Wednesday, February 27, 2008
three weeks today
dear jack,
you are a grand total of 3 weeks old today! i sang 'happy three week birthday' to you today at precisly your birth time - 4:06am. we were up eating + bonding and i couldn't resist! you had a very alert morning, spending some quality time with daddy while mommy tried to catch a few more winks before he left for work. i overheard him singing the very same song!
you have been blowing bubbles like crazy and i belive you are about to embark on quite the growth spurt... despite one four hour stretch last night (thank you! the night before was rough with a bonding experience every two hours!), you've been eating more often, around two hours and for quite some time. in between, you are sleeping like a baby. your mommy needs to learn how to nap a bit better so we can both be bright eyed in the early morning!
we are so amazed at how much you've grown in 21 days! you are such a great baby and so adorable, we love every minute with you. you are breathing so cutely on my lap as i write this... it brings tears of joy to my eyes to know you are so comfortable here with us. we love you very much!
love,
mommy and daddy
Thursday, February 21, 2008
labor + delivery
here's the story of jackson's birth. you know, typing it all out brings tears to my eyes, not becaue of the pain, though, because i can't for the life of me remember the pain. thank goodness for that... no wonder people still have babies. all i can remember is the joy of our baby boy coming into this world, our perfect little creation...
so, after being sent home, pete and i were super frustrated -- to say the least! i continued to have contractions - about 12 minutes apart, not 6, but much more intense for the next 24 hours. i noticed some changes in my body again and after testing with some litmus paper, we realized i was leaking amniotic fluid. my bag of waters hadn't 'burst', so it wasn't as noticeable. we called kaiser again, and they suggested we come in. we arrived around 10 am and they determined my bag was leaking and therefore i was admitted. i was still only 1 cm dilated, as i had been for years (it seemed), and my labor wasn't progessing as it should. since there was a leak, the chances of the baby and i getting an infection were high, so medically they like to get the baby out = inducing labor. i began receiving pitocin to help my body along. after not sleeping for two nights and after the months of planning on having as natural a childbirth as possible, i was not happy. the only light was that we were on our way to meeting our baby.
anyway, pitocin is brutal! after about 6 hours the contractions were excruciating! pete went to get some coffee and mom came in the coach me through the contractions. during this time, my water burst completely. that was scary, i must say. i couldn't see the fluid and didn't know what was going on. my nurse, belinda, and my mom really helped calm me. but after that, i was done. i asked for an epidural. the doctor had offered one right after they admitted me because she knew the pitocin would be rough, but i refused. i thought i could make it. no way, jose. pete came back in and we talked about the decision i made (all split-second, so it was good he was there to talk it out with me). we decided after my exhaustion and the strength and frequency of the contractions, it was a go.
no one is allowed in the room for the epidural, so he and mom were asked to leave. the anesthesiologist came in, belinda held my hand and they were in! see you have to sit up for the injection, and i guess baby didn't like that much (esp. coupled with the intense contractions) because it's heartrate dropped suddenly and dramatically. a team of nurses + the doctor flew into the room, flipped me on my hands and knees, reached in to jar the baby and gave me a shot to stop the contractions. heartrate back up, phew. pete was still out of the room, so he had a scary moment seeing all of them run in to his wife and unborn child. i feel so sorry he had to watch all of this pain -- he was so great to me, i never knew how scared or stressed he was, i am so thankful to have such a supportive, loving husband.
i was getting quite sick of all these unexpected events. and frustrated. tired. emotional. thank god for pete, my mom, and belinda. i really tried to quit several times. all of this hurt, and bad! i couldn't wait for the epidural to kick in! finally the contractions didn't hurt, amazing, but i was shaking all over. my blood pressure and oxygen levels kept dropping so they measured my b.p. every 15 minutes, and i wasn't to take off the oxygen mask. baby's heartrate fell a couple more times, each time aggravated by me moving or the nurses having to check me. we figured out my left side was the best side and my hands and knees also allowed for a healthy rate. that was hard to do with a numb lower body, though, so left was best. pete and i watched tv and i tried to rest up for the big event.
my dad went home for a quick nap, my mom came back right away, and pete was constantly by my side. he monitored all of the readings = my oxygen levels, heartrate, and blood pressure, as well as contractions and baby's heartrate. i was back on the pitocin, and they kept kicking it up a notch to get things moving. my temperature spiked, a sign that my body was fighting an infection, so they started me on two types of antibiotics. then, as the nurse was trying to flip baby around (it was face-up) more fluid gushed out. this fluid showed that baby had a bowel movement in utero, probably due to the stress of labor. this up'd the ante on getting baby out asap. meconium + mother infection = chance of very sick baby. i was dilated to 8 cm, so dad came back to the hospital and we started getting anxious - baby green bean should be here soon!
