Bom Dia!

That is Portuguese for good day. And also, happy Halloween to y'all. Are you going to eat tons of candy tonight? I sure am. We didn't get a single trick or treater last year and don't really expect to this year either. We did pick up some candy for in case, but I'm thinking it's all going to be eaten by us, well mostly me.

We're not dressing Eliza up in any sort of costume this year. She's just too young and tiny. But next years we're trick or treating like crazy.

Yesterday we made bagels, as seen in the post pic. They don't look too good but they sure taste good. It was fairly easy, surprisingly. I ate 4 or 5 of them yesterday.

Making your own stuff at home is fun! We have been trying, or at least talking about trying, to do this more. Most things can be made with relative ease it's just finding the motivation to do it. It's way easier to just go pick some up at the store.

We are going to make Eliza's food, once she is to the point of eating solid. Her Grandma got us a Baby Bullet, which is like a Magic Bullet you may have seen on TV infomercials, only with baby sized mixing and freezerable jars. 

Ok then, have a fun and safe Halloween and I'll talk at you later. Bye!

Prediction.

Hola amigos! How have you all been? We have been doing pretty good since we last spoke. Just enjoying the company of each other and whatnot.

We met Eliza's grandma at Abe's today for lunch. They have pretty good food there. I had the gyro platter. It tasted delish, but there just wasn't enough of it.

We are all looking forward to Eliza's great grandma and great aunt coming to town. They should be in next Friday, weather permitting. They have to drive through Wyoming and sometimes they shut down the whole highway and you can't get anywhere. Amanda and I know this from experience as this past spring we were met with a closed I-25, due to flooding, and a 6 hour detour through the Wyoming mountains.

So we hope they have smooth travels all the way here. It sounds like they have many exciting activities planned for their stay. The most exciting being the celebration of my birthday. We're having a shrimp boil and a shrimp boil is wicked fun. You cook everything in one pot and then dump it put on the table and eat with yer hands.

Well then, this has been a blast, but I got to go. We're watching Planet Terror and I need to pay attention so I don't miss anything. Oh and don't forget to watch tomorrow when Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos get their 3rd win of the season. Bye!

How Old Is Eliza?

Here is the answer to the question posed by the title. It should tell you how old she is anytime you come back to this post. The little bear will move across the picture towards the 12. Clever!  So if you ever want to know, you just bookmark this page and come on back and check it out. That is all.

Differences

Well hello there. Allow me to post this and then I'll be right back to type more. Ok, I'm back, not that you could tell. I just had to post it real quick since it was 11:59 pm and I wanted to get it done on the 28th. It's silly I know but why would you expect anything different from me, I'm so silly. If a wacky next door neighbor ever made a statue of me out of pasta, he would use fusilli.

Anyways, this is one of Amanda's last days of being on maternity leave. She has been on it for almost 6 weeks now and has to go back to work on Tuesday. She's not really looking forward to it, if you can believe that. It would be pretty sweet to not work for 6 weeks and just hang out with your baby. This means for me that I will start being at home with Eliza alone during the day. The longest I have been alone with here was for 3 hours one day. I'm looking forward to it. This will be the beginning of the real adventures of Stay At Home Brad.

You may have noticed I said I would be with Eliza during the day. This is because I still have my nighttime job. I'm not a true stay at home dad, but i didn't think that www.stayathomeduringthedayandworkaparttimejobatnightbrad.com was very catchy as a website name. So that is what it is. I look forward to the day I can find some income source that will allow me to not have to go anywhere to work. Like, working from home or perhaps being a professional photographer and travelling to exotic places with my wife and kid to make photos. Or, my favorite thing to hope for is to win the Powerball. I'm totally due to hit the jackpot. Hopefully soon you'll be reading all about it in the news.

Well then, I've got to be going. It was nice chatting with you and stuff. I hope to see you around here again sometime soon. Have yourself a great day and have a great time at that event you were planning to attend in the near future. I heard it's gonna be a blast. See you all later!

Another Preemie Eliza

So just this morning Amanda was watching the latest Daily Photo Of Eliza video and one of the related videos was about another Eliza who was born premature, 5 months premature. This Eliza had a brother and a sister who didn't make it. Amanda and I both cried a bit when we watched it. That must have been so hard for the other Eliza's mom and dad, Heather and Glenn.

The previous link was to a blog they have which I have started reading. It's pretty good stuff. Perhaps you will like it too, but don't like it too much and forget about your old pal Stay At Home Brad!

Green Suit

Green Suit, a photo by bradleygee on Flickr.

Green Suit

New Video Posted, Watch It And See

So I finally got around to getting this little video made. It's days 1 through 81 of Eliza, in daily photographs! Neat! It's getting so that there's a lot of pictures, eh? Pretty soon she'll be 100 days old! Well, here it is, watch it and see her grow up before your very eyes. It's like magic or something.

Parking Lot. Snow.

Parking Lot. Snow., a photo by bradleygee on Flickr.

Parking Lot. Snow.

What Eliza Says

What Eliza Says, a photo by bradleygee on Flickr.

These are the words Eliza knows right now. She is good at saying them. But usually only when she is hungry. She doesn't do too much crying for the heck of it.

Five Paragraphs Worth

This afternoon I set out to put together the daily photos for to make the video. It took too long and o was not able to git r done. Tomorrow perhaps.

Eliza is probably going to see her first snow tomorrow. It is snowing right now, you see. We may take her out in it for a bit tomorrow afternoon. Sometimes I let our cats out in the snow!  It is funny!

We have some warm winter clothings for her. We have what you might call some "buntings" or prams or snowsuits. They seems to be called many different things. We tried one on her today and it was so cute and warm seeming. She'll make the most wonderful snow angels someday.

