Labor Day

So, what was it like? I'll try to dig deep in my memory bank and read my shorthand notes to relay what November 21, 2005 was like for me.

First, let me say that I had been dreading it since day one. I asked Leah several months ago if she was worried about the labor process. At the time, I think her response was something like, "Well, not really." But I was entirely different. I've always thought that labor would be a long, difficult, gut-wrenching, emotionally draining experience that would FINALLY end with the birth of your child. But getting there would be hell. Literally. Maybe it would surprise me and I'd come out saying something like, "Truth be told, it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be." As if. Leah's nerves were kicking in good on Sunday, and I think by Monday they had matched mine.

Leah got ZERO sleep Sunday night. Call it nerves, call it excitement, call it worry....call it everything in the book. But she never got to sleep. Strike one. We, I mean, I, was up at 3AM I think, trying to make absolutely sure that all bases were covered. We had instructions from the doctor's office to be there at 5 for induction to begin at 6. At 4:30 or so, we packed up and headed for the longest, but best, day of our life.

We approached the check-in point at about 4:45. The response we got was, "Well......uhh........you're kinda early. Your induction is scheduled for 6:00." We were like, "Yeah, but we were told to be here at 5." As it turns out, whatever dipstick filled out the form letter at the doctor's office shouldn't have put 5:00 on there, and Dr. Bannister took the letter and made sure that it wouldn't happen again to unsuspecting patients. We were told to have a seat in the waiting area, but luckily, there was staff coming on at 5:00 that could get things going. Otherwise, we would've been staring at the waiting room TV for an hour or driving the I-240 loop working off nervous energy. Below is a very loose log of the day's events. After about 4:00PM, it was all pain and suffering, on both Leah's part and mine. Without question, it was the hardest thing I'd ever have to endure. Maybe the next time around will be easier, because I don't think it can get much harder. Obviously the end result was glorious, but that day was the manifestation of all that I had dreaded since April 1, 2005.

