Tuesday, 5:16 PM

February 27th, 2007

It was only a week ago today that Dylan was born and it's already hard to remember what life was like without her. Everyone is doing really well and adjusting nicely. Everyone is getting plenty to eat and starting to sleep a little better each night. I also developed a sweet tooth that I never even knew existed. I have to have a piece of cake or pie each night now ever since nice people started bringing us food and desserts. I am so glad now that we bought that treadmill last fall and once I dust it off I am going to start running on it so that I can continue my cake addiction.

Anyway, I hate to say it but this will be the last blog post for dennydeaton.com (until baby deaton #2 comes along but we aren't even talking about that yet). This has been a fun ride. We welcome the comments and great advice to continue and encourage anyone who would like to come visit us and meet Dylan to do so. If you think she's cute on the Internet you really should meet her in person. Just give us a call or send us an email and we can schedule a visit. If you would like to make a donation to the Dylan Rose Deaton college fund we accept cash, check, Visa and Mastercard, Skiball tokens and Monopoly money.

Whether Dylan likes it or not her life is going to be well documented. Not a day has gone by without at least one photograph, blog entry or short film of Dylan. And of course, out of her control once again it will be available for all to see on my personal web site and blog at dennydeaton.com. I invite you to bookmark the web site and watch Dylan as she grows up. I post something new almost everyday and I have a brand new site that I am launching in just a few weeks.

This blog has been more successful than I ever imagined. It started with a simple email to about 50 people announcing the blog to over 2,500 visitors and 11,000+ page views the week after she was born. I hope you all enjoyed following along. We sure had a great time! Thanks again to everyone for your comments and participation, this has been so much fun!

Tuesday, 11:22 AM

February 27th, 2007

I am back at work now so the blog posts are a little less frequent. I assume most of you are able to do your jobs again, we did have fun last week though didn't we?

Dylan slept in her bassinet last night for the first time all night. With the exception of feedings she was only up for an hour so throughout the entire night. WOO HOO!

Niki is going out to lunch today with my mom and grandmother. It will be good for her to get out the house and do something "normal" again. I think she is beginning to feel like a cow with all this breastfeeding.

Dylan and I will be having lunch together today. I have asked her several times what she is going to make me but she just goes back to sleep and drools all over herself.

Monday, 11:04 AM

February 26th, 2007

We just got back from a visit with the lactation consultant. Turns out Niki is an A++++++ and an exception to every rule when it comes to breastfeeding. They offered her a job. She will begin teaching other new mommies how to breastfeed on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting next at the Nursing Mothers Clinic.

I am kidding about the job offer and the classes but honestly they said Niki has it down and is doing awesome. I'm proud of her, she's really put a lot of time and effort into getting it right and it's paid off.

Sunday, 7:10 PM

February 25th, 2007

Richard and Jenna Skaff brought their little boy Treyton over this afternoon for Dylan's first date. I was a little nervous as a father with his baby girl going on her first day but Treyton was very well-mannered and behaved himself as you can see below. His parents have done a great job raising him.

Sunday, 2:42 PM

February 25th, 2007

Margaret and Brad just left. It was great to see them. They came bearing gifts and Dylan finally got some pink clothes. Hannah wasn't able to make it because she is sick but they said that Dylan is about half the size of Hannah right now who is 8 months old. Hard to believe how fast they grow up.



Dylan loves her Oeuf seat.



Can you tell that Margaret already has one? What a natural.



The dogs have had a nice relaxing day in front of the fire.

Sunday, 11:31 AM

February 25th, 2007

NEW SHORT FILM! Dylan's First Walk.

Yesterday the weather was beautiful so we took Dylan for her first walk. We were all getting cabin fever and the dogs really wanted to go for a walk. So we headed out for a stroll through the neighborhood.

Sunday, 11:07 AM

February 25th, 2007

Niki is going to be home for 3 months with Dylan before she goes back to work. She will be pumping many times a day when she goes back to work and we purchased a Pump n' Style backpack pump for her to take with her. We were going through the wealth of documentation and literature that the hospital gave us last night and we couldn't help but notice this brochure. Imagine, a sophistocated executive pumping milk while running a company. This really takes multi-tasking to a whole new level. Things have never looked better for Corporate America.