Oh, I heard about this roller derby league that is for kids. Kids starting at age 6. Amanda and I think it'd be pretty cool if Eliza was a roller derby girl. That is if she wants to be one. We will have to watch the movie Whip It many times to plant the proverbial seed.

Well I better be done now. I don't want to waste all this Grade A material all in one posting. I hope you have a great day and stay out of trouble!

TGIM

Hey, a picture for the day. Haven't posted them for a few days but have been taking them. Need to get them put together in the video form as it has been a month since the last.

She is getting so big. She barely fits most of her newborn size onesies and the 3 month clothes fit. Well, some of them anyways. There are such differences in sizing between manufacturers it seems.

Well, see you all later. I'll be back tomorrow night and ut will probably be snowing here in Denvertown. First snow of the season, it is. The snow will be falling down,  down, down. It'll be piling up, up, up. Ok, bye!

This Is No Joke, Or Is It?

Today Amanda and I took Eliza for a ride in her stroller, or pram if you prefer. It was pretty fun. Amanda said I looked so dainty pushing it around. I saw a cat down in the storm drain!

Eliza's Great Grandma Ruth and Great Aunt Wanda are coming down from Montana to see her and us all the beginning of November. We're looking forward to this as it will be fun times for all.

Eliza gets to take Synagis to help her not get RSV this winter. It is super expensive, like over $1000 a dose and 4 or 5 monthly doses. Our insurance luckily covers most of the cost of it and someone to come out and administer it in our home. We're going to pick up her first dose tomorrow back out at the Anschutz Medical Campus, our old stomping grounds.

Oh, Amanda came up with a joke while we were feeding Eliza tonight.

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Food.
Food who?
Food to go in your tummy, that's who.

Eliza laughed so hard milk came out of her nose.

That's all fer now. Make sure to get plenty of fluids and lots of sleep. See ya later!

A Visiting

Howdy folk! Great day isn't it? Yes, yes it is. Well, today we took little Eliza in to the doctor for a checkup. She checked out fine. She is almost 21 inches long/tall and 9 pounds 11 ounces. So big. The doc said they are going to treat her just like a newborn and not give any mind to the fact she was preemie.

We took Eliza on her first trip into the mountains today. We drove up Highway 285 to Fairplay. She didn't seem to suffer any ill effects from the elevation increase. My ears were a'poppin though.

When we were at a convenience store there in Fairplay we were talking with a dude on a bicycle. He had ridden that bicycle from Massachusetts and was in his way eventually to LA. Quite a trek.

Alright then, I will see you another time. Have a great day and a better tomorrow.

Back Again

Wow, I'm really bad at this lately. By this I mean posting new posts here at Stay At Home Brad. It seems like I say that a lot on here. Well anyways, I think I will start posting Eliza's photo of the day on here every day. Yeah, that's the ticket.

It's past time for me to put together the newest additions to the POTD video. I think the last one was September 20 or so. So keep an eye out for that. We're getting quite a collection of photos due to the fact that Eliza is getting so "old." On my birthday in a couple of weeks she'll be 3 months old in real age, 1 month 1 week in corrected age. Sweet!

Ok then, I'll be back tomorrow with a second day in a row posting and a new pic. See ya!

Spelling Art

So here is that thing I was telling you about earlier. That thing where we went out and found stuff in the world that resembled letters and put them together to spell a word, the word in this case being Eliza. Pretty cool huh? This is approximately what the finished product will look like, some editing should probably be done before printing though. Anyways, we're working on making all the letters so if you want one of your own you can email me and I can make you one for a reasonable price.

A General Interest Story

Oh hey again. Things have been going pretty well with Eliza and Amanda and I. We are getting pretty used to the new schedule we have, with getting up all hours of the night and all. It's not all that bad, certainly not as bad as some stories a person hears.

Eliza took a trip back out to the eye doctor the other day, that's why she was wearing sunglasses in the picture. She got her eyes all dilated so they could check for Retinopathy Of Prematurity, ROP if you will. She doesn't have it. Her eyes are a-ok, at least developmentally. Who knows what her vision will be like, most of her family wears glasses so she probably won't escape that fate.

Eliza sure has been all over town since she's been with us. We've been to IKEA, which is freakin' awesome, she's been to Colorado Springs, she's been to Flatirons Crossing mall and tons of other places. She really gets around. She travels real well, we put her in her carseat and she falls asleep almost instantly.

It's pretty cool taking her around, people sure seem to like her. The first thing most people say is that she has so much hair. It's totally true! She does have a great head of hair.

As fun as it is now to take her out, it will be so much more fun later when she can talk and sit up and see stuff. We plan to take as many road trips as we can with her and see all there is to see. We'll be like the Griswalds. 

Ooh, one more thing, Amanda saw this catalog where they will sell you this cool but expensive photo product. So you see, you tell them a name, Eliza for example, and they use things found in nature or architecture or wherever that look like the letters in the name. Like for the letter "A" they might use an A-frame house. They then put all the "letters" in a matted frame to spell the name.

It's swell, but they wanted like $150 for it. So we went out and made our own yesterday. We took the pics anyways, it's not framed or matted yet, but it is gonna work. I'm going to post a photo of what we came up with later tonight if you are interested.

Alright then, I'm over and out for now. Tune in later tonight for more excitement. See ya!

Sleeping On The Couch

Pro tip: If you get up in the middle of the night because your baby is crying for some food and you leave your bedroom to go to the kitchen and heat up a bottle in your The First Years brand bottle warmer, don't fall asleep on the couch while you wait. Your wife just might get mad that she was left in the room with a crying baby while you were sleeping.

The First Years

This thing here, a The First Years brand bottle warmer, is a real handy piece of equipment.

