Happy Halloween!

3 weeks, 4 days old

If Barrett's behavior is any indication of his feelings on Halloween, he is not a fan. Bubba decided all he wanted to do today was whine. Maybe he's mad at me for not getting him a real costume.

We didn't do trick or treating this year but we had to have a photo shoot anyway!

Houston, we have a thumb sucker!

3 weeks, 3 days old



This picture is the closest I've got to documenting it but he finally succeeded in getting his thumb in his mouth. He's been trying since birth and never quite managed until our walk to the park yesterday. It's the cutest!! I hope he continues to catch on because I'm over the paci thing already and it's only been 3 weeks. I'm kinda in love with thumb suckers too and I secretly want him to be one. (I know I'm totally going to regret that when he's 5 and 10 and 15 and still sucking it but oh well.)

What's in a name?

3 weeks old

Let's talk about names, shall we?

You may know that Barrett was the front runner for baby names pretty much from the get go. I'm not sure if I told the story here or not but Joe suggested the name very early in my pregnancy and it stuck. This particular night, I think I was about 14 weeks along, he was downstairs reading "Harvey Penick's Little Red Book: Lessons and Teachings from a lifetime in Golf" and found a potential girls name. He came upstairs so excited and as soon as he told me the name, I had to break it to him that it was the same name that Allyson had picked out for her (future) dog. This same night, he googled boy names and found it.

So what's in a name?

Barrett: meaning "Bear" or "Strength." Joe was very particular that his son have a strong name. I think his google search was "strong baby names" which lead to the ultimate winner. My main stipulation in choosing a name was that it couldn't be a name of someone I already know. Done and done.

Robert: This is my dad's name. My dad, who only has daughters. My dad, who only has a sister. Our family name will soon be extinct so I was pretty adamant that this be the middle name. Unfortunately, Joe had other plans. See, he is 4th general Joseph (either first or middle names) so he was pulling for that. We both were okay with either option and had we not been set in our ways, we probably would have finalized his name earlier.

Tissiere: self explanatory, obviously. I'll be honest that this was pretty much my leverage for winning on the middle name debate. B will always be a Tissiere so I felt it was only fair that he be named after someone in my family as well.


Names he also goes by:

Buddy (most used)
Mister Man
B
Squeaker
Bubba
Barry Bob


FYI: I'm working on my birth story but it's taking longer than it should. I'll have that up soon.

My little sleeper

2 weeks, 5 days old

When it comes to sleep, we've pretty much hit the baby jackpot. B is like his mama and enjoys his sleep. Other than that first weekend, he has gone easy on us, in my opinion. We're not sleeping huge stretches of time (the longest being five hours straight) but he wakes to eat and basically goes right back to bed. I was expecting it to be MUCH worse. I've only had one night so far that I didn't get 7-8 hours (albeit not all in a row). I am a bit worried about how things will be when I go back to work though because he's a night owl. His fussy time is from 10-12 at night but he rewards me by sleeping in in the mornings. (Today we got out of bed at 10:15am!)

I'll let my mobile pictures speak for themselves.


















And whatdoyouknow? He's sleeping in my arms as I type (one-handed). :)

Happy 1 Week Birthday, Barrett!

1 week



I know I'm probably going to say this every week but Where has the time gone?!? B is a week old today and in those 7 short days, I can't picture life without him. He has been a very busy and popular guy this week with a whole lot of visitors coming to check him out. Aunt Rachel gets the prize for 3 separate visits to love on him.







B had his first doctor appointment today with Dr. Murray. I was extra anxious about the trip because I didn't want him to have a freak out while we were in the waiting room. Even though we had to wait a full 30 minutes after our appt to be seen, he was a rock star....slept through it all. He gave Mom and Dad a nice present though in the exam room when he had a dirty diaper. And of course, I thought I had packed everything imaginable in his diaper bag but I failed to think about the gauze and vaseline needed for his circumcision. He was a trooper though! All checked out fine according to the doc. He weighed in at 7 lbs, 1 oz which is the same weight he had on Saturday at discharge. I was concerned with that weight because he should have gained but Dr. Murray assured us that he likely lost some more after leaving the hospital and that he is now back on the upswing. He is having plenty of pees and poops and nursing is going really great so no worries. (No worries? yeah right!)