Sunday, 10:00 AM

February 25th, 2007

Dylan has a big day ahead of her. I sure hope she got some sleep last night because she has her first date tonight.

Margaret and Brad Bovender are coming by in a little bit to bring lunch and see Dylan. They are bringing Hannah, their 8 month old baby girl as well. Dylan's first play date.

This afternoon Richard and Jenna Skaff are coming to visit. They are bringing dinner and also their new little baby boy Treyton. This will officially be Dylan's first date. She has been up all night trying different hair styles and outfits for her big date. Is it too fast for a baby boy to try to play doctor on the first date?

We'll take lots of photos and video today and post them to the blog ASAP. Coming up soon, a new short film of Dylan's first walk. Stay tuned.

Saturday, 7:35 PM

February 24th, 2007

We have not turned the television on since we came home on Thursday. Niki finally found a few minutes to sit down and catch up on what's going on in the world and of course a backlog of TIVO'ed shows. Now I admit, life does change a little bit when you have a baby. You lose sleep, you get a bad case of explosive diarrhea (or is that just me?) and of course you become a little forgetful.

Well, I had no idea how bad it could get. Niki has forgotten how to turn the television on. I know it is somewhat traumatic and shocking to the body to deliver a baby but is it possible to forget how to push a button?

Saturday, 5:29 PM

February 24th, 2007

Hi everyone, Niki here. I just wanted to thank everyone for their great comments and support. I am not sure which is harder, delivering an almost 10 lb. baby or trying to get the whole breastfeeding and lack of sleep thing down. Thanks, to Gigi (Mom Deaton), for her help last night on the night shift. If only she or Denny could do the breastfeeding, I would be doing even better. Tonight, Denny and I are going to try to go it alone and get in our own little routine (we'll let you know how it goes). I just wanted to let everyone know that although Denny has his Mac laptop strapped to his side, he is a wonderful father and a natural at taking care of Dylan. We are actually going to start putting flyers in the neighborhood mailboxes advertising his babysitting services. We need to start saving for Dylan's Super Sweet 16 birthday (I think she will probably be asking for a Range Rover 2023). Anyway, we hope to be back in the swing of things soon and for those of you who would like to come and visit, we will be taking appointments shortly. Hope everyone has a great weekend! We love you all!

Saturday, 4:08 PM

February 24th, 2007

The weather today is beautiful. We were all getting cabin fever and decided to take a walk and try out that fancy new stroller and show Dylan off. We saw the neighbors on the way and introduced them to Dylan. We secured standby babysitters now I think.

The dogs loved the walk and are passed out now. Dylan slept for most of the ride but seemed to enjoy the fresh air. I know Niki and I enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine. We needed to be refreshed and revitalized for the big night ahead.

Saturday, 12:53 PM

February 24th, 2007

NEW SHORT FILM! Denny changing his first diaper.

Some of you seem a little concerned that I spend more time on the computer updating the blog and making Hollywood-grade short films than being supportive during delivery and helping out after Dylan was born. Well that is simply not true and this video is just one example why.

Saturday, 9:58 AM

February 24th, 2007

If you want to see Dylan's new room check out my latest blog post on dennydeaton.com

[click here to see the blog]

Saturday, 9:25 AM

February 24th, 2007

Got milk? We are going to back to visit with a lactation consultant on Monday. Things are going great and soon we'll begin pumping to give Niki a break during those long nights. Unfortunately, my breasts aren't working as expected so I am going to stock up and feed her with a bottle. Let the sterilization begin!

Saturday, 9:06 AM

February 24th, 2007

Dylan just learned to type...

Goooooooooodddddd mooorniiinng everryyoneee....



For those of you that didn't know, Dylan was made in France (just like her new Oeuf seat).

Saturday, 7:55 AM

February 24th, 2007

Dylan is for sale. I know a lot of you said she was really cute and how much you wanted one. Well now is your chance, she's going up on eBay later this afternoon.

