TCB!

Nate's 1st Bath at Home

Nate's belly button healed up nicely, so it was time for his 1st bath in the baby bath tub. Like all good newborns, he hated it.

He felt a little better being wrapped up afterwards in Daddy's arms.

Just in case, he thought he better hide so that we don't do that to him again.

Is Mommy Crazy?

Every year, between Christmas and New Years, we have a family Christmas party with all of my cousins. Many of them live out of town and this year most of them were going to be in Phoenix at the time of our annual party. Before we knew that Nate would be making an early arrival, my mom and I decided to have the party at our new house because there would be more room for everyone to spread out. So yes, exactly 9 days after having a c-section delivery, we had a party with 30 people at our house. I really didn't want to miss out on this fun time and with a ton of help from my mom, Linde and Chris we had a great party. It was also another great opportunity for Nate to meet his entire family in one big swoop.
How cute is this picture of Jack holding Nate? Jack loved Nate and was very interested in him all night...so sweet. Wes had an awesome time, as always, playing with all of his second cousins. He loves playing with all of the kids, no matter the age, and the older ones are all so good with the younger ones, it is really cute to watch. Wes also had his first, though I'm sure unfortunately not his last, Wii accident. One of the boys was playing baseball and Wes got in the way at the wrong time and took a Wii controller right to the nose. It bled like crazy, but he was more upset that he had to stop playing and let us try and stop the bleeding than he was that he got hit in the nose. It was a fun night, nosebleed and all!

Nate's 1st Movie

On Christmas night we wanted to go see a movie like we do every year. After a long day of celebrating, I still felt good enough to go. So, off we went to Nate's 1st movie at exactly 1 week old. We met my mom, Linde, Adam and Jaime to see Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler. As we were waiting to go into the theater, I realized that the first movie we took Wes to (at 3 & 1/2 months old to test his readiness to see movies in San Diego) was Click with Adam Sandler. So, now it's become a tradition that my kid's 1st movies have to be Adam Sandler movies. Wes loved the movie and Nate slept the whole time, what more could we ask for.

Nate's 1st Christmas...aka...Wes's Best Day Ever

Wes was REALLY into Christmas this year and it made it extra fun for us. He loved everything, Santa, the lights, the decorations, the treats and especially the presents.
This was the first Christmas Eve since I graduated from pharmacy school, 8 years ago, that I didn't have to work on Christmas Eve during the day. I enjoyed being home all day with Wes as the excitement was building, but with a brand new baby it was still a little hectic around our house.
We celebrated Christmas Eve with my side of the family as we usually do by going to church, getting our annual Jack in the Box dinner, and opening presents at my mom and Linde's house. Wes was ALL about helping hand out presents this year. He was so cute that I literally started crying, I couldn't handle the cuteness. He was running back and forth between the tree and the couch area bringing presents to everyone. He was SO excited about all the presents, not just his own. Every time we would tell him that one was for him, he would exclaim "FOR MEEEEE" in the cutest high pitched voice. As soon as we told him he could start, he ripped through his presents. He was a one man unwrapping machine. We all sat and watched in awe as he ripped through a huge pile of presents. He was totally spoiled and loved everything that he got. Then, he started to unwrap all of our presents! We had to try and occupy him with some of his new toys so that we could actually see what we got.
My favorite present, of course, was my sweet, sweet baby boy. He spent most of Christmas sleeping, but I just loved holding him and staring at him. Through my whole pregnancy, I kept checking out "Baby's 1st Christmas" gear and then stopping myself to remember that the baby's 1st Christmas wouldn't be until next year. Oops. Friends and family were nice enough to find some cute "Baby's 1st Christmas" things for Nate while we were in the hospital, so he was all decked out for Christmas.
On Christmas morning, Wes got up and ran to the Christmas tree only to find a huge wrapped present from Santa. He opened the present, and low and behold, a train table just like he asked Santa for. Oh yeah, he also got that baby brother he asked for. Not expecting Nate to make a Christmas appearance, we hadn't gotten him any gifts. So, a couple days before Christmas we made a trip to a book store and Wes picked out a couple interesting looking Sandra Boynton books. This is a picture of Wes helping him open them.
Wes spent the morning playing with his train table and other toys. Then we got ready to head over to Papa and Lou Lou's for more Christmas fun.