5:30AM - IV started, Leah gets her wristbands put on. One for latex allergy, one for blood bank, one for patient ID, and one that matches a set for baby and dad.
6:00 - Pitocin added to IV. This kicks off the contractions, and the dosage is increased as the day goes on.
7:15 - Dr. Bannister comes in (What?!?! A doctor doing rounds at 7 AM? Who'd a thunk it?) and breaks the water. Leah's measurements are 3 cm/70%.
7:45 - Anesthesiologist comes in and asks anesthesia-type questions. This is in case Leah decides to have an epidural.
10:30 - Pitocin still going pretty good, Leah is handling contractions quite well, in my opinion. Measurements are 4.5-5 cm/70%
11:00 - Pain medication, which initially did some good, no longer seems to be doing squat. Leah says that she wants an epidural. "Are you sure?" Yep. At this point, I was sorry that she was hurting, but figured that this would fix things--That Leah would endure the pressure and discomfort, but that she'd be virtually pain-free until Nicholas's arrival. At least, that's how the "Legend of the Epidural" folklore usually goes. Our childbirth class instructor said something that made a ton of sense--"Pain is inevitable, but misery shouldn't be." I just knew that misery was off the table now. As it turned out, that was only a dream.
11:30 - The epidural lady comes in (the one that asked all the questions before), this time with this guy in tow. "Hi....this is so-an-so, and he's gonna be working with me today." It might as well been a dangling neon sign above his head, but his name tag had the word "Student" or "Trainee" on it. I'm thinking, "Great....The person to administer this, that has the potential side effects as severe, medically treated headache or paralysis, is a rookie. Just what I need. " Everything was OK, though....and Leah was a champ. Her blood pressure spiked a little, but it wasn't anything of major concern at that point.
12:45 - 5-6 cm and 90%.
1:55 - 6 cm and 100%. We're 4 cm away from pushing.
2:05 - Leah still having some pain, more than just the "You should just feel pressure." 8 cm.
2:15 - After having been nauseated, Leah gets sick. But keep in mind what is in her system at this point - ZILCH. So essentially, it's dry heaving and maybe spitting up some of this nasty liquid antacid that they give you periodically (to keep you from getting sick?!). Of course, I'm sure that it wasn't feeling too good on her abdominal muscles.
2:20 - 8 cm. Still having some pain.......Very uncomfortable, and hurting significantly.
2:45 - Leah gets an oxygen mask to make sure that she and Nicholas are getting enough. It's also noted that when Leah has a contraction, Nicholas's heart rate drops 20-30 bpm. Not sure what that's about. Leah gets a 2nd small IV dose of epidural drugs for her pain.
3:30 - 10 cm. We're home free--At least, that's what I thought. I'm thinking that the sight of my child is only a few minutes, or maybe an hour or so, away. I go tell the assembled family that she's about to start pushing. Dr. Bannister is called, and she informs nursing staff to give her 15 minute's notice (i.e., when the time comes) so that she can get there and catch Nicholas.
4:00 - Pushing seems to be doing little good, and I'm starting to wonder how long this is gonna last. The sit Leah up in bed, and tell her that maybe gravity would do some good. Little did we know that gravity had apparently taken a personal holiday, or was overbooked at a skydiving exhibition.
4:15 - Leah gets sick again. See also 2:15pm.
4:30 - I decide to go let the family know that it might be awhile. While I'm walking down the hall, I know that the second they see my face, they'll assume that the news they've been waiting for is here. But I have to pop their proverbial balloon, and convey to them what a tough time that Leah, and I, are having. I tried to be the strong one and hold it together, but my pain for Leah starts to leak out through my eyes. I just don't want her to give up.
5:00 - Still pushing, same results. Nothing. During and after some of the pushing episodes, Leah says, "I can't do this anymore....I can't.....I just can't do this." My heart is breaking into a million pieces. Guys are supposed to fix stuff. I wish that I could take away a small part of her pain. She's tired, in pain, and ready for it to be over. That, coupled with the lack of progress, have me thinking C-section. Anything. I'm ready to see our son, but it seems like we've got to go to hell and back to do it.
5:10 - They call Dr. Bannister. She's in the middle of a delivery at Methodist Germantown, and will be here after that. My first thought--She has to navigate one of the busiest corridors in the city in 5:00 traffic. I really don't know what the end result will be, but I'm hanging to the hope that her arrival will bring some concrete assessment to the situation. Just fix it, Dr. B....Make my wife stop hurting.
6:00 - Dr. Bannister arrives and says that she feels that pushing would no longer be beneficial to Leah or Nicholas. In short, it's apparently not working and thus other measures are probably needed. It's either forceps or c-section.
6:05 - the forceps go on rather easily. At next contraction, Dr. B will help Nicholas along.
6:10 - I see most of Nicholas's hair-filled head. Dr. Bannister also unwraps his cord from around Nicholas's neck. In this overwhelming rush of emotion, I try to as quickly and emphatically as possible tell Leah that it's almost over. "We're there, honey....We're there!! I can see him! We're almost done!".
6:14 - Nicholas arrives. In a tear-filled voice that I literally couldn't control, I tell Leah that I can see him, he's beautiful, and that she did awesome. She really, really did.

In short--without question, the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I still don't know if the epidural was wearing off, or Leah's pain was off the charts, or the dosage wasn't enough, or what. But all I know is that seeing her in that much pain, without anything to do or say except for the rehearsed, broken-record, "You can do it!" was the most helpless feeling in the world. She says that it was absolutely worth it, and she'd do it again. Me, well, I'm just hoping for a smoother ride next time. Maybe the maternal bond between child and mother is a reward for enduring 9 months and several hours of pain, discomfort, inconvenience, etc. I don't know if it was very effective, but I tried my absolute best to be optimistic and encourage Leah every step of the way that day. At times, I felt like it was monotonous. But one thing's for sure--I couldn't be more proud, not only of our beautiful child, but of how his mother did.

Picture Pages

Supposedly my family is not of Japanese heritage, but from the looks of things last week (what with all the incessant flashbulbs and such), I'm starting to wonder. But in the age of digital photography, there are plenty of pics available online. You can see them by CLICKING HERE. I've got a ton more on 35 mm prints......anybody remember those things??