PhotoSnack Is Alright

Oh hey, I came across this site PhotoSnack what will let you make little photo slideshows, along with several other things. I took some pics of Eliza to try it out. You can do most stuff for free it seems, they do offer you a chance to give them money to get more. But the free works for me. Anyways, here's what we came up with.

Sunday Sunday Sunday

Dear Eliza,
We're getting ready for bed now. I hope you are fixing to get some sleep tonight. Last night we played cry cry feed all night long.

I just took a short break between paragraphs and you fell asleep. Looking good so far. You just might get some sleep tonight. You were so tired today. You didn't wake up for more than 5 seconds today when we went to meet with your grandma.

If it's nice tomorrow I think your mom and I are going to take you for a stroller ride. We haven't tried it out yet and it's about time we did. I bet you're going to have so much fun. I know I am.

I'll be going now Eliza. I just had to drop you a line so you would know I was thinking about you. I will see you real soon. Like in a minute when I go into the other room where you are.

Love,

DAD

Eight Week Anniversary

As you know, today was Eliza's supposed to be due date. We had quite the celebration. Well, not really. We just hung out at home, Eliza did a lot of sleeping and eating and diaper dirty-ing. Amanda and I sung happy birthday to her. Oh it was so silly.

Tomorrow is the 8 week anniversary of Eliza's real birth. Can you believe it? 8 weeks old. She is such a big girl. We were re-organizing some of her clothes today and we had to get rid of quite a few of them because she doesn't fit in them anymore! Very nice!

Well, that's it for today. Sorry it's so short and void of content. I mostly just wanted to try out this Facebook commenting that you will see below here. Feel free to comment so I can see how it works, ok. Hopefully it works pretty good and it will make it easier to comment and respond to comments. Alrighty then, thanks for reading and goodnight.

Eliza's Taste

Eliza has not tasted many things at this early stage in her life. She has had breast milk, formula, liquid vitamins and iron. The most exotic thing she has tasted was children's Tylenol, cherry flavored.

Supposed To Be Birthday Eve

Hey do you know what tomorrow is? It is the day Eliza was supposed to have been born! And it is the day her "corrected age" begins. You see, even though she was born nearly 2 months ago, we aren't supposed to count those towards any sort of milestones babies reach. Like something full term babies will do at 6 months, Eliza will do at 8. Or so they say, but we will see.

Amanda sure is glad Eliza came early. She often will look at E and imagine she was still in there and needed to come out. She's much bigger now, you see, and it would hurt more.

Well then, this second day of being back into daily posting post is over. I hope you enjoyed it. They should get better as I get back into the ol' swing of things. See ya!

I Think We Should Start Again

It seems like the time is right for a return to daily or almost daily blog postings. I have gotten pretty lax in doing so lately. So I declare today that I shall make an attempt to get back on the daily postings.

We have sure enjoyed having Eliza at home. She has been out of the hospital for 9 days and it has been a blast. Having a kid is pretty awesome, if you're ready for 'em and all. There is not one thing negative about it, I have found. Sure, a few nights consisted of very little sleep, but sleep is over-rated and that's what coffee is for.

When I look at her it amazes me every time. It's not just my daughter, but the fact that people in general all start out like this then get bigger and then do whatever it is they do. The miracle of life is just that.

Here's a fun game. Name any person you want to. 100% of the time this person started out as a baby. The only exception I know of was on Saturday Night Live when Will Ferrell was born a full grown man. But that's make believe, and hilarious.

Well then, it's the middle of the night and Eliza is back to sleep so I probably should do the same. I will type to you later today or tomorrow though. See ya!

51 Photos of Eliza

One for (almost) every day of her life. This is the third installment, it gets bigger every time, and so does Eliza!. It's fun!

Eliza Eats A Lot

Every 4 hours or so, Eliza takes a bottle. This bottle is filled with 80 ml of milk or milk substitute. And she eats this in 20 minutes or so.
Eliza is almost 8 lbs as of her last weigh in. So it's about 10 ml per pound.

Imagine, if you you will, a full grown adult eating the same amount. A 200 lb person would consume 2000 ml, or 2 liters. Not just once, but at least 6 times a day. And taking around 20 minutes each time. That seems pretty impressive to me.

Maybe it is not so much if you are Joey Chestnut or Kobayashi, but I certainly couldn't do it. However, I am also not a growing baby who shouldn't even have been born for 10 more days so she needs all that nutrition and whatnot. But still she's a super eater. And that's pretty neat.

Eliza Is Coming Home

Dear Eliza,

Today is your last day in the NICU! You are coming home! Mom and I are just waiting for the doctors to do whatever it is they do to discharge patients.

We spent the past 2 nights with you at the hospital. You even got to sleep in the same room as us! We feds you whenever you were hungry and you took your bottles so well. One thing I did find out about you is that during the day you will want food every 4 hours and you'll sleep all the way through. During the night, when daddy is trying to sleep, you like to eat every 2 hours and don't sleep "like a baby" and toss and turn and fuss about.

Last night we had you do what they call a car seat challenge. This is where we stick you in your car seat to see if you handle it well, since you usually lay flat on your back as opposed to uprightish. You passed. 

So now we wait. It's been 6 weeks but these few hours today seem to be the longest of them all. We cannot wait to get started on our life at home with you. It will be quite different than hospital life where we only saw you 4 hours a day.

It is a whole new chapter and this chapter will be filled with great times and also some not so great times. There will be fun and games. There will also be sleepless nights and frustrating times. But we will go through these all together as a family, and we will remember them forever and cherish those memories.

Well Eliza, this is the last letter I will write to you as a part time parent. From now on yer mom and I are full timers so I hope you like what you get. We sure like what we got in you.