I'm kidding! Our days are pretty good but the nights are long. Last night was a blur but we were all up most of it. She's eating every 2-3 hours but not sleeping much at night. I think that's because she slept all day yesterday. She is really taking to breastfeeding well and Niki and I are acclimating great with the exception of sleep.

How long does this last?

Friday, 11:04 PM

February 23rd, 2007

Little D got her first bath tonight. We were going to hold out for the first year but it was starting to bother the dogs.






Are we having fun yet?









Grandma Rose and Dylan Rose.



All clean, now let's go poop in some diapers.

Friday, 8:37 PM

February 23rd, 2007

We heard back from the doctor this evening and the test came back negative for the bilirubin (jaundice). We honestly didn't think much of it, her color has been great all week and she was fussy before the doctor came in today because she was hungry and had been waiting in a waiting room of sick peeps for 45 minutes. So she was a little red, which the doctor perceived as orange which caused them to do blood work, which caused Dylan to cry, which caused Niki to cry... you get the point and it was all for nothing. I bet they just did it to charge us an extra lab fee.

My mom is back again tonight to help us. She is crashing here tonight as well. She says she's here to "help out around the house" but I think its just a ploy to get to hold the baby. I did put her to work tonight when she got here. Since we walked in the door yesterday things have gotten a little unorganized. I spent this afternoon unpacking the bags and tonight we got things organized and stocked up for the long haul.

Friday, 4:56 PM

February 23rd, 2007

Shannon, thanks so much for the encouragement and great advice. I too have tried to call the nursery extension (x44156) here from my home line but no one is answering.

13 lbs is the magic number huh? TOTALLY SWEET, we are just a few pounds shy. So would it work if I strapped some ankle weights around her legs? Would she sleep better then?

Friday, 4:37 PM

February 23rd, 2007

We're back again. That visit was much better and was actually at a different place. The doctor's office sent us to the local hospital for lab work. The staff was very friendly and although they did make Dylan cry when they pricked her they got enough blood this time to do the test.

Courtney, they did weigh her the first visit this morning. She came in at 9 lbs on the dot. Yesterday at discharge she was 8 lbs. 13 oz... so she is gaining weight nicely. Just what every girl wants to hear right?

I am working on this short film of Dylan but with all these doctor visits and hourly events its hard to get it complete. I promise it's coming soon!

Friday, 3:45 PM

February 23rd, 2007

Just got a call from the doctors office. The pin prick this morning didn't render enough blood for the test to work so in a few minutes we are going to load the tribe back up in the car and try again.

Friday, 3:24 PM

February 23rd, 2007

We are back... finally. Well that was an experience. While they claim to do 40% pediatrics we didn't really feel like they were accommodating for newborns. They think Dylan may have a slight bit of bilirubin and just wanted to check with a pin prick on the foot.

We went back to the lab and they tried, of course Dylan was crying. She was also hungry. Only a drop of blood came out of her foot so the nurse decided to try on the arm. They got out a fairly large needle and proceeded to insert it into her arm. She of course she was hysterical at this point and Niki started bawling. I wanted to go bowling so bad. But I pulled the family together and we got enough blood with a second pin prick. Then they put an over-sized adult band aid on Dylan's arm and foot and bolted out of there.

Needless to say, we didn't get a warm and fuzzy feeling that they really specialized in newborns, small children or aliens. So we are going to Dr. Mange (my childhood pediatrician) who does specialize in aliens next Friday at Davidson Clinic.

Friday, 10:18 AM

February 23rd, 2007

Good morning. Man that was so much fun, let's do it again for another 2 weeks. Niki was up most of the night power feeding. I was in and out helping and telling her about my crazy dreams.

We are getting ready to take Dylan to her first doctor visit. We're visiting Dr. Michael Sherill at Lakeside Physicians in Huntersville. He is our primary care physician but also sees lots of baby's and children. We like him a lot and think he will make a great doctor for Dylan. He also is literally 2 minutes from our house and across the street from a huge bowling alley that has midnight bowling on the weekends. Someday we'll just be able to drop Dylan off at the doctor and go bowl a few frames while we are waiting.

I'll report back after our visit.

