More pictures / Wednesday, December 14, 2005
This is how Toby sleeps, with his hands holding his head. Not that he's in his bed right now, but on the changing table, refusing to wake up for a feeding. The diaper change, changed all that.
Or he sleeps stretching his arms every which way, I think he dreams of kung fu. 
Trying not to fall asleep, b/c that would mean letting mummy and daddy sleep.
/Hopped!
5:40 PM
1 week old today / Friday, December 09, 2005
Tummy Time for our boy.
I just wanted to share a few photos of our boy today. Can you believe it has been a week already?
And I wanted to share just how much I love these two guys. Pete is such a good Daddy, and husband. I think he has gotten half the sleep that I have, in order to help me recover from the surgery and to help battle off postpartum depression before it begins.
/Hopped!
9:42 PM
In Which Toby Cries Lots / Thursday, December 08, 2005
Well he was quiet in the hospital....
We brought him home, and his nice little cry turned into a ear piercing scream of a cry, which ain't fun. It's kind of heart breaking having your baby cry without knowing what's wrong. Still there is a pro to this, I can take off my shirt and lay him on my chest and he'll clam down, the cons are he has to be on my chest to remain calm which mean I got three hours of sleep last night, and he'll grab onto my chest hair with his little hands and pull which kind of hurts. It's a small price to pay for a good look at my baby boy though...
He started to calm down a bit this afternoon, I guess it's just that he's in a new place and kind of peturbed by everything. He was however crying and acting hungry a minute ago but he wouldn't nurse. He drank from a bottle alright though. It's kind of frustrating. We're going to the pediatrician tomorrow (so she can look at his jaundice), hopefully she'll be able to help with that.
That's all for today. There may be quite few little short post where I vent a little. I still love him more than anything That's what makes it so frustrating. I just wish he could tell me what's wrong. Poor little guy.
/Hopped!
12:29 AM
In Which Two Become Three! / Tuesday, December 06, 2005
The little man is here!
I say little, he was actually 9lbs 13.4oz, so most of the newborn clothes don't fit him too well!
Anyhow, I'm jumping the gun a bit aren't I? Let's start from the beginning, which, in my opinion is the best place to start.
We got to the hospital bright and early on Firday morning at six, Ash and I went to get prepared. I actually had a lot less preparing than Ash, obviously, she had to get a drip put in and a big needle for the epidural rammed in her back. I wasn't allowed to see the needle part, on account of me probably fainting!
The it was down to buisiness. Ash went into the operating room for the epidural, and I was sitting outside in silly looking clothes with Dianne. At about 8:05 they called us in. I sat by Ash's head and held her hand. There was a little screen made of part of the sheet that Ash was on protecting me from seeing too much at the business end. It was probably worse for me than it was for Ash, she couldn't see anything. I couldn't see much, but I can't watch ER because of such scenes like this one! I saw blood squirting up a couple of feet in the air, and a pool of blood on the floor. All rather upsetting really. Ash could just feel a bit of pressure (oh, just in case you were wondering she was concious) while her OB was putting all his weight on her ribs wrestling with Toby to get him out. They got him out (which made all the bloody bit worthwhile, and the official birth time was 8:18. A pretty quick operation really! It took them longer to stitch her up than to get him out!
It's just as well we had a C-section instead of natural birth. The nuchal cord was wrapped around his neck twice. If he had survived a labored natural birth he would have probably had brain damage of some kind. As it was he was a very healthy baby. His blood sugar was very low, so they had to stick a thing down his nose and feed him (there's no lasting effects), but apart from that he was fine. He didn't cry when he came out. I cried a little when they were sticking the straw down his nose, but you would as well wouldn't you?!
Well they washed Toby up and put him in Ash's arms, and wheeled her out to meet Pepaw. Then they took her away to a recovery room, and me, Nana, Pepaw, and Aunt Fifi went to the nursery to see my son. It was pretty good, because all in all, Ash and Toby were apart for about an hour, mummy,daddy and son shared a room together (I slept on a pull out bed, Toby slept in a plastic cot thingy) I could see him from the second he was born until Ash and I needed a good nights sleep and sent him to the nursery that night.
Anyhow, we basically spent all our time since that living with each other, and looking at and learning about each other. It's been a very interesting time. Priorities, attitudes, responsibilities, and a whole heap of other things change. Time for a mushy bit... Toby Peter Spencer is the most beautiful baby I've ever seen. I realise that every parent says that, but they're all wrong! I will spend the rest of my life worrying (I hope it's mine and not his. There's worry number one...) and I mean really worrying. No offense but if you're not a parent you don't know what real worries are. However, I know that it is and will be worth it, because the love that I have for him is something that I've never felt before. The day he was born was the best day of my life so far, and I expect to have alot of other best days of our lives together.
Anyhow, now I've that bit out of the way.... A word of advice to anyone who wants to be a father. You wife may have been a bit crazy during pregnancy, but right after the hormones go wild and you can scratch the "a bit" out. I think Ash has cried more than Toby has! Another thing, milk doesn't come in straight away, and you do have a role to play in breastfeeding. I'm holding Toby's hand while he's nursing, keeping him awake and stopping his little hands getting in the way. Getting a baby to latch on is no easy feat. He has as much to learn as we do. It is in our case incredibly difficult, and even though he hasn't got teeth he has got hard gums which do just a little less damage than teeth. So Toby is lying there crying in frustration, Ash is sitting there crying in frustration (and a little pain). And I'm trying to calm them both down. It's not an easy job, but I wouldn't swap it for any other. Anyhow, that's enough of scaring you guys!
Oh right one more thing, C-Sections are very painful to recover from. Ash is not having fun right now. You can pray for her if you do. If you don't then "Keep her in your thoughts" (one step away from praying if you ask me.... Okay I'd better not get started on that old chestnut...)
I guess you're woncering where the pictures are. They're right here:
http://www.geocities.com/peterspencer10/tobypics
Not really well organised, but neither am I right now!
Anyhow, I'm pooped and I think Toby has also, so cheerio!
/Hopped!
10:31 PM