Not So Average Joe

Day 1 complete. We're staying at the hospital until tomorrow because everyone says to stay as long as you can, but I'm starting to get cabin fever. Maybe it's because I'm sleeping on a 4x2 padded bench.

Lindsay is doing great and actually has more energy than me. Many friends and family stopped by yesterday and we enjoyed their visits. Joey was a perfect angel all day while the visitors were around, but after they left I soon learned that not everything about this little guy is quite so cute. Oh, how I look back now and laugh about the first time he cried and Lindsay and I both responded by saying, "Even his crying is cute." That feeling wore off after about 4 minutes. He screamed incessantly until about 1 am. Sleep deprived and rattled by Joey's shrill pitched wails, I told Lindsay, "I don't know if I'm cut out for this." And this was only night number one. I've instructed Joey to learn English ASAP so he can more effectively communicate his needs. We'll see if he's a good son and obeys his father.

Other notable day 1 moments: I heard the term "latching" discussed in both great detail and quantity. Joey had his first poop, which was tar-black and I've come to call "demon poop."

Despite the crying and demon poo, Joey is unbelievably cute and I'm pretty sure we're gonna keep him. We feel unbelievably blessed. It's official, the Miadich's are now a family! Here's some more pictures so that I can fulfill my "annoying dad with millions of pictures of his kid that nobody cares about" quota.

P.S. We didn't have two babies. The other baby in the pictures below is Kyle and Wendy Beall's latest creation - the adorable 9 week year old Isla.

Recap

Best. Nap. Ever. Just woke up and we're all doing great. Joey is milking away and Lindsay is bright eyed and bushy tailed. Since things got a bit crazy during the night/morning, I thought I'd give you a recap and fill in some of those missing hours.

5 am - Turns out that my experience at 4 am was kiddy league. That was tee ball and we were stepping up to the big leagues. Lindsay kept throwing up and started to become faint. Her determination never wavered, but I did. Unbeknownst to her, I had to psych myself up in the mirror when I snuck off to the bathroom. After a few slaps to the face, I managed to mask my terror and headed back out.

6 am - More of the same, just way more intense. Things were getting worse on Lindsay and I have the claw marks on the back of my neck to prove it. Because of the vomiting issue, Lindsay was totally spent for energy and was starting to break down. She began asking about an epidural, but Laura, our fantastic doula, calmly stepped in and suggested that we find out how far along we are before making a decision. Turns out she was at 8 cm, so Lindsay decided to dig down deep and continue on without an epidural since we were nearing the end.

7 am - Pushing time. Lots of people in the room now. Nurses keep telling me to look. I don't want to. A lot of grunting ensues. Lindsay cracks jokes between pushes. Nurse insists that I look down yonder while the baby begins to show. I want to cry. Mid-push, Lindsay yells, "He doesn't want to look!" Nobody bothers me again about that and I focus on Lindsay's face the rest of the way, trying to pump her up between pushes. She turns purple with effort. The nurses cheer her on. They're so good at motivation that my adrenaline flows and I begin reliving high school football glory days. Joey's head makes an appearance. In a primal rage, Lindsay grabs his head and pushes/pulls the rest of his little body out and yanks him onto her chest. Done deal. Don't mess with my wife because there's a very real savage side that lurks just beneath her pretty exterior. What I witnessed at that moment is very real proof that Lindsay wasn't lying about her Native American blood (1/32 Omaha according to her).

7:45 am - Success. Full success.

More pictures to come...

Meet Joey

Here he is! Lindsay did amazing. No epidural and he was 8 lbs 5 ozs! I'm too tired to give the play by play right now, but Joseph Anthony Miadich is in perfect health and so is his mother.

Getting Closer

Things are getting serious, Lindsay just threw up. I teetered on the brink of freaking out, but I'm holding steady for now. Turns out my wife is a lot, lot tougher than I am. Our doula, Laura, just got here thank heavens. Now when the contractions come and I turn into a deer in the headlights, there's someone here who actually knows what to do.

Just found out that Lindsay's at 4cm. I won't go into details of what that entails for those of you who don't care to know, but it's good news. Things are moving along quickly. For now, I'm just trying to stay out of the way and not screw things up. Laura is great and tells me what to do so I'm not totally worthless, lowering my score to about 95% worthlessness. I did, however, manage to trade out our squeaky rocking chair out for another one...which ended up being just as squeaky. Looks like I'm back to 99.99%.

Admittedly Admitted

Well, we're all checked into the hospital and now it's a waiting game. The room is huge, which is nice considering I felt as if we brought in more bags than a Saudi Princess. Nothing too exciting has happened so far: I've heard the word dilation more times than I care to count, and they slapped Lindsay in an amazing spandex, diaper thing. If you ask me it's pretty fashion forward. I better hurry up and dress somebody up in one of those in a music video before Lady Ga Ga beats me to it.

Lindsay's contractions are getting more intense and frequent. I'll tell you all one thing, I married one tough gal. I haven't heard a single negative peep out of her yet (with the exception of the diaper jockstrap thing, she's not as enthusiastic about it as I am). Well, back to it...

Water Breakage aka Hoover's Second Dam

At 9:52 in the pm, Lindsay felt her water break as she bent over to pick up Walter's dog toy. My theory is that she was induced by the enormous portions that we had just consumed at Claim Jumper, which our mothers' had so generously treated us to. For those of you who have frequented this fine establishment, I'm sure you understand that the laws of physics do not allow for a full term baby and a full Claim Jumper meal to occupy the same belly concurrently. Thus, when she bent over, Newton's Third was proven correct once again.

I preceded to freak out for about 15 seconds, frantically throwing things into my bag as if I was headed on a week long vacation. Soon thereafter, I settled down a bit and I've been pacing back and forth ever since. Lindsay, on the other hand, has been cool as ice. She calmly cleaned the kitchen, took a shower, and patiently guided me through all the preparations that I had failed take care of before hand. All clean and ready to rock, she is more beautiful now then ever before.

The contractions are getting really close now, so it's probably time to be leaving for the hospital. More to come...more specifically a baby boy named Joseph Anthony Miadich.

All our love,

Matt & Lindsay