New Parents......Obviously!

On Tuesday, July 17th, we took Owen to his first pediatrician appointment.  His visit went very well, but that isn't the point of this blog entry.

On that day, it was about 97 degrees out.  It was very hot, and not a cloud in the sky.  When we were getting Owen ready for the pediatrician we put him in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and we covered him a little with a mini-blanket.  It was the perfect ensemble for such a hot day for such a little guy.

When we got to the Dr.'s office building, we entered the doors and were hit in the face by freezing cold air.  The building was not only air conditioned, but I think they thought Wisconsin was a tad closer to the equator than it really is.  I don't normally get cold, but it gave me a little bit of goose bumps.

When we got in the actual Dr.'s office room (or as Seinfeld would say..."the 2nd waiting area"), our little guy was shivering a little.  It had to have been a shock on his system going from Death Valley to Siberia in less than a second. 

The Dr. came in and started to take his jeans and shirt off to give him an examination, and commented to get his blanket ready so we could just wrap him up quickly in that when he was done.  Em and I looked at each other and sheepishly told him that the only blanket we had with us was no bigger than a cocktail napkin.  He laughed and said, "well as long as you have a diaper bag with you, then you are ahead of the game."

We didn't have a diaper bag with us. 

I guess we are still learning the process and how to be completely ready when traveling with a baby.  We'll do better next time.

We aren't quite that bad.

Quotes & Antics from Em

This post is not meant to make fun of Em, but rather to share with all of you some of the more humorous insights that I had this past weekend.  I think those of you who know Em well will not be surprised at all. 

- As I was packing up the Jeep with Em & I's overnight bags and inbetween her contractions (which were coming about every 3 minutes at that time, Em says to me, "Please water the flowers in the front yard before we leave."  (Really?  Plants are on your mind at this exact time?  I guess we'll delay those ultra-painful contractions and risk delivering the baby in the Jeep....so I can water the flowers for you.)

-"Try not to hit any bumps, I'm doing my make-up & hair."  (Obviously, this was said on the way to the hospital.  The funny part is that after the delivery and during one of our first times with Owen, we were reflecting on our experience and I asked her if she would demand to have make-up on with the next one.  She said, "No".  (I'm glad that she had that response, because I had a similar reaction when I was wiping her sweaty head during labor with a wet wash cloth and had to change it frequently due to all the make-up that was coming off onto it.)

-As I stated in a previous post, Em was having very painful contractions.  These contractions were dropping her to her hands & knees in pain.  She said that she wanted to wait until she was dilated somewhere around 4 or 5 centimeters, but she told the nurse that she wanted the epidural at the 3 cm time frame.  (It was 4 cm by the time the epidural was administered.)  The anesthesiologist was so great that we found out that he was literally running down the halls to get to Emily as fast as he possibly could.  We knew we were in good hands when we found that out.

-After the epidural was given to Em, she found out that it usually takes 2 or 3 more contractions before the epidural kicks in.  It took Em 3 more contractions and then........after she was informed by the nurse that she just had one (and she didn't feel it), with a huge smile on her face, she said, "This is so much fun now."  (I thought the nurse was going to lose it with that one.)

-Em's response to the nurse on what she thought of the epidural, "life-saver, God send, Amazing"!)

-After Owen was born, it took a while for him to be weighed because they were focused on the fluid in his lungs.  After his official weigh in, the doctor told us that he was 7 lbs 14 oz.  Emily was visibly upset (not bad) at this news and told the nurse, "I was really hoping for a baby that was over 8 lbs."  The nurse did a double take and responded back, "I've never heard a woman wish for a bigger baby." 

Em was absolutely fantastic during this process.  She was so excited about having Owen and it was evident for anyone who talked with her.  She's going to be a great Mom (and already is showing that).

Being Held

More Pictures:

Sleeping on Mom

Being held by Mom

Grandma holding Owen

Owen alert and waving (kind of)

Dad finally gets a turn

Feels pretty dang good



Birthing Gift

A few months ago, we were having dinner at our friend's house, and I was asked "What birth gift are you getting Emily?  I had never heard of that before. 

So, I have to get a gift for my wife above all of the baby stuff we bought....not to mention the little gift we both would be bringing home from the hospital?  When did this start?

Well, I buckled under pressure and got her a little something to represent our new family:

She liked it (at least she acted like she did).

Birth to 1 Hour Pics

I wrestled with myself on whether I would post pictures of Owen in the Special Infant Unit.  Sometimes some people might not like to see little babies being hooked up to all of those sensors and IVs, but I ended up deciding to post pictures of our whole experience as it is his whole story. 