Friday, 2:51 AM

February 23rd, 2007

Dylan is cluster feeding tonight we believe. Good for her, bad for us.

I got an hour or so of sleep a little bit ago and had a crazy dream. In the dream I found a web site called nocturnalninjas.com that sold sleep by the bushel on the black market. They harvested the sleep from nocturnal donors who spent their precious sleepless nights awake trading sleep for caffeine supplements and cream-filled donuts. I had my wallet out getting ready to type in my credit card number and then Dylan woke me up...

Friday, 12:14 AM

February 23rd, 2007

My mom came down tonight to spend some quality grandmother/granddaughter time with Dylan. She brought some old photos of us growing up and this one caught my attention. This is me holding my brother Tyler, I was around 10 years old at the time. I know that it does look like I am doing a full Lotus yoga position in the photo but I wanted to post this photo to point out how much my baby holding technique has progressed over the last 20 years.

Thursday, 4:46 PM

February 22nd, 2007

My dad made it very clear from the beginning that he didn't want to be called "papaw". It's obvious that he didn't do a very good job. Look what his co-workers did for him.

Thursday, 4:21 PM

February 22nd, 2007

Beck and Emmet are both very proud to have a new sister at home. I just got back from a walk with them and they proudly wore their pink collars to show her off.




Beck really wants to help out. Niki and I needed a quick nap so I asked Beck to watch her for us. He's doing such a great job huh?

Thursday, 2:54 PM

February 22nd, 2007

Thursday, 1:18 PM

February 22nd, 2007

We're home! The dogs are anxiously awaiting her arrival. They both have little pink collars on today, so funny! (thanks mom) Niki is out in the car feeding Dylan right now but should be coming in any minute. I'll post more in a bit after we introduce everyone.

Thursday, 11:21 AM

February 22nd, 2007

Dylan is dressed and we are packed and ready to go home. Here we go.

Thursday, 10:31 AM

February 22nd, 2007

Things are winding down here at the hospital and we are going to be checking out around 11:30am. We just signed all the discharge papers so I guess there is no turning back now. It's going to be a reality check when we get home this afternoon I am sure without all these wonderful nurses, lactation consultants, food service, baby mechanics and doctors. I did manage to kidnap two of them and they are roped up in the back of the car to go home with us. They will be nice to have around until they escape.

I know I promised a video of Dylan. It's still in the making. I should have one up within the next day or so. Keep checking back!

Everyone's comments have been so nice, we read them constantly. It's great to have all this support and such a hip following. Thanks to everyone for all the great advice, calls, gifts, college fund donations (still waiting on those), meals and love. You all mean so much to us, even you strangers out there that we have never met. You are part of the family now, please stick around to watch Dylan grow up.

Those of you who do know me know that I enjoy technology, blogging, photography and film in my free time. Whether she likes it or not Dylan's life is going to be well documented and made public for all to see on dennydeaton.com, starting next week. I should have a whole basement full of footage and photos by the time she gets married. Can you imagine what her rehearsal dinner slide show is going to be like?

Thursday, 6:03 AM

February 22nd, 2007

Well the 5am feeding went a little better. We're going to get the hang of this one way or another.

Someone has a case of the Green Apple Splatters this morning. For the record I just changed the gunkiest, collared greenest, wall-to-wall, splatterfest diaper on the planet. Dylan is breaking me in quicker than ever.

T-minus 5 hours until we head home.

Thursday, 2:17 AM

February 22nd, 2007

Well, it's a little after two... I bet a few of your are just stumbling in from a bar or a late night at Waffle House. We are up doing breastfeeding 101. Talk about two ends of the spectrum???

Dylan keeps falling asleep, Niki's been trying for over an hour but nothings happening. We're going back to bed soon I guess and we'll try again at 5am. However we are thinking about going to a bar or maybe Waffle House.

Wednesday, 11:44 PM

February 21st, 2007

This evening grandmother Deaton (GiGi) came down with Kitch and Tyler. They stayed until around 6:45pm and then Dylan was ready for dinner (tonight she had prime rib).