Love,

Dad

Eliza's Face

It is free from tubes and tape and everything! She is eating from a bottle real good too. If she keeps this up she'll be home on no time. We are super excited.

Eliza Is Getting Her Tube Out

We had just arrived at the hospital when Eliza's nurse gave us some great news. Today Eliza gets her food tube out of here nose and we are going to try just bottle feeding. And we are going off the feeding schedule and just feeding when she wakes up. It is so exciting today.

Hopefully it all goes well and we can get her home! She only needs 48 hours and she can!

So we are just sitting here waiting for Eliza to wake up. Normally we would be feeding her right now but she don't want none. 

Well I have to go check some foot all scores while we wait. I will get back to you all later. Bye!

Eliza Goes Up A Size

Dear Eliza,

You mom and I just left the hospital after our weekly overnight visit. We sure had a great time while we were there. You are getting so big! We tried to fit you into a preemie sized outfit but you are too big for it and we had to use newborn size. Same with your diapers, you are newborn diaper size also. Wow!

Your weigh in last night had you at 7 lbs and 5 oz. That is almost 3 lbs up since you were born just over 1 month ago. Impressive, Eliza.

I don't want to jinx it or anything, but I think you might be coming home pretty soon. The other times we have thought that, it didn't happen and we were a little let down because we want you home so bad. October 1 is the day you were supposed to be born and that is when your initial come home date was so if it takes that long it is ok.

You just gotta start taking all your feedings by nipple. We did 3 of them in a row yesterday which was pretty cool. Your nurse told us you are doing about 60% of your eating this way. So you are getting closer! Also it has been since the 8th that you had a Brady. 4 whole days!

Well Eliza, I have to get going. Your mom and I have some things we need to get done. One of them is going to pick up some more clothes for you from my co-worker Tammy. You have so many clothes!! Alright, see you later E!

Love,

Dad

Eliza Is One Month Old Today

Dear Eliza,

Happy birthday!!! One month old today! Do you feel any older? Lol. Sorry we didn't get you any cake. You can't eat that right now anyways. But soon you can and you will have the best cakes when you do.

We got some pretty nice clothes recently from your grandmother. There are several pair of jeans, some vests, some sleep-ware and the neatest one is this fancy white dress. You are going to look so adorable in it Eliza. It is a size 18 months but I hope it doesn't really take that long to fit. It would make for a nice Christmas photo next year.

Your grandma also got us a Baby Bullet to use to make your food once you start eating solider food. That's a ways out yet though. But it's cool to have. Maybe we will do some practice batches while we wait. I don't think your mom is gonna like the blended up peas!

Well Eliza, I better be off to bed. You are probably doing about the same as I type this since you got your cares at 11 o'clock. We will be in early tomorroe morning to check on you. They did your latest length measurement tonight and I am excited to see how you've grown. Ok, I'm going for reals now. Bye birthday girl!

Love ya',

Dad

Eliza Daily Photo Video Number 2

A new, bigger and better video comprised of Eliza's daily photos is available for your viewing pleasure! She is certainly growing up right before my eyes. I am glad to be undertaking this project as it is already fun to be able to see the change in recorded fashion. I will be there in real life to see it, but like they say, "Take a picture it'll last longer." And it's true. The old brain camera doesn't work as well as a Sony DSLR for remembering things sometimes.

Alright then, here it is. I hope you enjoy watching it. The music is silly in this one. See you next time!

Eliza Is The Cutest Baby

Dear Eliza,

Once again it has been too long since I have wrote you. It seems yo be a nasty habit I am developing. I will try to fix this.

Your Mom and I are with you at the hospital again today. Did you know you are over 6 pounds? It is true. 6 pounds 3 ounces as of your weigh in last night. Pretty impressive, Eliza. And this Sunday you will be 4 weeks old! It seems like just yesterday you were born. The time sure does fly by like they all say.

We are pretty much ready for you to come home whenever you are ready. We got you your starting out supply of cloth diapers from www.eco-politan.com and you have so many cute clothes. Your Mom's cousin from England just sent you some fancy clothes. They're French. You will look so classy in them!

And we have your bed, your monitor, bottles, bath tub, blankets, medical supplies and all sorts of other stuff you may require.

We have almost everything we need for bringing up baby, we are just missing you, Eliza! You are doing pretty good on the bottle feeding. You don't take all your feedings from it, but some. You are not to keen on the breast feeding yet though. You try so hard to do it but I guess you are just too young yet. Pretty soon you will be doing only bottle or breast and you can come live with us.

Oh and they are going to try and take you off the oxygen in a couple days. You sure would like that. You are always pulling at your little oxygen tube trying to get it off your face. They did try that a while ago, when you were younger, but you couldn't get quite enough on your own. Now you're bigger and stronger and it will probably be ok. They already have it turned down as low as it goes and your levels are a-ok.

Alright then Eliza, we are just about to start your physical therapy so I best stop writing now. But I will write you at a later date. So till then...

Love,

Dad

Slideshow of Eliza Photos

I have created a little slideshow with the photos of Eliza and/or Me and/or Amanda I have put on Bradmanda.com. I hope you like it. It should update with new photos as they are added so keep checking back every so often for more!

Eliza Gets A Bath

Eliza Gets A Bath, a photo by bradleygee on Flickr.

I think this is my favorite picture of all the pictures I have taken of Eliza. It's real nice.

I am about getting around to posting more pics to my Flickr, Bradmanda.com, Facebook and right here at Stay At Home Brad so keep an eye out if you are interested.

17 Days And Growing

Dear Eliza,

Hey there my beautiful little baby! How are you? Did you know you are 17 days old today? Wow!

We saw you again out at your hospital home. We got to give you a bath today and you seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. It may have reminded you of your old home, which was inside your mom! You barely fit in the tub because you are so big, at least for a preemie (5 lbs 4 oz, almost 18".)

