12/18/2007 4:32:10 PM
I hate that I only get to this site about once a month, but I think most of you keep up with my blog anyway. We've hit the two month mark...ugh...time is going by so very fast. We had his two month doctor's appointment yesterday and he had to get his first round of vaccines. That was no fun. To see my son screaming for any reason (whether it is good for him or not) just breaks my heart!
We've been getting packed up and ready to go as we will be heading out tomorrow for the Christmas holidays. We'll drive to Big Spring tomorrow and stay there on Thursday and then head to Portales, NM on Friday and be there until...well we haven't really decided for sure yet.
Ok...we're off to take some friends dinner who also just had a baby. Welcome to the world Caleb Lane Muse...Cohen can't wait to play with you!
11/13/2007 10:30:52 AM
Wow...I can hardly believe that a month has already gone by since our sweet baby boy entered this world. I also want to apologize for the lack of posting and updating on this site...time just seems to get away from me. You can check out my blog for some updated pictures and our latest happenings (www.melanieross.net). I will try to post some new pictures here today and try to do a better job of keeping this awesome site updated.
Cohen is doing really well and is very healthy. At our pediatrician appointment he weighed 8 pounds and 10 ounces. We're going to build up some big muscles carrying him around! Overall he's a very good baby and only really cries when I've eaten something that doesn't settle well with him.
We still are so incredibly thankful for all of your love and support. We couldn't do it without you.
More to come...
Melanie
10/20/2007 12:36:33 AM
Good evening to everyone, sorry for the absence of information.
We are home now and have had a couple of good days so far. Cohen and Melanie are both doing well and seem to be making a really good connection. He sleeps very well, I am just hoping that he learns to do less sleeping during the hours of 7am -10pm, and more sleeping in the remaining hours.
Last night we decided to give him his first bath and he really did better than I expected. So far he seems to be a very content baby, crying mainly when hungry and maybe sometimes for a dirty diaper. I was unaware pre-fatherhood that it was important to count the number "diaper presents" but apparently it is, and he has a good count. Way to go son.
We would like to again thank all of you for your generosity and thoughtfulness through the entire process. Everything from advice shared, showers/gifts, visitors, readers of this here web-ernet page, this here web-ernet page, cards, prayers, meals, text messages, calls, plants/flowers, good thoughts, show-ers of love, and even understanding by some of my clients of my need for a few days postponement on their projects. Our hope is that you know how much we appreciate each and every one of you, and how you all play an important role in our lives and hopefully the life of our son.
The floor has dried in the bedroom. Pretty used to the whole process by now. Not really that big of a deal, we will figure out a way to get it to stop, and our carpet needs to be changed at some point anyway. We plan on picking up some new carpet padding sometime tomorrow and getting it all put back together. No biggie.
We are also excited to report great news on my grandfather, Ponga. He did very well in his recovery, so much so that they went ahead and sent him home today. I know he was ready to get out of the hospital and we are all so thankful for his recovery, the quick action of my grandmother Monga, and the outstanding work by the cardiologists and doctors at Covenant Medical Center in Lubbock.
Did you know: David Letterman's quintuple bypass surgery was performed by a Lubbock, TX doctor that was flown to NYC because of his expertise. Don't know if he's the same doctor that worked on Ponga but either way I am happy that the medical staff in Lubbock are top-notch and right where we needed them to be this week.
I have updated the photo gallery with a Flash gallery that still has the first 40 pictures and 20 or so new ones taken over the last couple of days. We enjoyed making the videos and hope to get another up in the next few days.
I am also excited to report that before the week started I threw some tracking features on the website just to watch the numbers, and the numbers are really good. Individual visits skyrocketed from 28 and 37 on Saturday/Sunday respectively, to 373/254/147/81 in the days following. These would be individual visitors to the site throughout the day. To go along with the individual people hitting the site, we have had over 18,000 pageviews in the last 5 days! Thank you for all of your following and visiting of the site. These numbers are not only fun for me to watch (I'm nerdy) but will come in helpful as we take the next steps in the BragBaby adventure.
