Brady, this is Banana. Banana, this is Brady.

This morning we introduced Brady and Banana and they really hit it off. So cute...

Brady wasn't so sure of this Banana character at first

But, they soon became best friends

An Exciting Turn of Events...

As we mentioned below, tummy time has become an exciting part of the day for Brady and yesterday's tummy time at his grandparents' place was extra exciting.



Whoa! This was actually the third time he rolled from his tummy to his back, but we didn't have the camera ready the first time, and we didn't think he would do it again, so we missed the second time too. We're glad his big little head and gravity allowed him to roll over a third time. As you could hear, it was a very exciting moment for everyone!

To Grandmother's House We Go!

Not only have we been tummy-timing it up, we headed south to Grandma and Grandpap's place yesterday for the afternoon and evening. It was a great visit because they could really tell how much weight he gained since they last saw him (about a week and a half ago). Everyone took turns hanging out with Brady and we had some exciting tummy time as well (stay tuned...). It was also the first weekend of college football, which Brady has been looking forward to for weeks. Sadly, the Penn State game was not broadcast down here (thanks, Big Ten Network), but we were able to keep track of the score on the Internet. Go State!

Here's the Brady bug with his grandparents and his aunt Kristin:

What an exhausting day, time to go home

Tummy Time!

Brady has been lifting his head a lot lately, so we're doing tummy time more often to strengthen his neck (and his core - he's a Pilates nut). His head seems relatively heavy, to me at least, so he's going to need a lot of exercise to keep his noggin from rolling around uncontrollably. Here are some shots from a session this past week:

Working out his legs

And his neck

Whew, that was exhausting

"All that work and what's my reward? Rattle socks."

Old Man

Today, Brady is three weeks old! Jim and I are still in the daze of first-time parenthood but we're starting to get the hang of things. We're learning to keep up with Brady's needs and he is sure to let us know when we're falling a little short. But overall, I can't believe how far we've come in such a short period of time.

Brady is also getting bigger everyday. We're weighing him on our scale (Jim weighs himself first and then weighs himself hold Brady to get the difference) and today the difference was 8lbs. Our scale rounds to the nearest half pound so that means he's somewhere between 7.5lbs and 8.5lbs. I have been looking forward getting to the 8lb mark for some unknown reason. I guess I think he'll be more substantial at that weight. Which he definitely is because he has already out grown the preemie clothes and is officially in the newborn category. Hooray!

Here's a picture of Brady from last week in his last preemie outfit...

Due Date? What due date?

Today is a big day for us... today is Brady's due date. I can't believe that we've had him with us for nearly three weeks already and that he still could be waiting patiently inside of me. I also can't imagine the mixture of emotions that I would be feeling today since Jim and I were never really given the opportunity to sit around and wait for the big moment. Instead, we were thrown into this incredibly overwhelming and wonderful world of parenting.

It has been another incredible week with Brady. Jim's Mom left on Wednesday and we have been on our own ever since. We're doing really well and Brady has been pretty good at sleeping at night. He's begun to get more alert during the day and I love to watch him observing the new world around him. With this added alertness brings some more fussiness during the day and Jim and I are working on finding the most effective way to calm him down. Bouncing seems to work the best right now.

Here are some pictures from the week...

Jim playing with Brady in the Boppy

Brady saying hello to his Mom

Bath time, again

Post bath in what was supposed to be his first outfit. Still too big.

Cuddle time with Mom. My favorite time of day.

2-Week Checkup

Yesterday Brady has his 2-week checkup at the pediatrician and I was anxious to see how much weight the little guy had gained. It's hard when you're breastfeeding and you can't tell exactly how much he's getting. At his appointment last week he was 5lbs 9oz - just a few ounces shy of his birth weight of 5lbs 11oz. I was hoping that he would be closer to 6lbs this visit because the little guy has quite an appetite and I feel like I'm constantly feeding him. So, you can imagine my excitement when the nurse informed us that he now weighs 6lbs 7oz!! 14 ounces in one week! Way to go Brady! He has also grown a bit longer as well and is now 20 inches.

So it appears the breastfeeding is working. I guess I'll keep it up a little while longer. Now, here are some more pictures...

A week of firsts...

