A few pics

Malachi looks cuter without his parents in the pics...!

Superstar - he is lucky to have his dad as a barber!

It's getting easier!

Wow, Malachi is two weeks old! At our two week check up he had gained 1.25 pounds and grew a quarter of an inch. The doctor said he looks great and we are doing a great job. Malachi is staying strong and healthy, unlike his mother though.

Turns out recovery isn't all that bad, if you don't have an infection in your uterus. Last Sunday I wasn't feeling well so I began reading over the discharge papers from the hospital to see if what I was feeling was normal. Turns out it wasn't. There was a list of five symptoms that stated if you have any of the following call your doctor immediately or go to the emergency room. I had all of them and my fever was a lot higher then what was listed on the paper. I called my doctor and after I told her what my fever was she didn't care to hear about my other symptoms and told me to go straight to the ER. My doctor even called the ER to let them know I was coming in and what was going on. So we arrived at the ER at 10pm, saw the doctor at 10:20, was given medicine at 11pm, admitted to stay over night at 2am, given three different antibiotics, and moved into a room with a bed for Chris and Malachi so I wouldn't be alone. There was some confusion as to how long I needed to stay, but one call to my doctor and she released me from the hospital Tuesday morning. Needless to stay we were all ready to be done with the hospital considering we were just there a week ago. I am on two antibiotics now, one of which totally kills my whole immune system so I'm prone to get any illness under the sun if I'm not careful. But I'm feeling great and we are getting out and about.

Yesterday, July 26th, we went to a party at my mom's house so the rest of the family could meet Malachi for the first time, and so my mom could show him off to all her friends and co-workers. We had a great time and Malachi was amazing, even with all the noise and people. We took the camera and took a few pictures, but none with any family. Sooner or later we will get the camera thing down and capture every moment. Chris and I are still learning. At the request of my Uncle Mike though, I need to post more pictures. So this blog will be full of pictures and we will try to take more.

Tomorrow, Monday July 28th, we are going to Denver again. Missy, our cat (or my cat as Chris would say), is getting declawed. So we are staying at Grandma's house tomorrow while we wait to pick Missy up on Tuesday. So we have planned a little outing with Malachi, not that he will really be awake for it or even be able to see any of it. It has been a while since Chris and I have both been to the Denver Zoo, so we've decided to go. Don't worry, we'll take lots of pictures this time. So continue to check our blog and find updates and more pictures of our growing boy.

Love,

Cassie, Chris, and Malachi

The First Week

The first week home has been an adventure!! From doctors’ visits for jaundice, to restless nights, to Malachi making little yellow water fountains and trying to stay awake while feeding.

Coming home from the hospital was exciting. I was looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, taking a hot shower, and being able to care for my child without nurses interrupting every hour. I was able to enjoy my bed and not being surrounded my nurses, but not a hot shower. Some how, while we were gone for three days the water went from very hot to warm. That was a little disappointing, but I survived.

My mom stayed with us for four days helping out where ever she could and she did. Monday when we got home she went grocery shopping for us and made dinner. Tuesday she vacuumed our house, did laundry, made covers for our rocking chair (to match Malachi’s room), and made dinner again. By Wednesday she was running out of things to do around the house so she joined us for our doctors’ visit and then we treated her. We took her to the mall and let her pick out her birthday present. We wanted to get her new crocs, so we let her pick what color she wanted, and then we took her out to lunch. We tried a new place that she has been telling us about, but it wasn’t what we expected. We still enjoyed it though. That night she made dinner again. She really spoiled us.
Thursday (her birthday) she decided it was probably time to go home. As much as she didn’t want to leave her grandson, she knew she would have to leave us some time. Chris and I are so thankful that she stayed as long as she did and for everything she did for us. She really helped us out with adjusting to our new lifestyle. We couldn't have asked for more. Thank you so much Momma.

The doctors’ visits were a scare. Colorado has a high risk for jaundice in new babies and when mom and baby have certain blood types that are different, it could raise that risk. Well we had both. Malachi and I have different blood types, so Malachi needed some tests done to make sure he was doing ok. Poor Malachi was pricked five times in his heels for the test. Three while we were at the hospital and once at each doctors’ visit. Monday we were beginning to worry when we got the call saying his test results went up a lot from the day before and we would have to come in the next day for another test. Tuesday we were prepared for the worst but hoping for the best. When our phone rang we all held our breath to hear the results; God had blessed us with a healthy baby and we didn’t want that to change under any circumstances. The doctor’s office told us the numbers had gone down and the doctors’ were no longer worried about him having jaundice; they’d see us in two weeks for another check up.

