Update on departure day

Wow, what a day. Little Fritz has been an eating machine -- he had a few marathon nursing sessions lasting an hour each and we think he's trying to get Ilsa's milk to come in fully (which we think is starting to happen). He also slept a bunch last night and let us sleep -- and the nursery watched him for ~3 hours while he napped after one of the hour-long nursing sessions. We talked to Suzanne (Ilsa's primary care midwife during pregnancy) and she let us know that lil Fritz is a record holder -- having his cord wrapped 3 times around the neck is very rare and they don't even keep stats on it. It doesn't always come out so well, either. They also said that they checked his "cord gasses" and that he was never at risk of losing oxygen during the birth process, which is fantastic news. She also said & reiterated how awesome Ilsa was for getting him pushed out so fast -- with his heart-rate decelerations, he was a bit at risk yet just over their limit so the labor could continue. The alternative was to use the vacuum-delivery method, which has increased risks for both he & her. So -- yay! So great to talk to her; she really listened to us and our suggestions for how they could have improved our experience. He's only lost about 5% of his weight -- and they are comfortable letting him head home with us today.

Day 2

Fritz is sound asleep after some marathon sessions of breast feeding and thumb feeding; he didn't sleep much between 330 and now. He's eating like a champ, and has been awesome. Ilsa is out on a morning walk.

Five expressions of a newborn

Siblings

Josie, Leesee, and Duda came by to visit today just after lunch. They brought us some much needed food and Josie got to meet her baby brother! She was very cute with him, and was very curious about breastfeeding. ;) I think they look a little bit alike at this stage -- in the pics below, Josie is on the left, Fritz on the right.

Frederick Arthur Andre

Frederick (Fritz) Arthur Andre was born at 4:58 am at a strapping 7 lbs 13 ounces. Ilsa started labor at about 1130 pm and we left for the hospital at about 1230 after the contractions were about 3.5 minutes apart. When we arrived around 1, they were a little understaffed (a C-section was being done at the time) yet they got us into an triage exam room quickly. They did an exam around 1:20 and found Ilsa only at 3 cm; they were thinking that we might get sent home. They said we'd stay in the exam room for an hour. Ilsa labored and had contractions every 2-3 minutes during that time. Her water broke around 2:20. They did another exam and found Ilsa at 8cm! (5cm in an hour -- no wonder those hurt), and she had contractions for a while there, probably for another 40 minutes or so. They guided her about how to better do the contractions, and my role became clear -- to provide an object for her focus on during them. The contractions would start, her face would tighten up, her eyes would bulge, and she would breathe through them. They were not terribly happy with the baby's heart rate during some of this; they tried a few different positions. Around 3 or just after, they quickly admitted her and we went back to the delivery room. The contractions were coming quickly, and things seem to happen quite fast after that. They tried a few different positions to help the baby keep his heart rate above 100; on her back was the best for most of it. Ilsa transitioned to pushing around 330am. Ilsa did some work on the birthing stool, where she could sit -- these pushes seemed more effective, but the baby didn't tolerate them as well. At one point, we were pretty close to being rushed back to the OR for a vacuum delivery -- at this point they could see the baby's head and the electrode (they had switched to a clip-on/screw-on electrode (just like Jo had), but the baby tolerated the contractions and pushing better and so we kept going. They noticed that the baby had pooped; there was meconium in the discharge/water, so after birth they were going to have a team to whisk the baby away and clean him off and try to get all the meconium off so he wouldn't inhale it. Ilsa was a champ; she took all the coaching ("don't yell -- use all your energy to push") really well and she quite literally delivered. At one point she was disheartened and I told to remember that she had run 8 miles, and if she could do that, she could certainly do this. After that, she rallied and pushed even harder. At 440am we could see a large circle of dark hair; a few more pushes and the baby was ready. The delivering team wasn't --- the pediatricians (who were going to do the whisking & cleaning) hadn't quite arrived yet, and they asked Ilsa to slow down. That wasn't really possible, and at 4:58 out popped the baby. Ilsa saw his eyes open right after he was out -- I was focused on the fact that his umbilical cord was wrapped 3 times around his neck! They got him untangled, told us it was a him, and brought him over to the cleaning table. Once there, we heard some suctioning and then a healthy cry. Frederick Arthur had arrived. I am so very impressed with Ilsa; she took nearly no pain killers -- just one dose of Fentanyl (and barely that) and some lidocaine for the last pushing (as she was tearing a bit). She was amazing through this; Frederick is very lucky to have such a strong and awesome mother. Afterward, I held Frederick while they sewed Ilsa back up -- it was so very nice to be in the same room the entire time instead of the separation that we went through last time where Ilsa was left alone for so long. After she was sewn, we put Fritz near the boob, and he latched right on. Some pictures from the first few minutes are below.