I will try and relieve Mel sometime tomorrow to give her some time to share as well, if she feels up to it.
christian
10/17/2007 10:50:54 AM
Quick update:
Cohen has been given the go by his doctor and so has Melanie. We hadn't mentioned it yet but they needed to do a follow up test on Cohen's hearing this morning after not passing on his right side yesterday. (My first reaction yesterday? Great, he's already failing tests; can't wait for high school). We do have good news to report though that he passed with flying colors and his hearing seems to be great. And like his daddy it took him a couple of attempts to get things right!
I also made a quick trip to the fire station to get the car seat put in this morning. I was told upon arrival that they don't do it anymore and that the certified place was the police station. At the police station I was told there are only two cops in town certified, one on patrol and the other on vacation. Figures. So, Cohen got the daddy certification and it will have to do until we can get Officer Keller or Officer vacation guy to look at it. I climbed up on it like they said the firemen would do to shove it down and lock it into place. Good thing we only live about 5 mins.
I can't decide if I am happy about getting to go home or scared out of my mind that there won't be any experts there to help...
We're going with the latter.
c
10/17/2007 9:09:21 AM
Morning all...wow...what can I say and where would I even start? These last few days have just been amazing. I really can't put into words all of the wonderful feelings and experiences I have had. I was finally able to take some time last night and look at the website and read all of the wonderful posts you guys have made. You will never know how much we appreciate all of your support, encouragement and prayers. I also have to say a huge thank you to my amazing hubby and to Rob for putting together this site and BragBaby...good job guys. It's awesome. I'm ever amazed at the talent my husband possesses. Soon, changing diapers will be added those talents.
We are just so incredibly blessed...we have an adorable and healthy baby boy and we have all of you guys to share him with. We also got word that Christian's grandfather, aka Ponga, is doing well and should be going home on Friday. We love you tons Ponga and are so thankful you are doing better...can't wait for you to meet Cohen.
Well, I should probably go for now. I'm starving and I'm sure Cohen will be as well soon. Thank you all again so much for all of the sweet words, calls and visits. You'll never know how much it means to us.
I'm sure there will be more to come...
Melanie
10/17/2007 8:49:51 AM
Morning to all, things are going well around here. We have gotten some decent sleep over the past couple of nights and Cohen is starting to eat pretty well.
We have already seen Mel's doctor this morning and now waiting on Cohen's. If everything checks out we'll be headed home soon. After the doctor's sign off I need to run over to the fire station to get one of Grapevine's bravest to jump on the car seat and make sure it is locked in place.
pause... Cohen's doctor
Quick story, then Mel;
Last night I ran to the house after everything settle down here to take a few things and to catch a quick shower. Good news? House was still standing. Bad news? Bedroom flooded again during the monsoon on Monday. I got to spend an hour or so movig furniture and pulling carpet just to get things to start drying out. Nothing says welcome home to a newborn like the fresh scent of mildew. We're gonna have to figure something or we'll never be able to sell that house. Brandon, did you sell me a lemon?
I'll break here and let Melanie chime in with anything she wants to share. She hasn't had much airtime and it's quiet for a few minutes.
c
10/16/2007 3:30:12 PM
...cont. Aaparently, there are limits on my phone about the number of characters allowed.
Picture fun is over. Picture day is expensive. Scared that this is just the beginning. May skip out on ordering the 'professional' pictures since my camera is about three times better than the one just used. Either way, you'll probably all get tired of seeing his mug anyways with the number of pictures about to be forced upon you.
I ran this morning to get him some pants for his 'Next Top Model' debut but they're a tad bit large. And yes Tai Autumn, I bought the 0-3 months and not the 3-6.
Got a couple of plants today, really nice of those of you who sent them. I guess you've heard of my master green thumbs-manship. Plants adore me. I'll do my part to keep them alive.
This seems to work out semi-well so maybe we'll attempt another one later today.
Babies rock. So far.
c
10/16/2007 3:05:41 PM
2:30p Monday -
Like most times our best of intentions didn't result in reality. Our hope was to give better updates today but updating websites becomes far more difficult without internet access. The aforementioned weak internet access provided by BRMCG, shall now be referred to as the non-existent one. I guess that's why I have this here fancy telephone that will allow me to do (briefly) what we wanted to do.
Day 2 has gone well, doctor visits, tests, and many attempts at feeding. Cohen (pro-nounced Owen with a C, and not Ko-hen) is doing well and seems to be a little more awake. Mama has been able to get up, shower, put make-up on, and get into some of her own clothes.