This first week, Barrett has taken two trips to Daddy's office, visited Target, took his first bath and slept through a walk to the park to see all the baseball fields. We've left the house pretty much every day since coming home from the hospital and he's been such a trooper. He is in love with car rides and basically anything that keeps him moving.







He is sleeping pretty fantastically so far. Most nights he's out for the majority, with me having to wake him every three hours to eat. He certainly has his fussy moments but overall it's been fantastic. I fear this will change next week when Joe goes back to work.

(Joe going back to work? Yeah, let's not talk about that. I'm pretending it's never going to happen.)






Things I don't want to forget:
The way he whimpers after he has a good cry. (I must get this on video because it's so damn cute.)

How he has to have his hands in his face. I can hardly get a good picture out of him with those things up in his mouth.

The faces he makes when he's sleeping. His fish face is my favorite.

His cute little ears and fingers and hairline.

The way his forehead wrinkles when he nurses and how he grunts when he impatiently waits for my let down.

His crazy legs of steel and how they tighten as soon as we try to put on a diaper.

How his little hands break through his swaddle minutes after we wrap him.


I can't get enough!

Live Blog:

Written by Joe (Dad)


6:50 PM - Arrived at the hospital....late. Peed in a cup, weighed and hooked up to machines.

7:10 PM - IV in, shootin' up drugs

7:53 PM - Momma is annoyed with everything....the gown, the bed, the machines. Not Dad, though. Which is cool.

7:58 PM - Shout out to Easton!!!

8:07 PM - Blood drawn...this is getting old already.

8:15 PM - Questions asked questions answered. Internal will be in a few minutes

8:38 PM - Cervadil in. Here we go!! Taryn cannot get up for 2 hours, and is still at 1 cm. The medicine comes out at 5 AM tomorrow.

8:55 PM - Update on diabetes: No insulin unless blood sugar goes above 120, dextrose if she drops below 60. Wendy the RN is awesome and very helpful.

9:10 PM - The machine automatically took Taryn's blood pressure, and scared the piss out of me.

9:55 PM - Bored as shit....

10/6/2011
5:17 AM - Cervadil out. Cervix has thinned out to more than 50% effaced and dilated to 2cm. In 15 minutes Taryn can get up and walk around. Joe is already drinking coffee and pacing.

5:39 AM - Taryn is finally able to get up, pee and take a shower.

6:15 AM - Blood sugar taken, Pitocin is on the IV but not pumping. Taryn gets to eat some cereal and drink water for the last time until after the baby is born. Until then.....ice chips.

8:42 AM - Dr. Bennett has arrived! 70% effaced, 3 cm dilated, water has been broken, internal monitor for contractions is in. Now we play the waiting game. Also, I (Joe) ate a carmel brownie and have a carmel latte. The Bean Counter rocks!

9:00 AM - The med student is Captain Obvious. Contractions are more intense now that the "bag of waters" has been broken.

10:45 AM - Taryn wants pain meds. The RN and med student checked dilation and we found out that she is still at 3 cm. Here comes the Nubain.

10:50 AM - Taryn wants a f***ing epidural, NOW!

11:35 AM - Anesthesiologist arrives.

11:45 AM - Epidural is administered.

12:00 PM - Tests are all good, 4 cm dilated, epidural is "best thing ever"

2:17 PM - Joe went to lunch earlier, and when he came back Pitocin was off, and Taryn was on oxygen. The baby's heart rate dropped to around 60, but came back up immediately. Everyone is ok. They were having a hard time getting Taryn's BP because she was shaking due to the epidural. All is well now, and she was put back on oxygen, Pitocin is back on, and everyone is doing fine. I AM NOT LEAVING THE ROOM AGAIN.

3:30 PM - Rolled over and checked dilation....6 cm. Booya!! Over the hump!!!

5:17 PM - Bernie (RN) just checked, and we are pretty much fully dilated!!! Next update will be when he arrives!!

8:37 PM - Barrett Robert Tissiere has arrived!!! After a little less than an hour of pushing by his awesome mother, we have a brand new baby boy. Thank God for the nurses, because that idiot med student told us we were not going to push tonight, and were going back on Cervadil in the morning. D-U-M-B. Wendy and Denise from last night were back and they were rockstars. Not to mention Bernie who helped us out all day. Pictures are to follow, and the blog is back in Taryn's hands tomorrow. You stay classy Blogosphere.

