to being fussy and refusing. and that's how we continue - trying to nurse but end up giving a bottle of pumped milk. we're not giving up!

Flexing My Medical Muscle

Keira was supposed to get discharged from the hospital last Saturday. She was really ready to get the hizzle out of there. Late Friday night, one of the midwives came in and informed us that her hemoglobin was low. She had been giving blood since she got into the hospital but this was the first anyone told us about anything. Her level was actually very low. If she had been actively bleeding or had a hemoglobin disorder she would have needed a blood transfusion. However, she was not bleeding and had no symptoms. They drew her blood saturday morning while i was on my way to Hanson for the home inspection. They decided she should stay another night because her hemoglobin was still low. She was rightfully upset. In fact, the doctor who made this decision had not even seen her. I called the hospital from the road to voice my discontent. I argued that while low, her hemoglobin was trending up, she had no symptoms, and that there was no point on having her stay in hospital because if she started bleeding or had symptoms we would return to the hospital. If she needed a transfusion, the blood would not even be ready in the time if would take to get back to the hospital. The midwife listened to my argument and talked with the doctor who reluctantly agreed to let her go home. BTW, she has been fine. We went the next morning to have her blood drawn which showed further improvement in her hemoglobin level. Word to the wise, don't mess with a pediatric intern :)