Thinking..
Hmmm..
Still considering the situation..
Eh, send in the next pitcher (clearly he's the new Brewers manager)!Saturday, August 8, 2009
Our Chunky Monkey
As previously posted, Ben gained 1lb 4oz in 10 days. We're so happy he's chunky and thriving. Sadly, he's pretty much outgrown newborn sizes already, including this cute outfit. So I thought I'd post the pictures. Plus it cracks me up that he looks a little like an overweight major league baseball team manager ;)
Hmmm..
Still considering the situation..
Eh, send in the next pitcher (clearly he's the new Brewers manager)!
Hmmm..
Still considering the situation..
Eh, send in the next pitcher (clearly he's the new Brewers manager)!
New Brothers, Fast Friends
Jake taking a break from entertaining a "nakey" Baby Ben.
"I'll sit with you Ben, let me pull up a chair."
Oops. Dropped your pacifier? I've got you covered.
Two guys hangin' out on a playmat for tummy time.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Ben's Birthday Story
I'm in between a bedtime and a feeding session, so I thought I'd quick relate the story of Ben's birth for all interested parties.
Ryan and Jake dropped me off at the hospital at 7am on July 15th. Jake was a little surprised when I got out of the car and said "Goodbye" but he went to Aunt Diane's and was very excited to go there. Once I got up to the delivery floor, I got settled into a room and was hooked up to an IV. They started the induction agent, pitocin, soon thereafter, probably 8am or so. Ryan came back soon after they got things going. Not too much later, my doctor broke my bag of waters - much more difficult than it was with Jake but finally got it done. I was about 3cm at the time, I think it was around 9am.
So after that, I spent some time in the hot tub and watched a movie (Superbad, if you must know ;)), but nothing was happening. I caught an hour long nap, and after I woke up I started having some painful contractions. The nurse checked me after about a half hour and -bummer - I was still 3cm. So I got up and walked. Contractions got less painful and less frequent. They kept turning up the pit, but not much luck. So my nurse Judy was off at 3, and my new nurse Beth came on. By that point things were picking up a bit, getting more painful and harder to handle. Finally, around 4:30 Beth checked me and I was only 4-5 cm. That did it for me - it was apparent that this induction wasn't going to go as quickly as I'd hoped, so I opted for the epidural. And let me tell you, this anesthesiologist was AMAZING. I didn't feel A THING while he placed the epidural, and within minutes I had a ton of relief. It was a heavier block on the right than the left, but it was ok like that because I still knew when contractions were happening.
So we putzed along, until maybe 9pm. Suddenly the contractions started getting way more painful, and I was feeling some pressure. So the CRNA redosed the epidural. Ok, story time: this guy, he was really nice, but for Pete's sake, when a lady's in labor and wants drugs, GIVE HER THE DRUGS and DON'T SCREW AROUND. He comes in the room and starts chattin' it up with Ryan - mostly about Marquette. Doesn't say anything to me, as I am in obvious pain. So finally he redoses the epidural, then resumes his pleasant chat with Ryan. Each of them on one side of me. Finally, my nurse clears her throat and says "Ok, well, I have to check her now to make sure she's not delivering rignt now." Then he scurried away.
So anyway, at that point, I was 9cm. My nurse called my doctor, but also let me know that if things continued to move quickly the resident might have to do the delivery. WAIT. The resident? I came to Elmbrook so I wouldn't be staring at any of my former colleagues or superiors while they were staring at, well, you know. Thankfully, the resident was a nice person with whom I'd had minimal interaction, but we didn't need her anyway.
I pushed for maybe 20 minutes, and at 10:49PM out popped little Benjamin Joseph. I use the term "little" loosely, since he was 7lbs 12oz and 20.5 inches! He cried right away, but settled down shortly after settling in with me. And everything was hunky-dorey.
Oh wait. So at 5am when I'm sleeping with Ben in my arms, the new nurse who I haven't met comes in and says "Just wanted to let you know your son had an abnormal blood test and the pediatrician's been notified." WHAT??? Who does that? So of course I enter freak out mode. The test was the Coombs test, which indicates that the baby's red blood cells have been breaking up. Turns out Ben and I have different bloodtypes and my antibodies were going after his blood cells. Not terribly uncommon, but that's why he was so jaundiced. His bilirubin (a measure of jaundice) was 8 by the morning, and got as high as 15 in the hospital. So he was stuck there under special lamps for two extra days.
I was doing great. No tears, feeling good, until Friday morning, when I noticed my back was itchy and kinda painful. Turns out I was having a reaction to the sterilizing agent from the epidural, the stuff they slather all over your back. My ENTIRE back turned red as a lobster, then started weeping, then started peeling. It was sexy. Also very painful.
So, we came home and Ben had to sleep on a bili-bed (bed with special lights) and with a bili-blanket. He peaked at a bili of 18.2 (20 is when they admit you to the hospital around here), but has been doing great since then. We've been off the bed and blanket for almost 2 weeks now, thankfully.