As I alluded to before, Owen inhaled some ambiotic fluid with his first breath, and because he was a baby that didn't cry it stayed in his lungs instead of being cried out.  He was in great shape except for that.  They kept him in that unit for the better part of his stay at the hospital as they just wanted to be extra cautious and monitoring his breathing, heart rate, etc...  He was in great shape, and I appreciate the hospital being on the cautious side. 

So, here they are.....a bunch of Owen pics:

Cutting the umbilical cord

One of the 1st pics of Owen in the special infant unit

Little Closer Pic

Mom holding Owen for the 1st time

No More Tears

Owen is one tough little guy.

For about the 1st 48 hours of his life, he never cried.  Never.

I asked the doctor if it was something we should be worried about, and he told me that he isn't worried about it.  He said sometimes you'll see a baby have the face like he is crying but nothing comes out....in those cases they investigate to see if the baby has vocal paralysis.  Owen never made a face like he was crying.

The doctor told me that he gave him a shot in the heel, and instead of crying Owen just opened up his eyes and looked at the doctor straight in his eyes as if to say, "What in the world are you doing?". 

Here are things he went through without crying:
-Birth
-Shots
-IV in his hand (which he accidentally pulled out.....which led to.....)
-IV in his foot
-Circumcision (yes, no tears during even that ordeal)

This is what finally got him to cry:
-Bath

We have one of the calmest babies that the hospital has ever seen.  We are truly blessed, excited about this adventure.

Contractions

It all started on Monday (July 9th). 

Emily texted me while I was working that she was experiencing contractions.  She said that they didn't hurt but that she was definitely getting contractions and she started timing them.  2 hours later, she called me to tell me that they were 5 minutes apart or sooner.  She called the hospital and they told her to come into the clinic to get looked at by the on-call doctor and we would either go to the hospital or back home depending on what they found. 

They hooked her up and she was having contractions, but they weren't the type of contractions that started labor, I guess.  (They were very small, and didn't hurt Emily at all.  She thought that if these were the contractions she heard so much about that she was pretty tough.)

Fast forward to 2:00am Saturday (the 14th) morning.  She woke me up saying that she is definitely gettitng the real contractions now and that they were hurting.  By the time, Em & I got to the hospital her contractions were bad enough for her to drop to her hands & knees to deal with the pain. 

(Side bar to the story that you need to know to appreciate the story later on -- Earlier in the week Em told me that she didn't want me cracking jokes while she was in labor because she read in a book that I needed to be serious at that time. I told her that it was my job to distract her from the pain, and if she was annoyed with me....then I'm doing my job.)

As we roamed the halls of the birthing clinic, I was helping her with breathing exercises.  Instead of just breathing, I would have her breathe in patterns.  I would hold up 1 finger, and she would know to inhale deeply and then exhale like, "Heeeee" "Whooooo".  Then I would hold up 2 fingers, and she would inhale, and then exhale "Heeee, Heeee" "Whooo, Whoooo".  We did this up to 5 and back down depending on how long the contraction lasted.  She told me that that was really helping her and thanked me for helping her take her mind off the pain.

Until, one fateful time that during a contraction, I plainly suggested that we try what we had been trying each time up to that point.  (The conversation went something like this:)

Em - OOOOhhhhhhh!!!!!  I'm having another contraction!!!   OOOOOHHHHHHH!  (Moaning loudly in pain)

Me - Ok.  Let's start with a 1 (holding 1 finger up). 

I start to inhale to do it with her and do the "Heeee"  Whooooo" by myself.  Ignoring the fact that I just did it by myself, I keep going and say, now let's do a 2.

Em - "I'M NOT DOING THAT ANYMORE"  "AND YOU BEING ANNOYING IS NOT HELPING ME TAKE MY MIND OFF THE PAIN!!!!!"

Needless to say, I was pretty tight lipped after that.  I couldn't even tell her that I wasn't actually trying to be annoying, I was simply doing what ACTUALLY WORKED earlier and what she had THANKED me for doing previously. 

Tonight, we ordered a couple pizzas and her mother, Em, and I were eating it and talking about the experience.  I was teasing Em about yelling at me during her contractions and she wanted me to tell the story because she didn't remember it.  I told it.  She said, "I vaguely remember that." 

Don't mess with a pregnant woman in labor.  All in all, it went very smoothly.  I have no comlaints, and Em was an absolute trooper.