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!

Getting Down to It

I was planning to work until April 13, but I think I'm done. I'll work through Friday, when I have my next OB appointment, and then ask her to clear me for short-term disability so I can go on leave early. I'm just so slow and uncomfortable and brainless that I'm not good for much more around the office than as a conversation piece. Maybe I'll work M/W/F next week. We'll see. The girl they brought in to cover for me is awesome so I'm not worried about that at all. There's no good reason for me to hang around.

Mombi and my mom are planning to have the nursery done this weekend, so Griffin and I will have their permission to do our thing as of Sunday evening. I'll take it!

36 Week Belly, from My Point of View

Guava Juice and Goldfish Crackers

Wow, it's been a while since my last post. Sorry about that, folks. What can I say, I've been busy being pregnant.

Friday was the baby shower at work, and it was fabulous fun. My friends and co-workers were incredibly generous, and as a result we have very little left that we need to get before Griffin arrives. And we have a LOT of thank you cards to write!

From what I can tell, the nursery is really coming along. I think they're planning to finish it next week. Cool!

I had an OB appointment on Monday and my first internal check. He's positioned well, and my cervix was still long and tight. That might be starting to change, though. I've definitely been feeling more Braxton Hicks lately, to the point where it sometimes feels like menstural cramps. I've been feeling him a bit lower the past few days, although not enough to relieve my heartburn. Mombi wants him to hang out with me at least another week and a half, preferably three weeks. I'm hoping for around two more weeks, so I can get my temporary replacement at work fully trained (or close enough) but not have too much extra time to hang around the office after that.

I'm still dealing with major heartburn (thank you, Pepcid, for some sweet relief!) and the pain below my ribs on the right. Pain in that area is apparently a less-common symptom of pre-eclampsia. My OB had me get some bloodwork and an upper abdominal U/S done to check for it, since my blood pressure and protein levels have been fine. The bloodwork came back fine, and I haven't heard on the ultrasound yet. Presumably, it's fine too. Of course, that doesn't help me deal with the pain, since it's still not clear what it is. Ah well. I've also developed some pregnancy carpal tunnel in both wrists, so now I'm wearing double wrist supports, too. Fun!

Griffin is still very active, although now it's more of a shift and push motion than a bouncing kick. I still can't tell what's what in there, apart from the occasional leg-and-butt shape when he's pressed out against one side or the other. I can't tell a foot from an elbow from a hand from a knee, though. Speaking of which, time to go do my kick count for the day. Catch ya later!

Grandma Brenda, Great Grandma Kay, and Aunt Bernie!

Griffin received gifts in the mail today from Mombi's side of the family! His Aunt Bernie and Great Grandma Kay each sent him handmade quilts, and his Grandma Brenda sent a big box of clothing, receiving blankets, and other goodies. The gifts area all lovely, but we were most thrilled simply by reading "To Griffin with Love from Grandma Brenda" on the tags. Mombi's mom is very conservative, and had indicated that she didn't plan to think of Griffin as her grandchild. So this is a huge turn-around. We're so happy!

He's looking good!

We had an ultrasound today to check back in on Griffin's choroid plexus cysts. They're totally gone, and he looks very healthy. We couldn't see much since of course it's getting pretty tight in there, but he held still well enough that we did get to see his face a bit, and confirmed that he is absolutely male. He's measuring six days ahead of the average, which is in the 75th percentile at just over 6lbs.

We also got to see him "practice breathing" which was fun. The tech used the setting that they usually use to see blood traveling through the heart and the umbilical cord, and instead focused it on his face. We could see red and blue around his nose as he "breathed" amniotic fluid.

Doin' the Griffin Dance

Today was a good day. Not for any particular reason, it just felt good. I did a bunch of boring stuff at work, expense reports and so on. I went to the chiropractor after work, and then did some long-delayed grocery shopping.

Through it all, Griffin was rocking and rolling, shifting and squirming. Sometimes I almost forget that the sensations I'm feeling are actually our little boy getting more comfortable or practicing his moves. Other times, I'm so tuned in to him that I can see him in my mind as clearly as if he were out in front of me. And soon... he will be!

Yay for Weekends!

It's been a doozy of a week. I ended up staying home to rest on Tuesday as well, apart from a trip out to my general practitioner for a possible double ear infection. Turns out my eustacian tubes were inflamed. Just another random side-effect of pregnancy. She gave me a prescription for a nasal spray that seems to be helping. We'll see.

Wednesday it was back to work and back to the chaos, since there was a LOT of stuff waiting for me. The rest of the week was a blur.

So what am I doing this weekend? Absolutely nothing, if I can help it. I spent too much time reved up last weekend, and it spelled bad news for me. So this weekend I'm determined to stay calm, rest a lot, and not look for "projects" to do. I'm going to concentrate on staying rested and staying hydrated. Everything else can take care of itself for now!

Will I manage to stick to my non-plans? We'll see...