at about 1am, i felt the need to push. no pushing was allowed, though. that is the hardest thing in the world!! my epidural was wearing off and we were too close to the end to get a booster, so i had to go it alone with all the pain labor brings. that's ok, couldn't be too long, i told myself. at 2am, we were allowed to push. the nurse helped coach me, while pete held my hand, leg, head, whatever he could to support me in the process. baby still didn't like me on my back, so i pushed on my left side and on my hands and knees. didn't really know these were options, and it was soooo hard to push this way! the doctor came in about an hour later to check on me and the baby and things looked ok. half an hour later, no baby, things starting not to look ok. i wasn't making progress getting the baby's head past a certain point. they explained that if i wasn't able to get it there in the next few pushes, they would perform a c-section. after all we had been through, pete and i said, go ahead, get out our baby! after a little discussion, the doctor gave me 15 more minutes of pushing, then we'd have to decide. i made enough progress to open up another option = the vacuum. enter the standard risks speech. also enter the pediatric team (they had to make sure he didn't get meconium in his lungs), the c-section team of nurses with the table, and the doctor with his regular vacuum team. kaiser will try to vacuum out your baby three times. if the baby doesn't come out, c-section it is. obviously we were going to go for the three tries. i had three things on my mind. the first, of course, the most important = healthy baby. two = i was hungry. after a c-section, you are very limited on food, like, just liquids for a day or something crazy like that. three = i was not down with the recovery involved with a c-section. yeah, if i had to, okay. if we planned it that way and i hadn't been through all these hours of pain and pushing, sure. but after everything we went through, i was going to walk out of there! so back to pusing. push one, no dice. in fact, i didn't even know it was one of our three chances. i may have been able to muster up enough umph to get the baby out. push two (pete yelling the count to 10), push two (you can do it, push, you've got it shouted from the team of onlookers), push two (doctor and nurse encouragements)! success! you got it! there's his head! pete is crying, out he comes, 'it's a boy!' i hear pete shout. he's crying, i'm in shock (i couldn't belive we did it!), doctor shouts, 'it's a boy!'. then i hear him crying, yippee! next the a-ok from the pediactric team. apgar = 9. a healthy baby boy, jackson steward green!
so, after being sent home, pete and i were super frustrated -- to say the least! i continued to have contractions - about 12 minutes apart, not 6, but much more intense for the next 24 hours. i noticed some changes in my body again and after testing with some litmus paper, we realized i was leaking amniotic fluid. my bag of waters hadn't 'burst', so it wasn't as noticeable. we called kaiser again, and they suggested we come in. we arrived around 10 am and they determined my bag was leaking and therefore i was admitted. i was still only 1 cm dilated, as i had been for years (it seemed), and my labor wasn't progessing as it should. since there was a leak, the chances of the baby and i getting an infection were high, so medically they like to get the baby out = inducing labor. i began receiving pitocin to help my body along. after not sleeping for two nights and after the months of planning on having as natural a childbirth as possible, i was not happy. the only light was that we were on our way to meeting our baby.
anyway, pitocin is brutal! after about 6 hours the contractions were excruciating! pete went to get some coffee and mom came in the coach me through the contractions. during this time, my water burst completely. that was scary, i must say. i couldn't see the fluid and didn't know what was going on. my nurse, belinda, and my mom really helped calm me. but after that, i was done. i asked for an epidural. the doctor had offered one right after they admitted me because she knew the pitocin would be rough, but i refused. i thought i could make it. no way, jose. pete came back in and we talked about the decision i made (all split-second, so it was good he was there to talk it out with me). we decided after my exhaustion and the strength and frequency of the contractions, it was a go.
no one is allowed in the room for the epidural, so he and mom were asked to leave. the anesthesiologist came in, belinda held my hand and they were in! see you have to sit up for the injection, and i guess baby didn't like that much (esp. coupled with the intense contractions) because it's heartrate dropped suddenly and dramatically. a team of nurses + the doctor flew into the room, flipped me on my hands and knees, reached in to jar the baby and gave me a shot to stop the contractions. heartrate back up, phew. pete was still out of the room, so he had a scary moment seeing all of them run in to his wife and unborn child. i feel so sorry he had to watch all of this pain -- he was so great to me, i never knew how scared or stressed he was, i am so thankful to have such a supportive, loving husband.