My, How Time Flies

It has been seven whole days since our baby son came into this world (actually, seven days, 22 hours, and 6 minutes, but who's counting?!). I was reminded today.......no, let me rephrase--I was harassed today--by a good friend, Leah's co-worker, and co-member of the "New Parent" club (That's you, Stacy!) for not updating since we got home. Geez! This readership is a tough crowd! : ) It's just that we got home Wednesday, and Thursday was Thanksgiving, and this weekend, well, we........forget it. Here I am, in front of the keyboard, and I'm trying to make up for lost time. Pardon me while I go stare at my offspring and ponder what I'd give to know what he's thinking.

First things first--sleep. Everyone ALWAYS wants to know about sleep. I guess I'm as guilty as any--I've asked many a person with a new baby something corny like, "So, how's it feel to not have any sleep?" as if I was the first person to ask them that. But we're doing alright in that area. Leah has been somewhat unsuccessful breastfeeding, but has managed to pump some, so the end result has been that Nicholas eats with a bottle, all of the time. Which means that Mom and Dad can tag-team the middle-o'-the-night feedings and make deals at bedtime. That's not to say that we haven't been a bit tired on occasion during the day, but I think our system is working from a standpoint of both of us seem to be as rested as possible with a days old baby in the house.

Wednesday was a bit surreal for me. I don't know about Leah, but it was like I knew we were going through the motions of bringing our son home, yet not really sure that I would fully grasp the moment until days or weeks or months down the road. I immediately noticed a difference in my driving philosophy, even before turning out of the hospital parking lot. Alone, I probably would've turned out in front of a vehicle that had plenty of space in front of it to do so. But with my precious cargo, I made absolutely sure there was plenty of room--and then some.

Thursday was, of course, Turkey Day. My mom had offered to cook a Thanksgiving-themed meal and bring it to our house so that we wouldn't miss out on traditional stuff. Hospital staff even commented throughout our stay, "I hope you got somebody bringing your Thanksgiving." No offense taken, but it was as if nobody thought for even a minute that we'd feel like getting out. Leah, however, decided that she was up to it and wanted to make an appearance, albeit short ones, at a couple of family gatherings--especially ones attended by people who had not yet seen Nicholas. I emphatically insisted that Leah should say, "I'm ready to go" when that time arose, and not to worry about hurting people's feelings. Her health, and that of Nicholas, were the only thing to even think about, and if somebody dared to question why we left after only being there for X minutes or something, then they just didn't have a clue. In the end, I don't think anybody really went down that road, and most were glad (and maybe a bit surprised) that we even stopped by. I'm glad that we did what we did, but we were glad to get home that day, too.

Leah and I have commented to each other that sometimes it still doesn't seem real. As silly as that sounds, I guess sooner or later the reality will set in. It's not that we're in denial or anything, but the very concept of caring for this tiny little needy infant is such a new and radical concept, it's hard to wrap your mind around. I promise I'm not trying to get all deep and transcendental or anything--it's just that I still don't think of myself as someone's Daddy; I'm sure that checkbox for "Dependent" on next year's tax return will help me concrete it in my mind. : )

Welcome to My World

After a day that ran the gamut between exhausting and painful to elation and excitement, I'm proud to announce that our son is here. In a very pithy manner, Leah said, "It was all worth it." More pictures to come soon, but here's a few to get you by

Nicholas Clayton Russell

Born 11/21/05

7 lbs, 14 oz; 20 in long

Showtime

Well, today is the day. The day that we've been waiting for since April 1st is finally here. The time stamp below is absolutely correct--it's 3:00AM and we are making preparations to head to the hospital. Last night, we checked the suitcases one last time, made sure the digital camera had fresh batteries (they suck the life right out of them, you know), and even bought some diapers at half price thanks to the Drug/GM department head at my Kroger.

Due to the excitement, nerves, and the like, Leah never was able to fall asleep. She took a Tylenol PM for a headache, and it did its job in the pain relief department, but little else. She's got a long day ahead of her, and I hope that the rest she's had will get her through the day. Following the instructions of the doctor's office for her induction, she hasn't had anything since midnight, and right now is really thirsty (but can't have anything--even water). Hopefully she can have ice chips when we get settled. I've had about 3 1/2 - 4 hours of sleep, but it really wasn't that sound. I guess somehow I might've been paranoid of oversleeping and yes, probably a bit excited, too.

