Normal Life?

So, week 4 is just about over, and we are starting to wonder if life will ever be "normal" again. I'm sure it doesn't help that neither of us have had anywhere to be or anything to do for the last 4 weeks, but at the same time, I shudder to think what we would have done if we did!

I know people's lives go on after they have kids, but at this point, this whole parenting thing still seems pretty all-consuming. It is wonderfully all-consuming. I wouldn't want anyone to think that we aren't happy. But between the erratic feeding schedule, non-stop diaper changing, and trying to sleep, it starts to feel like you will never be able to do anything requiring you to be away from home for more than 2 hours again. Nevertheless, we are doing our best to regain some sense of normalcy.

We've been trying to take short trips around town just to get out of the house, and reconnect with the outside world. One of our first family outings was a trip to Linvilla Orchards. Fall means pumpkins at Linvilla, and Aaron certainly got his fair share of pumpkins.

I can't say that he was a big fan, but really anything that interrupts his sleep is not received with much enthusiasm. He takes after his old man in that respect.

Our next big trip was to Mrs. Marty's Deli with Tutu, uncle Josh and aunt Trice. This was a little more ambitious, as it required being in a confined public space for an extended period of time.

Surprisingly, Aaron stayed awake for most of the time, and was very well behaved. I saw him eyeing up my hash browns a couple of the times, but all in all he played it pretty cool.

Our final outing in these last few weeks was to Ridley Creek State Park. We've been enjoying some beautiful early fall weather, so we decided to take advantage of it and go for an extended walk.

As with most everything we do, Aaron enjoyed it by sleeping.

We did our best to wake him up so he could enjoy the scenery, but he seemed to prefer the back of his eyelids.

So little by little, we do what we can to reclaim our lives and try to figure out what normal life looks like with this crazy little man.

Back at home, Aaron is starting to explore the vast array of colorful, musical, and all around overwhelming toys that he has received over the last few months. Here are a couple of shots of his first encounter with his jungle floor gym.

He responded how you would expect anyone to respond if you were plopped down in the middle of a fluorescent, polyester jungle, filled with exotic animal noises and a stuffed monkey bigger than your head. Not to mention the fact that you don't have control of your body parts, and you can't move. I would say that he pooped himself, but that wouldn't really be anything out of the ordinary.

He does seems to be enjoying it more and more every day, and pretty soon I'm sure he'll be showing that monkey who's boss.

Aside from a few minutes of jungle exploration each day, the main way we spend our time is sleeping. Aaron's favorite place to sleep is on Mommy's chest (Mommy doesn't seem to mind it much either).

So that's about it for now. Hopefully my next post will find us feeling a little more settled in, but with only two weeks of paternity leave left, real life is coming whether we are ready or not.

I leave you with this last picture. It's one of Sarah's favorites. What kind of parents would we be if we didn't take advantage of our child's goofy faces for our own amusement and entertainment?

A Rocky Start

Well, we are home, but the first few days were hardly smooth sailing...

We came home with a portable UV vest called a Wallaby, which was meant to continue treating Aaron's jaundice.

He didn't seem to mind it too much, but his parents were not so excited. We were concerned that it was making him too hot, so we spent the first night taking shifts staying up with him. We were still on adrenaline overload at that point, so it wasn't too bad.

The second day we were home, Sarah started feeling funny. I know, you're probably thinking, "She just pushed out a 9lb 2oz, melon headed munchkin. How did you expect her to be feeling?" But this was more of a dizziness, shortness of breath, all the worst warning signs on the medicine bottle, kind of freaking out that you are about to die feeling. So, barely 24 hours after we left the hospital, Sarah went back; this time to the ER.

Sarah's mom came over to take her so that I could stay with Aaron. And there we were, our first boys night in. So we did what anyone does on a boys night - we drank.

Well, Aaron drank. They had started him on formula in the hospital to help with the jaundice, so I took over feeding duty when Sarah left for the hospital. Meanwhile, I just tried to maintain my composure after experiencing the emotional zenith of my first child's birth, followed by the devastating uncertainty of my wife going to the ER, all on almost no sleep for more than three days. Needless to say, I wasn't in my best form.

Thankfully, Sarah was able to come home after four or five hours in the hospital. They determined that she had some sort of infection, so they pumped her full of antibiotics, and sent her home with prescriptions for more. After a lot of rest, and a few days of antibiotics, she started to perk right up.

We even got out for a few minutes to enjoy some beautiful pre-fall weather.

Aaron enjoyed our walk in the same way that he enjoys just about everything - by sleeping.

So finally, it seems that we are starting to settle in to our life as a family. Not that there aren't plenty of challenges, but hopefully we'll stay out of the hospital for a while!

