In Which Children Get Hold of the Camera and the Baby

We had lots of visitors yesterday, effectively tripling the number of people M. has met.

Probably like lots of parents, I tend to think in terms of "firsts" a lot for the ... um ... first little while. As in first meal, first cry, first morning, and others, both mundane and significant: first lift of the head, first startle reaction, first real pain I've been unable to do anything about, first time hearing a laugh.

All these things happened yesterday, and M. weathers them with calm acceptance. His cries are intense, short-lived; he quickly returns to gazing and blinking.

He is learning, though, that crying gets more results than simple gasps. I predict, with all my parently insight, that this trend will continue.

Sleeping has not been a problem so far, either. He's twice as old as he was yesterday, and still sleeping soundly at night! He was up until 2 a.m. (my shift), and again for a little while at 5:30, but slept very well until 8:00 or so (!) when a procession of variously-robed strangers came to poke and prod.

He's very strong, holding up his head, grabbing the edge of the bassinet and escaping, Houdini-like, from any swaddle we care to try. Those hands like to be waving around!

So, what do you think? Are early traits a sign of things to come? And, which way? Does a calm baby mean a Terrible Two-ster? Or will he always be a little meditative?

It's easy to remember these foreshadowed traits in the other kidlets. C. has always been interested in doing things on his own: a good sleeper, teaching himself to play piano, lots of time reading. K. loves to be held and loves to tease (she would always feign sleep until you sat down, and then squeak to be picked up). B. has always been a talker, and just slightly on the adventurous side.

It's tougher to remember the things they don't do anymore, though a few stand out. C. used to whack his head on the wall. K. no longer wakes up screaming about lobsters in the middle of the night. B. used to switch random words around in sentences. These all seem to be developmental traits, though, not characteristics.

We'll just have to wait and see, I suppose!

We're checking out this morning, and expect to be home by lunch-time. More to come...

First morning

Last night wasn't too bad, actually. M. was up until 2 a.m., and we took hour-long turns staying up with him. Here at St. V., they're pretty specific about how the baby sleeps, which is a good trait for a hospital, I suppose. In particular, they don't want the baby to sleep in the bed with mom, because they don't want anybody falling out onto the floor.

M. has having none of this, though. He squawked and squeaked and rustled and rumbled until mom curled him up in the crook of an elbow. Then he fell fast asleep, and didn't wake up until 7:30 this morning. Woohoo! We got only a mild reprimand from our pediatrician for not waking the little guy up in the middle of the night to eat. We kept our response private, and everybody felt that duty had been done.

We're taking it easy today. Robin had the option of going home today sometime, but after .3 microseconds of consideration, she decided to stay until tomorrow morning.

Welcome note and pictures

Here's the welcome note we sent out to everyone (with some personal data omitted, for public consumption). If you didn't get a copy directly, please forgive us! We tried to get everyone, but we're also relying on our great network of friends and family to get the word out.

Dear friends and family,

Please join us in welcoming M. born Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 at 2:44 p.m. He weighs 8 lbs, 1 oz, measures 20" long, and 14" around the head.

Mother and baby are doing very well. The delivery was exceptionally smooth, and went fairly quickly. We'll be here in the hospital until Friday morning, if all continues to go as well as it has.

For those of you who may be interested in all the details (both past and future) you are welcome to follow Robin's delivery blog at:

http://little-kidlets.blogspot.com/

We've attached some pictures, and more can be found on the blog.

Thanks so much for all your support and love. Please forward this on to anyone who may want to know!

Love,

Robin, Daniel, C., K., B. and (finally!) M.

Official details

Here's the skinny on our little guy: He weighs in at 8 lbs., 1 oz., is 20 inches long, and measures 14" around the head. He's had his first bath, his first three (or four!) meals. He's still very calm, crying only when he got his shots and his bath (just like his dad!), and seems to be very content just to gaze at anything that comes along.

Mom's also doing great! She's wolfed down her first post-partum meal, and is busy making phone calls. Did I already say that I won't be able to do pictures until later? A little later this evening probably.

He's here!

He's here (2:44 p.m.)! Just as Robin thought, once things got moving, they sure went fast! He looks great, and has a good set of lungs. His color is We don't have stats yet, as he's having a little snack. They'll do measurements in a bit.

All is well, and our family's just a little bit bigger. More to come soon!

Just a bit of down-time

The nurse just came to check up on us. She had Robin do a "test push", and suggested that maybe we take another half-hour to wait for the epidural to fade just a little bit. They really gave her a big dose last time, and now she can hardly move her legs! M. is in the right spot, she says, but it's not quite time to call the doc. Robin's just resting for a bit, getting ready.

We're in the middle of it now. Robin's between contractions, which, after a third dose, are finally becoming manageable. Probably last post for a while.

Epidural time

Epidural is in, just as the contractions are ramping up. There's still a little bit of pain (the nurse calls it a "hotspot") where the epidural doesn't seem to be taking effect. They're giving her a second dose to hopefully pick that up as well.

Robin's not one of those pregnant ladies they show on movies, who need their back or their feet rubbed all the time. Quite the opposite, actually. She'd rather be stoically stood near, a task for which I am very well suited.

Dr. B. will probably be back in a few more minutes to check on progress. Contractions very regular at 2.5 minutes.

Here we go...

Well, Dr. B. just broke Robin's water. She's at zero-station, 95% effaced, dilated to a 3+. Dr. says baby's heartbeat is great, and Robin's patterns look good. He recommends that if Robin wants an epidural, that she get it as soon as she feels the contractions kick up, which should be about 15 minutes.

Meh

Still nothing. Dr. B. will probably come back around noon to check again, but so far we're still holding at 3 minutes between contractions. Robin's not in much pain, which is the only thing that would bring Dr. B. back any quicker. I'm going to step out for lunch, and hope that nothing happens while I'm gone.

Moving along

M. is quite a little acrobat. The monitor keeps losing his heartbeat, but he seems to be doing great. The Oxytocin is really kicking in; Robin's contractions are about 2.5 to 3.5 minutes apart, and she's really starting to feel them. No real pain so far, she says, just some noticeable discomfort. We're just passing time.

Delayed action

Dr. B. says we're not ready to get moving yet. Robin's cervix is not faced quite the right direction (around zero station), and she needs a few more contractions before breaking her water is a good idea. She's dilated to a three, though, so that's good news. We'll wait a bit longer, I suppose.

The phlebotamist was taking bets from us on when Robin will deliver. I told her 9:00, but that was in 5 minutes, so nobody believed me. Robin says by 2:00 p.m., which she also didn't believe. 2:30 maybe? We'll see.

We're all checked in

So, we're here and checked in. The hospital staff has been great so far; very friendly and helpful. The room is very nice and big, and most importantly, has free wireless internet access! :-)

I forgot my USB cable, though, so I can't upload the cute picture of Robin smiling and happy in her very nice looking hospital gown. Or the adorable little pink and blue velcro straps that hold the monitors on her tummy.

Dr. B. has already been by, just to let us know that we'll get things started in 30 minutes or so. The nurse just came in and started Robin on the Pitosin, and Dr. B. will be here to "rupture membranes" soon.

Everybody's pretty excited!

We're leaving for the hospital around 7:00 tomorrow morning. It's nearly midnight now, and I'm about ready to try getting a few hours' sleep.

The (other) kidlets are sleeping in strange places, in their usual mode of celebration. Neat things are happening, so let's get wild and sleep on the couch!

I'm off to bed. Morning (and a fresh take on parent-hood) comes pretty early!