Day One for Austin

This is day one in the life of Austin DiFabio. It was eventful for her, but still wonderful. Remember that she was born shortly after midnight, so until right after midnight of Friday, it's still day one. I'm adding Friday too, just because.

I went home Thursday after the birth, it was about 4 when I posted the original pictures, then I went to bed. I woke up at the normal time (kids at home still) and went through the morning, drinking coffee and watching the news. I got a call from Joe at about 9 wondering when I would be down because he wanted to get some stuff done. After I got whatever small work related stuff done that I could, I ran right down and hung out. I took pictures then, but Crystal still wasn't in much of a picture mood. I had forgotten that its only been 12 hours or less since she went through the birth process, so not wanting to be in pictures wasn't a surprise. I took some great pictures of Austin, but no Crystal pics. The Crystal pics were on Friday, also on this post.

Here you go! This is Joe, day one, after he got back from taking a shower at home! Doesn't he look bright eyed and bushy tailed,after what he went through a few hours earlier?

Here is Uncle Dane holding his new niece. He's a good Uncle, even if he will make her irritable and mean.....lol.....

Aawwww...... Here's me and my baby! This is the most beautiful baby ever. I am an expert witness and have no bias or prejudice whatsoever.....lol.....

Here is our precious girl, in her little 'bin'.

This just saves me from writing everything down.

Here is Crystal and J, in the mood for photos! woo hoo!

Crystal, in a much better mood today! Must have gotten some rest! yay!

and here is Princess Austin, in her little malibu tanning bed, (Crystal said it looked like an aquarium at night) with her hip and cool baby Ray-Bans on! Talk to Crystal or Joe about the bilirubin issues. I think that all babies have an issue, but it needed dealt with.

and here is an amazing picture of mommy and baby. Kindly disregard the velcro stuck to her head. It's to hold the totally hip and cool baby Ray-Ban bililight glasses on!

...and just before I came down yesterday, I got a text message from Joe that said (and I'm paraphrasing here) ....wow, my moms here!

I guess the story behind this visit, from what I've heard (and you girls probably know better) is that late Thursday night, after watching Crystal pass out after getting up, and watching baby Austin turn blue and need the nurse, Joe was a bit overwhelmed with the responsibility for all of this. I guess he called his mom and 'vented' a bit, and next morning - here she is! When I talked to Crystal about it she said that according to Murph, don't underestimate a German woman, she will do things like this (paraphrased). I told Crystal that I disagreed with that explanation and pointed out that 30 years ago, more or less, she was in the same position that you are right now, giving birth to her 'baby boy' that just coached you through your labor, and now her baby is in pain, and really scared. You may not get this right now, but you'll come running too. I get it. Carol gets it. Anne and Laura get it already, and Crystal may by now ..... Nothing will separate a mom from her cubs. I'm pretty sure that is a 'forever' thing too.

Yay moms!

Welcome to the world Miss Austin!

It's been a while since I've posted so this might get long, but it's not like I haven't been posting at all. I post to the new construction site like every night, and I just get tired doing it.

The big news of the year,though, is the arrival of little Miss Austin! Austin Mackenzie Di Fabio was born bright and early (actually still the middle of the night) Thursday, May 28th. 12:43 was the actual time she showed up, but Crystal had been laboring since midnight the night before. She endured 6+ hours of what they now call 'active labor' and in my day it was called 'hard labor' I think for a good reason.

This is where it all happened. Memorial Hospital North, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

This is Crystal, early in the day, still pretty darned happy, with her day nurse Brandi. I guess her water broke (sortof) late Tuesday night, but they didn't go into the hospital until 7ish in the morning.

The nurses thought that walking around might help speed things up, so that's what we did!

The view from the windows in the hospital went right out over the Air Force Academy and it was graduation day! We got a show from the Thunderbirds who did their fly-by after VP Biden gave the commencement address. Little Miss Austin chose an exciting day to come into the world!

Lots of people came to greet Austin into the world, but as all of the moms reading this will attest, the baby doesn't just show up, there's a lot of pain between now and then. THis is the fun part. Soon-to-be dad, Joe, being a dork and using the bed well.....

This is Adam, Dane and Tadd playing with Morgan on the floor. Here is Amanda, George, Dane and Adam just waiting with everybody else.

This is Crystal and Morgan. He didn't quite know what to think of the hospital stuff, having just gotten out of the hospital a few weeks ago with the rotavirus. A bit scary I think.

Morgan tried really hard to wait for his new cousin to be born but couldn't make it much past 4. They eventually packed it in around 6 and went home. No baby yet.

The picture you just looked at with Morgan in it is the same time as this one was taken. I just turned my head. Crystal is getting to be more 'uncomfortable' by now, but not awful yet.

It was heartbreaking to watch your child endure such a nightmare, but knowing the end result helped. Those of us who have had kids know that 'this too shall pass...' but that's small consolation when you can see that agonizing pain in her eyes for hours on end. As heartbreaking as it was to watch Crystal, though, watching Joe was nearly as bad. He was soooo helpless to fix her pain, and it got to him a few times. I worried in the beginning of the labor process that he wouldn't be up to the task of coaching. I'm pretty sure that when he looks at Crystal he sees somebody so capable, and so strong, that for him to tell her how to do this very basic and very fundamental thing would be almost insulting to her. When she was heavily into the throes of hard labor, and her eyes were rolling back in her head with an out of her mind look, he somehow realized how much she needed him and stepped up to the plate. He was a real trooper through it all, because he had to keep coaching her even though it was tearing him up inside to watch.

I didn't post any pictures of the labor or delivery, for obvious reasons, but these are the ones taken right after the birth. Mom is getting finished with the docs, so baby Austin got passed around the room a bit.

Here is J, hold baby Austin. Quite a traumatic evening for J, which is a whole other blog!

Here is the (clearly) proud papa, holding his new baby girl.

This is right after they got done working on Crystal, and Joe gave baby Austin back to her. Not her best picture maybe, but possibly her best moment..... :-)

... and before everybody left for the evening, one parting shot with the doctor, Crystal, and Joe. I tried to get baby Austin in the picture, but through clenched teeth, Crystal said "just take the *^#@ picture....." I think someody was a bit exhausted???

and this is what I watched just before I left at approximately 3. Joe is snoozing, Crystal is snoozing, the doc is gone, the nurse is about to save Austin from rolling off of her sleepy dad, but she is wide awake and taking in her new world! What a little doll she is!Quite an evening.......