i was getting quite sick of all these unexpected events. and frustrated. tired. emotional. thank god for pete, my mom, and belinda. i really tried to quit several times. all of this hurt, and bad! i couldn't wait for the epidural to kick in! finally the contractions didn't hurt, amazing, but i was shaking all over. my blood pressure and oxygen levels kept dropping so they measured my b.p. every 15 minutes, and i wasn't to take off the oxygen mask. baby's heartrate fell a couple more times, each time aggravated by me moving or the nurses having to check me. we figured out my left side was the best side and my hands and knees also allowed for a healthy rate. that was hard to do with a numb lower body, though, so left was best. pete and i watched tv and i tried to rest up for the big event.
my dad went home for a quick nap, my mom came back right away, and pete was constantly by my side. he monitored all of the readings = my oxygen levels, heartrate, and blood pressure, as well as contractions and baby's heartrate. i was back on the pitocin, and they kept kicking it up a notch to get things moving. my temperature spiked, a sign that my body was fighting an infection, so they started me on two types of antibiotics. then, as the nurse was trying to flip baby around (it was face-up) more fluid gushed out. this fluid showed that baby had a bowel movement in utero, probably due to the stress of labor. this up'd the ante on getting baby out asap. meconium + mother infection = chance of very sick baby. i was dilated to 8 cm, so dad came back to the hospital and we started getting anxious - baby green bean should be here soon!
at about 1am, i felt the need to push. no pushing was allowed, though. that is the hardest thing in the world!! my epidural was wearing off and we were too close to the end to get a booster, so i had to go it alone with all the pain labor brings. that's ok, couldn't be too long, i told myself. at 2am, we were allowed to push. the nurse helped coach me, while pete held my hand, leg, head, whatever he could to support me in the process. baby still didn't like me on my back, so i pushed on my left side and on my hands and knees. didn't really know these were options, and it was soooo hard to push this way! the doctor came in about an hour later to check on me and the baby and things looked ok. half an hour later, no baby, things starting not to look ok. i wasn't making progress getting the baby's head past a certain point. they explained that if i wasn't able to get it there in the next few pushes, they would perform a c-section. after all we had been through, pete and i said, go ahead, get out our baby! after a little discussion, the doctor gave me 15 more minutes of pushing, then we'd have to decide. i made enough progress to open up another option = the vacuum. enter the standard risks speech. also enter the pediatric team (they had to make sure he didn't get meconium in his lungs), the c-section team of nurses with the table, and the doctor with his regular vacuum team. kaiser will try to vacuum out your baby three times. if the baby doesn't come out, c-section it is. obviously we were going to go for the three tries. i had three things on my mind. the first, of course, the most important = healthy baby. two = i was hungry. after a c-section, you are very limited on food, like, just liquids for a day or something crazy like that. three = i was not down with the recovery involved with a c-section. yeah, if i had to, okay. if we planned it that way and i hadn't been through all these hours of pain and pushing, sure. but after everything we went through, i was going to walk out of there! so back to pusing. push one, no dice. in fact, i didn't even know it was one of our three chances. i may have been able to muster up enough umph to get the baby out. push two (pete yelling the count to 10), push two (you can do it, push, you've got it shouted from the team of onlookers), push two (doctor and nurse encouragements)! success! you got it! there's his head! pete is crying, out he comes, 'it's a boy!' i hear pete shout. he's crying, i'm in shock (i couldn't belive we did it!), doctor shouts, 'it's a boy!'. then i hear him crying, yippee! next the a-ok from the pediactric team. apgar = 9. a healthy baby boy, jackson steward green!
** I forgot to mention that Jackson was 'sunny-side up', which affected all the natural processes. I didn't drop, dilate, or birth normally because he didn't engage in the correct area to send all those signals to the rest of my body. I've seen a few Baby Storys and heard about other babies in this position, and most went to c-section. We are so lucky our team of docotrs worked so hard to get Jack out and that he was extemely healthy when born. I am so thankful.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
it's your two week birthday!
happy two weeks, jackson! each day we learn more about you - you're such an amazing little man! i can't believe you are already two weeks old. you've learned so much in such short time... yesterday you found your thumb on your right hand and while i was trying to snap a picture, you switched to your left thumb! we wonder whether or not you'll be a lefty (like your daddy) or a righty (like your mommy). we are savoring each and every day with you... don't grow up too fast, little guy!
