Scott's recipe for an awesome Saturday afternoon.

I let Janie have a sip.

Trying out the Baby Bjorn

We got two as hand me downs, and so we've been getting one fitted for
each of us. It seems like it's a two person job to get the baby safely
trussed into one, but Violette seems pretty happy once in place.

On our own

Janie's parents left for their return trip a little while ago. It's
been a busy morning. Georgia made breakfast, Janie made blueberry
scones, and Janie's dad and I cleaned up the garage to make room for
the old deep freeze I bought from my sister. Now, Violette is passed
out on me, Janie is passed out next to me, and I'm watching tv and
listening to yet another thunderstorm roll by. I am so rediculously
happy.

Baby toes

First time home with dad

J and her mom had some errands to run, so after I got home from work,
Vi and I got to take a nap together.

Part of my Father's Day present

Shelving for my ultra-dorky collection of action figure scale classic
trilogy vehicles. I also got a shop-vac, and some organizing drawers
for the garage. Thanks J!

Nap time

Janie's mom is cooking something delicious smelling behind me in the
kitchen. Can't wait to find out what it is.

A brief text message exchange with my father

Scott: Happy late Father's Day, from one sleepy dad to another.

Dad: Ignom

Scott: Ignom right back at you! (Is that some secret dad language?
Did I miss a meeting?)

Dad: My texting skills suck happy father's day to you how did you
know i was napping love dad

New ships are christened...

...by breaking a bottle of Champagne upon the hull. New fathers are christened in freshly curdled milk.

My first Father's Day

As is our wont of late, it started early, with diaper changes. Here in
a few, Janie and I are going to leave Violette with Georgia, and run
across the street to the hardware store for some manly Father's Day
presents. Afterwards, we'll pick up some Five Guys to go. Other than
needing more sleep, it's been a pretty awesome day.

Mommy time

Babies are adorable

Making my girls some home-made pizza for dinner. Life is good.

No more cord!

I spend a surprising amount of time like this

Healthy girl

Back from her first doctor's visit. Violette is back up to her birth
weight, with no signs of jaundice. We are so happy she is doing so well!

Beautiful dreamer

Last night was awesome

Janie's mom took the first shift, after J fed Violette around ten. Vi
slept till two, and J and I took over at that point. That means Janie
and I got four hours uninterrupted sleep. In our own bed. At the same
time. So nice. After a few rounds of feeding, burping, and changing
(by which point it was 4 AM), we tried our new secret weapon. Up to
now, we haven't had much luck with Vi sleeping without being held.
Enter the hand-me-down swing Brose and Bex had sent north. Earlier,
with my mom's help, I had gotten the cloth bits washed, and we
scrubbed the rest down, and for some reason I still had a set of
ancient D-cells in the junk drawer. We laid her down, already asleep,
and she got four more hours. Her mom and I got less, as we slept
fitfully and kept checking on her. Still, this is the most human I've
felt in days. Even had the energy to whip up some sausage gravy to go
with the biscuits Janie's mom made. I know it won't always be easy,
but it's wonderful beyond belief when it is.

An awake pic for Bex

She does sleep an awful lot, though.

My dad & Violette

Sleepy time

Janie is getting some much needed shut eye on the couch, and little Vi
is asleep in my arms. My folks just got here, gotta go!

Touchdown!

Parenting...

This is how I look. All the time.

Happy Birthday Janie!

I forgot to mention this here, but Janie's birthday was yesterday. She
was very much of the opinion that bringing home Violette was the best
present ever.

Made it through our third night. Though I'm sure that just as we think
we have things figured out, they'll go and change on us.

Home.

Happy

Violette and her Grandpo

One day old...

Shutting down the laptop, unfolding the dad bed, now upgraded with a decent blanket and my own pillow. Not that we expect much sleep tonight. Violette is getting this feeding thing down (thank goodness, I've been quietly freaking out about it all day), and we're told tonight begins the cluster feedings. That, and some lab work that needs to be done at 1 AM means we're in for a busy time. We're trying to adapt to baby time though. If she sleeps, we try to as well. We've got the tv on, muted, so we have something to occupy our brains while we wait for sleep to catch up.

Thank you everyone for all the good thoughts. We're so immensely happy to have our little blueberry here with us, and although we've no doubt that we have no idea what we're in for yet, with friends like all of you, we know we'll make it. Hugs to everyone!

A squishy baby pic for Celeste

Ok, so napping isn't so impossible...

Lots of naps

My inability to nap continues to be an unfortunate flaw.

Morning update...

So Violette was the only one in the room who got much sleep.
Everyone's doing well, looks like we'll be heading home from the
hospital tomorrow, which happens to be Janie's birthday.

I would humbly like to introduce...

Violette Elena Ledet

Mother and daughter are awesome.

So I was only mostly joking about the bed...

Hospitals are not restful places. The patient is constantly being
poked and prodded, and their loved ones are left to contend with some
truly uncomfortable furniture. I know, poor me. But J and I maybe
shared a couple hours of sleep in the last two days. And it's not like
that will get better after the baby arrives. Despite the fact that the
ability to nap is likely to prove an invaluable survival skill in the
coming days, I think I'm giving up for now.

No updates to report. J has rested fitfully for the last several
hours. Rose has been amazing, monitoring Janie and the baby's stats,
while studying for med school boards. Contractions continue. One
assumes progress, but there's no metrics to collect without someone
poking J some more.

Doing well..

Janie braved it sans meds until she reached a seven on the pain scale, then asked for the epidural. She's feeling quite a bit better now. On the plus side, the pain totally distracted Janie from the itchiness. The baby's heartbeat is rock solid, and the contractions are nice and regular. Since the epidural has helped so much, J may try to take a nap here. I'll try to keep updates coming as I can.

TENS is our friend

Janie's liking the TENS machine so far. We're doing all right, progressing slowly. Contractions are less fun then they were to start.

First update...

So, we're at the hospital. Janie's progressing well on her own so far, but they're going to help her along in a bit. We were pretty much prepared before we got up this morning, just had to gather a few last minute things and get the car packed up. Janie and I are operating on very little sleep, but only J gets a bed. Lucky pregnant lady, they get everything. Now she's making me schlep back to the car go get her a softer pillow. ;)

Tomorrow...

Well, tomorrow morning, Janie and I are headed to the hospital to start J on some induction meds. She's developed a rash caused by the pregnancy, which she can't medicate because of the pregnancy, and which is driving her slowly insane. Given the choice between induction and Janie going crazy and scratching until she hurts herself, we're going with induction. I'll post updates here and to facebook as I can.