He's Here...now, Fall's Here!

Well, here it is 4 1/2 months later and not only have we not written about the birth of our son but I have even slacked off the baby book in real time!

Barrett Allen Beecroft joined our family and the world on May 12, 2010 in Sacramento's Mercy Hospital! To mommy's dismay, he arrived via c-section because he was essentially stuck in the pelvis because he was posterior (sunny side up) and crooked! He never was in distress but mommy was after 12 hours of hard labor and 7 hours of being completely dilated and pushing intermittently and seeing zero results for all my hard work! The most frightening moments were in recovery from the c-section (Genna was with me and Dave was up with Barrett) when I was so numb from the neck down that I would occasionally fall asleep and stop breathing but I was so disoriented and exhausted that I kept telling the nurse everything was just fine...um hi, nurse, when that machine starts beeping that means I'm not breathing. Please don't rely on an incapacitated, post-op mommy to tell you if everything is OK! As you can tell, I survived and 99% of the experience was a positive one. While the cesarean rate is sky high in hospitals, the staff at this one (Mercy) did every thing they "legally" could to try and assist me in having a natural birth...it just wasn't in the cards. Perhaps a VBac with a midwife is for the next baby! Thankfully, Bear is very resilient and strong and made the first days of being a parent amazing.

Never-the-less, he was born SUPER healthy and has let the world know he is here every day! We have nursed from 3 hours old and continue. Luckily for us it came very easily. My lil man is a VERY good eater once he got the hang of it. As a fam, we feel the benefits super outweigh the negatives (are there any?) of breastfeeding. Knock on wood...he has not been sick yet and his weight has been steadily increasing at a slightly faster than normal pace for his age.

We are entering the fall (today is officially the first day of it!) and I have returned to work and we are fortunate enough to have granny Chris watch him in the afternoons and daddy gets him in the evenings. His granny can make him laugh and smile so hard and he is so content to sit like a little buddha in his daddy's arms while he waters the lawn and picks tomatoes out of the garden. It warms my heart to know he is loved so dearly and in such good hands every day! I feel like we are settling into our new roles and it is so comfortable. Dave is proving to be a natural Papa and I adore he way he adores our son. Dave enjoys shopping on Kidswoot.com and brings home the funniest toys for the Bear! Life is good and we are lucky and grateful to have caring and supportive family and

friends and flexible and amazing jobs. Thanks to everyone who made this transition into parenthood a smooth one...and a special thanks to our little bear for teachng me so many things every day...like slowing down and enjoying the little things!

Anticipation

Son,
I am so excited about your arrival! What are you going to look like? Are you going to give your mom a hard time during delivery? You may not know how many people are anxious about meeting you, but there are lots of people in this family of yours. Your mom and dad also have lots of friends who want to meet you, some of them have babies too! I was talking with your mom last night about how we wanted dogs before we had a baby but we were uncertain about how these dogs were going to react to a baby. I feel confident that they will protect you and play with you a lot!! I also imagine that you will call them Wiwee and Woobee...eventually!
There are so many things I want to share with you. But first, I will let you get to know your new home and your family.
Of course, I am nervous about becoming a dad, but I think that things will work themselves out as we go. A few things I will promise you though:
-Lots of love
-Encouragement
-All of my support
-Someone who will listen to you
-Someone who will dust you off when you fall
-A father and a friend

Is it strange that I feel young to become a father when I am the age MY father was when I was born? And I am the 3rd child! Anyways, he taught me a lot, and continues to...I look forward to you meeting him. I know he will make you laugh too, he LOVES making people laugh!!

I think your mom is pretty nervous about the delivery. Your grandma has been helping us with labor classes and we've learned a lot. Its going to be scary for you at first and not very comfortable, but we'll do our best to make it easy on you.

You are already a precious little boy, and we are very proud parents.

Love you, peanut.
-Dad

Baby Shower Weekend is apon us! When I considered the date for this shower months ago I thought, "After the shower, Peanut will be with us very soon!" I CANNOT believe how close we are now! 6 weeks left?! Really? While I am ready to meet our little man and have him permanently join our crew, I am so thoroughly enjoying being pregnant. I feel like my hormones have settled down (my acid reflux is acting up!) and I am so happy to be growing this amazing person in my rollin, golden belly. He goes with me everywhere and I love the company. So, this baby shower signifies that the end is near and I want to share that this has been such an incredible growing experience and I highly recommend it!

Waiting for news....

On Tuesday, after initially calling me and telling me that there was nothing to worry about and to enjoy my day, my doctor called me a told me that there was reason to be concerned about what the pathologist found in a lump he took out of my leg last week. I am confused by him saying that he "really doesnt think that there's anything to worry about..." but at the same time saying "....there's cancerous cells in the biopsy." Tuesday afternoon was really hard and all of the thoughts that someone thinks when hearing this type of news came flooding into my mind. "I've got a child on the way..." "My wife needs me..." "IM NOT DONE LIVING" but since then I've been feeling better and whether or not I'm in denial, I dont feel like this thing will do me in.

First Post: Big Year.

Hello, and welcome to my Blog. I started this to keep my friends and family informed as to the improvements we have made on our new home and the developments of our new life together. My wife and I are expecting our first baby in May and we are completely delighted with this development. But Im getting ahead of myself...
Let me tell you first about our 2009, the biggest year for both of our lives.
March- I proposed to Em at Table Mountain (between Chico and Oroville, CA). We hiked up to the plateau with a few friends and I asked her overlooking a beautiful vista of the valley near Chico.
April- We spent a fantastic week in Puerto Vallarta and Sayulita Mexico.
May- Em's mom, stepdad, and sister moved from to Thousand Oaks 6 hours away) to Elk Grove (20 minutes away).
June- Em brought home a puppy from the pound. This began the transitional experience of total freedom to a little taste of responsibility. I wasnt too fond of the idea, as we were still living in a duplex, with a patch of dirt behind it for a yard. But nonetheless, this little Beagle/German Shepherd mix we named 'Ruby' became a part of our lives and we never looked back at total freedom.
August- Our lease ends and we spend the month living with our friends, Jesus and Christel
September- We move into our first home....and discover we are having a baby!
November- Our wedding in Coloma, CA
December- After the wedding calmed down, it seemed the excitement was over. Enter new puppy: Yellow Lab/Beagle mix we named 'Willie'
The year was now complete....