If the labor and delivery rooms had high speed access, I'd gladly plug into the wall and practically offer a live blog of the process as our day progressed (except for maybe the "push push push....ohmygosh, I see his hair!" part). But on dial-up, by the time I got done with one entry and pressed "Save", it'd probably be time for another one. And by the time I got a digital picture or two uploaded and linked, Nicholas would be celebrating his 1st birthday. So I'm gonna try to take some notes and hit the highlights and get them on here as soon as possible. Maybe live webcam and iPod podcast of the delivery will be available for the next baby (assuming Leah wants to do this again).

On a serious note, keep us in your thoughts and prayers today--we're just not sure what today holds, and right now we're about 51% excited and 49% nervous. But we can hardly wait to see (and hold!) Nicholas, and that's what we'll keep in mind all day. Happy Birthday, Nicholas--Mommy and Daddy can't wait to meet you.

Thursday Update

First of all, here's the update from Thursday: No change.

We really weren't sure what to expect from today's visit. This week had been kinda crazy, with a trip to the hospital, various updates from different folks (2 nurses at hospital, nurse practitioner at the office) ranging from 3 cm/50% effaced to 4 cm/70-80% effaced. I think Leah halfway expected (read: hoped) Dr. Bannister to say something like, "Good gosh, girl, you're so close, you might as well head on over the hospital right now. I hope you have your stuff with you because I'll see you in a couple of hours when I'm there to catch your son." Uhh.....no. Thanks for playing. We have a lovely parting gift for you.

The thing that's amazed me throughout all this is the subjectivity of the measurements. I know that there's not a magic baby "How much am I dialated?" tool, but how could on person say 3 and another say 4? I guess the difference in 3 cm and 4 cm is not that great (no matter what you're measuring), so I should cut them some slack. But hey, aren't they making gobs and gobs of money for spending like 12 years in school? After Dr. B checked Leah and stated that she was 3 cm and 50%, we inquired about the difference in the measurements of the nurse practitioner in that very office (4 cm, 70-80%) on Monday. Her explanation? "Oh, our practitioner doesn't know how to call a cervix." Oh....well alrighty then. We'll be sure to keep that in mind.

With her balloon somewhat deflated, we left the office, with the realization that Nicholas had 3 more days to come on his own, or we would force him out of his warm amniotic bath on Monday.

"False Alarm"

Those two words have been uttered a lot today, by both me as well as folks inquiring as to our incidents yesterday. "So you had a false alarm yesterday?" and I knew they weren't inquiring about the status of my home security system.

First of all, the instructors of one of our classes suggested to everybody that we ask our doctor what the "trigger" was to head to the hospital. In other words, you wanna find the happy medium between being comfortable in your home and familiar surroundings (as opposed to laying on a hospital bed, waiting for things to progress) and having the baby's head crown on the seat of my Chevy TrailBlazer. The very next appointment, we posed the question to Dr. Bannister and her parameters were as follows: When the contractions are between 5-10 minutes apart, for at least an hour, head to the hospital.

Fast forward to early yesterday morning. As it turns out, Leah had never gotten a chance to fall asleep Sunday night, and woke me up around 1 AM. She said that the contractions were starting low, and then wrapping around--after which she had this urge to push. Well, that sounds pretty accurate. So about 2:00AM, I enter the fatherly stopwatch-toting, data-collection mode. 2:33, then 2:39. Then another at 2:46, then one at 2:51. One at 2:57.........etc etc. Spot a pattern??

After a little more than an hour of this, we figured that Nicholas had decided that yesterday was his day. We were checked in around 4 AM, and waited for the assessment. All along, I think we were confident in our instruction, and figured that there was no way that we'd be going home without our son in tow--After all, hadn't we precisely followed the instructions? I just knew we'd be upgraded from triage to a real Labor/Delivery room and I'd get the cell phone fired up.

