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.

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?  

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.

Amanda's Interview

Tonight we'll try something different. As I was sitting on the sofa trying to come up with a topic for tonight's blog entry, I had the wonderful idea of an interview. And as luck would have it a perfect interviewee was sitting on the loveseat right next to me, Amanda! So here is how it went. It's my first interview ever so don't worry if the questions aren't as hard hitting as the ones you see from professionals, I'll get better though. Ok, enjoy. 

SAHB: Hi Amanda, thanks for being the first interviewee on Stay At Home Brad's blog. I thought it was     
appropriate for you to be the first one since you are the other half of SAHB, being his wife and  baby's momma and all.
Amanda:Thank you.
SAHB: So are you like totally excited about the upcoming birth of our little bundle of joy? I know I am!
A: Yes.
SAHB: Would you care to elaborate?
A: I'm pretty excited to meet the baby. And I'm excited to see how your blog expands as you are truly "Stay At Home Brad."
SAHB: Do you feel like me staying at home during the day with Eliza* is going to be beneficial to you and me as well as the baby?
A: Yes, I think not only will it save us a lot of money, but it takes a lot of the pressure off of leaving the baby with someone I don't trust or know. I don't even have to worry because I know the baby will be safe and cared for.
SAHB: Thanks, that's very kind of you. I look forward to keeping her safe and well cared for. Are you nervous about the whole birthing process? Do you think watching it on "A Baby Story" helps you be prepared for it?
A: I'm not really nervous, I know it's gonna hurt. I'm more excited for it. I know it's not something I can't do. I like watching "A Baby Story" but I don't know if it prepares me or not I just like watching the different experiences. I'm scared about it lasting a really long time and not being able to eat.
SAHB: How long do you have to not eat?
A: What I hear is from when I get there.
SAHB: Until..?
A: Until I deliver
SAHB: Have you heard stories about women having a baby for like 2 days?
A: Yeah I have, your sister I think. Your dad was saying your sister was there for 48 hours.
SAHB: Oh, I did not recall that. At least we will have a private room for it.
A: Yeah that's cool.
SAHB: Well, it looks like we need to cut this interview short for today, it's just about bedtime. But thanks for being interview subject number one and I love you. 
A: I love you too, and thank you. 



And there you have it. SAHB's Interview Number One. Stay tuned for more in the future. Who knows who will be the lucky one selected for other installments. It could be you!