Not only was it Nate's 1st Christmas, but it was also Jack's 1st Christmas. Though, Jack was a little more in to it than Nate was. At least he enjoyed trying to open the presents. We had a nice breakfast with Papa, Lou l.ou, Chris, Liz, Jack and Papa Mickey. Then we let the boys open their presents,. Wes, again, was a one man wrecking crew when it came to opening presents but Lou Lou was able to distract him with his favorite Cars racing set while we opened our presents.

We had a nice relaxing morning with everyone and then headed over to Susie and Pete's house for the large family gathering, dinner and gift exchange. We had a really great time and Nate got to meet all of his new family. For some reason I didn't get any pictures, I think I was a little tired by then and never got the camera out. It was a really wet and rainy Christmas day and at some point in the afternoon a beautiful rainbow came out. What a great Christmas!

Getting in the Swing of Things

Our first few days home, we got to work finishing preparations for Christmas and enjoying our brand new bundle of joy. It was nice to have Chris home for the first almost 2 weeks so that he could help me with the lifting, taking care of Wes and Nate and wrapping presents.

Lots of people came to the hospital and house to visit Nate those first few days. Most our family came to the hospital, including Gramma Dee Dee, Linde, Jaime, Adam, Gramma Lou Lou, Papa, Liz, Jack, and Mike. Jen & Austin came by the hospital a couple times. It turned out that Stephanie was in town the weekend that I ended up delivering Nate, so it was nice to see her and her mom Vicki a couple times. Mike Schneider came by the hospital and brought me some chocolate chip pie, so much better than flowers :). Alisa stopped by to get some holds in and keep me company. Marilyn, Katie and Kylie took Wes for one of the days to play at their house (which he loves more than anything and is still talking about 5 months later) and brought Wes back to the hospital where they got to meet little Nate. Amy, Lewis and Riley also stopped by and Riley pulled the emergency cord in the bathroom (because she's 5 and it looked like something fun to pull), I replaced it and the nurses never responded...hmmm...I wonder if that thing really even works.

The day after we got home, a bunch of our friends came by and brought us lunch. Mike, Suzanne, Will and Cate; Sean, Jen and Patrick; Rob and Luke all came by to get a peek at the new baby boy. Stephanie, Brian and Lynn also came by that day. We went to Papa and Lou Lou's that night and Grandma Honey, Papa Fred and Uncle Chris got to meet our sweet boy. Anyone who didn't get to meet Nate in those first few days didn't have long to wait. Christmas was one week after he was born and Nate made sure to make an appearance at all the family functions.

We had been wanting to take Wes for a drive to look at Christmas lights, so on Gramma Dee Dee's birthday we packed everyone up in the van, got some hot chocolate and headed out. We got to see a few cool displays but then eveything started turning off. We hadn't gotten very efficient at getting everyone ready and out of the house yet, so by the time we headed out it was so late that everyone's lights starting turning off. There really is very little concept of time in those first few weeks with a newborn. We had fun seeing the lights that we did and decided we would try and make it out one more time after Christmas and before everything was taken down.
Before we knew it, Santa Claus was coming to town!