As if. After 30 minutes on the fetal heart monitor, the doc on call said to watch it for another hour. After that increment, a new doc on call instructed the nurse to pop our baby bubble for the day and send us home. The nurse said early on that she could've seen an argument for each scenario--there were circumstances around that might support staying, yet an equal number of arguments for sending us home. And it was the latter. Part of the discharge orders from Dr. "no go" including us going to see Dr. Bannister for her to assess the situation. After a quick shower and change of clothes, it was off to the office to be there when it opened at 8:30. At that point, it had already been a long morning, and we were both very tired.

The end result of all this was as follows: Yes, they were contractions, but weren't the "real deal." As in, they weren't the bent-over-in-pain, oh-my-gosh-that-hurts contractions that WILL indicate childbirth is upon us. The frustrating part was that nobody said "Well, look out for those annoying, non-significant contractions that will mislead you." Leah's blood pressure was slightly elevated, so the doctor took her off of work this week to keep her from developing any problems. Rest is a good thing, at this point. The two subjective "How close are you?" indicators, dialation and effacement, are at 4 cm and 70-80%, respectively. So even if we have to wait til Monday (when Leah will be induced), hopefully things will go smoothly and quickly.

Leah's still having the little contractions, so maybe the uterus is doing warmup laps before starting the race. Leah did get caught up on sleep, and this week should be full of anticipation and excitement. On so many levels, we're ready for Nicholas's arrival, and yesterday was a very bad tease.

Banner Blues

You know how you get those ideas in your head which seem really simple, yet when you embark on the trip to accomplish your task, it turns out to be a really, really big deal?

We've got one of those banner flag poles on our porch....it extends horizontally from a square column. We've got an American flag, a Grizzlies one, a holiday one, a golf-themed one, etc. We thought it would be simple to find one that announces a baby's arrival.....Maybe a very basic "It's a Boy!" type. Obviously it's not one that we'd fly every year, but isn't this event about being giddy and celebrating the occasion? Heck, I've seen wedding ones, and that would fall into the same category. To me, anyhow, it seemed like it wouldn't be that hard to find. As if.

As it stands now, we've been to the following places, all without success: Target, Lowe's, American Flag and Flagpole, Party City, PartyLand, Old Time Pottery, and Garden Ridge. Strike 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Lowe's had SOME selection, but all were holiday oriented except one "Welcome" one. Garden Ridge said that they usually have a section, but Christmas stuff had displaced it. Well excuse me for having a kid in November. The flag place actually had a "It's a Girl" one, and when I inquired about placing an order, the response I got was, "Well, we haven't ordered Christmas stuff from them yet, so check back in 3-4 weeks." Sorry lady, I ain't got that kind of time. Even an eBay and internet search doesn't really turn anything up.

So, anybody wanna buy into my new business venture? What do you think? Babybanners.biz seems to be available . . . Now all I need to do is find a supplier--one that obviously doesn't sell to Target, Party City, Old Time Pottery, etc. Anybody? I'll give you a portion if you catch the vision with me . . . I think this will be good, because it's obviously an untapped market.

Booze It and Lose It

You know, we went to the Breastfeeding class at Baptist Hospital for Women, but I don't think they ever really covered this topic: Getting sloshed at a bowling alley, then coming home to pass out while breast feeding (and subsequently killing your child) is a very bad thing to do.

Stuff like this never ceases to amaze me. Heck, this woman was already on probation for child neglect, and then goes to the bowling alley and gets smashed. With a 4-month old at home. Bad example aside, this woman really needs to be smacked around by her parents, her 4-year old, the law, and everybody else who wants to stand in line. I'm sure we'll hear all about how she's the one that has to live with the grief and all that, but come on . . .

This is the essence of stupidity. Somehow, morons like this need to be sewed up and prevented from ever bearing children again. Obviously there will never be a way to control someone's ability to have children in a free society, but cases like certainly make one wish there was.

Our Time is Short

I've heard via the grapevine that a few readers check here on doctor appointment days to get an update, and I suppose that sometimes I inadvertently let them down by not providing it. So let me not disappoint today.