33.5 Week Appointment, and Lots of Parenthesis.

I had an OB appointment this morning, and things are still looking very good. My growth is right on track at 34 cm (that's height of fundus, not his length!) and Griffin's heart rate was 153 bpm. I have an appointment next week to have a follow-up ultrasound to see if the choroid plexus cysts are still there, so it looks like we'll have one more look at the kid before he arrives after all. Hopefully the scan will show a very healthy (if slightly constricted) little boy.

They also had me go over to the hospital (across the parking lot) to have blood drawn to check my thyroid levels again. I'd been slightly hypo at one point during TTC, and it was never re-checked after I stopped the meds. It was such a fiasco. There was some sort of major language barrier issue going on with someone who was trying to register for a procedure that they couldn't pay for and didn't need immediately, and there was only one person doing outpatient registration. So it took about an hour to get registered. Then I had to sit for another half an hour before the two (!) women who were doing all the blood draws for the entire hospital showed up at the outpatient lab. After an hour and a half of waiting, the draw took about two minutes. At least I also got to pre-register for L&D at the same time.

Anyway, by the time I was leaving there I was overheated and hungry and my back was killing me from their waiting room chairs, and on top of being hormonal and tired from not sleeping well last night, I was a mess. Something about me standing there crying convinced my co-workers and my boss that I wasn't having a good day. I made it almost exactly an hour at work before they sent me home. So now it's 2:00PM, I've just had lunch, I'm in my sweats, and I'm heading to bed. Thank goodness for sympathetic friends at work! Next time I need to just listen to Mombi in the first place when she tells me I shouldn't go to work. She totally called it this morning, but I resisted because I had stuff to do. Some day I'll learn.

Having fun!

What a busy weekend. Well, not for me, I didn't do much other than sort out the junk boxes that have been collecting random stuff under the bathroom sinks for a few years. No, it wasn't nesting. Not yet. My mom came over this weekend to work on Griffin's room with Mombi, and she brought along a book on organizating techniques for ADD people. I read it cover to cover over two days, and thought of a lot of things I could do around the house to make it easier to keep up with the clutter, and decided that the bathrooms were as good a place as any to start.

Also, the "Fabulous Christmas Gift" from my parents that I alluded to so long ago is finally complete. I haven't taken pictures to post yet, but as I type this, I can hear the new WASHER AND DRYER doing their thing. Woo hoo! Mom & Dad brought the washer over a couple weekends ago, but we had only run it once since we didn't have a dryer yet. They came over yesterday to install the dryer. THANK YOU MOM & DAD!!!

This is huge. Our apartment complex has several laundry rooms, and the nearest one is only 30 yards or so down the sidewalk, but that's an insurmountable distance when you're pregnant or have back issues, so we've been really struggling to get laundry done for several months now. That's compounded by the fact that vandals have been messing with the machines lately, so half the time they're not available anyway.

Without the new machines from Mom & Dad, we definitely would have had to re-think the cloth diapering plans, at least for the first few months. Instead, we can now enjoy a fabulous high-capacity front-loader and a huge dryer. They aren't top of the line or anything, and the dryer is used, but they're absolute heaven to us. We had a stackable in our last apartment (provided by the complex) and we got spoiled by it, but these are in a whole new class. And let me tell you, the state of our bedroom floor is much improved already!

Griffin has been very active this weekend, and has been creating some very impressive belly contortions as he stretches and rolls. I'm starting to really feel like I have a big pregnancy belly. I've had a little one for a long time, but over the past few weeks I think I've crossed the divide from "you definitely look pregnant now" to "so how many weeks left?"

My abs have given up.

Ouch. My body is definitely starting to strain outward to find extra space. I've got a constant burn just below my ribs. It feels hot and tingly, like I have a pulled muscle. The entire area below my belly button just plain aches. My pelvic floor feels like I accidentally did the splits. And my pelvis is getting loose, so my hips are sore, too. It takes me at least twice as long to walk anywhere, which really slows me down around the office.

Moving in general has become more of a challenge in the past week. I counted last night, and it takes me 8-10 separate motions to roll from my right side to my left (or the other direction) not counting the rearrangement of various pillows and supports. Even getting in and out of the car is a challenge. And I'm only at 33 weeks!

Being pregnant is lots of fun, and I'm totally enjoying the experience, but it sure isn't comfortable. Thankfully, I have my amazing partner to support me. She encourages me to do what I can, keeps me from doing what I don't need to do, and supports me when I get physically and mentally exhausted from trying to do too much. She really is amazing. I feel bad sometimes when I let it show that I've become upset or irritated by some little thing, like dishes on the counter or whatever, when I know that she's doing so much for me and for us already.

I try to tell her often just how much I appreciate everything, but I can't imagine how hard it must be for her to stay positive when hormones and fatigue get the better of me, and there's nothing she can do to help but bring me treats and encourage me to sleep. Still, what she does do means the world to me. She knows what I need before I do. She knows exactly where I need to be massaged, she knows when I need to eat something, she knows when to prompt me to sleep. She's absolutely the best.