Home Again, Home Again

I was getting pretty stir crazy in the hospital. Being a week before Christmas, I was pretty eager to get home and finish preparing for the holiday. I also wanted to be home with Wes and Chris. The first night in the hospital is always fun but the second night for me both times was a little lonely. Chris was not able to stay with me the second night the first time because of school and the second time because of Wes. Because I had a c-section they would let me stay in the hospital for 4 days and would not release me any sooner than 48 hours. The nurses gave me a check list of things I needed to get done before I would be allowed to be discharged. I was very motivated to get these things checked off before the 48 hours was up, so that I could go home. I also felt really good. I was really worried about the recovery with a c-section, especially with a 2 year old to take care of at home. Luckily, I can say that I didn't feel that much worse than I did after Wes's delivery. I was careful not to lift anything and was a little slow walking around but I was able to do most anything I wanted. Right after I had him, I was sitting up in the hospital bed having a great time chatting with everyone and nurse told me I really shouldn't be so chipper, but I felt really good. On Saturday, I waited and waited for the doctor to make her rounds but she didn't show up until the late afternoon. I was getting worried that they had forgotten me and I would have to stay another day. After assuring the doctor that I really did want to go home and did not want to stay the extra 2 days, she discharged me. Time for the going home outfit!




Mom and Linde helped us pack everything up and I got wheeled downstairs carrying my bundle of joy. We packed both kids up in the car and we headed home with our new family of four.

When we got home I carried Nate around and showed him all of the highlights. I showed him his nursery and Wes couldn't wait to show Nate his big boy room. We showed him the Christmas tree and he got to meet Nippett and Shake. Nippett and Shake looked at us like, "What the heck...another one?" but they love him now as much as they love Wes.

Mom and Linde followed us back to our house and we decided to celebrate Nate's homecoming with our favorite Chinese food, Sesame Inn. Gramma Lou Lou, Papa and Mike also came over and it was fun having dinner in my own house with our families.

Here is Nate's first story, read by Gramma Dee Dee to Wes and Nate. He actually looks kind of interested. Welcome home baby Nate!

Welcome Nathaniel Conrad!

We were so happy to welcome Nathaniel Conrad Dinoffria to the world and our family on December 18th at 2:07pm. He weighed in at 7 lb 5 oz and was 21 inches long, a big boy for being 3 weeks early.

It was discovered early in my pregnancy that I had placenta previa (a condition where the placenta is attached down low and blocking the baby's way out of the birth canal). I was monitored throughout my pregnancy and we hoped that the placenta would grow away from the birth canal as the baby grew so that I could have a normal delivery. Nate was due January 6th and the doctor scheduled me for a c-section on December 30th if the placenta didn't move out of the way. Three weeks before I was due, the doctor sent me for an ultrasound at a specialist to see for sure if the placenta had moved enough. The specialist determined that it had not moved enough and I would have to have the c-section. I was bummed, but wanted to have a safe delivery and I told him that I had one scheduled for December 30th. He quickly looked at the chart and asked how far along I was. I told him that I was just over 37 weeks along and he immediately told me that I had to have the c-section right away...that week! I told him my concerns about having the baby early and he said that it was ultimately my decision but that he would recommend delivering right away. After several phone calls with Chris, my OB and the specialist we decided it was best to get scheduled for the c-section as soon as possible. The doctors do not want you to go into active labor with placenta previa, it can cause life threatening bleeding for the mother and baby. The further along you get in your pregnancy the greater the chance that you will start going into labor, so they like to deliver the babies at 36 weeks and no later than 37 weeks because the baby is full term at this point. With that, we scheduled the c-section for 2 days later on Thursday, December 18th at 1pm.

I was a little freaked out because I was not as prepared as I would've liked to have been for Nate's arrival. I was so busy with Wes, moving and the holidays that I had not had time to finish Nate's room or go through and wash all of the baby clothes. I also still had one more week of work left and Christmas presents to wrap. I called work to get my shifts covered, figured I'd get the gifts wrapped somehow (or just give them out unwrapped) and set to work getting ready for my baby boy. The day before Nate was born, Wes went to Tracy's house like a normal Wednesday and Liz and Jen Woods came over to help me get some essentials ready. We put Nate's bassinet and crib together (even though he wouldn't be sleeping in the crib for a while it made me feel better to have his room a little bit together). We washed baby clothes and packed a bag for the hospital. That night, Chris, Wes and I made a run to Babies R Us to pick up last minute needs. Ready or not here he comes!