You are doing very well with your progression towards coming to your permanent home. Yesterday you ate/drank from a bottle 3 times. And today you seemed to be grasping the concept of breastfeeding.

Eliza, if you recall, the last 2 things you need to accomplish are to not have Bradys for 5 days and be solely bottle and/or breast fed for 2 days. You are working so hard at it, we can tell. You are gonna be home in no time!

We are really anxious to get you home. Going all the way out to Aurora to see you is really hard. We do love coming to visit and as soon as we get there we forget any sort of troubles our journey might have brought us. But we sure would like it better if the farthest we had to go to see you was across our house. I know you're trying really hard and it is just gonna be a lil while more but we want you home Eliza!

Alright then, I will be going now. I'm waiting for your mom at her work where I am picking her up and she should be out any minute now. We will see you in the morning time Eliza.

Love,

Dad

2 Week Birthday

Dear Eliza,

Happy birthday. You are two weeks old today! Not only that but you are also over 5 pounds now. You are growing so big Eliza!

Yesterday I made a video out of the daily photographs I (and your grandma) have taken. We only had 13 days worth of photos to work with so it is pretty short, but it will get bigger and better as you grow older.

We are here with you on the NICU today. You were having a little bit of a problem with your oxygen saturation levels earlier, but they turned up your airflow and that seemed to help.

We are all still really impressed with your progress. All you need to do is start nipple feeding and we're outta here. But no rush. You will start when you are ready.

Alright then Eliza, I will be going again. We just got back from having lunch with your grandma at Panda Express and need to get back in to see you. So I will type to you later! Bye!

Love,

Dad

Eliza's Daily Photo Video Number 1

Hi there, I have been diligently snapping away while Eliza is in the NICU to get her photo of the day, with a little help from Grandma C when we could not make it. Eliza is 13 days old today, tomorrow she will be 2 weeks, yay! She is doing great there, but we are really ready for her to come home. She has got a little bit to do yet before she can so we just have to wait. But anyways, here is the video of her 13 days in still picture form! It's a little bit harder with her in the NICU to get a good photo some days, they will improve when she gets home, don't worry. Ok then!

News And/Or Updates For Today

Dear Eliza,

So sorry for not writing you for several days. I'm sure you will have forgiven me by the time you are reading this.

We got some news today regarding your release from the hospital. What we found out was that you need to be free from Bradycardia for 5 days and have been fed solely from a bottle and/or nipple for 48 hours. That is all you have to do! You have already been able to maintain your temperature and are above your birth weight and still gaining! You are doing so great Eliza!

Your grandma Carol stopped by last night to are you. She is pretty excited about you too. She got to hold you for a couple hours and see your fancy clothes and blanket.
Speaking of blanket, your great grandma Ruth sent you a beautiful quilt that she made. She is probably one of the best quilters around so you are pretty lucky to get one made by her. She also wrote you a letter you can read when you get older and some preemie clothes she got from Project Hope in Columbus, Montana.

We also got our second car seat from one of mommy's work friends. Now we can have you seated safely in both of our cars. You have to ride on a car seat or booster seat till you are 15! Ha, not quite but it seems like it's quite a while. You will learn to like it though.

Well baby E, I must be going now. I will write later ok. Have a great day. Bye!

Love,

Dad

We Spent Our Weekend At The Hospital

Sorry it has been a few days since the last post. We have spent the past two nights staying in one of the rooms the NICU provides for families to sleep over. It's a pretty nice feature. So we have been hanging out cribside almost the whole time and I haven't felt compelled to post.

Anyways, Eliza is doing so great. She is out of her isolette and into an open air crib. She is slowly learning how to breastfeed. She is gaining weight and just generally doing well.

I guess she does still have some Bradycardia, which is where her heart rate drops below a certain point and then alarms go off and red lights flash and it's a little scary. This is the only problem we see. But this is apparently normal for preemies and should go away in time. The first line of treatment is caffeine, so it's not like she'll need complicated surgery or anything,  it's just frightening when it happens (especially when I am holding her.)

Ooh ooh ooh, you know what else? Eliza has her first modeling gig lined up! She is going to pose, and I am going to photograph, for an update to the physical therapy book! Cool!

Well that's all I have time for now. Amanda and I are going to get some breakfast at the cafeteria and go back up to see her before we leave for today. So I will type to you later.

5 Days And Counting!

Dear Eliza,

Wow, 5 and a half days old! You sure are getting up there in days. Before we know it you are going to be 10 (days).

We went to see you again in the NICU today. You got your IV out! The nurse had told us it wouldn't happen till tomorrow so that was a pleasant surprise. One less tube to deal with when we hold you. Now you just have your oxygen tube and the 3 monitor wires attached.

And you are wearing clothes! We brought you some of your own from home but they had you in another baby's clothes. It's ok though, nobody noticed and it looked good on you.

We have been getting to hold you for longer and longer these past couple days. Now with your clothes wearing we can go for hours. They are also supposed to be turning down the heat in your isolette gradually. So in a week or so you should be living on an un-enclosed bed. 

We all, including your doctors, are so happy with your progress. Every day you make great strides towards coming home. We're working on getting you boob trained and that will be another milestone. So keep it up Eliza. You're doing a great job and I heart you.

Love, 

Dad

Eliza Ruth, Gaining Weight, Growing Tall and 4 Days Old

Dear Eliza,

Wow! You are 4 days old now. The time sure does fly right by! You are still doing spectacular in the NICU. You gained some weight yesterday as I suspected would happen. And it appears that you have also increased in length by .2" (point two inches!)

We are here with you again and your mom is learning you how to breastfeed and you are a fast learner. Make sure to put that on your resume and/or cover letter!