A picture after his exam

It's a boy!

Everyone is healthy. It happened too fast to blog. More soon.

Showtime

Am at the hospital. Contractions 3.5 minutes apart.

Another day, more prodromal labor. Ilsa's in a lot of pain & discomfort. We didn't go through this last time as we induced, so we're still figuring this out. Contractions are 8 minutes apart this afternoon, only 30 seconds long or so. Leesee & Duda are helping take of Josie, who's a little tired and a bit hyped up. We bailed on going to the beach this afternoon after an outing to Twin Peaks and Giordano Brothers. Ilsa had lots of Crystal on her sandwich.

The Doctor, signing in

Well, we're back on the blog for the birth process of the one we call the gopher. Ilsa is in a fair amount of pain and is having some frequent yet irregular contractions that seem a good step above the Braxton-Hicks contractions that were more common earlier. We're very glad that her parents have arrived and are helping with Josie care -- we really needed the help. Apparently this can go on for a while (days) although of course we're hopeful the day is nigh...

Baby Two: Electric Boogaloo

Stay tuned. Baby #2 is due on August 12, 2012 and the Doctor will no doubt be live-blogging the event as it happens, or at least until I start screaming loud enough to distract him. We are aiming to have a spontaneous VBAC so it's really up to "The Gopher" (as we have nicknamed #2) to decide when the big event will happen.

When the big day arrives we will post a link back to this blog on Facebook so that our baby-averse friends will not be inundated with talk of placentas and epidurals and mucous plugs.

Quick Update

Sorry for the lack of updates, everyone. An almost-two-month-old takes a lot of time away from blogging.

Speaking of which, Miss J had her well baby checkup this week and got a clean bill of health from her doctors. She's almost 10 lbs. now and 22 inches long, which puts her in the 50th percentile for weight and 55th for height. Good to know that the constant infusions of breastmilk are working. Her lopsided smile most likely is just a quirk of her expressions, and not an indication of anything wrong neurologically. She's all around just a healthy baby, growing healthily. Can't ask for much more than that.

She's still more interested in staring at the miniblinds and leftover Xmas lights than in "playing" (which I guess consists at this point of me showing her things like forks and squeaky toys and her ignoring me completely), but she is smiling pretty regularly now and we're down to 1 or 2 poopsplosions a day rather than 5 or 6, so progress!

We've planned a trip to visit my parents next month. J and I will stay for abut 10 days while the Doctor goes to NYC for a business meeting and then to Telluride for a long weekend of snowboarding with his buddies. I find the idea of hurtling down mountainsides with pieces of fiberglass strapped to my feet deeply, deeply disturbing so I will be enjoying some rest while my folks, sister, and brother (and respective SO's) dote on the Jellybean.

I cooked dinner twice this week so far and have more clean laundry than dirty, so so far it's a banner week at the Ilsa/Doctor home.

Drive By Posting

I used to love to fly by the seat of my pants. I ate at weird hours, slept or not when and if I felt like it, sometimes went a few days without a shower just to see how gross I could get my hair.

No more.

Now, I have a schedule, and because that schedule means I get to sleep 6 hours a night, I LOVE MY SCHEDULE.

Josie is now 5 weeks old, and she's got some established patterns that will undoubtedly change the minute I post this on the blog. She feeds every 2.5-3 hours, then is awake for 2 hours or so (her favorite awake-time activites are staring at flashing lights and chewing her own hands at the moment), then naps for 2 hours or so. At night, she has her last feed around 9, we all go to bed, then she wakes up for a boob or bottle at 12 or 1, then bck to sleep til 4, then more boob, then back to sleep til 630 or 7, more boob, then IF WE ARE LUCKY, she will doze while the Dr. gets ready for work and I sneak in a shower and a Clif bar for breakfast. Rinse and repeat for the rest of the day.

