Taking a moment

Griffin's napping and I'm actually awake, so I figured I'd take the chance to post. Maternity leave is such a blur. I generally have no idea what day it is, and half the time I don't even know if the time on the clock is AM or PM. As tiring and random as it is, I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. I think Mombi and Griffin are, too.

It's so sweet to wake up to Mombi bringing Griffin into our room for a random snuggle when he's fresh and clean from a sponge bath, or when we're playing on his play mat, or just checking out the light fixtures. Watching Mombi talking to him and playing with him is amazing.

I'm doing about half of Griffin's feedings by pumping for Mombi to bottle feed, and half by nursing. He also gets a few ounces a day of formula, since I'm not quite up to speed with him yet after all the formula he got while in the NICU. I've stopped stressing about it, though, so it's all good. Mombi keeps me well fed and rested, and I try to do the same for her. Last night I actually woke up right before my three hour alarm twice in a row, so my body is definitely adjusting to sleeping in short bursts. Thank goodness for that!

We're also making plans for our first big trip with Griffin. A cousin of mine is getting married in Michigan in a month, and we're going to go up for the wedding. (Amanda, are you going to be there? Any othe relatives lurking on the blog?) We're looking forward to showing him off a bit, and seeing everyone. It's been so long since I've seen that side of the family that I'm sure I won't even recognize most of my cousins. There are over 40 cousins on that side of the family, and I'm the oldest, so I won't be able to figure it out easily! I'm sure we'll also have some sort of get-together with the other side of the family while we're in town. It'll be an adventure, to be sure!


Here's a photo I took of Griffin yesterday. Doesn't it make you just want to curl up with him and take a nap?

Two Pictures

Nana probably won't want to wear these earrings when we visit in a couple months.




Griffin doesn't cry often, but when he does, watch out!

Happiness is...

...posting a blog (or doing pretty much anything) with a baby sleeping on your chest.

Life is grand. Apart from some sleep deprevation, we're all doing great. The first couple days with Griffin home were definitely rough, particularly in terms of sleep (us not getting enough) and food (me not producing enough) but we seem to be much improved on both fronts. I'm coming to realize just how short a six week maternity leave is, though. He's already over two weeks old! I know that anyone else will laugh to hear it, but he seems so grown up! He had his first well baby visit at 12 days old, and had already gained an inch of length. Wow!

We took him to my brother's house on Saturday for a bar-b-que, and had a great time. They have three little girls, ages 7, 3, and 2. Sydney, the two year old, seemed so tiny and young just a few weeks ago. It's amazing how time and perspective can change so quickly.

I'll post more photos soon, I promise. Right now I've got an adorable baby snoozing on my lap, and the camera is on the other side of the room.

*Yawn*

Great baby. Very happy. Need more sleep.

Welcome home, Griffin!

Griffin is finally home with us, and he's doing great! He got a clean bill of health from the neonatologist, with no need for any more special medical attention for his mystery infection. They never did figure out what it was, but his labs look great now. Here are a couple photos from today!

Mombi Loves Griffin

Mombi spent the day creating a web page to introduce Griffin to our online friends. Even with a "mushy" warning from her before I saw it, I still teared up looking at it. She's so sweet. I love my family, my partner, and our little boy!

Griffin's First Web Site

Check it out!

Monday is our day!

Per the neonatologist, Griffin will be released from care Monday. He'll be getting his last round of antibiotics on Sunday night at 10, but we'll have to wait until the doctor is there the next day in order to do the discharge stuff. It'll be a great one-week gift to all of us to have him home again. As much as I love the staff at the NICU, the trips back and forth to the hospital are getting a bit old!

Wide Eyes

Did we mention that he's a very alert baby?

Collection of Mental Moments

As the experience of labor begins to fade in my mind, there are moments that remain vivid and strong. What moments were best or worst? Hard to say. The entire experience was so overwhelming that it's nearly impossible to rank them in any sort of specific order. However, there are definitely a few that stand out as top contenders.

The first half hour or so after my water broke were probably the most "fun." I managed to maintain my own calm, and so I was really able to enjoy watching Mombi and my sister and her partner all running around and pulling everything together for the trip to the hospital. There were so many smiles and cases of people running around forgetting what they were supposed to be looking for. It was great fun to watch from my waterproofed spot on the couch.