Afterwards Jason and Sarah Alexander came by to meet Dylan and visit for a while. They brought me dinner and Niki a dessert from Dish. They ate with us and both got to hold Dylan for a while before visiting hours ended. Jason made her cry (it's typical for him to make girls cry) but the second time I think she really liked him. Here is a great photo of the two of them with Dylan before they left. Such naturals.




They were so excited when they met her that they mentioned going straight home to "make good use of" the hour before Lost came on. Now I didn't know what they meant by that, if anyone knows please fill me in.

I forgot to mention the outstanding view of downtown Charlotte from our room. The photos I took earlier in the blog during the day of downtown were not taken from our room but from a hallway somewhere in the hospital. We really lucked out with this room and have enjoyed the incredible view of Charlotte the past two evenings. I took a long shutter photograph of the Queen City tonight to share with you guys. Enjoy, I am off to bed to prepare for the 1am feeding. Sounds like I work at a zoo huh?



Aunt Linda, thank you for the grammar/spelling check. You would not believe the speed these blog posts go up and I am no Emerson or Frost. I am glad you found them before the rest of the world did, and I hope I have corrected them all. I am so thankful to have a proofreader that lives all the way across the country.

Wednesday, 5:58 PM

February 21st, 2007

We are scheduled to check out of the hotel, I mean hospital tomorrow around 11am. It really has gone by fast. This is not a testimonial but I am a huge fan of Presbyterian Hospital Main in Charlotte. I can't imagine the experience going any better. Aside from our doctor practicing next door and the brief tour we took of the hospital we took back in November we really didn't know what to expect.

This place is a frickin' baby factory and they really don't mess around. It's probably the best run operation I have ever seen. You would not believe how efficient they are. The hospitably has been amazing, each nurse has been extremely knowledgeable and very accommodating. Niki said that the meals have been great and I can also vouch for the cafe being much better than I expected. I am definitely going to miss the people here and their overwhelming enthusiasm. Tomorrow we go home to face the "real world" of sleepless nights, sleepless days and lots of poop.

Wednesday, 5:41 PM

February 21st, 2007

Dad and Grant just stopped by a for a bit. Neither of them could get enough of Dylan. The also asked if we were going to call her Dylan Rose or Dylan. Truthfully we had never thought of it as a double name but it does have a nice ring. But I think we are going to just stick with Dylan, Rose would probably get dropped as soon as she started school anyway.

Mom, Kitch and Tyler are on their way down now for a visit and rumor has it that Sarah and Jason Alexander (no, not the guy from Seinfeld) are bringing us dinner from Dish later. Yum!

Of course life has changed with a new baby and I am sure our schedule is going to be a little different now. But that doesn't mean we are going to miss Lost tonight! WOO HOO! We've been catching Dylan up on the past two seasons today so she should be able to pick right up with tonight's episode. Of course they don't have TIVO here in the hospital so if a nurse or baby mechanic comes in during Lost they might not make it out alive.

Wednesday, 2:33 PM

February 21st, 2007

I checked the site visits and page hits for dennydeaton.com this morning and could not believe it. Yesterday we had 778 unique visits to the site and 4,052 page views. WOWAWEEWAA! We also had people all the way from Brazil (my foreign exchange family) and someone we don't know from North Wales visit. Of course most of the hits came from the Southeastern region but it was so neat to see family and friends from all over the U.S. sharing our big day with us.

Dave, it looks like ~8% of the visitors came from your site.

Wednesday, 2:15 PM

February 21st, 2007

As if we aren't having enough fun already I think this blog needs a new feature or two.

First of all, we are having a hard time figuring out who Dylan looks like. We'll obviously know more after the paternity test comes back in a few weeks but we just can't wait that long. So I threw together a poll so you guys can help us out. You can only vote one time and once you vote you will see the results.

The second feature as you will see also at the top of the comments section is a place for short films of Dylan. The first one up is of the Epidural session that occurred yesterday during labor. If time permits I'd like to get another short film up of Dylan over the last 24 hours some time later today or at the latest tomorrow. Keep checking back.

Dylan just turned 24 hours old. Wow, she is just growing up right before our eyes. We were just doing some Calculus problems this morning and are planning to start on a solution for world hunger this afternoon.

