4 Weeks Old Today!

Dear Derek,

It has been 4 weeks since your arrival into the world, on November 10, 2010. Here is how mommy remembers your birth, 4 weeks later.

It was 10:30 pm on the night of November 8th. Mommy started bleeding and got very nervous. She called the OBGYN (Dr. Splane) and he said it was probably the rupturing of her mucous membrane and to wait until the contractions were 5 minutes apart to go to the hospital, or to call him again if the bleeding got worse, or did not stop. Almost 3 hours later, mommy was still bleeding. She called the doctor again and he said to go to the hospital. Mommy and daddy were very scared that the placenta was separating from the uterine wall. We grabbed our hospital bags and jumped into the car.

We arrived at St. Francis Hospital at 1:30 in the morning, on the 9th of November and we were admitted to Labor and Deliver Room 1 within minutes. The waiting room only had one other person in it and the hospital felt eerily quiet. The nurse said that mommy would be observed overnight and that everything was okay with you. Your heart rate was perfect and mommy started having a few little (in retrospect) contractions on her own.

At 8:30 in the morning, on the 9th of November, the on call OBGYN came in to Labor and Deliver Room 1 and said they were going to go ahead and induce labor naturally, by breaking mommy's bag of waters. Mommy and Daddy both thought things would start going quickly, but they didn't. Mommy was contracting, but not regularly, or with much intensity. Sometime during the day, they started mommy on a drug called Pitocin, to help her contractions do what they needed to do. It was a slow drip at first, but when things weren't progressing well, the nurses increased the dose in the IV.

Things were starting to get pretty intense, so mommy asked for a drug called Stadol, to help take the edge off of the pain. It just made mommy really sleepy though! Mommy started having very intense contractions and was starting to worry if she could deliver you naturally, the way she had wanted. Mommy would have Daddy and Grandma Gail push as hard as they could on her back during the contractions and tell her as the contractions were getting more intense, peaking, and then coming down. It was very painful and mommy cried a lot.

After many hours of painstakingly slow progress, mommy had stalled at 8 cm dilated. Contractions were coming one right after the other and mommy finally let go of her pride and asked for an epidural. The nurses said that mommy had to be able to sit still for 5 minutes, before they would allow her to get the epidural (because a really big needle had to go in mommy's spine and if she moved she could have been paralyzed). It was very hard to sit still, but daddy helped mommy and held her really close, to comfort her. When mommy was able to sit still, the anesthesiologist finally arrived and administered the epidural. Daddy held mommy's shoulders, while the needle went in to her back. Mommy was very scared, because she didn't like needles. Once the epidural was administered, mommy was finally able to get some relief. She even fell asleep!

After a few more hours passed, the doctors came in and woke mommy up. They said that your head was too big and that you were not descending. Because of this, mommy was not dilating any more and she had been stalled at an "almost 8" for 3 hours and that one side of mommy's cervix had started to swell shut under the pressure! Mommy got very worried that you weren't doing well, but the doctors said that, for the time being, you were doing alright. They said they wanted mommy to have a C-Section (a surgery to deliver you) because delivering you the natural way was going to probably cause us both a lot of harm. Mommy was afraid you would get stuck coming out and be deprived of oxygen, or even get shoulder dystocia. So, mommy and decided that a C-Section was going to be the best option, for you to arrive safely into this world.

Mommy was terrified and she was shaking badly as she was being wheeled down the hallway for the operation. Daddy was taken off somewhere else to be prepped and mommy had to go alone. Once we were down the hallway and into the operating room, the doctors and nurses had to pick mommy up and transfer her to the operating table. They put mommy's arms out, perpendicular to her body and started putting up the blue dividing cloth. Mommy couldn't see her belly anymore, because they had blocked the view. Mommy wanted daddy to get there soon, because she was very scared. Finally mommy heard the doctor say "daddy's here" and he came in the door on mommy's left side. The doctor told daddy not to touch anything blue except for the curtain that was covering her hand. Daddy reached under and held mommy's hand. Mommy had an oxygen mask on, and she thinks it may have been because you started to not be doing so well, but she isn't very sure. Everything happened so fast in the room. Daddy looked scared too.

The next thing mommy knew, the doctor (Dr. Loveless) said "you're going to feel a lot of pressure" and mommy saw two nurses go up and over the blue curtain that was dividing us. Pressure was an understatement, but finally mommy felt some relief. Then we heard the most beautiful sound. You cried your first little cry and we saw you go whisking off to the other room. Daddy got up and followed you there for your APGAR test and first bath. Mommy started crying, because she couldn't believe you were finally here. Once you were done in the other room, you came back, all bundled up and wearing a cute little beanie. The nurse let mommy kiss you on the forehead and then you went off to the nursery.

It was 1:42 am, November 10, 2010. You were 8 lbs. and 7 oz. and 21.25 inches long. You weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. when we left the hospital and at your one week check up, you weighed 8lbs. 5 oz. You were love at first sight and we can't believe you are here and how much we love you.

Since then:

You have been learning to hold your head up.
You like to suck on your wrists.
Sometimes you smile, be we don't think it is on purpose yet.
You like to eat 2-4 oz., every 2-3 hours.
You enjoy tummy time and like to look around a lot.
You love to be held and to cuddle with anyone who will hold you.
You often startle yourself awake.
You have long nails that you tend to scratch people with.
You have pretty blue eyes, and we wonder what color they will eventually become.
You prefer to be breastfed, but sometimes you get Similac, because you like to eat!
Sometimes you gulp when you eat.
You are still in newborn diapers, but sometimes you fit in size 1.
You wear newborn clothes and occasionally fit in the 0-3 month outfits.
You have red-ish/brown hair, just like mommy!
You have daddy's cute nose and long eyelashes!
You are still getting used to the bath.
You fall asleep in the car.
You like to listen to music - mommy and daddy like that a lot!

Mommy and Daddy can't wait to experience what the future has in store for our little family!

XOXO,
Mommy and Daddy