Kelly cut me loose tonight from the hospital. I decided to give Hallie more TLC as her world’s been so rocked with the arrival of her brother. Kelly’s mom volunteered to stay with her as I came back home.

Soon after I arrived, Kelly’s parents left for a visit with Kelly and Travis, leaving me with Hallie. Hallie was thrilled to see me at first, but then became her moody self of late. After her bath, she began to rebel against the choices I made for her bedtime routine, and I was presented with Fragile Girl again. I spent most of her bedtime having her contradict whatever the characters in her book were doing.

It’s tough seeing her so unhappy, but I feel some structure is comforting to her, on some level at least. I know she’ll eventually come along, but its tough right now to see those tears.

After Hallie went to bed, I had a lonely night at home until Kelly’s dad came back. We spent the rest of the evening having a nice fun chat about inventions. I stayed up much later than I anticipated, but it was time well spent.

Tomorrow Kelly and Travis leave the hospital. I’ll be there, too, to help with arrangements and drive her home. Finally, our family will be together again!

I posted more Travis pics into his gallery. There are sure to be more from today as my family will be here momentarily for more visiting.

We’ve spent the afternoon snoozing, mainly. Looks like the food supply has finally caught up to demand, which makes us all happier. Things are coming together now.

I’m going to head home tonight to do Hallie’s bedtime routine. It will be good for her and me to get a “routine” going again. Then it’s back here for another night on the Chair They Call A Bed.

A longer post when I get more time. I’m having too much fun!

Well, right about now was the time that Travis was supposed to be born. His c-section was going to happen at 9:30 this morning. Instead, he’s swaddled up in a bassinet, soundly sleeping in our room. Funny how things turn out, huh?

The hospital room was less of a train station than the night before, but was still filled with all kinds of distractions to sleep. Kelly hit the “call” button quite a few times, mostly for problems with her IV lines getting disconnected. A phebeloblahblahblahigist staffperson came in around 4 AM and happily turned on all the lights while she stuck Travis for one last blood test. My evil twin began scheming about finding out where she lived and walking into her house at 4 AM, turning on all the lights. Lucky for me it was just a fantasy.

Kelly’s epidural line came undone at some point in the night, leaving her increasingly uncomfortable. I discovered it when she asked me to pick up Travis from her arms. I stepped into a pool of drugs on the floor, causing me to shift my balance and steady myself with a hand on her sore abdomen! Ouch!! If her drugs were still in her, I might have gotten away with that. But no such luck. She eventually talked to me again, so I think she’s okay.

Travis is one of the most enthusiastic eaters I’ve seen. He spent most of the night smacking loudly and eating his sleeve. His appetite has outpaced Kelly’s supply at this point. While he might have another day to be fully fed, he certainly shouldn’t have any trouble with things once we get there. The kid knows how to eat.

Travis’s constant smacking causes him to swallow air, which led him to be uncomfortable at points last night. The first time it happened, I was concerned he was really suffering from hunger. Kelly and I bickered about what to do. She told me to walk around with him. I balked, and instead lay down with him. When that didn’t soothe him, I popped up and walked him around, which led to a sizeable burp from him followed by immediate calm. I meekly conceded to Kelly that I don’t know what the hell I’m doing and will listen to her from now on. 🙂

In spite of the speedbumps, we did manage to get some sleep. I conked early in the evening and was out so far that I didn’t her Kelly’s IV alarm or the two nurses who showed up to do vital signs on her. It was a short nap, but very deep and refreshing. Earlier this morning, I gave Kelly a break and slept with Travis on my chest for a while. It was so nice hearing her snoozing next to me and at the same time having our son snoozing in my arms. Good quality family time was had by all.

This morning I remembered an important rule from when Hallie was an infant: sleep when the baby sleeps! We forgot that yesterday and have visitors in this morning, which is when Travis will be slumbering the deepest. Another group of visitors will arrive after work this evening, which I think is a better time to visit since Travis will likely be active then. (For any of you who are also interested in visiting, give me a call on my cellphone or leave a message at home and arrangements will be made. I check email once a day, so don’t count on catching me that way.)