Wednesday, 12:02 PM

February 21st, 2007

After the nurse gave Dylan and I a bath this morning I got her to do my hair for me too so I could look just like my new daughter.




Courtney thank you for the advice and forewarning. I'll keep my shirt on for the next few days so not to tempt her, or the nurses.

Happy Birthday Milton!

Wednesday, 8:50 AM

February 21st, 2007

Good morning everyone! I hope everyone got some last night...rest that is. Good to see people are still visiting the blog. I am planning to post updates through the rest of the week here and then I'll continue my typical daily/weekly blogging/baby/photos/films over on dennydeaton.com.

Last night went pretty well, we both got some much needed rest. However we were up every 3 hours breastfeeding and my nipples are so sore this morning. Dylan stayed in the nursery overnight with her newborn posse and they brought her down when it was time to feed. Dylan doesn't know what the heck is going on yet but I think in a few days she'll finally figure it out. Or else she'll go hungry. And as my mom said yesterday, us Deaton's get ill when we don't eat.

I am going to try to find some time today to put together a little video of yesterday/today's events. Come back later this afternoon/early evening for that. I got some great footage!!

I'll post updates throughout the day and maybe even some more photos if you guys are good.

Tuesday, 11:20 PM

February 20th, 2007

As promised a slew of photos for drooling over (of course with priceless commentary)...

Dylan looking festive in her Fat Tuesday attire...



Totally sweet mohawk, that's my little goth girl. (thank you random nursery lady for the hair-do)



I think I get better looking everyday... (way to center up the photo Grant, that photography class you took in college really paid off)



Two sets of extremely proud grandparents...





Super Uncle and Super Aunt (Grant and Kitch)



Uncle Tyler and Uncle Logan - they are so proud of their new niece





Great Grandmother Margaret - 3 generations apart, and she still makes it to Mardi Gras every year!

Tuesday, 11:07 PM

February 20th, 2007

The dust has settled a bit so I thought I would post another update and some more photos.

We moved to a post-partum room around 5pm today and soon after our families arrived. It was so great to see everyone and share the special event with them. Of course since Dylan is the first grandchild on both sides everyone is completely goo for ga-ga over this baby. We dislocated two shoulders and lost a kneecap tonight just trying to decide who was going to hold Dylan next. Luckily, we are in a hospital and all body parts have been reconnected by qualified baby mechanics.

During a quick dinner in the cafe tonight dad shared a piece of paper with me from earlier today where he frantically jotted down the details of his brand new grand daughter. I think it was pretty neat.




Niki is sound asleep now and I should be, but I wanted to post a quick update and a few photos for everyone to see. I am somehow still running on the 4 hours of sleep I got last night but that is fading very quickly. Good night everyone, what a great day.

Tuesday, 4:04 PM

February 20th, 2007

Here are a few more photos for your lurkers.

On a serious note... Niki and I would like to thank each and everyone of you that participated in our new baby's blog today. We honestly could not have done it without your support. I was reading the comments to Niki throughout the day and reminding her of the support we had behind us the entire way. It really means a lot to have family and friends like you all and we thank you.

NOW GET OVER TO OUR HOUSE AND LET'S CHANGE SOME FRICKIN' DIAPERS!

Before I go for a bit though... here's what's going to happen. We are going to move to another room soon that we will be at for another day or two. The family is coming down in a little bit to visit and then Niki is probably going to zonk out and hibernate for a few days. If anyone is interested in visiting, when we get home in a couple days would probably be best but if Niki is feeling up to it tomorrow we would welcome any non-family members to come visit. Just call me first and I'll let you know if it suits.

Once the dust settles tonight and tomorrow I'll be posting more photos and updates.

Without further ado.. here are those photos I promised.






Mommy and Dylan



A True Natural

Tuesday, 2:34 PM

February 20th, 2007

We now present to you... Dylan Rose Deaton!!!

Tuesday, 2:25 PM

February 20th, 2007

IT'S A GIRL! 9lbs 7oz., 21 inches. Arrived at 2:05pm. Pictures are on the way and soon we'll tell everyone the name we chose.