This sounds pretty doable, and it is, except for the fact that she HATES not being held. I have tried two different baby slings and she is fine in them as long as I am not the one wearing them. Being so close to the boob makes her nuts. I imagine it's like an adult trying to sleep in front of a refrigerator. She likes when the Dr. wears her, though. I am hopeful that the sling thing will improve, as the her naps allow me only enough time to do the bare minimum of housekeeping, like dishes and laundry and feeding poor Penny. Meanwhile the bathroom is getting cruddy and the vacuum is growing dusty. I won't even mention the giant dustbunnies on the floor. It's more fun to watch my kid try to lift her head and smile at me, or to dance with her to her favorite songs (right now they are REM's "Superman" and "Blitzkrieg Bop" by the Ramones, with a little "Dance Song 97" by Sleater-Kinney to mix it up) than to clean the house, anyway.

Oh, and we have all been sick the past 2 weeks, including a fever for the Dr. and a trip to the ER for Josie. Luckily she and I are getting better, but I fear the dreaded Man Cold has taken the Dr. I hope he survives!

Little Josie Fussbuckets

Josie, still adorable, is developing her father's penchant for late nights and avoiding sleep. She reminds me of me wandering around the Vegas desert long after I should have been asleep while running a game -- she's clearly exhausted, just has to do one more thing before she sleeps. ;)

Sorry about the slow updates -- I was back at work this week and we're still adjusting to our new lives. We did get a bath in:


Penny is mostly doing well through all this. She still is in a soft cast and needs lots of attention. Today, however, we got to go out for crepes with Josie, and Penny was very good at home, and was rewarded with a trip to the dog park with all of us in tow.

Out!

Josie was very good this weekend, and let Ilsa and I get out to Costco on Saturday and out to dinner at Chenery Park (local's restaurant nearby). She slept the entire time at the restaurant, which was terrific -- we had a terrific meal and the restaurant was totally cool with us being there with Josie -- they kept the table next to us clear so she could sit on the bench next to me. Now, after another meal for her, she's sacked out and letting us watch se7en.

Happy New Year!

Elf's on the boob tube.

Josie's our little elf, and she's sleeping in the boppy. (Didn't know that word until this month).

It's a new kind of new year's eve, and I like it.

It's been one heck of a year and I'm excited for the next.

Happy holidays and may you all have a blessed, happy, and productive year.

Paternal post-partum bluish tinted days

I'm feeling a bit blue these days as I go back to work and away from the familial cocoon. I do like work; and I know I'll get over this in a few days. I just really enjoyed the two weeks of family time.

I spent an hour with Josie after work today and she was alert the entire time. Even changing her diaper wasn't too hard (she often complains a ton during changes). The doctor this morning said she's going to start getting fussy around two weeks -- haven't seen that yet, which is nice. She's doing great and I dispute everyone's notions that she's not doing anything at this age -- she's learning and fascinated by everything, from the way her own arms move to the shadows and lights on the wall.

She also looked really cute today.

A book and a walk...

Yesterday, I read a book to Josie for the first time. She didn't cry until the last page! The book was Good Night, San Francisco.  

Despite Josie's new habit of only sleeping when in contact with another human (and only for at most an hour at a time) -- Ilsa found the time and energy today to take Josie & Penny on a 45 minute walk today when I was at the office in the afternoon. I am proud of my girls!

Drive by Posting

I wanted to take the couple of minutes I have with both hands free to say thank you to all of our friends and family who have given so generously, both of baby-supplies and their time. There is no way we would have survived the lead-up to and days immediately following Josie's birth without my parents, no way we could have had such a nice Xmas week without Doctor's family, and no way I would have maintained my sanity during the first hard week without the support I received via email and Facebook. Things are still a little tough, as we continue to work out Josie's sleep schedule and as I continue to heal (albeit slowly) from the surgery, but hopefully I will be able to write back and individually thank everyone in the near future for all they have done for us. Sorry this post is a little incoherent, but that's what 3 hours of sleep per night will get you.

LOTR marathon

The sunrise was gorgeous this morning when I took the parents to the airport.

We're indoctrinating Josie to the Lord of the Rings trilogy this weekend. The family left late last night and today and we're taking the day off; no responsibilities other than keeping Josie fed & clean.

Josie enjoyed the family's visit; she was cuddled & passed around to all; the first grandchild for all 5 of her grandparents.