Several visitors have been by and we were excited to see them all. We are looking forward to our farthest traveling visitors today who are actually in the states for a little while on leave from their mission duties in the Czech Republic.
As some of you have heard, along we the great news of new baby yesterday, we were also hit with the painful news of my grandfather (referred to in person and by license plate as Ponga) and his major heart attack suffering in Lubbock, TX yesterday. After several shared updates with us today we have heard that surgery thus far has gone well and he will be returning under the knife sometime this afternoon to remove a balloon pump. He had two stents inserted and early results seem positive. The doctors mentioned his timing of getting there quickly was a good thing. It can be of no coincidence that my grandparents happened to be in Lubbock for the entire affair, as the doctors mentioned he wouldn't have had a chance to make it coming all the way from their home town.
Needless to say, we are optimistic at the reports and look forward to the day that Ponga and Cohen meet.
It's picture day here in the post-partum wing, C is being blinded by the light and put in poses that would never be stricken' in real life. (If you haven't noticed, my vocabulary is only so large, so I tend to make up words that fit my needs)...
10/16/2007 12:15:32 AM
A little rest. That's what I am looking forward to, just a little rest.
I have been going on nothing but adrenaline and excitement (plus a couple of 15 minute stints on the labor room linoleum floor) since 8am Sunday morning. And I'm not nearly as tired as I ought to be.
We wanted to say a quick thank you to all of you for your calls, emails, words of encouragement on our 'Love' page and most of all prayers on our behalf. We were truly blessed with a safe pregnancy, (relatively) smooth birth, and a handsome (albeit cone-headed) young baby boy.
This was a great experience for us to not only see him join the world but to allow you all to be a part of that as well. The process wasn't as smooth as we had hoped and we are sorry for the large gap in the middle of the afternoon, but I had a hard time convincing my wife of doing her own counting so I could ramble on some semi-coherent musings. As for the project (BragBaby), the imagineers and I see great potential and already many areas that we could iron out. I, for one, look forward to moving forward.
Just a couple of notes on the day. Just a little after noon, our nurse Samantha decided it was time to start moving the process along. Mel was dilated to 10cm and I, in my naivety, thought that this would be a rather quick process. Thanks Hollywood for the ten-minute-taxi-cab-back-seat birthing example I allowed you so foolishly to thinking was reality. It wasn't.
The reality was actually that my incredibly strong wife ended up 'pushing' for 2.5 hours. Cohen seemed to pose somewhat of a challenge to the nurses and everyone seemed to want in on the action. I relate it to Sudoku, a game so challenging that you can't win, but so enticing that you can't put it down. We started with one nurse, gained another after about an hour and fifteen minutes, gained a doctor at the two hour mark, and packed the house with approximately 18,281 others by about the 2:20 mark (roughly the same number of baby nurses this side of the Mississippi or a standing-room only home game for the Mavs at the AAC).
Cohen toyed with us all for a while, enjoy his first residence and not ready to be evicted. The doc wasn't real optimistic after the time put in when she arrived and had the "this would be so much easier on me if we could just cut, stitch, and run" face. I knew this was a face my wife was not wanting to see. Being the quick wit that I am, I mentioned my wife's desires to go c-section-less for the process and tried my best to persuade her. She obliged and told Mel we would try for another 15 minutes. 15 turned to 10, 10 turned to 5, and 5 turned into Mavs mania in the room with everybody in rush mode to get their fancy throw-away gowns on.
The dreaded vacuum made its appearance on the table but never even left the bag. At about 2:30pm, I started to see his head and the rest is all a blur.
Melanie did great, Cohen had a massive headache I can assure you, and I stayed upright for the entire process. Win, Win, Win.
Thanks to those who were able to make it out to see mama and the new baby. We look forward to getting to spend time with the rest of you who couldn't make it out on day one.
We are now located in room 233 @ BRMCG, and should be open for visitors most of the day tomorrow. The nurses said we will stay two nights and then get kicked out on Wednesday. I can't decide if I think that's too soon to be released on our own with a third family member or just do the best I can to save my left arm from the cost of another hospital night.
Hopefully, there will be some downtime tomorrow to continue the sharing fun so if you have nothing better to do than sit by your computer and hit refresh (trust me, there is a way to make it easier on you and we will implement it into the final BragBaby version) then by all means come along and see what day 2 in the life of a Cohen is like. If I were a betting man you might get a story about dirty diapers, over-cautious parents who call on the nurse for every cough, or a play-by-play analysis of daddy doing his best to figure out the workings of a car seat or travel system.
