Friday, May 29, 2009

Declan: one month

Declan will be one month on Monday, and to celebrate we went to the doctor's office today for his first well baby appointment. There were streamers and everything! (not really)

You can check all the percentiles here, but the 411 is that he's generally smaller than Annika....especially in head size. She was always in the 90th percentile for head circumference, but he's between 50-60%. Chris says he has a pinhead. I say he can wear hats made for his age!

Other stuff he can do right now: hold up his head, kinda smile (mostly when gassy, but sometimes when Chris kisses his chin), cry, eat, not sleep that much. (I am tired).

The stats:

Length: 21.75 inches
Weight: 11 pounds
Head circumference: 15 inches


Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Restful slumber?


Not sure why this is so comfortable, but he slept like this for over an hour.


Friday, May 22, 2009

Before I forget

I'm going to be a little indulgent and tell the story of my labor (of love) for Declan. I usually love to hear friends' tales of birthing their children because through the inevitable similarities each experience is unique and so special. Of course, I know a few people who birth their babies just a little too easily...you know who you are! I'm not jealous. (Yes I am).


On May 4 at 6 am (just around the time Chris's alarm went off for work) I started to feel what I thought might be

contractions. "You thought they were contractions?" you may be asking...."haven't you had a kid already?" Yes, I have. But I swear those early ones aren't so obvious.


Chris got ready for work and I contemplated telling him what I thought was happening. I knew he still had a few things to wrap up at work and I also knew that even if this were the "real deal" it would be a while....so I let him go to work.


I laid in bed for a while, then started to time the pangs. I eventually upgraded them to contractions since they were coming at fairly regular intervals (5-7 minutes apart) and lasting about 45 seconds. At that point, I knew I needed to take a shower and tie up my own loose ends (clean the kitchen, pack Annika's bag and make sure I had everything in my bag).


While I was in the shower, my in-laws called to offer to pick up Annika that morning...she was scheduled to go to their house for the day, and I had already decided I could probably drive (it was fiiine!) but they have a sixth sense, so I gratefully agreed and they said they'd be o

ver in 15 minutes.


Meanwhile, Annika finally woke up and hung out in my room while I got ready. A few minutes before her grandparents arrived, I finally told her: "Sweetie, I have something to tell you....the baby will probably be born today!" She sort of looked up at me, then looked back at the TV. Maybe I wasn't clear?


I finally decided it was time to call Chris. The last two weeks, every time I had called him at work he answered in a slightly panicked voice. So I told him I would text him first with a heads up, then make the call...I did just that. When he answered, I could hear the smile in his voice and he promised to come as soon as possible.


Chris' parents picked up Annika and Chris arrived shortly afterwards. The contractions were getting a little stronger, but sticking around 5-7 minutes apart and lasting between 30-45 seconds. They tell you to call the hospital when you're 5 minutes apart and they last about a minute for at least an hour. Plus, being the second kid, I wasn't in such a rush to get to the hospital. Uncomfortable beds, monitors, poking, prodding... that could wait.


I wanted to be sure that I was in active labor, so Chris and I took a walk in the park. As we neared the end of the walk, it was harder to talk and walk...so I was sure we were getting close. When we got back to the house, the pain increased and I finally said to Chris "it's time to call the hospital." It was about 1 pm.


The hospital agreed to have me come (thanks!) and we packed our bags and left. We got there, were admitted (mid-contractions....a very comfortable experience) and were put into the "observation room" which means "you don't get a room until we're completely sure you're in labor and deserve a real room." The doctor checked me within 20 minutes, and announced I was at 4.5 centimeters. Woo hoo!


When my room was finally ready we got ourselves comfortable. This hospital was built in 2006 so everything was pretty nice. Though I didn't understand the wallpaper. I told everyone that would listen that I would be partaking in an epidural. They all agreed that was fine, but anesthesiologists are busy guys. They offered me a narcotic to "take the edge off" and the nurse who offered it to me said it was like having a pitcher of margaritas. That was definitely a strong selling point, but I also knew that narcotics affect the baby while epidurals do not...so I declined. That was the hardest thing I had to do the whole delivery (just kidding).


Epidural came....for those of you who may remember (and you probably don't, because why would you?) when I had an epidural during Annika's delivery, it didn't work on one side of my body, and I felt the full force of those contractions on one side of my body for much of the labor. I told the anesthesiologist about this, in case they could avoid that this time, and though he sympathized. he didn't think it would happen again. He also said that this time they have a wonderful little button that allows the epidural to get stronger each time you pressed it. AWESOME. I pressed that thing about 30 times.


Unfortunately, the one side pain thing happened again...but this time the nurse suggested that I lay on the "bad" side because gravity often helps with this situation. It did help and for a while, I was quite comfortable. Especially after hitting the button a few times for good measure.


They came to check me again around 6 - about 5 hours since I made it to the labor room. As the doctor put it, "Hopefully this pain has been for something!" Of course we should have known that would curse us. I was still at 4.5.


