Since we never pass up an excuse to get together Carolyn, Natalie, and Anni (the ladies we went to Sorrento with) decided to throw me a baby shower.
Since I already had most everything I needed already we kept it low key and told people to just focus on clothes so that the new baby wasn’t wearing all of Jaydon’s hand-me downs.
We got together at the Chocolate Bar and had fun opening gifts and eating – you guessed it – chocolate.
Since this was my second shower we kept the games to a minimum but the ladies did come up with a great idea of asking Jaydon questions and having me guess what the answers were.
I only got 2 right – can you guess which ones…
Q: What do you think will be your baby brother’s favorite food?
A: Pasta
Q: Where will your baby brother sleep?
A: In my crib.
Q: Who’s the boss at your house?
A: My baba is the boss. (baba is Jaydon’s pacifier)
Q: What are you going to do when your baby brother cries?
A: Hug him.
Q: Where do babies come from?
A: Mommy’s belly.
Q: What activity are you going to do with your baby brother?
A: Do lunch!
Q: What will be you baby brother’s first word?
A: Bllblblbl (or an equivalent type sound)
Q: Which of your toys will you share with your baby brother?
A: My yo-yo (the interesting thing was Jaydon doesn’t have a yo-yo…)
Q: How much do babies cost?
A: Nothing!
Q: What is your baby brother’s name?
A: Baby
After the shower we had a classic Doha experience. With the heat here car batteries usually don’t last past two summers. So we got back to the car after stuffing ourselves with chocolate and had a dead car.
Luckily, one of the other ladies had stayed behind to help clean-up so she was able to give us a jump.
The amusing part was that she was also pregnant (due in early July) so Nikole and I got to dust off our battery jumping skills – a memorable (and sweaty) way to finish off a very relaxing afternoon.
Tylor is a much better sleeper then Jaydon was but then again we are also experienced “Happiest Baby on the Block” practitioners and used the swaddling, shssing, swinging and other S’s to their fullest extent. 
With Jaydon we lived by the “itzbeen” – a simple timer that helps you know when you’ve last fed, changed, napped, etc the baby. This time we had a harder time remembering to use it then just remembering if it was time to feed, change etc. 
We also discovered that my wedding ring had definitely not made it back from the hospital with us. 
Steve swears he put it in a safe place (at 2ish in the morning after Tylor was born) but couldn’t remember where that was, after searching all the luggage, pockets of clothing and checking with the hospital it’s officially gone. 
Now it’s the going joke in the house – “Have you seen my keys? Yep – right next to your wedding ring…” (meaning I have no idea where you keys are). Tylor also had his first doctors appt, fortunately my milk came in the first evening at home so he was already back to his birth weight and doing fine. 
I did however have one small incident with nail cutting. I’m the only one who cuts Jaydon’s nails and have NEVER cut them too short or made them bleed so hardly thought twice when doing it for Tylor. 
Well newborn fingers are so much more delicate and I didn’t take the care I should have and slightly nipped some of his skin. It didn’t even bleed but became very infected (swelling up to the 2nd knuckle). 
It took 2 weeks to heal and only after getting some antibiotic cream and having to open the little wound every few days to drain the green puss out - yuk. So I’m much more careful now. 
Jaydon is also settling in to being a big brother. He got all kinds of new presents and enjoyed some story time with Dad and Tylor. 
He also did what he could to help his Dad stay caught up at work :)
This one was for Nate's (in the Orlando jersey) 1st birthday and was sports themed. Most of the kids invited were a little older than Nate so it really ended up being a party for his big sister Abby. It was well timed for Jaydon becuase after all that Baby Brother fun he needed some time with his old friends to feel like things were normal again. 
Nothing a bright green cupcake can't solve. 
Jaydon figured out that the new big brother could get just about anything he asked for - this is cupcake #2 and he think he ended up having 3 by the time the party was over. 
Steve was on baby sitting duty and spent the afternoon napping with Tylor. 
Grandma got her turn later that night.
I think it took 3 tries before we had Tylor situated correctly in the carseat but we did get him to sleep the whole way home. 
A picture with the bouquet work sent to us. 
Once we got home, Athena was very curious about the new arrival but was on her best behavior. 
We also learned that Tylor was a pretty deep sleeper (or his ears were still very clogged) because he slept through Jaydon running around the house like a crazy man for about an hour. I think Jaydon was happy to have everyone back home again.
After a couple hours of sleep and a much needed shower we were able to finally enjoy our newest member to the family. 