As is our preference, we had the first appointment of the day--8:30. As a matter of fact, we usually get there a few minutes early and the waiting room doors are locked. This morning, we were actually there with a 20-something girl with whom we struck up a conversation about pending parenthood, etc. Then they signed in, and Leah commented to her that they had the same first name, and they shared, "Me too!" moments about frequent mispronunciations. The other Leah then mentioned that she worked at a bank as a teller. Leah R. said, "Really--which one? I work at a bank too." BancorpSouth. Turns out that this girl has relocated from Hernando or something and has just started working at their East Memphis branch. Kinda cool that Leah met a co-worker that she didn't know previously. Which could really apply to either one of them, I guess.

Anyway, on to the update. Leah was called back an in her exam room probably by 8:40 or 8:45. Dr. Bannister was actually pretty quick to arrive this morning, and then she listened for the heartbeat that is now much stronger than when we listened to it 25 weeks ago for the very first time. Leah is dialated 2-3 cm, and noticeably more so than last week. So no significant change, but Dr. B did note a distinct difference. If I was medically trained to do so, or wanted to be really graphic, I suppose I would somehow explain all this, but I choose not to. Mainly because I just take the doc's word and be done with it. She is also 50% effaced, so the cervix is halfway as thin as it needs to be for delivery.

We've done some walking this week....the mall, Target (2 of them), the Tunica outlet, and Kohl's. Even if that doesn't push Nicholas "over the edge" (or through the canal), hopefully it will make things a bit easier when the 21st arrives.

Discoveries

Leah and I have made some very enlightening discoveries over the last several days.

For one, we discovered that Gap Kids/Baby Gap is nowhere near the regular Gap store in Wolfchase Galleria. Oddly enough, I don't think we've ever been to the diminutive version, so we just ascended the escalator and ventured toward the Gap so that we could check out the preppy clothes for infants. Uh, guess what--it ain't there. "Honey, I guess we should go find a map.....Well, lookee there, it's downstairs, at the opposite end. How about that?" We did find some neato stuff there, and ended up getting little dude some jeans as well as a little red turtleneck that is simply adorable. You know what would be goofy? If baby pants were sized the same way that ours are. You know, Waist-Inseam. I wear 36-30, and my son would wear, let's see, something like 10-6, right? Just doesn't sound the same as 0-3 months.

We also learned that OshKosh is plain ole ignorant when it comes to baby pants. We ventured down to Tunica on Sunday afternoon to visit the outlets. Wanting to pick up something like little cargo pants or khaki-style pants, we went in OshKosh. 99% of baby pants/outfits that we've seen (especially for early ages like 0-3 months, 3-6 months, etc) snap down the inseam and crotch. This is for obvious diaper-access reasons, and probably makes dressing a clueless infant that much easier. It seems those folks at OshKosh believe in the "They put their pants on the same way I put on mine" theory, and we've heard from many a folk to stay away from any outfit that causes undue time, stress, and potential mess. So....we exited the store without buying a thing.

Leah learned on Saturday morning that either she, or Nicholas, doesn't like chicken fajitas! Ironically, she had been wanting them, so we hung out with Kristi, Joe, and Micah on Friday night and did the Mexican thing. All was well until Saturday morning, when the fajitas make a triumphant return. As a whole, Leah has experienced very little sickness of any sort, so episodes like that are kind of a surprise. But as soon as she gets it out of her system, she seems to be fine and goes on about her merry little way.

Leah has also received her instructions for the induction, should we get to that (i.e., if Nicholas doesn't arrive before then). We have to be at the hospital bright and early at 5:00AM, so we've already discussed if it's even worth it to go to sleep the night before. But she has certain things that have to be done, other things that can't be consumed, items that can't be taken to the hospital, blah blah blah. But it definitely makes the whole thing seem like it's right around the corner. No longer is it an indefinite point in the future, but a circled day on the calendar. 13 days from this very moment, we should be a family of three. Wow. I don't think the fear, nervousness, and intimidation have kicked in high gear just yet (for either of us), but it's coming. But we both know that there is an awesome staff waiting to take care of us (one of whom, hopefully, we know quite well), and things will be just fine.

Popular Opinion

OK, I need some input here. I am just kinda curious as to what everyone's opinion might be on the following subject.

Back in September, during our final session of the 4-week Preparation for Childbirth class, our instructor had us each write a note to our child. Leah wrote hers and sealed it in an envelope. I did the same. Neither one of us saw what the other one wrote. But I can assure you that they were both very, very heartfelt.