Jake is an awesome big brother. Very caring and cautious about Baby Ben. He got to hold him the other day, and I don't think I've ever seen a bigger smile on that kid's face. And Ben is a sweet baby, really only crying when he's hungry. And we've been successful with breastfeeding - found out today he's a whopping 9lbs!
So that's the story. I know they'll never read this, but I want to thank the incredible nursing staff at Elmbrook - they and the lactation consultants are the reason we've been able to breastfeed. They took great care of both of us, and helped keep me sane while Ben was stuck in the hospital. We were lucky to be there!
That's all for now, can't promise when the next update will be, but hopefully soon!
Ryan and Jake dropped me off at the hospital at 7am on July 15th. Jake was a little surprised when I got out of the car and said "Goodbye" but he went to Aunt Diane's and was very excited to go there. Once I got up to the delivery floor, I got settled into a room and was hooked up to an IV. They started the induction agent, pitocin, soon thereafter, probably 8am or so. Ryan came back soon after they got things going. Not too much later, my doctor broke my bag of waters - much more difficult than it was with Jake but finally got it done. I was about 3cm at the time, I think it was around 9am.
So after that, I spent some time in the hot tub and watched a movie (Superbad, if you must know ;)), but nothing was happening. I caught an hour long nap, and after I woke up I started having some painful contractions. The nurse checked me after about a half hour and -bummer - I was still 3cm. So I got up and walked. Contractions got less painful and less frequent. They kept turning up the pit, but not much luck. So my nurse Judy was off at 3, and my new nurse Beth came on. By that point things were picking up a bit, getting more painful and harder to handle. Finally, around 4:30 Beth checked me and I was only 4-5 cm. That did it for me - it was apparent that this induction wasn't going to go as quickly as I'd hoped, so I opted for the epidural. And let me tell you, this anesthesiologist was AMAZING. I didn't feel A THING while he placed the epidural, and within minutes I had a ton of relief. It was a heavier block on the right than the left, but it was ok like that because I still knew when contractions were happening.
So we putzed along, until maybe 9pm. Suddenly the contractions started getting way more painful, and I was feeling some pressure. So the CRNA redosed the epidural. Ok, story time: this guy, he was really nice, but for Pete's sake, when a lady's in labor and wants drugs, GIVE HER THE DRUGS and DON'T SCREW AROUND. He comes in the room and starts chattin' it up with Ryan - mostly about Marquette. Doesn't say anything to me, as I am in obvious pain. So finally he redoses the epidural, then resumes his pleasant chat with Ryan. Each of them on one side of me. Finally, my nurse clears her throat and says "Ok, well, I have to check her now to make sure she's not delivering rignt now." Then he scurried away.
So anyway, at that point, I was 9cm. My nurse called my doctor, but also let me know that if things continued to move quickly the resident might have to do the delivery. WAIT. The resident? I came to Elmbrook so I wouldn't be staring at any of my former colleagues or superiors while they were staring at, well, you know. Thankfully, the resident was a nice person with whom I'd had minimal interaction, but we didn't need her anyway.
I pushed for maybe 20 minutes, and at 10:49PM out popped little Benjamin Joseph. I use the term "little" loosely, since he was 7lbs 12oz and 20.5 inches! He cried right away, but settled down shortly after settling in with me. And everything was hunky-dorey.
Oh wait. So at 5am when I'm sleeping with Ben in my arms, the new nurse who I haven't met comes in and says "Just wanted to let you know your son had an abnormal blood test and the pediatrician's been notified." WHAT??? Who does that? So of course I enter freak out mode. The test was the Coombs test, which indicates that the baby's red blood cells have been breaking up. Turns out Ben and I have different bloodtypes and my antibodies were going after his blood cells. Not terribly uncommon, but that's why he was so jaundiced. His bilirubin (a measure of jaundice) was 8 by the morning, and got as high as 15 in the hospital. So he was stuck there under special lamps for two extra days.
I was doing great. No tears, feeling good, until Friday morning, when I noticed my back was itchy and kinda painful. Turns out I was having a reaction to the sterilizing agent from the epidural, the stuff they slather all over your back. My ENTIRE back turned red as a lobster, then started weeping, then started peeling. It was sexy. Also very painful.
So, we came home and Ben had to sleep on a bili-bed (bed with special lights) and with a bili-blanket. He peaked at a bili of 18.2 (20 is when they admit you to the hospital around here), but has been doing great since then. We've been off the bed and blanket for almost 2 weeks now, thankfully.
Jake is an awesome big brother. Very caring and cautious about Baby Ben. He got to hold him the other day, and I don't think I've ever seen a bigger smile on that kid's face. And Ben is a sweet baby, really only crying when he's hungry. And we've been successful with breastfeeding - found out today he's a whopping 9lbs!
So that's the story. I know they'll never read this, but I want to thank the incredible nursing staff at Elmbrook - they and the lactation consultants are the reason we've been able to breastfeed. They took great care of both of us, and helped keep me sane while Ben was stuck in the hospital. We were lucky to be there!
That's all for now, can't promise when the next update will be, but hopefully soon!
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