This post was a little light on cute baby pictures, so here are a few to keep you coming back. That's really why you are here isn't it?

Getting Settled

Well, it's been a tough couple of days, but we are finally home and getting settled in. I apologize that it has taken so long to get pictures out, but here is a summary of the last few days.



Let's start at the beginning. Aaron was born at 1:26pm on Tuesday, September 2nd (almost a week early). After about 14 hours of labor, he came out a little blue. But after a few seconds of oxygen he pinked right up.

When Sarah started pushing, the doctor told us that, "this was not going to be a small baby," but we never expected 9lb 2oz!

The doctor actually thought that Sarah was going to have to have a c-section, because the baby was not fitting under her pelvic bone. She knew that we really didn't want to go down that route, so she stuck with us longer than most probably would have.

We were very thankful that he was able to make it without the c-section, and also to have a doctor that was so willing to work with us.

Right away we knew he had many of Sarah's features, including a full head of dark hair. So far the only features of mine that I see are a large head, excessive birth weight, and an indomitable desire for sleep.

It's impossible to describe the emotions that we were feeling when we saw Aaron for the first time. Relief, exhilaration and exhaustion are just a few.

Eventually, we got moved up to our room in the maternity section. Sarah's Mom, Marianne (a.k.a. Tutu), was with us through the whole labor. She has been incredibly helpful both during and after the delivery. I don't think we could have done this without her.

Around the second day in the hospital, the pediatrician stopped in to check Aaron out. He said that he was a little concerned about his bilirubin levels (pronounced like Billy Ruben, but one word). Now, at the time I didn't really know what bilirubin was, but it sounded kind of funny for a medical term. So I started pondering as to what other types of "rubins" there were floating around in his body. Maybe a matthewrubin, or a charleyrubin, or maybe a cornedbeefrubinwithsauerkrautontoastedrye? These are the delusional thoughts of a sleep deprived man.

Well, it turns out that bilirubin is actually a byproduct of red blood cells breaking down. This is a normal process in all of our bodies, and the resulting bilirubin is ultimately eliminated by the liver. These levels are naturally higher in newborns because they are eliminating the blood cells they used in the womb, but their livers are not yet fully functional, and they sometimes can't keep up. This results in what most people know as jaundice.

Anyway, that night they put Aaron on this thing called a bili bed, which lights up with UV lights. This helps draw out the biliruben through the skin while the liver is catching up. It was a little disturbing at first having our baby strapped into this glowing blue bed, but he actually loved it! I'm kind of hoping that it will give him super powers.

Well, our final day at the hospital arrived, and we had mixed emotions, to say the least. We were excited to be going home, but also terrified about actually taking this baby back into our world. There is a certain level of comfort that comes from being surrounded by knowledgeable, friendly people who can answer all your questions, and who are constantly monitoring you and the baby to be sure everything is ok. But our time had come, and we suited up Aaron in his Sunday best.

The trip home was mostly uneventful. Of course I drove slower than I've ever driven in my life, and there were more than a few unnecessary gasps from the back seat. But we made it.

So here we are. Now the fun really begins...

But that is for another post. For now I will say that we are all doing well, and getting more rest with each passing day. Aaron is awesome, and we love him to bits. I can't imagine a better baby. Who knows what the future holds, but for now, by the grace of God, we are taking it day by day.

Thanks to everyone who has called or emailed or stopped in to visit. We love you, and we have truly felt loved by you.

Stay tuned for more terrifying, exhilarating and exhausting updates from life with the Greenslades!

he is here!!!

Please welcome Aaron Donald Greenslade!!!

Aaron arrived on September 2, 2008 at 1:26pm
9lbs, 2oz and 22in long

A detailed story of Aaron's birth and first few days will follow, plus some pictures.

We are so excited!!

welcome to our blog

Isaac and I would like to invite you to participate in our newest project - blogging!

With all of the family and friends spread out over the country and world, we decided to venture out into the blogosphere to give updates on our daily life and especially on the newest addition to our family. (who are we kidding - you all will be coming here solely to see pictures of the bambino!)

Not that he's here yet, of course...

So our first blog post consists of telling you that we have no news. We are waiting on the little guy to make his appearance. 10 days left until his due date but no one will be upset with him if he choses to enter the world a few days early :)

And now that we have a blog, we will be sure to update with information and pictures as soon as he finally arrives. We are really looking forward to creating a record of his growth and milestones to share with everyone we love.

So welcome! We hope you will enjoy watching our family grow!

and here's a quick glimpse of what is to come...

I think he looks just like his daddy, but I might be biased ;)