we love you,
mommy and daddy
here you are sucking your thumb:
Saturday, February 16, 2008
happy valentine's day!
jack and i made a surprise dinner for daddy to celebrate valentine's day! check out the yummy french onion soup, crab, salad, and fresh bread... yum. for dessert we had canolies (sp!) and homemade sugar cookies with sprinkles! jack very much enjoyed hanging out with us... he couldn't take his eyes off the silver tree!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
your a week old today!
happy first week, jackson! this week has been the most amazing week ever -- we can't believe you're finally here! we love you so much...
love,
mommy and daddy
Sunday, February 10, 2008
proud parents of jackson steward green
he's arrived!! many of you know the news, but here are the details and some pictures of our delivering adventure (labor + delivery details later), our precious baby boy, and his first visitors:
jackson steward green
february 6, 2008
4:06 am
6 pounds + 13 ounces
19 3/4 inches
absolutely perfect
** it is just too much to tear myself away from him! thanks for your patience...
jackson steward green
february 6, 2008
4:06 am
6 pounds + 13 ounces
19 3/4 inches
absolutely perfect
** it is just too much to tear myself away from him! thanks for your patience...
our due date - super bowl sunday
hoping to get things going in the morning...
pete & mom record the contractions
the last meal = oatmeal + milk
let's go have a baby!
pete and i were all ready to watch the super bowl at my parents' house. we were eager to spend some time out of the house - off baby watch - with a distraction. what we got were contractions!! they started in the first quarter of the game, but i kept quiet for about an hour. i knew i had had 'false' contractions in the past and didn't want to get a whole crowd of people excited, just in case. after a while, i told pete and my mom about them, and that they were coming more frequently, and we all started the watch. we had hand signals so i was able to communicate them without makng an annoucement, but soon the look on my face was communication enough. throughout the day, and into the night, they increased in intensity and frequency to 6 minutes apart. they chilled out there at that time and intensity ALL night. pete and i decided to keep track, but stay home for the night. we checked in with kaiser, who agreed, and did our best to sleep. i was in pain (not nearly as much as i would be...) and we were both so excited, sleep was hard to come by! around 8:00 the next morning, i experienced a few more 'signs' of real labor, so we headed to the hospital. after an exam, they sent me home with 9 more centimeters of dilating to do and asked us to monitor contractions, fluids, etc. i was extremely frustrated, as i had been up all night and really wanted to meet our baby... we headed home to endure another day without baby green bean.
me. frustrated + disappointed. Saturday, February 2, 2008
'we're on baby watch' - daddy
'baby watch' saturday game plan:
1. lounge/play wii
2. blog
3. grocery shop/bake cookies
4. lounge/snack on cookies
5. michaels/scrapbook
6. movie/bed
we also cheated and finished our advent calendar. with the super bowl party at the costanzo's tomorrow, we probably would forget... here's the finished product:
'baby watch' officially started by daddy pete. we've received a ton of calls... friends and family hoping that baby green has arrived and we forgot to text or call. don't worry, gang. we've got the text ready to send... just need the contractions every 5ish minutes for about an hour and it'll be sent! we can't wait to share our news with you all :)
1. lounge/play wii
2. blog
3. grocery shop/bake cookies
4. lounge/snack on cookies
5. michaels/scrapbook
6. movie/bed
we also cheated and finished our advent calendar. with the super bowl party at the costanzo's tomorrow, we probably would forget... here's the finished product:
'baby watch' officially started by daddy pete. we've received a ton of calls... friends and family hoping that baby green has arrived and we forgot to text or call. don't worry, gang. we've got the text ready to send... just need the contractions every 5ish minutes for about an hour and it'll be sent! we can't wait to share our news with you all :)
three cheers for les' cookies!
these cookies are just what the dr. ordered! ok, maybe not what the dr. ordered, but definitely what this pregnant gal ordered!
things i love...
-specific recipe, so those nonbakers know they are on the right track.
-included in recipe is 10 minute 'clean-up' time (freeze dough). i hate baking and having a messy kitchen to clean up when all i really want to do is share my creation (with myself as well as others)!
-doubling makes just the right amount for at-home snacking & enough to take for a super bowl treat
i wish...
-i had a co-op to buy vanilla beans. i think that would make these cookies even better! not sure where there's a co-op in the entire of solano county, but i'm going to find out!
next time...
-i think i'll use 100% semi-sweet chocolate chips. i just prefer them.
thanks for sharing, kasar!
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