The span of time when Griffin's heart rate dropped during labor was definitely the scariest, despite the drugs that kept me from total awareness. I remember trying to prepare myself for the possibility that we had come so far only to lose him right then. After hearing that steady doplar beat for so many hours, hearing it get slower and slower was terrifying. Twelve hours and one successful birth later, sleeping off the meds in my recovery room, I kept hearing the doplar in my mind. I woke up with a start several times when I thought I heard it slow down.

The moment that was even better than I dreamed it would be was the first time I looked over and saw Mombi holding Griffin. It gives me tears every time I think about it, and it's not hormones talking. We've been together nearly six years, and for at least five of those years I've been imagining what a great mom she'd be and what it would be like to have kids together. Seeing her with our child, and the pure love and joy she was pouring over him, was indescribaby beautiful.

Here's a bonus shot of my mom hanging out with Griffin in the NICU:

Griffin's Birth

First, I have to give some huge thanks to my amazing wife, to my mom, and to the staff at the hospital. They were all amazing!

Griffin's birth was a bit scary with a few close calls. See the post below when you see a (number) if you want all the details.

The beginning was certainly uneventful. After my water broke and we got to the hospital, we discovered that I was only dialated about a fingertip, which is about half a centimeter. At ten the next morning, with 17 hours or so already elapsed, I was still at the same dilation, even though I was totally effaced. They decided at that point to increase my pitocin, give me some narcotics in my IV to help me relax, and do a catheter drain. The combination worked a bit too well too quickly, and I dilated to 6 over the next half hour. Griffin's heart rate dropped suddenly. (1) After his heart rate was stabilized, I slept for a while while they gradually brought the pitocin back up. I dilated steadily over the next few hours. When it was finally time to push, it took only about ten minutes and 7 contractions or so for him to be born. (2)

Mombi got to hold him a lot and had some great 1:1 bonding time while I was cleaned up. His Apgars were 8 and 9, and he spent the next two hours wide awake and observant as my dad, sister Amy, and sister's partner Shelley arrived to meet him.

Mombi and I are back home at last. Griffin is still in the NICU, due to a mystery infection which necessitates giving him several days of antibiotics. They were prompted to do some lab work on him after they noticed that he tended to squeek or grunt when sleeping soundly, which indicated that he was having a bit of a hard time breathing. He's doing great now, though, and he now looks and acts perfectly healthy apart from a touch of baby jaundice. We're visiting him at the hospital as frequently as possible. It looks like we'll be bringing him home on Sunday if nothing changes.

They don't know what the infection is/was or what caused it, but there are two top theories. The first is that it was related to how long his amniotic sac was ruptured. It was nearly 22 hours from rupture to delivery by my calculations, but possibly longer if it started out as a very small leak. 24 hours is the maximum they'll let you deliver vaginally after it ruptures due to risk of infection. The other possibility is that I had a cold or some other virus/bacterial gunk that I wasn't aware of that was passed to him even though I wasn't showing symptoms. Sheryl's had a bit of chest/throat funk for a couple weeks, so it's possible that I brought something home and gave it to both of them but didn't show symptoms myself.

Would I do it again? Yup! I definitely wouldn't do it at home, though, because I can't imagine how stressful it would have been to not have help at hand when it was needed. I was very glad to have been at a hospital that has a good NICU. I probably wouldn't resist medical assistance with the labor, either, but that would depend a lot on whether or not my water broke before contractions started. That really changed things. I do wish that my own doctor had been available (she was in Central America with her family for Easter) but of course that's nothing that can really be planned for so far in advance!

Here's the Scary Stuff

Caution: This post contains the more graphic and/or scary details of Griffin's birth experience. It all ended up fine, but I'm sure that many of you may wish to skip this one. I'll post the happy details right after this, but I wanted to post these first so that they won't stay at the top of the blog for long.

(1) At one point during labor, Griffin's heart rate dropped to about a third what it should have been. I was on IV narcotics at that point so I was not entirely lucid, but I remember that the room was suddenly full of medical personnel. As the nurses had me roll from side to side and put an oxygen mask on me, my mom and Mombi hovered at my sides, keeping their hands on me for reassurance. Since I hadn't had an epidural, there was serious concern about what they would do if they had to do an emergency Cesarean. I had to sign papers giving permission for general anesthesia and/or epidural. They gave him an internal monitor at that point. They gave me something to stop my labor, and luckily his heartrate stabilized. Just in case it got bad again, they put in the epidural so that they would not have any delays if it got critical again. I fell asleep for about 45 minutes after that, the first and only steady sleep I had during labor.