Tomorrow sometime they should be taking you off your IV. I know it must be uncomfortable so you will like that a lot. They have it in your foot right now and it is all wrapped up so you don't tear it out.

When we first got here today you were crying like crazy, Eliza. You were hungry for food and attention since your nurse was running a bit late due to a new arrival to the NICU.

You also had both your eyes wide open, the first time I have seen that. Before you would (or could) only open them a little tiny bit and usually one at a time. We thought you were beautiful before but that sealed the deal.

Also, yesterday we brought some clothes for you to wear while you are here. You can't try them on until you get your IV out, at the earliest. That will be fun wont it? It will probably be more fun for us than for you since you aren't used to wearing clothes, but you'll get used to it.

Ok Eliza, I have got to be going now so I can pay attention to you in real life. I will write later. Bye, love you!

Dad

On The Third Day...

Dear Eliza,

Hey baby E, happy 3 day birthday! We are with you right now in the NICU and you are doing so good! You were sucking on a pacifier when we got here, way to go!

You only lost 5 grams at your last weigh-in. They say babies lose weight the first couple days and you did. You should be at the point where you start gaining it. I bet we see that happening when we come see you tomorrow.

Your mommy has been holding you for like 30 minutes now, that's the longest ever. She will hold you for hours and hours when you come home with us.

I have to be going now Eliza, I need to go get a pump so your mom can make you some breakfast.

I love you so much Eliza. I love coming to see you. You are the best baby anyone could ask for. Every day we get closer to having you at home in the room we have set up for you. Well, I will wrote you later Eliza. Get lots of rest and keep a growin'.

Love,

Dad

2 Days Old - Letter To Eliza

Dear Eliza,

How does it feel to be 2 days old like you are right now? I bet it feels pretty neat. It's August 9 at 4:43 am as this is being posted.

We saw you again today in the NICU. You still have the CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) on you to help your little lungs inflate but you should be getting that off some time tomorrow according to your day nurse. That will sure be nice huh? I see you grabbing at it sometimes, I'm sure it's not the most comfortable thing you could have on, but you need it right now. It will be cool when it's off so we can see your pretty face more clearly though.

We changed 2 of your diapers and checked your temperature also, Eliza. Real mommy and daddy things! But we're only part time mommy and daddy right now cause of your situation. We're easing into it. Your situation also give us time to get what we need for your homecoming since you came so early that we were not quite ready! We have a lot of it but not all. We did just get a carseat yesterday from one of your mom's work associates. It's used but only gently and it's fairly new.

Oh, also we got the form to fill out for your birth certificate! It proves you are real to other people and employers. You're also getting a social security number! Yay! Also we're adding you on to our insurance so we can get you doctored up once you leave the 'spital. You had such a busy day Eliza! What do you think will happen tomorrow?

Love you,

Dad

Babies Are Awesome

We're still here at the hospital, today will mark one week. I was pretty worried when we first got here with all this happening so soon and all. But the more time went by and the more I learned about premature babies the less I worried.
And now little baby Eliza has been born and all is well. She is resting comfortably in her hotbox in the NICU just growing and growing. The only concern with her now is there is either fluid in her lungs, what would go away over time, or she might not have enough surfactant in 'em in which case she would need a breathing tube. The doc we spoke to yesterday was fairly sure it was just some fluid though, so we'll see.
This has been an amazing experience for Amanda and I (and Eliza too.) It is so incredible how this whole thing works. I mean, Eliza started out as two tiny things that merged into one tiny thing and then grew to be this wonderful little girl. And all this happened right inside my wife!
All the books and shows and things people say couldn't prepare me for the actual experience of having a baby. Even if I went back to school and got 7 different English degrees I could not express in words how freakin' awesome this is.
I know it will not be all fun and games the whole time. But for now, I am simply enjoying our miracle of life. When we got to hold her yesterday it was about the best thing ever. She is so small but will grow so big.
I feel like a different person now that we have her. Everything I do now has to be for her, not me. Every decision I make now effects not just me or Amanda,  but Eliza. And I can't do anything what may bring her harm.
A'ight then, I will be going now. Thanks to everyone who has called or wrote to us or an intermediary regarding our situation. We appreciate your concerns and it was very nice of yous. Stay tuned to this here blog for more in the future. Things will really start ramping up once we get to bring Eliza home in the next some number of weeks and you wont want to miss it!

Eliza - One Day Old

Dear Eliza,

You are one day old right now (4:43 am, August 8) and are so beautiful. Your mom and I are so excited about you. It's ok that you were a little bit early. You are in the NICU so we don't get to bring you home or anything but you will be there in no time since you are in good health and have a great team of doctors to watch after you. We did get to hold you a couple times this afternoon and evening. It was so nice. As time goes by we'll get to hold you more and even stay the night with you!

Well Eliza, I will see you later today. I hope you were good overnight and got some good sleep to help you grow big and strong and help you move on out of there.

Love,

Dad

Eliza Ruth Is Here!

Not even 2 hours ago we welcomed our beautiful little daughter Eliza Ruth into this world. She is 4 lbs 11 oz and came out quick. We are so excited for her arrival. She is still early but the doctors seemed pleased with her size and all that. And she is fine healthwise so far as we know right now.
I gotta get back in the room so we can go see her in the NICU in a few minutes so I will type to you later!

No Baby Yet

We had quite a scare yesterday with they baby trying to come on out. As you know we do not want the baby to come out, well we do, but not right now. She needs to stay in for a while longer, our bun is not quite ready to come out of the oven.

What had happened was, Amanda started having contractions fairly close together and also they checked to see if she was dilated and she was. Some other things happened and then the doctors said she was in labor. They moved us to the delivery room across the hall and started giving Amanda magnesium sulfate and regular IV fluids. Then they strapped her up to baby monitoring machines and we waited for it to happen.

