First visit by Grandpa Johnson

My father moved to Phoenix in December and was unable to visit until February. However, the delay gave Logan time to prep for this historic visit.

Quite often Logan demands to be held during dinner. Of course, we prefer that he quietly sit in his bouncer. Needless to say, he is in my lap most of the time.

Frak getting some lap time in.

Since Dad drove to Albuquerque, he was able to bring the newest addition to his family, Freeway. She was found outside of Disneyland running on the freeway. My cousin's rescued her and convinced my Dad to take her. She is such a sweety.

We wanted to share our typical Logan life with my father, so we had to include a bath during his visit.

Logan showing off his Mr. Serious face, which is his favorite expression.

We also went for a walk since the weather was pretty nice. Kyle and I walked a bit farther than Grandpa Johnson and Grandpa Neel. When we returned, we caught them enjoying the view from our local park.

So much attention wore him out.

To pacify or not to pacify... that is the question.

One day, Kyle got out the pacifiers. Logan had been pretty fussy the previous week and Kyle thought perhaps the pacifiers would help. He went about prepping them and left them on the counter that Sunday night. I mentioned that I had hoped to hold out a while longer to ensure that breastfeeding was well establised. Well, come thew next day Logan was unconsolable and I quickly reached for a pacifier. After all they were clean and right there. So much for holding out. Here is what Logan emailed to Dad later that afternoon:

Thanks Dad!
Mom resisted most of the day and had decided she would introduce the
clean pacifiers next week, but I was so fussy all afternoon that she
caved in. I love it! Thanks for cleaning a few for me. (picture attached)

Love,
Logan

I have been told that we are really lucky that Logan took the pacifier. I didn't even realize that some children won't take a pacifier. He doesn't take it all of the time, but when he takes one I sure am glad we have them.

The pacifier helped many fussy moments, but only occasionally did it help diaper changes. Most of the time there are many tears during the diaper changing process. We have never figured out why (my guess is that he was either tired or cold), but thankfully Logan is slowly getting better about them. For a time he loved looking at his name on the wall. Notice that he also has his pacifier here:

I had to take a picture of Logan's first time in his crib. He really hates being on his back still, so he never sleeps in his crib. We have high hopes that someday he will spend more time in it. For now we have started using it as an occasional diaper changing station so that he can watch his mobile (see last photo), which seems to pacify him somewhat during the diaper changing experience.

Here are a few more random photos we wanted to share:

Daddy's favorite pajamas. Sadly, Logan has already outgrown them.

Often you will see at least one kitty with me and Logan. Being on my lap wasn't enough for Frik though. She wanted to be side by side with Logan.

 I can't resist posting some more photos of the nursery. I am so happy with the way it turned out.

I made the baby mobile out of paper lanterns that I have had for years. The wood animal cutouts were decorations from the baby shower that Suzi threw for me (Thanks Suzi!). Logan really seems to love the mobile. He will stare at the lanterns till they stop moving and then he starts to fuss, letting us know that we need to push them around again.

View from Logan's perspective.

I know that Logan's room makes it look like he is completely spoiled. I won't lie, he is spoiled, but I can gladly say that a lot of the items in the room have been purchased second hand.

First Time Out and About

On my Mom's birthday, at the end of January, we went to a local restaurant and hid in the back where we could be isolated. Logan slept the whole time. As many of you know, this was a big step for us as we have been very protective of Logan during flu season. We have been very strict on not allowing anyone over to our house who has not had their flu shot. We still have that quarantine in place on the house, but have been slowly venturing out.

Kyle was sweet enough to get a margarita so that I could have a few sips.

This was my attempt at a golf course cake. Could have been better, but considering I had a newborn at home I am not ashamed of it. Sadly, if you look at it from the portrait angle, it looks like an alien.

Moments worth sharing

I saw similar photos online and just had to take my own:

Logan and Dad

Logan and Mommy

One of many sleeping photos

The biggest diaper changing surprise to date.  FYI:  That's poop.

Grandpa Neel's first time to hold Logan.

First time on the playmat.

Finally here is a photo of the tree we made for Logan's nursery. It would not exist without so many friends and family bringing us toilet paper rolls (tree top) and paper bags (trunk). The sun is made out of wood clothespins.

There is one person in particular that I would like to thank for the huge box of rolls she gave us: Dega Patterson, a family friend, my high school biology teacher, and the person whose name was my first word. Dega told her current students that anyone who brought her rolls would receive a treat. Her students proceeded to raid the school bathrooms leaving toilet paper streaming down the halls where I spent 4 years of my life. Thanks Dega!

Grandma Wiens Visits

On January 14th, Kyle's mom, Betty, came to see Logan for the first time. It was a very short visit, but since she lives in Alamogordo, she will be able to visit often.

Nothing like a new addition to the family to bring these two close together.

Logan wore Grandma out.

It was wonderful to have an extra set of hands to stay up with Logan while this new mom got some extra sleep.