(2) When Griffin's head was delivered, the doctor commented that one mystery had been solved. The cord was wrapped around his neck twice, which explained his severely fluctuating heart rate. I ended up with second degree tears and major swelling due to the speed of the delivery during the pushing phase, but I'm still glad that I pushed him out as quickly as I did. At that point, I just wanted him out so that he would be safe!

Firsts: Woo hoo!!

Griffin Alexander arrived into this world at 3 minutes to 3pm on Sunday the 8th of April. He weighs 7lbs even and is 19 inches long.

Momai is doing fine and resting in the hospital while I have come home for the evening to rest, take care of the animals and try to navigate through email, and systems I'm not familar with in order to spread the news.

Sadly I was unable to find the connector cord for the digital camera in order to post the pictures that we have.

I promise as soon as Momai gets home we'll get them posted for you.

Thank you all for your love and support.

~Mombi

Going with the Flow!

My sister and her girlfriend came over this evening, and we were showing off the nursery and all the cute clothes and stuff when my water broke at around 5:35 PM. Fun! I'm just giggling right now because everyone is all frenzied. We're going to hang around here until my mom gets here, which will take 40 minutes to an hour. That should give Mombi time to review the videos on Babycenter.

:)

Momai, Unplugged!

Yep, lost the plug this morning. And he's moved way down. Still no regular or hard-core contractions, but we're making sure we have the bags packed and all of that. I know it could still be a couple weeks, but it sure does feel like it's going to be soon!

Introducing... The Nursery!

I finally got to see the nursery on Sunday night, and it's awesome! It was after dark so I took photos with the "mood lighting." The twinkle lights behind the fabric wall are on a dimmer, so they can be set to glow as gently as we want them.

On the side of the room that you can't really see in the pictures, there's a set of shelves and an antique bed that will be used by guests, or by us if we need to sleep over with Griffin. The bed has a fabulous quilt and matching pillows, done in the same fabrics as the rest of the room. Mombi and my mom really outdid themselves!

I really like the colors, because they're soft enough to work for a baby but bold and fun enough that they'll still work for many years. The whole thing is so versatile! Mom also surprised us with a glider, which is very comfortable, and two floor rockers so that we can have back support while playing with Griffin on the floor. Brilliant!

Yay for Oxygen!

I think Griffin is starting to drop. How can I tell?

First, let's look at what I have less of:
- Less heartburn. I still need the Pepcid, but I can sleep laying down instead of propped up to 45 degrees.
- Less bladder space. When I'm awake, that translates to a trip to the little ladies' room about once every half hour. When I'm asleep (and therefore horizontal) I can usually sleep for an hour or two before I have to get up & go.
- Less pain on my upper abdomen. He's hanging out in that stressed area less, which makes me very happy.

What do I have more of?
- More stretch marks. Yep, that's right folks. After 37 weeks without a single one visible, I now have about five cute little pink dots on each side of my lower belly. The good news is that they probably won't get much bigger at this late date, so they'll fade quickly. Not that they'd bother me if they hung around, but hey. It's a culture thing, I guess.
- More oxygen! Not a lot more, mind you, but enough to climb a flight of stairs without feeling like I've conquered K2. Of course, I still get overheated by anything more envigorating than reading the user's manual for a diaper pail. But that's a whole 'nother issue.

Finally, I have the paperwork from my OB. She gave me a copy to keep with me at all times so that if I find it time to go to the hospital, I'll be able to give a copy to the L&D nurses immediately. The notes from3/19 say Cx LTC, Post-VTX. The ones from 3/30 say CX LTC - VTX -1. Soft, Posterior. Can any of you L&D nurses confirm what the abbreviations mean? Looks to me like Griffin was at -1 at my last visit.

I also found out at my last appointment that my OB will be out of town M-F this week. I'm not sure where she's going, but she's flying. Since she's got a private practice, not a group, that means that if I were to have Griffin this week, I'd have a stand-in Dr that I haven't met or even heard of. Fun! Not that it will matter that much, I suppose, since most of the time in the hospital is spent with the nurses and my personal support team, but still. I like my OB, and I'd like her to be there.

Stay tuned for the Great Nursery Reveal... It's supposed to be done later today!