She dilated more and had contractions throughout the day but at some point it all stopped and we had won in the fight against having a baby right now. She had to stay in the delivery room for most of today and she wasn't doing too good because of some things that were going on, the pain and the poo. Both of those have seemed to lessen as today has gone on. We are now in another room that is much more comfortable and Amanda is not hooked up to any sort of monitor or anything and can sleep when she's not having painful contractions.

Well, I left out a lot of stuff but that's the gist of it. We're just waiting now, it's inevitable that the baby is born. Probably sooner rather than later, but we'll take whatever we can get. One doctor today said that each day baby is unborn equals 3 days in the NICU, so it's been 5 days since the water broke and we have saved 15 days in the NICU. That is where preemies go when they're born if you were wondering. It means neonatal intensive care unit!   Ok then, I better get going. Thanks for reading our amazing baby adventures and have a great day.

Maybe Today

Another day done with no baby. But as of about 4 this morning Amanda has been having contractions something fierce. Today might be the day our baby comes, but nothing certain yet. They are going to give her some IV fluids that could help. They might also not do anything.
It has been about 3.5 days since the water broke and they said most don't last more than 5-7 days so if it's not today it certainly could be tomorrow.
Well I best be getting back to see what's happening up on our room. I will keep you all posted.

Talking With Amanda - Video

Hi, Brad here. Last night I un-secretly recorded a conversation between Amanda and I. What you are about to witness is the raw, unedited footage the other stations were afraid to show you. Can you handle it?  

Day 3 In The Hospital

Well the docs have done a good job of keeping baby from coming out. Amanda is having some contractions but they don't seem too concerned with them.
When we first got to the hospital they put an IV port in Amanda. The nurse didn't find a good place on Amanda's arm in the 3 seconds she looked so she put it on her wrist. This was very painful.
Amanda kept telling them it hurt but they kept saying, "Oh that's just the medicines you're feeling."
Anyways, this morning Amanda asked once more to have it removed and they finally did. And the pain was gone, even after another nurse put the IV back (but in the arm where it should go) and things were pumped through it. Weird.
We finally got some good sleep this morning and into the afternoon. It sure is hard to sleep in a hospital. They are always coming in to do something. I'm sure it is even harder for Amanda since she is the one they are doing the things to.
They have pretty good food at the hospital. Amanda eats it good. She shares some with me and I like it. This morning I had a bagel with cream cheese and a sausage patty that fit the bagel perfectly like they were made for each other.
They let Amanda out of her room to roam the grounds sometimes if we ask real nice. They make her ride in a wheelchair though. I think she likes getting wheeled around by a big strong man (me! LoL!) It is a nice change of scenery for her. A person can only sit in one room for so long before they start to go crazy!
That's all I can think of for now. If you want any additional info you know how to reach me or can easily find out. So take care till next time!

Important Update

As some of you may know, last night around 7 Amanda's water broke.  This is generally an exciting moment in a pregnancy. But when you are 31 (or so) weeks along it is not so much.
I had just got done playing the first of 2 softball games when I heard the news. We had a short intermission between games and I was walking to my car where I was going to sit and enjoy some air conditioning when I saw my mom. And it went a little something like this.
Mom: Are you done with your games?
Me: No, we have one more.
Mom: You're done. Amanda called and said her water broke.
So I did not play the second game as I rushed home to see what was going on. What was going on was just what Amanda said. She had contacted the hospital and they said you best come on over so we did.
When we got there they did some tests to ascertain whether or not the fluid sac had really busted. It did. So then it was on to the next phase which was trying to keep the baby in there.  Because, you see, the baby has a lower risk of complications the longer it's in the womb.
Since basically the beginning of our pregnancy there have been some issues regarding the timeline. We were never quite sure, one doctor visit they would say one thing and the next another. So they are going by some measurements of an ultrasound which they interpret to be 31 weeks.
They recommend 34 weeks. So the plan is to keep Amanda there at the hospital for up to 3 weeks with no baby being born. If she makes it to 34 they'll induce. They say that something like 80% of persons in this situation don't make it that long but rather, deliver within a week.
So we'll see what happens. It is pretty scary having this come so early with all the bad stories you hear about premature babies. So we are praying that nothing bad happens to our baby's way and she is just tiny but with no other health problems. You can send good wishes our way too if you want.
Amanda is currently resting at the hospital. Some of the medicine they gave her last night didn't allow her to eat or drink and she finally got to about noon today so that made her feel better.
I am currently at home checking on our cats and general well being of our humble abode. Everything's alright. I have to work this whole week so hopefully if something happens it doesn't happen then because I can't miss our baby being born.  Our little tiny healthy baby.
Now that things have calmed down a little bit I hope to have more time to post. I wanted to last night and this morning but there was just too much going on. So stay tuned for more updates as the says go by. That is all for now. Have a great day everyone!

Judy Hunt, 1946-2011

Amanda And Her Mom At Our Old Apartment

As you may have read in the prior two posts, Amanda's mom, Judy, was very sick with the cancer. This was her second bout with it. She beat it the first time in 2010, but this time it was just too much and she passed away two days ago, July 28 2011.

We spent most of this past week with her at the Denver Hospice At Lowry. It was a wonderful place for her to be. The staff was so caring to both Judy and all of us family members.

So needless to say, this week has been pretty upsetting for Amanda and I and others. At one point in this whole process we knew it was coming to this, which it made losing her a little bit easier. Not that much though. It's never easy losing someone you care about.

So I just want to say to my mother-in-law Judy Hunt: Wherever you are, I hope you can read this. Thank you for your daughter Amanda, I love her so much. You done good, Judy. And thanks for the memories I have and all the wonderful (and some not so wonderful) memories Amanda has. We'll see you in some other place and time. Watch over us the best you can and say hi to our grandpas for us. Take care.