Homecoming

We were discharged from the hospital on the 10th and brought our little one home to meet the rest of the family.

Frak was the first to brave a visit.

Frik was pretty nervous at first and ran away when Logan moved his legs.

Both Frik and Frak have grown accustomed to Logan and seem to handle this new addition to our family really well. 

Our first few weeks with Logan were exhausting. It took us a while to figure out a sleeping schedule that would work for us. Actually, I'm sure our sleep schedule will continually morph as time goes on. Needless to say, I am still pretty exhausted. I doubt I will ever get accustomed to sleeping just a few hours here and there.

Welcome Logan Patrick Wiens!

As many of you already know, our son Logan was born on January 8th at 8:15pm!
I was in labor for about 16 hours and pushed for 2.5 hours. He weighed 7lbs 7oz and was 20 3/4" long (the length is at the 90th percentile)

Some labor details from my perspective:

I started having contractions around 8pm on the 7th, but they were so far apart I didn't realize they were contractions. At 4am on the 8th, I woke up and was pretty sure I was having contractions. I let Kyle sleep 'til 6am, as he would need energy to go the rest of the day. At 7am Kyle called our Doula, Kim. She came over around 8:30, and we sat around the living room chatting the morning away. It was nice to have her there as a distraction in between contractions. We left for UNM Hospital a little after 11am. I spent the day going from the bath tub to the exercise ball, the bed, the birthing stool, the squat bar, whatever I thought would help bring Logan into the world.

I have been told that I was quiet and composed during my contractions. According to our Doula's notes, we listened to our Blissborn Meditation disc at around 4pm, but I certainly don't remember that. I do remember constantly repeating "Let go" to myself over and over again. That was supposed to be my meditation trigger.

Sadly my body didn't allow me to push Logan out all on my own; my contractions started to disappear, and I had no energy left. We had some scary moments when they couldn't find Logan's heart rate, and no one seemed to have any thoughts on what the next step should be. At that point Kyle (the best coach ever) and I both felt that an episiotomy was necessary. Our delivering midwife quickly gave me the episiotomy without any medication. The minute that was completed, Logan entered the world. Logan was immediately put on my chest so we could bond, but I was so exhausted by that point that I could barely lift my head to look at him. Luckily I have some photos for my private album to help me recall those precious moments. 

Even though we had to have a little help, we managed to achieve our main goal which was a non-medicated birth. I have no doubt that Kyle being by my side non-stop is how I made it through. He knew exactly when we should leave for the hospital, continually supported me emotionally and let me almost break his finger during my hours of pushing (I never had a contraction without his finger in my hand). In short, he was amazing.

As for me, it was my strongest day ever. It took a long time to recover, and I still am not able to run yet, but hopefully soon. I did end up having a pretty funny injury from labor. During the hours of pushing, I was on hands and knees, leaning into an exercise ball on top of the bed. Every time I pushed I would press my face into the ball. Well, at least a week after labor my nose still hurt. Not sure how many women walk away from labor with a sore nose.

Grandma Neel and Logan right after birth.

February 9th

This photo was taken on December 30th. I can't take credit for the idea.

Sadly we didn't get around to taking this photo till 2/18. Logan was already much larger than he was at birth. Oh well.

Kyle's thoughts about the labor:

Julie summed it up pretty well above, but I have a couple things to add.  First, it really was Julie's strongest day.  She was awesome.  I mean that in the literal sense.  I was (and still am) in awe of what she achieved.  From the moment she knew she was pregnant, until the moment Logan drew his first breath, Julie did everything she could to ensure that Logan would be as healthy as possible:

She enrolled us in Bradley and meditation classes (the first of which was extremely useful for me, and the second of which was extremely useful for Julie).

She made sure we hired a Doula (which we really didn't need in the end due to our other preparations, but we still appreciated her support).

She read I don't know how many other baby and pregnancy books.

She took great care of herself during the pregnancy.

She somehow made it through the pain of labor without medication.  Incredible. (She was calm and quiet during the non-pushing contraction, but not so quiet during the pushing.  There were a few choice words uttered at high volume.)

And she made sure I was as ready as I could be, too.  Thanks to her efforts, I was ready when the time came, and I'm glad I was able to support her through the labor.  January 8th was the most emotionally fulfilling day of my life, by far.  I only wish I would have been more forceful when trying to get her to eat more during labor.  :)

Second, I was a bit disappointed by the hospital staff and Doula.  I don't want to be a downer here, but I think I need to mention this.  The only negative things I remember from that day were related to the hospital experience.  My guess is that because we seemed very prepared (which we were) and in control (which we were not), that the other labor support people were hesitant to suggest things to us and/or offer their opinions.  I wish they would have, especially toward the end.  But that's a very minor complaint.  We have a perfect little baby boy, and I have a wonderful wife whom I love very much.  I couldn't be happier.  Literally. :)