Ah, bed time.
c
10/15/2007 4:06:42 PM
He's here!
In transition now from one room to another so not much time.
7 lbs 6 ou, don't know a length yet
Mama and Baby Cohen are doing great.
Once we have a little more time we'll write some specifics and post some pictures/videos.
Thanks for all of your prayers and thoughts.
c & m
10/15/2007 12:09:25 PM
Random thoughts while Mel rests:
This has been a very hurry-up-and-wait process thus far. I feel a little bad making 4:00a (3:00a to some) phone calls which in turn could have waited to 10:30a phone calls and allowed some to get better rest.
I applaud the Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine (now officially known as: BRMCG) for taking the initiative to offer wireless access through a connection called 'visitor' but am not thrilled with their actual product. It seems to be very up and down and it is also very limiting in what I am able to do. Not only has it hindered some of what we wanted to do today in the way of pics/video but it also has some feature the blocks the port for regular email. Thus, forcing me to use alternative options like Gmail, web-based interfaces, and of course my phone (all of which have been used today)
Speaking of the site, we are pleased with it very much and all of the hard work put into it by good buddy and dot-comrade Rob. This was sort of a test run for the both of us and I am sure we will learn a lot and be able to improve a lot as we move forward.
A thank you is in order for all of the thoughts, prayers, and well wishes in our comments section. We would also like to thank everyone for their generosity in providing the necessities (and fun things, too) for our new addition. The problem is we can't. Not that we wouldn't love to thank everyone, but we still have one gift un-accounted for. We have a fantastic wooden high chair for Shieltiel to sit and gorge his face in, but we have no one who will own up to splurging for it! If you were the culprit, it's not that we wouldn't send a thank you note, it's that we couldn't. Own Up!
uh oh, nurse. time to see what's next.
stay tuned.
c
10/15/2007 11:12:43 AM
Well...they came and broke my water about 8:45 and I was 9cm dilated at that time. My epidural started to wear off so they revved it up some more and now I'm sitting here just waiting on him to decide he's ready to make his grand entrance into the world. I originally had thought I'd try to get through all of this epidural free, but currently I'm loving it and so happy to have it. I keep seeing these huge contractions on the monitor and I can't feel a thing...nice.
So, for now we hurry up and wait. My contractions are much more intense and closer together so hopefully he's making his decent and we'll be able to meet him soon. Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support.
Melanie
10/15/2007 7:24:59 AM
Storms are here, but no baby yet. No news to post. Phone calls have been made and family has been informed.
Melissa was here pretty quickly and just hanging in the lobby. We both were able to catch a few minutes to nap and just trying to rest up for the big finale.
Mel is still doing well, the epidural has helped a bunch. The doctor should be in to make her rounds here after a little while.
Just rockin.
c
10/15/2007 4:52:00 AM
Follow up, we're going live with the site. Thanks for playing along.
Phone calls to come after the baby arrives.
10/15/2007 4:50:06 AM
At the hospital. Arrived about 3am. They checked Mel out and decided it was time for her to be admitted.
6cm dialated and 90% effaced.
Got a great 'corner office' labor room. Nurses have been good so far.
Mel decided to go ahead and get the epidural and we just finished that. Waiting on it to start to take effect.
Second video posted on the videos page.
Moving quickly, don't know how many updates we'll get in...
c
10/15/2007 2:30:15 AM
Early Monday morning, Oct 15th. Day after due date. Small groups this past evening at the Iman's. Went well.
We brought WingStop to the party and Melanie made sure to put her mark on the variety batch of hot wings. Wings tasted good, but apparently not so good for the kid.
She started feeling bad a little while after we got home. My first assumption that it was just her sub-conscious reacting to the game the Cowboys forgot to show up for today. Apparently not.
From everything we can tell, Mel has started 'early labor' and we are in the process of making sure we have everything we need, counting contractions, and of course Mel made sure to get a shower and finish off with makeup.
We also had the opportunity to make a short video to kick things off. Quality isn't the best but that's cause we hadn't yet purchased a video camera and will probably be shooting most of the events with my Olympus.
Let the games begin....
c