                                               ____________________________________

At some point in the next day or so I will make an obituary type posting for Judy. We don't have any sort of memorial arrangements made yet but will keep you posted if you are interested. If you wanted to send flowers or anything like that, we instead request that you give a donation to the Denver Hospice in Judy Hunt's name as they rely heavily on donations and we'd like to see them keep on operating. If you want or need more info you can email me at brad@stayathomebrad.com. Thanks.

Still Here

We're still at the hospice. Amanda's mom is still "sleeping", hasn't woke up for any length of time since Friday. We were here until 4 this morning when we had to go home to get some sleep. We came back around 11 and have been here since (it's a quarter after 6 pm as I write this).

Last night someone died here. They have a bell that gets rung whenever that happens. I didn't actually hear it but Amanda was out roaming the halls and heard it and saw them come in with a fancy gurney to take the person away. We'll most likely be ringing a bell soon. I don't know if I want to be here when it happens though.  It's not real pleasant being here with her in this state. If it's going to happen I wish it would just do it, even if I'm here. Nobody should have to go through this kind of thing when there's virtually no chance of recovery.

Well, that's it for now. Sorry to have un-happy past two postings. I usually try to stay upbeat and all that but sometimes it just doesn't work out that way. I'll talk to you all later though. And have a great day.

Getting Near The End

Sad day day for Amanda and I . As you may have read, we have been visiting Amanda's mom, first in the hospital and now at the hospice. Well, Amanda was sleeping in preparation for her midnight shift when she received a call from a nurse at the hospice saying if you want to see her again, best to do it now.

We'd been out to see her the two days prior and she was very "lethargic" (as one nurse put it). Meaning she didn't wake up almost at all while we were there, or since Friday for that matter. Now she's worse.

So we came out to the Denver Hospice after the call and that's where I am right now.

Three Things To Read

Well, there's not much to report in this report. So I will just ramble on for a while and see what can be came up with to write about.

One. We're less than 68 days away from the due date. I know this because of the handy countdowner located in the right sidebar of this blog. It's nice to have because I sure as heckfire can't remember how many days till something happens. When I first put that on there were about 100 days to go. So I've been watching it slowly count down, the days are seemingly going by faster as time goes by. The first 15 took an eternity. The next 15 were quicker. The 15 after that will be done before I know it, and then the rest are just going to zoom by so fast and then we'll have a new baby! Yay!

Two. I still haven't received any addresses for to send Postagrams to. It's ok if you don't, but if you want a special delivery around October 1 you could email me your postal address to brad@stayathomebrad.com and get you some. Both my mother and I have received ours and they are pretty nice. A lot higher quality than I was expecting. They're like real postcards you'd find at your favorite gift shoppe, but they have a personalized message and image on 'em. Neat! So yeah, if you want one let me know. Even if you don't want one feel free to send an email to the provided email address. I have not received any emails as a result of this site, not even Spam! What the hey!

Three. @AStayAtHomeBrad has been getting quite a few Twitter followers as of late. I don't think any of them are high quality followers, like I doubt they'll read much that I post. But it's nice just the same. Why just a week ago there were only 10 and now there's slightly over 100. Quite a jump. We'll see how this affects any of the page views on here or wherever else. I'm a little skeptical. Maybe you could follow me on Twitter also, this might help.

Four. There is no more. You have reached the end of this posting. If you feel you have received this message in error, please refresh the page and try again. Thank you.

Baby Shower Or: Brad Wears A Blanket

Well, as you may have noted we attended a baby shower held by my mother yesterday. We got so much cool stuff and had lots of fun. We played the melted candy bar in the diaper game. (They all look like doody!) And we played this game where there was a bowl of rice with little safety pins mixed in with it. You were blind folded and had to sort through it to pick out the pins. Man was that hard. It doesn't seem like it would be but it is, trust me. You had only 1 minute to do it. The winner only got 8. I got 6, I was bad. The rice and the pins both felt the same to me. Very hard to differentiate between the two without being able to see. I guess it goes to show how much we rely on our eyes for things. I better start taking better care of mine, eh?

Not A Father

As you know, I am an expectant father. I have been involved in the dad blogging world by way of reading and a little commenting and all that. But I'm not really a dad blogger yet so I can't get fully involved because I don't have all the same experiences. I wish there were more expecting first father bloggers out there. I guess they wouldn't last long though, 9 months tops. So I'll just have to wait till September or October and then I'll be fully enmeshed in the world of dad bloggers.

One of the best that I have found so far is

Empire Avenue

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I have started playing on Empire Avenue recently and it is very addicting. It's a stock market for online activities. I am a "company" with shares you can buy. So how it works is you link up all, or as many as you want, of your internet doings, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, You Tube and any sort of Blog/Rss feed you have. This gets you your current stock value. People at this point can buy shares in you. As people buy more shares, the price goes up. Also as you do more on your social networks you also get some activity scores. The more active you are in social networks the more you are worth.

On The Road To Baby Time

A couple days ago we went off to the hospital for our monthly checkup. The doctor was so impressed with Amanda's blood glucose scores. I think she almost was about to say that it seemed like the diagnosis was incorrect (as I still think) but she didn't. That's ok though, I'll get over it. I know I've said this before but being diagnosed with gestational diabetes isn't too bad of a thing. I have already lost about 15 lbs using our low carb low sugar diet. My beer/food/sitting around/sympathy pregnancy belly is shrinking daily!

We also are now on what was supposed to be 2 week doctor visit intervals, however due to their having no openings it'll be 3 weeks. That's how you know you're getting close to baby time.