A Little Confused

Yesterday, Asher was having trouble finding one of his fingers (or fist) to suck on so he settled for my chin.  Luckily no permanent damage was done!

Canine Siblings

Henry has been doing a really good job adjusting to life with Asher around.  He's definitely missing a lot of the attention he used to get, as both Megan and I have found him cuddling up to us a lot more than he used to.  Here he decided that he wanted some attention from me and found a nice place to sit. 

And yes, that slash on my arm is from a knife fight.  I was showing Asher some of the more subtle aspects of handling a switch blade when the guy I was fighting got in a slash.  Don't let Megan make you think it was actually from running into a brick wall at CVS while trying to escape a downpour.  She can be really creative in making up alternative theories. 

Nap Time for All

We had a nice afternoon yesterday reading and catching up on some shows in the basement. Dad and Asher also snuck in a little nap!

Little Hands

Ten tiny fingers that always want to play

That never stop exploring the wonder of today

Ten tiny fingers that from the very start

Will reach out for tomorrow, yet aways hold your heart.

The First "Bath"

We think it was a success (?)

Orange Crush

Yes, this is Megan's favorite soda.  Unfortunately, it was also partly Asher's skin color, which meant his bilirubin had gotten too high and he was jaundiced.  Bilirun is a natural substance in our blood stream that is a by-product of the breakdown of red blood cells.  Our body is constantly breaking red blood cells down, and usually the liver does a good job of clearing the blood stream of excess bilirubin.  Newborns, on the other hand, can sometimes not clear the bilirubin fast enough, and it becomes deposited in fat cells and the skin (and gives the skin its orange color).  This isn't too big of an issue, but excessively high levels of bilirubin have been linked to a few development issues, so doctors normally require some treatment if it gets too high.  Photo-therapy, using a blue light that breaks down the deposited bilirubin, is the quickest way to remedy the situation.  The picture above is Asher hanging out in his bilirubin bed, which fit comfortably in grampa's bassinet.  Any time he was not feeding, he was required to be in his bed.  This was a little rough for everyone, as his two favorite things, being swaddled and being held, were not possible.  He ended up spending about 48 hours in the bed by the time his bilirubin levels had come down enough.  He also had to go through a few heel pricks to check the bilirubin levels in his blood, so overall everyone was happy when it was over.  It's been a full day since the treatment ended, and he has blissfully been hanging out in our arms ever since.  Here's a couple more pictures of him in the bed:

Welcome Asher David!

Asher David Plante arrived to us 10 days early on Saturday July 14th 10:14 AM.  It was quite the surprise.  One minute we're downstairs eating some Thai food from Singapore! and then next we are calling the doctor to let them know we're on our way to the hospital.  (Literally the turn of events went that quickly- do I get to blame the Thai food?)  About 12 hours later Asher was born.  To be honest, I don't remember much of the details but know I would do it all over again if it meant Asher was going to be in our lives.

Casey and I enjoyed this first week of parenthood, both highs and lows.  It's been quite entertaining learning how to be a parent as well as observing all the precious nuances of our son.  For example, one of the first diaper changes we (that's right it was a team effort the first few times) we forgot to cover him up and next thing we know we have a golden arch going across the table.  We were both so shocked that we both started laughing and then realized that we should probably do something about it (I partially blame the delayed reaction to the lack of sleep :) )  As to his nuances we love how cute his hiccups are- similar to a chipmunk being in the room with us or how he sometimes snorts when he gets really worked up about something (usually food).

Finally, we both feel very fortunate to have our family and friends with us during these exciting times.  Thanks to everyone for their love and support.  It means so much to the three of us (and Henry :) ).

There will be many more stories to come!