Getting Settled at Home

Well, we have finally gotten settled enough at home for another update. We had many visitors at the hospital, including many of our close friends, my mom, step-dad, dad and grandparents. Leanne's mom, Kathy, flew into town Monday afternoon and came straight to the hospital to see her new grandson. There is a really nice photo of the two new Grandmothers at the link below.
We got to come home Tuesday morning from the hospital. No issues getting packed up, but Riley didn't really like his car seat at first. Once we got in the car and started driving he settled right down. The only thing we were at all worried about was introducing the two dogs to the new family addition. For all of you that don't know our dogs, calling them high energy would be an understatement. I came home for a visit the night before so that Bella and Gunner could see me briefly and so I could let them smell a blanket with Riley's scent. We let Leanne come in first without the baby so the dogs could get out some of their excitement in seeing her after a few days. After they settled a little bit I came in with Riley. They were very curious at first, then seemed to lose interest until Riley started making some noise and crying. They immediately seemed to show some sense of concern for the crying baby. We have some great photos of Gunner getting up close and personal.
Leanne's milk came in early Wednesday morning and since then Riley has been feeding great. We have been getting a good routine down with me on diaper duty, and of course Leanne on feeding duty. We are still trying to figure out how to maximize our sleeping, which of course will be a long process. Kathy has been a great help around the house, so we don't have to worry about things like dishes, etc.
On Thursday we made our first outing to take Riley to his first Pediatrician's appointment. They said everything was great and he has gained 2 ounces after being born. He should continue to gain an ounce a day.
It has been a strange and exciting adjustment but we are getting used to being parents. Keep checking back for more updates, and check out some more photos here and here.

Announcing William Riley Vielehr (aka Riley)

So it turns out that our doctors had our due date as October 14th, not the 12th. We were misinformed. At Leanne's appointment on Friday (the 12th) we found out we were already 3-4cm dilated and 75% effaced. We were excited, this meant Leanne's body had been doing some good work preparing for labor. Knowing our due date was two whole days a way, we thought we should drive to Conifer to hang out with Betsy and Lee. We had a wonderful dinner of Green Curry (spicy food helps promote labor after all). Saturday we slept in until 9am thinking this could be the last opportunity for a while, did some last minute errands, then spent the evening with Chris & Tara watching the Buffs lose to Kansas State, oh well. We ended up making it to bed around 11pm thinking we could squeeze in one more day of sleeping in, but Riley wouldn't have it that way. Leanne was woken up to contractions around 4am. We monitored the length and separation hoping to hit the magic 5-1-1 rule. At about 6am we spoke with our Doula and Doctor and decided it was time to head in to the hospital. We arrived at about 6:45am and after getting situated the nurse did an exam on Leanne and we were at 7 cm!!! After about 4 hours of "transition labor" we moved to the pushing phase....and Leanne's water broke. After about 45-60 minutes of actual pushing Riley was born at 11:26 am, 7 lbs 6 oz, and 21" long. Leanne was a ROCKSTAR and had natural birth and didn't use any pain medication. We are extremely excited, and everyone is in good health. Keep checking here as we will be adding pictures and updates as our new adventure begins.
More photos here

When's That Baby Due?

So today is October 11th and the due date for the birth of our first child is tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!
It is a little surreal still, how do you anticipate the addition of a new life to your daily responsibilities? Anyway, Leanne is still doing well, she is getting a little uncomfortable. Check back here for baby news.

Nate