Jaydon was very excited to meet his Baby Brother so after his nap Steve brought him to the hospital. 
The first thing he said to me was "Mommy, my baby brother is fragile" (pronounced Fur-RA-gile in a cute 2 yr old way.) 
Jaydon is very sweet with his brother, we've always known him to be very empathetic but his Baby Brother brings out his extra sweet and gentle side. 
He loves to hold him (for about 5 seconds but I think that's about how long a 2 yr olds attention span is). 
He also had to test out Tylor's bed to make sure it was ok for "night-night time". We were in the hosiptal for 2 days so on the second day Jaydon was able to spend some more time with Tylor. 
Grandma was there to document it all (this is only picture we have of her at the hospital) and again Jaydon was being his sweetest.
He was in a hurry to arrive and one-upped his brother (who was born on his due date) by showing up an hour and half before his due date. I had worked all the prior week so was scurrying around trying to get all those last minute things done (dentist appts, grocery shopping, hair appts). I had thought my last few weeks of work would be easy going and I could come in late, leave early and take care of my to-do list. Well that didn’t come close to happening, on my last day in the office I was there until 7 because I still hadn’t packed up my boxes. 
That day while running a few errands I had some mild cramping but didn’t think much of it. Steve was scheduled to be at a work dinner so my Mom (who had arrived on the 21st) and I were on our own for dinner. I was giving Jaydon his bath before bed when the cramping started getting to the point that I would have to stop and take notice. Steve’s dinner was canceled (which in retrospect was very good sine my Mom had no interest in attempting to drive the roads of Doha to get me to the hospital and Tylor wasn’t waiting around) and with Steve able to focus on Jaydon I think my body decided it was ok to proceed into overdrive – Steve noticed me leaning against the wall and suggested that perhaps I should go pack a bag for the hospital (another to-do that hadn’t happened yet). I agreed it was a good idea thinking that we’d probably head out first thing in the morning. 
During dinner the contractions continued but I was so hungry that I really just focused on eating between them. Steve was trying to convince me that they were coming close enough together that we should head to the hospital. I argued with him saying I didn’t want to spend the night walking the halls of AL-Ahli, I’d much rather be at home. He finally decided to download an app that times contractions to convince me otherwise. They were coming every 2-4 minutes but only lasting 30 sec to 1 min. Once dinner was finished we finished packing our bags and that when the very painful (and much longer) contractions started. By this point Steve had stopped timing them and was in full speed get me to the hospital mode. I, however, still thought we had plenty of time and made sure that we called a neighbor to get Jaydon to school in the morning and called the hair salon to cancel my appt for the next day. Finally, a little before 9pm we were on our way (note he was born at 10:24pm). 
I had never realized how many speed bumps there are on the quick 10 minute drive to the hospital but they were agonizing. We showed up at the ER and Steve found a wheelchair for me – which I refused telling him I was just fine to walk – then another contraction came and I decided the wheelchair was ok. They wheeled me up to the delivery ward and examined me. I was already at 5cm so they rushed me to the labor room. By the time they hooked up the CTG and got the IV in I had decided that it was time to come back to reality and get the epidural. The nurses said I needed 2 bags of IV fluids before the epidural and they had just started the first bag. Luckily my doctor came in and said I was fine to receive it before the fluids so they rushed a request for the anesthesiologist. When he arrived I was in regular, very painful contractions. He was quick to get the catheter in my back but once it was in the nurses realized that they hadn’t prepared the epidural syringe with the medicine in it yet. They went off to do that and at this point my contractions were getting easier not only because the doc had added a ‘top-up’ (as he called it) to the catheter but, because it was time to push. By the time they got the epidural syringe ready Tylor was already on his way out. 
Steve said that when he was born the pediatrician nurses weren’t even in the room yet. I do recall at one point asking the doctor if we should try and wait an hour and half so that Tylor could be born on his due date too – she looked at me like I was crazy…
Jaydon and I showed up around 8:00 only to learn that it was for residents only on the weekend but open to the public during the week (which doesn’t help if you’re working…) but since our friends had arrived at 7:00am before the security guards were monitoring/informing people of this they went ahead and let us play for an hour. An hour was all we needed because it was TOO hot to be 8 months pregnant standing on the beach in 90-100 degree weather. Jaydon, Tristian and Abby still had a great time and the big highlight was the discovery of hermit crabs! 
Jaydon got really good at catching them (they were tiny, about the size of a pea), once he caught them he would give them to Abby or Trisitan who would promptly lose them. I’m pretty sure it was the same 5 crabs that the kids caught and released all morning.