I can't believe it, Jim and I made it through the first week home with Brady. Granted we had a lot of help from Brady's Grandma & Ama. Grandma left on Friday and Ama will be leaving on Wednesday so tune into next week's post to see if we survive on our own! In the meantime, here's what's been going on in Bradyville...

First off, we were supposed to get new carpeting installed last Wednesday but that didn't pan out since that was the day Brady decided to make his arrival so we had it installed on Tuesday instead. This was just a tad bit stressful since we had to have the entire nursery and our bedroom cleared out. Hopefully I will sometime be able to look at these pictures and laugh...



Once we got the carpet installed we were finally able to start having some fun with the little guy. So we gave him his first bath...


And he got to explore his crib for the first time. He really hated it at first but then he calmed down a bit...




He also enjoyed some time in his swing...



And of course there has been lots of tummy time...




Meeting Ama and then his first walk around the block to go meet Britt & Justin. Later Lindsey & Josh stopped by to meet the little man as well...




It's been an amazing (and sometimes completely overwhelming) week and I can't wait to see what is still to come! We love you, Brady!

Brady's Big Day and More Pictures!

After a night where we got more than 2 hours of sleep, we finally have the energy to post some new pictures of Brady from his first few days in the hospital. And since this is our first big post after getting home, we thought we should give a quick run down of how he entered the world one week ago.

It was Wednesday morning at 3:00am when Suzi woke me up. She said "I think my water just broke." Since we had a false alarm a few weeks before, I did not immediately poop my pants. We waited about 15 minutes to call the doctor and soon decided that maybe this was the real deal when her contractions started to get a little stronger. Both of us showered, we checked our bags for any last-minute items, and hopped in the car. Since it was about 4:30, there was no traffic, so we were able to get to the hospital, 5 miles away, pretty quickly. We checked in and Suzi was wheeled up to the labor and delivery wing.

Things didn't get off to a great start because all 10 labor and delivery rooms were full when we arrived, so we were placed in "Triage 2." Awesome. Suzi didn't seem very thrilled to deliver our son in Triage 2, especially since it was half the size and half as nice as the labor and delivery rooms we saw on the tour a few weeks ago (although, it could have been the inspiration for an awesome name: Triage Two Shipe). Anyway, things started to get interesting very fast.

Suzi's contractions were getting stronger and stronger, and after a quick exam, the doctor told us that she was already 5 centimeters and that she could feel the baby's head. Whoa. Suzi was getting seriously uncomfortable at this point and was hoping to get going on the epidural, stat. Unfortunately, they needed to draw blood, do some tests, and get a bag of IV fluids into her before they could get that going, at least an hour or so. This seemed less than ideal to Suzi, as she remarked, "This pain is INSANE." Not being able to give her the epidural myself, I was hoping for some miracle solution.

Things got a little scary when the Brady's heartbeat started to drop. Suzi was able to get it back up by switching positions, but after a few cycles of a low heartrate, her doctor had enough. She said that Brady wasn't too keen on labor and that it was best for him to come out now. Suzi was not opposed to this idea. So, they wheeled her out of the room to the OR and told me to wait in Triage 2 until someone came to get me. After the longest 20 minutes, a nurse came back and said that I had a son! She said he was kicking and crying, even though the cord was wrapped around his neck and body. Suzi was wheeled right back to Triage 2 about 15 minutes later, as she was starting to wake up.

As Suzi started to recover, with the help of some morphine, they let me go back to the nursery to see Brady for the first time. He was laying on a bed, all swaddled up and wearing a little hat. And he was the most adorable little boy I had ever seen. I watched them give him a bath and we were able to go back to see Suzi a little after that. We were fortunate enough to get a private postpartum room (likely due to the fact that Suzi delivered faster than all 10 women in the labor and delivery rooms), and left the comforts of Triage 2 in the late morning.

So that's the story of how Brady came into the world. Hooray for Brady!

Sleepy boy

There's nothing like a nap on mom

Tiny feet

Finally home!

Hmmm... someone just pooped.

Best baby in the world!

Welcome to the World, Brady!!

Jim and Suzi asked me to update everyone on the big news, as they probably won't be spending too much time on the computer in the next couple of days. Without further ado, allow me to introduce:

Brady William Shipe
Born very early this morning, weighing in at 5 lbs., 11 oz. and strutting his stuff at a proud 18.75 inches.
Dad, Mom, and Baby are doing well!

-Christina