So now we have two sealed messages, and really haven't come to a conclusion on when to open them. Should we save them until Nicholas can appreciate them? Each of us is dying to know what the other wrote, yet we don't want to use "Well, the curiosity got the best of us" as our only excuse. What do you think? Should we open them at the hospital, with a room full of family and friends, and read them to our sleeping angel? Or maybe wait until the 3 of us are wrapped in silence and calm at the house, and experience it that way? I'm just thinking out loud, here. There was a ton of emotion that went onto the paper that night--I'm just not sure how long we wanna keep it bottled up. Heck, I could even post them here after the seal is broken--would it be uncomfortable to peer through such a private emotional window?

Interested in hearing your thoughts and opinions!!!

This Day in History

So, let's assume for a second that Nicholas arrives on November 21, 2005. Let's let our minds wander, shall we, as to what this will mean for him. Not that it'll make him any different of a person, but I'm sure sooner or later, he'll think to himself, "Cool!" or "Dang, I was born on a boring day!"

Stuff about November 21st

* Nicholas will share a birthday with Stan Musial, Earl The Pearl Monroe, Goldie Hawn, Nicollette Sheridan, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Troy "ouch, my head hurts" Aikman

*President Truman becomes first president to travel in a submerged sub (1946)

* First flight of the Concorde (1977)

* Who Shot J.R.? episode gets a 53.3 rating (1980)

* Zodiac sign: Scorpio

Anyhow......As you were. Just some random thoughts to chew on.

T-minus 16 Days and Counting . . . All Systems Go

Thursday's doctor's appointment was full of information, and Leah left the office with probably a big ole dose of reality. Our life is really getting ready to change, and now we have a concrete date to circle on the calendar. Life as we know it is now, at most, 16 days away from turning upside down.

This appointment was the one where Leah is tested for the Group B strep bacteria. Although it sounds serious, it really isn't--it is almost always harmless in adults, but can be passed to the baby while passing through the birth canal (group A bacteria is the one that causes strep throat, and is different from group B). Apparently a majority (90% or so) of women test positive, so it really isn't a big deal. All a positive result means is that during labor, anitbiotics will be given through the IV. At that point, Nicholas's risk of infection will go from something like 1 in 200 (long shot) to 1 in 4,000 (really long shot).

Dr. Bannister also verified that Leah is indeed 2 cm dialated. I think she was a little surprised, since her appointment 14 days prior indicated absolutely no change in the cervix whatsoever. Of course, that doesn't mean anything at all--she should stay at 2 cm for another 2-3 weeks, or things could change tomorrow or the next day.

There was also an ultrasound done to check for size and approximate weight. The result: 6 lbs, 8 oz. The disclaimer that goes with this measurement is that it can be off by 1 lb either way, but Dr. B. thinks that it's pretty close to being accurate. Because of his current size, the ultrasound didn't really allow much to be seen, other than the spine, beating heart, and some distinct bones. In other words, no peek at his little face or anything like that. Currently he is in the perfect position--face down--so let's hope he stays that way to make his arrival as easy as possible (can I use the word easy in referring to any part of labor? I hope so).

Finally, a date has been established to escort his little arrival, in the event that he doesn't do so independently. As is very common, an induction has been scheduled. I guess the "old school" folks would disagree, saying that we should let nature do its thing unless medically necessary. But as long as the lung development and such is complete, it's simply a thing of "Do it now, when we've planned it and everything is controlled" versus "It's 3 a.m.--call my doctor and wake her out of a stage 2 sleep and hope that she doesn't get caught by the world's longest train on the way to the hospital." Bottom line--3 or 5 or 7 days more in the womb isn't going to affect Nicholas one bit, but if allowed to go too long, he could gain too much weight and complicate the delivery. Based on the 6 lb, 8 oz estimate, this would mean that Nicholas will weigh approximately 7 3/4 lbs when he arrives--a nice weight, in our opinion. Plus, with the scheduled aspect of it, out of towners like Dad and Mary can plan on leaving Louisville and be here with everyone else. Of course, if Leah's water breaks at 3 AM next Wednesday, then all this preparation stuff is now relegated to the role of being out the proverbial window.