The morning of December 18th we got up and ready, took one last picture of my giant belly and took Wes to Tracy's house. We checked into the hospital at 11am, filled out a bunch of paperwork (pre-registering was on my long To Do list that never got finished), then went to the pre-op room to start getting hooked up to stuff. While I was in the bathroom changing into my hospital gown, the nurse started asking Chris a bunch of questions to get everything started. She asked our pediatrician's name, which he knew the answer to. Then she asked for my maiden name and the way she asked it, he thought she was asking the pediatrician's maiden name. Our pediatrician is an old friend of my aunt's, so he immediately started wracking his brain because he thought she had never been married and was so confused as to why he had to know the pediatrian's maiden name. Poor guy, it's not nice to ask expectant dads such confusing questions.

They asked if I was feeling any contractions and I wasn't, but when they hooked me up to the monitor it showed that I was having a bunch of regular contractions. The doctor said it was a good thing that we decided to have the c-section sooner rather than later, after all, I've now learned that I don't really feel contractions until I'm in the last stages of labor. I was pretty uncomfortable laying in the hospital bed hooked up to a bunch of machines. I definitely didn't like the sitting a waiting while being uncomfortable. Luckily, my mom and Linde got there right after we did and were able to help Chris keep me laughing. Before we knew it, I had a funny hat on and Chris had a funny outfit on and I was being wheeled away. They made Chris sit in the hall while they administered the spinal block which I wasn't super happy with but the anesthesiologist told me to sit "criss cross apple sauce" which made me laugh. Soon, Chris was in the room and they went to work. It was kind of weird to lay there and feel tugging and pulling not knowing exactly when my baby was going to enter the world. The anticipation was very exciting. Chris kept standing up to look over the drape and I was afraid he was going to pass out from seeing the blood so I kept trying to get him to sit down. He proudly proclaimed that it is only his own blood that makes him woozy and that he had now seen more of me than I had...eeewwwww! Next thing I knew, the doctors said that Nate was out, he quickly began crying and so did I. They declared him big and healthy and I was overjoyed. Chris got to hold him first (since I was strapped to the table) and brought him over for kisses and pictures. I couldn't believe my baby boy was here. I thought I would be more prepared for the joy and love the second time but it still hit me like a ton of bricks. There is something so powerful about seeing your child for the first time, I don't think you can ever be prepared. I was also surprised that he looked so much like Wes and had so much hair!

They wheeled me back to the room where my mom, Linde, Adam, Jaime, MaryLou, David and Mike where waiting to meet our perfect little boy. Mike had just flown in from California and Chris and I were very surprised and delighted to see him. The nurse kept going on and on about her dog that died because of eating sugarless gum and cornered Mike in the hall to tell him that he should write a story about it. Then Mike got to help push my hospital bed up to the 3rd floor. I think Mike got a little more than he bargined for that day.




Liz picked up Wes at Tracy's, brought him to the hospital right after Nate was born and Wes got to meet his little brother. Wes was interested in him and also interested in the toys we had packed him and all the people that were around. Everyone (except me, my mom and Linde) went to Uncle Sam's to get dinner and we just starred at Nate. Tracy, Mike, Xavier and Cassandra also came by that night to hold new baby Nate. Wes seemed to be doing really well, so we decided to let him spend the night with Grandma Dee Dee and Linde so that Chris could stay at the hospital with me and Nate. Chris switched out 3 chairs that night trying to find one that was comfortable for him but we had lots of fun doting over our new baby boy. I think there is something very magical about the first night in the hospital with a new baby. I can never keep my eyes closed very long, I have to keep checking to make sure that he is really there.