Malachi hasn’t developed a regular eating schedule, or sleeping schedule. Since I am breast feeding he has to eat every 2 to 3 hours during the day and every 3 to 4 hours at night. Malachi is starting to wake us up at night on his own letting us know he is hungry, but during the day we have to wake him up to feed him. Oh and at night he stays awake for an hour after feeding. So, not only are we up every two and half to three hours at night, we stay up for two hours with him too. During the day it’s a battle to keep him awake while he is feeding. Yes, his schedule is a little backwards, but they say after two to three weeks it turns around. I’m doing ok not getting 8 hours of sleep every night, its like being in college all over again and not getting any sleep. Chris on the other hand needs his 8 to 9 hours of sleep, so instead of getting up with me like we had planned; he stays in bed and sleeps through the night. He tries to get up with me and he does at least once during the night. There really isn’t anything for him to do, but it’s nice to have company and someone to keep me awake. I am pumping and once I start to produce enough milk Chris can start taking over a feeding so I can get a little more sleep. Chris is doing great, he does make sure I get a nap during the day and makes sure I have everything I need.

I think it’s funny how everyone tells you the horror stories of labor and delivery and all the pain it entails. What they don’t warn you about is the recovery from delivery and all the pain it entails. This week has been hard on my body. Not only am I recovering from delivery, my milk is coming in so I’m sore, I feel like I need to help out around the house with keeping things clean and organized, now add feeding every two hours to that and I’m pretty busy. It’s definitely been rough, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I love the beautiful, healthy son God has blessed Chris and me with. I thoroughly enjoy watching Chris with Malachi, he is a great dad and you can tell Malachi adores him already. Aside from being peed on almost every time we change his diaper and Chris getting pooped on (twice now) we enjoy our son and are learning more about him every day. We wouldn’t trade it for the world.

We are looking forward to next weekend when Malachi gets to meet more of his family and for August when Grandma Jodie gets to come out and see her first grandbaby. We are also planning a trip to Montana to visit more ‘family’ and friends in September. But for now I hope you all enjoy the pictures.

Love,
Cassie, Chris, and Malachi = )

When's that BABY due?

Malachi Leroy Donatell was born the same day as his Great Grandpa Robertson's birthday, July 12th, 2008 at 1427 hours. He weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces, and was 20.5 inches long.

Malachi entered the world without a sound. After all the goop was removed from his mouth, he cried right along with the rest of them. With an initial ApGar score of 8, and the second ApGar score of 9, God blessed us with a healthy baby.

Cassie was in competition with the lady in the next room over - they were both having their babies at the same time. The Doctor had to run back and forth between the two to see which baby she would have to catch first. Unfortunatly, Cassie delivered second and had to hold for a while, which she will tell you sucked.

Malachi is well tempered - so far. He isn't much of a crier except when he is woken from his sleep, which takes a lot to do. Malachi is currently the pooping champ and has already pooped on his dad - literally! We stayed at the hospital for a couple of days so we could ask every question that we cold think of, not because we medically had to.

We are looking forward to all of the experiences that lay ahead, and so much more. More pictures can be seen on Facebook on Cass' or Chris' profiles, if you can't get there, just email one of us and we can send you pics.

The Waiting Game

We have also decided to jump on the bandwagon and start blogging along with everyone else. We figure it is the best way to keep family and friends updated with our lives.

As everyone knows we are expecting a little boy any day now. "The waiting game" is what they call the last few weeks of pregnancy. I am so ready for him to come out and grace us with his presents, but he is being stubborn and staying in as long as he can. We thought he was coming soon because I lost my mucus plug a week ago, turns out that really doesn't mean much. Just one step closer then we were before that's all. As I am growing impatience and more uncomfortable as the days pass I think I am paying attention to closely to little details and getting excited about nothing. Tuesday night we had a false alarm making a trip to the hospital only to come home an hour later disappointed. Wednesday morning we had our regular weekly checkup and our doctor is giving us the option to induce Wednesday July 16th, which happens to be the due date anyway, or we can continue to play the waiting game and hold out a few more days. If we choose to wait and he doesn't come within the week we will have to induce anyway. Sooner or later he will have to come out.

Chris and I are both at the point where we just want to see our little boy and hold him in our arms. As Chris puts it, "You've been holding him for 9 months its my turn!" Although, I would beg to differ because its a little different. He is a daddy though that just wants to see his little boy. Everything is ready for him and now we just need him to come out to make it complete. Continue to pray for us, a safe labor and delivery, and we will keep you all posted with the details and the load down on our lives as we grow from two to three.

Love,
Cassie (and Chris)