Tuesday, 1:18 PM

February 20th, 2007

I know you guys love pictures so here is another one for ya. baby deatons heart rate.




I am fine everyone. Really I was just joking about dad.

Ok, time to push again.

Tuesday, 12:54 PM

February 20th, 2007

A quick update here. Dr. Arronte just came in and we did a first round of pushing. Niki did great! No progress this round but we are going to down labor again until 1:30pm and try again.

I am about to starve but I am going to hold out. All I can think about is the story my mom told me about when I was born. Apparently my dad had eaten a pack of peanut butter crackers right before they started pushing and my dad was blowing in her face the entire time. To this day she cannot even look at a peanut butter cracker. Way to go dad, ruin it for the rest of us.

Tuesday, 12:10 PM

February 20th, 2007

They suggested about 45 minutes of down labor so Niki is trying to relax now. Yeah right.

The baby has dropped now to a +1 which is great. A +3 is out. :) No one get in their car yet, I'll let the family know when we have a baby. We are expecting the doctor around 12:30pm and we are going to try to start pushing then.

Niki is experiencing a lot of pressure right now but she is doing AWESOME!

Tuesday, 11:41 AM

February 20th, 2007

Courtney, I need to catch you up on what we do know before the guessing begins.

1. the baby has tons of hair.
B. 2 weeks ago they weighed the baby during an ultrasound and estimated 9.2lbs (+- 1.4)
3. Niki just measured 10cm at 11:35am

Ok, let're rip.

Tuesday, 11:37 AM

February 20th, 2007

BIG UPDATE!!! The nurse just check Niki she is at 10cm!! WOO HOO! Fully dilated.

So we just did a test push, I got my part right. Niki did great too!! They are going to update our doctor and see what she wants to do. We could 'down labor' which I just learned means to lay down for a bit and let the baby do it's thing. Or we could try to push with the doctor and see if Baby Deaton is ready.

So I might be gone a while, who knows. You guys keep each other company. In the meantime, here is a funny little video that I put together of the epidural session.

[Baby Deaton - Epidural Session]

Tuesday, 10:50 AM

February 20th, 2007

Niki is sleeping, no labor updates.

As far as my personal life goes...

I checked woot.com at 3:30am this morning, nothing good.

The one day I get up early enough to buy something before they are all gone and they have a crappy product.

Also, IHOP had a FREE pancakes this morning to celebrate National Pancake Day and I wasn't able to go.

http://www.ihop.com/tellafriend.php

Tuesday, 10:25 AM

February 20th, 2007

Grant, since you can't read here are some more photos. The first one is Niki's hospital bracelet, it has her name, our doctors name and a few other bits of personal information that should never be posted on the Internet.



The second photo is of the Charlotte skyline this morning (Alex I think I can see you waving from the Plaza building). Anyway... Grant if you and your class are interested we are in Charlotte.




Niki is sleeping right now. We both got about 3.5 hours of sleep last night. For some reason I feel good and to think I only had 7 cups of coffee this morning, half my usual intake.

Dave, I bumped the refresh up. Some of the older people complained this morning because it refreshed before they could finish typing their comment. :)

Tuesday, 9:43 AM

February 20th, 2007

Niki and I both just got matching catheters. She can't get up because of the epidural and I can't get up because of the blog. I volunteered to just pee in my pants all day but they threw it in with the deal so I couldn't pass it up.

I am going to TRY to whip up a little video real quick for everyone. If you want to see it and don't have Quicktime (don't worry its free) installed on your computer you can go ahead and download it while I am whipping...

[click here to download Quicktime]

Tuesday, 9:21 AM

February 20th, 2007

I am so jealous, Niki is in La La Land... her pain level is down to zero now. She highly recommends an epidural to anyone going into labor.

I am actually getting ready to shoot a low budget commercial with the video camera. That will get the college fund going.

On a serious note, the comments are so awesome, thanks to everyone. You have no idea how much your support means. I am reading to comments off to Niki as they are posted and she is so thankful to have such good friends and family.

Kitch... back to molding the minds of our future leaders.