Kelly got her epidural out this morning and had her IV disconnected, so she’s free to move about the cabin. It was a relief to her to brush her teeth yesterday, and I’m sure she’s looking forward to a warm shower today. We could be leaving as early as tomorrow, depending on how she feels. If she takes the appropriate drugs with her, I think we’ll be better off at home. The sleeping will be better there, no matter what.

I found myself really missing Hallie last night and wanting our family to all be together again. That can’t happen soon enough for me. Let’s get on with life!

I’ve posted some pictures of Travis’s arrival in the gallery. Please be nice to my meager fileserver. 🙂

I forgot to mention that Travis measured 21.5 inches long. He scored a perfect 9/9 in his APGAR test, too.

Also, his night wasn’t as smooth sailing as it could have been. The neonatal nurse practitioner noticed some red spots on his back when she first examined him, called petechiae. It could have been an indicator of a low platlet count in his blood. Blood was drawn around 10 PM after he got a nice bath, and CBC results did not come in until 1 AM. A low count meant he might be given a transfusion, so we were paying close attention to what we were told.

The neonatologist on staff wanted to see a count above 100,000. Travis’s pediatrician wanted 150,000. The results we got showed a nice, normal 183,000. The neonatologist confessed this morning that he wasn’t sure what caused the petechaie, but it certainly wasn’t a low platlet count. He declared Travis completely healthy. Relief!

(“Saucespital” is Hallie’s name for the hospital, using a fun name game we invented).

I’m blogging from an undisclosed location deep inside Wakemed. It’s been a fight between rest and blogging. Blogging gets the nod, for now anyway.

Travis is a beautiful kid. He’s big and can be loud when he wants. But he’s usually a real sweetheart and is quite content to be held in the arms of Mommy or Daddy. When you look down and see those little eyes peeking out its the best feeling!

Being in a hospital, there is always a stream of people in and out of our room. Such was the case last night. Between his feedings every two or three hours, he was quiet as a mouse save for one moment early in the night. We like kids who appreciate sleep!

Dr. McKenzie delivered him. Our cameras were allowed into the delivery room with us and handed to us once Travis was here. I got many precious pictures of him as well as priceless footage of his first “words.” Both will appear here once I get appropriate hookups.

We’ve been hoping to snooze today, but had to get some visits in with the family. In addition to fun greetings from the grandparents, Hallie had her first visit with her brother. I wasn’t sure how she was coping this morning, as she seemed somehow a bit sad Kelly and I weren’t taking care of her. She warmed up later this morning, however, once the grandparents were around. I watched as Hallie volunteered to give Travis a kiss on the head. She then announced “That did make Travis feel happy.” It was another priceless moment.

I’ll never forget the radiant smile on Kelly’s face as she knew Travis was here. She was never more beautiful. Throughout her pregnancy, she’s been a model for the happy, expectant mother. Sunday night, I complimented her on how toned her body was. She’s been carrying around 40 pounds of baby material, along with 30 pounds of Buggle. She’s in fantastic shape, with vital signs that put me to shame. She makes it all look so easy! I’m in awe of her, especially now that we can both exhale and enjoy our accomplishment. But mostly its her accomplishment, and I humbly accept second billing.

Lots, lots, lots more to talk about. Plenty of pictures which would be here now if I had remembered to bring the proper equipment. Perhaps by tomorrow they’ll be posted.

Thanks to everyone for their congratulations. We all appreciate it and can’t wait to introduce you to our newest family member, Travis!

Travis got here at 8:42 PM. He weighs eight pounds one ounce and is beautiful!

We don’t have a length measurement on him yet, but will have that soon. Also, we’ll have a room here soon where we’ll stay, and will be up for visitors eventually. Watch this space.

Lots of pictures and video, too. They’re priceless. Can’t wait to post ’em for ya.

Wow. We thought this would be a scheduled thing on Wednesday morning. I’m kinda proud that The Boy took charge of the situation. 🙂

Mother, father, and son are happy and doing fine!

Travis James Turner will arrive any minute now here at WakeMed. Woohoo!!!11!!!11!

I was reading the self-submitted News and Observer profile for Brad Miller, District 13 candidate for the U.S. House. For his hobbies, he lists “tennis, golf, and mindless channel-surfing.”

I can’t remember a more honest answer from a politician!