38 weeks

38 weeks, 5 days

This will be my last official update on the pregnancy! You have no idea how ready I am to be done with them. I've been determined to write each one though because even now, I have loved to go back and read what it was like just a few short weeks ago. However, they are not much fun anymore.

So like I said, my last post which means....I'm getting induced! I'm not really excited to be induced (I'm still holding out that I go on my own in the next 24 hours) but I am ready to get the show on the road. It's been 3 weeks of bedrest and while I know I will wish for this time back, I'm really over not being able to leave the house. I've basically went back and forth to doctor visits with a few cheats here or there. I, technically, could be finished with bedrest now that the induction has been set but I'm trying to continue with my rest because I'm know it's going to be a difficult labor and delivery. Maybe if I stockpile on sleep, I won't be so exhausted. (HA! I wish!)



I don't have any real update on the whole bed rest thing. I've been to the doctor 3 (maybe 4) times since I wrote last week and everything is pretty status quo. My amniotic fluid was gradually increasing and had gotten to its highest point at 8.4. That is until Thursday when it had dropped substantially to 6.4. It was pretty annoying to see that the previous two weeks of bed rest basically did nothing. I can't say I was too upset though because it meant I would get more views of the kid. I've been telling all the receptionists when I check in that I love coming in to see them because it gets me out of the house.

Anyways, after Thursdays stats, I went back 24 hours later and fluid had increased again so who knows what the deal really is. One of the common concerns for low amniotic fluid is that something is wrong with the placenta but thankfully, it always checks out great. He is breathing just fine and passing all his tests so it hasn't been a huge concern.

Come yesterday, I went back for my regularly scheduled Monday visit. Fluid stayed consistent and again, he passed all his necessary tests (they have to get him breathing consistently and see him wiggle his toes). I was scheduled for a growth ultrasound this time and he again measured a bit late. He has been continuously a few days ahead of schedule based on growth but these past two growth sonos, he has started to fall off the curve. This week, he was measuring exactly 1 week behind (coming in at approx 7 lb, 1 oz). Like I mentioned after our last growth, it's not a huge deal because the measurements are so subjective and he is continuing to grow. However, he is not receiving any extra benefits of staying in any longer, so Dr. Bennett decided to go ahead with the induction. No sense in me staying on bed rest and having to stick it out longer for no reason. I'll be honest, that I'm not super gungho about the whole induction thing but at this point, I'm not sure I care anymore. So yeah, come tomorrow evening at 6:30 we are to check into the hospital to get this going. We should expect a baby boy with an Oct 6th birthday.



Final stats:
Weight gain: 12 lbs
Stretch marks: uh, yeah. Both hips have a few little guys. I think they get worse when I start shrinking though which scares me.
Belly button: Perfectly flat. I don't think it will go back though. I forsee an early outie next pregnancy.


Physically I'm feeling so-so this week. I have my good days and bad days. I know I've said it before but I really think I would be more comfortable if I was able to get up and move around more. Moving around at the doctor is almost a relief. Although, I can say that this week, I've hit that real discomfort that pregnant moms talk about. My hips and lower back are painful and it's just not easy to find a comfortable position no matter what I do. Sleeping is sporadic. Some nights I can pass out for long stretches and stay comfortable. Other nights, I'm up every hour on the hour. This weekend, I was able to take part in Joe's normal morning routine when we both got out of bed at 4:30. I was bored to death and finally got comfortable on the couch and was able to fall back asleep an hour or so later. Monday night, I was smart and moved to the couch at 3:30 and was able to get another 4+ hours. My biggest complaint at this point though is with my ribs. He is seriously lodged up there. I'm almost used to the constant pain and random stabs that I get but they are still not fun. I'm ready for those to be donzo.

We won't even get into my emotional state right now. I want to cry all the time, pretty much....not because I'm sad or upset or happy, even. I can't even think about tonight being the last night that Joe and I have with just "us." (There I go again.) I'm very very excited for him to get here though!




All that we really need to know is that he's fully developed!


The next update you get will be about baby boy!...and the much anticipated Name!