Tuesday, 9:05 AM

February 20th, 2007

The pain of the contractions has gotten progressively worse so Niki opted for an epidural. Dr. Lee just finished the procedure and gave Niki and spinal block epidural. It should kick in within the next 30 minutes or so and Niki is EXTREMELY excited. Right now her pain level is about an 8 on a scale of 8 to 10.

The needle was a pretty decent size, my knees started to quiver. Niki has lost a lot more water which has relieved some of the pressure.

She just told me that she is starting to feel the effects of the epidural, its starting to work. She is having a huge contraction right now and she can't feel a thing. TOTALLY SWEET!! I want one!!

Tuesday, 8:41 AM

February 20th, 2007

Dr. Arronte just stopped by to check in. While she was here she measured and Niki was dilated 3cm. She broke her water while and now Niki is at 4cm. Baby Deaton has also dropped to -1 is descending as planned. They will continue to measure her throughout the morning for progress and I will provide updates.

Disclaimer: I apologize in advance to those of you who don't get any work done today. If I had planned this well I would have charged a fee for the entertainment and put that money towards Baby Deaton's college fund.

Tuesday, 7:35 AM

February 20th, 2007

Good morning from Niki. Drugs rock!!




Everything is going very smoothly this morning, Niki is contracting every 3 minutes now so the Patossin is working perfectly. She was actually contracting on her own before they started it which is a great sign. We'll know more after the doctor visits.

Mom I haven't asked about Katie yet, they just changed shifts. However the two nurses we've had so far have been absolutely incredible.

Tuesday, 7:01 AM

February 20th, 2007

We are waiting on the doctor to stop by but the nurse just started the Patossin drip which will hopefully get the contractions going. Niki has been having significant Braxton Hicks contractions (tightening around stomach area) since around 3am which have been very uncomfortable and have gotten progressively more painful. They just gave her some pain medication for the pain which started working immediately. Niki said its the new crack for preggos, get some while you still can!

Tuesday, 6:11 AM

February 20th, 2007

Good morning everyone.




We are up and running, Niki is in the shower now. As you can see I am wide awake.

Soon Niki will be hooked up to the IV's and around 7am this morning our doctor will come by to start the Patossin and take a measurement. I'm going down to the cafe to get some coffee and maybe find something for breakfast. Anyone want anything?

Tuesday, 4:55 AM

February 20th, 2007

This is a picture of Niki sleeping. I am sure this photograph will be more meaningful in a few days when we aren't getting any sleep.




Too much Mt. Dew last night mom? We've been up since around 3:30am. We were both sleeping well but Niki lost the bet and broken the seal first. So we've been up trying to get comfortable again and go back to sleep but this monitor is so bright you could mine coal with it. I am going to try again before they deliver the pancakes...

Monday, 11:20 PM

February 19th, 2007

Everything is going well. The baby's heartbeat is really strong.

We've been watching The Best of Will Ferrell and having some good laughs. Looking forward to a good night sleep, they will be waking us up bright and early tomorrow morning at 5:30am to start inducing.

Niki reports that the bed isn't all that comfortable but the turkey sandwich was much better than expected. I guess hospital food has really come around.

Goodnight everyone, come back tomorrow and join us throughout the day for more Baby Deaton updates.

Monday, 8:30 PM

February 19th, 2007

The doctor on call just inserted a Cervadyl ribbon which will hopefully thin the cervix overnight. Chances that Baby Deaton will arrive in the middle of the night are slim but who knows. I wouldn't advise that any of you pull an all nighter but if I can't convince you otherwise I highly recommend Mt. Dew. We brought a ton of movies and tunes to keep us company so we should be good for the night. I'll check back in a bit and let everyone know how everything is going.

Monday, 7:18 PM

February 19th, 2007

We just arrived at the hospital in Charlotte and checked in. You would think we were staying for a week based on what we brought. I went and parked the car and by the time I got back they already had Niki hooked up to the heart monitor so they can keep an eye on the baby's heart rate. Right now we are just filling out piles of paperwork but hopefully soon we will get down to business.

Monday, 6:19 PM

February 19th, 2007

Ok, we're off to the hospital! We'll be posting more when we get there.