The doctor then offered me pitocin to "help" me to progress. Again, my ridiculous knowledge of the labor & delivery process (thanks BabyCenter and TLC!) reminded me that pitocin may speed up labor, but also makes the contractions stronger - and more painful. The only reason I would need the labor to speed up would be to avoid a Cinco de Mayo birthday for the little boy...too many visions of college "birthday" parties danced in my head...so though I wanted to avoid that, I didn't want a drug to attain that goal. I declined the pitocin and though the doc clearly disagreed with my decision, she was ok with it, and said they would check me in about an hour to see if I had made any headway...and if not, I may get the drugs anyway.


I was disappointed that things weren't moving so quickly, esp since I was in a decent amount of pain, but doing well enough. However, just like with Annika's delivery, the little guy started to have heart decelerations with each contraction...which can be a sign of stress. The bad news: if that continued, I may need a C-section; the good news: luckily I had declined the pitocin which might have bothered him more since they increase the strength of the contractions...so Jenn: 1; Doctor: 0.


The other thing that was not at all awesome was that the pain on my left side was getting worse, and they wouldn't let me lay on my left side since the baby seemed o do better when I was on the right. It hurt!


They came to check me as promised in about an hour's time, and I made it to...8.5 centimeters! Everyone cheered; I grunted. Pain...was....getting...worse. I kept pressing that button at Chris's urging. It really only helped a little.


In about 20 minutes (it's about 8:15 at this time) I started to feel a lot more pressure. I told my nurse who got the doctor who confirmed I was fully dilated. Wow! This was so much faster than Annika. They are right that the second kid is a lot faster. Unfortunately, he was still having issues with his heart rate, but they kept a close eye on it and let me continue on.


The doctor left so I could start pushing with the nurse. She asked me how long I had pushed with Annika and I said 4 hours...she raised an eyebrow, but just said "OK, we'll see how this one goes." She got me all set up, asked me to push and.....told me to stop! S

he said "Yeah, we'll be getting the doctor right now...he's pretty much here." Again...not at all like my stubborn daughter. A good sign of things to come?...


The doctor came about 10 minutes later. They asked me to push. I did. They said "stop stop!" I guess he was halfway out? Then they asked me to push one more time...and he was here!!! 9:11pm. They plopped him on my belly and he was just beautiful!! Also, I asked to cut the cord (when would I ever get to do that in my life?) and they gave me the scissors and I did. (It was squishy and I was scared I was going to cut him).


Welcome to the world Declan!


But...he wasn't really crying and I knew he had passed some meconium. I realized he had probably swallowed some, and even worse, probably aspirated some...they whisked him away to his little bassinet and I waited.


Chris was with him as the nurse suctioned his little lungs and nose. He wouldn't cry. I could hear them saying his oxygen saturation was lower than they'd like. He tried to cry...it sounded sad. The bassinet was directly in my line of site from my bed and I kept staring at it, willing myself to be calm. And he just wouldn't get loud.


Chris was taking pictures and looking over at me and giving me thumbs up...I make fun of him about that now because at that point, nothing was ok...but he was trying to reassure me. It worked...a little.


Then the nurse finally asked for a doctor from the NICU to come. I could feel the panic welling, but just kept it locked in a box. I was terrified.


Chris told me later that for the first 8-10 minutes, his oxygen sats were 78-82...a healthy baby should get 95-100. My poor sweetie. But the nurse never gave up on him and kept working on him - I could see her calm fear from across the room, but I could also sense that she was willing him to breathe...and just as the doctor arrived, he was up to 100. The doctor reassured us all immediately that he was fine since he was at 100 at that point. He said that his nose would be swollen for a while since she was shoving tubes down it for a while, so he might snort a bit (and did he!) but he was fine. I had never ever been more relieved in my life.


They finally brought him back to me and he was so serene and beautiful. It is true...you have enough room in your heart to love all of your children, and that love is limitless. I can't wait to get to know him better.


Stats:


Length of labor with Annika: 25 hours

Length of labor with Declan: 15 hours


Annika's birth weight: 8 pounds, 1 ounce

Declan's birth weight: 8 pounds, 10 ounces


Annika was born 10 days passed her due date

Declan was born 6 days passed his due date


How much weight Annika lost in her first week: 1+ pounds

How much weight Declan lost in his first week: maybe an ounce?


Day of the week Annika was born: Friday

Day of the week Declan was born: Monday


Friday, May 15, 2009

Saturday, May 09, 2009

Annika's big adventure

Big sisterhood.

The short of it: she is loving it. The longer of it: well, not all of the time...

But she can't get enough of him:


If she could hold him all day without him crying, she would do it. But, well, he cries.

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Declan Vaughn Hakes

8 pounds, 10 ounces. 21 inches long. Born at 9:11 pm on May 4.

Going to sleep now.




-- Post From My iPhone

Monday, May 04, 2009

Finally

At the hospital. 4.5 centimeters dilated. Bring it! (and by bring it, I mean the drugs...)



-- Post From My iPhone

Sunday, May 03, 2009