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Wednesday, August 8, 2007

The Story of Lauren's Birth


We got up at 5:30 in the morning to call the hospital, per the instructions we'd been given. Lisa's friend Chris and her kids had spent the night so she could babysit and we were set to go.

But the hospital was jam packed with mother's in labor, and they asked us to wait another hour. It was a miserable day - rain and gloom and muggy heat - and I was beginning to think the induction would be delayed  at least until Wednesday.
At least the delay gave us time to say goodbye to the kids. And what a jam-packed house it was!

We arrived at Columbia-St. Mary's (what a wonderful lakefront drive it is from our house, btw) at about 7:30.  We sat in registration for awhile [where we learned from a gossip rag that Amy Fischer and Joey Buttafuco are DATING again - dear Lord!] then headed up to Labor and Delivery on the 4th floor.
There we waited.
And waited.
And waited.
The nurses explained that they were busy with a full house of patients giving birth, which was fine . . .but I never thought I'd live to see the day when I'd be bitter at the sight of a pregnant woman, moaning in labor pains, skipping us in line and delaying us some more.
It's times like this that dorks like me, with our 'two books per person per packed bag' rule, come in handy.
Sometime around 10 I woke Lisa up from a nap in the waiting room and we were escorted to LDR5, where all the action was to take place.
A medical student asked some questions, a nurse took some vitals, and Lisa was examined.
At 10:10 she was 3cm dilated, 50% effaced with the baby at -1.
A potocin drip - what Lis calls the 'devils serum' - was started and the day officially began.

If you think Lisa's half-sarcastic 'thumbs up' is dorky, check out my 'picture smile'.

Not a whole lot happened in the next few hours. I left to go to the cafeteria for a bite to eat, and we sat and read. Somewhere in this time Lis asked me to call her Mom and ensure that she would be there for the delivery, and she arrived speedy quick.
That's pretty much the whole story prior to noon.
At 12:33 Dr. Helf arrived for an examination. She remained at 3cm and 50%, but Helf broke her bag of water and things began to speed up. The contractions, which had been rolling in at 2 to 3 minute intervals, were now stronger to boot.
Almost exactly at 1pm Lisa began getting an epideral. It did not go as smoothly as it had in the past, with Lis reduced to tears after the needle induced pain along the left side of her body, and the process dragged on for nearly half an hour. Afterwards her legs quickly went completely numb, though she continued to feel some pain, especially on the left side of her groin.
2pm found her still at 3 cm but 70% effaced. The next hour was spent watching Myth Busters and Dr. Phil.
Lisa was growing increasingly grouchy and annoyed with me and her Mom, and even through the epideral the escalating pain was apparent.
At 3:40, convinced something was wrong with the epideral, she paged the nurse.
Meanwhile, having remembered the abrupt conclusions to each of her labors [I nearly missed Parker's birth, having stepped outside for a cigarrette when all was well and returning to the birth itself] I started to think the baby was on the way.
The nurse, who had monitoring the scans from the desk, arrived with a full labor cart.
Lis was 9.5 cm dilated and 100% effaced. Time to get the party started.
15 minutes later the Dr. arrived and I helped her get Lisa in the stirrups, accidentally jamming the Dr.'s finger and getting a slap across the arm.
What is it with women hitting me?
After that it was just a matter of one set of pushes (three if I remember right). I saw the baby crown and started to look away, fearful of viewing any problem, but sucked it up and saw the face emerge, cord wrapped loosely around it's neck. The doctor told Lisa to grab the baby under each armpit and pull the baby out herself, and she reached down . . 
Then the baby was out and given to r Lisa to hold and I still couldn't see the gender with the cord in the way . . .
"It's a girl!" the Dr. announced, and any fear of Lisa's that I would be dissapointed went out the window.
"Hi Baby Lauren," I said, feeling like I'd known her all along.

The Doc interrupted my thoughts long enough for me to cut the cord, and then she was in Lisa's arms and everything was right in the world.



The white stuff - I forget its name - was new to me, but the Doc wrote that off as being the first of our kids to be delivered prior to the due date (actually, YaYa was too, but was jaundiced and I did not see her in those first moments after birth).
Here's my mother-in-law with Lauren.

I was rather freaked by how quiet she was, but everyone assured me she was fine and dandy. It was more than 10 minutes after the birth, once the video camera was off, that she unleashed her very first loud and sustained cry.
She was not weighed/measured for a very long time, but as noted came in at 7#,7 oz and 20 inches long (7 lbs, 6.98 oz actually, if memory serves)

Her eyes were open almost from the start and she seemed very alert.  She scored a 9 (out of a possible 10) on the APGAR score [the minus point was for the grayish tint to her hands and feet].
Ann, the nurse, did a great job of getting the footprints for our baby book.

Soon my mother in law left for a bit and most of the medical staff wandered off. We enjoyed a few blessed moments of alone time with our baby.


The blanket was made by my Mom, btw. My mother-in-law also knitted one, which was used later in the day.

We soon migrated up to the 5th (recovery) floor, where Lauren was bathed and given a security tag

True story: she despised the bath and stubbornly gripped the side of her plastic cradle. When flipped over to wash the other side, she gripped that side just as hard. The nurse was cracking up.



The room itself had a heck of a view overlooking the lake and water tower.

After dinner my mother in law and Lisa's step-dad came by to visit.


Then my Dad and sister Katie stopped by with my two nieces and all three of my kids.






My youngin's were decked out in shirts their Mom had made which read "I'm a big sister for the 3rd time", "I'm a big brother for the 1st time", and "I'm a big sister for the 2nd time".



UPDATE: I just learned Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron's record by hitting #756 today . . so Lauren's birthdate will resonate in history even before she's President!
Despite YaYa's earlier disapointment in our decision to have another baby and profound exaustion after a long day, she was  happy and eager to see the baby. Ditto (as expected) LuLu .  Parker was fond of the girl but of course only expressed it with a smile.



They helped Lis open some presents from my family


The night before, following a tradition Lisa established, I had gone out and purchased gifts to the siblings from the new arrival. Nothing fancy this time, just coloring books, including a King Kong one for Park, crayons, blank paper, Cinderella trading cards, Princess journals, and activity books to practice schoolwork.
Sure it sounds like a lot, but all told it came up to around 10 bucks and my Mom paid for more than half of it as a gift to me.


While they were upset they didn't get the cafeteria cookies they'd long been promised (it was closed) the kids went home shortly after 8, a mere hour past their bedtime. I followed suit 90 minutes later, leaving my beautiful wife and daughter sleeping in their room.
A very VERY good day! :)

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Lauren Kathleen is Born!

Weighing in at 7#, 7oz and measuring 20 inches long, Baby # 4 - a girl - arrived at 4:07 pm today.

Both Mom and baby are doing fine. I wanted to quickly post this just to get the celebration rolling, and if I'm feeling up to it will update with detail after detail before I hit the sack tonight.

She's a cutie, let me tell you :)

Monday, August 6, 2007

Nerves

Man, am I nervous.

I don't care if it is our 4th kid, the minute Lis said she was having contractions 10 minutes apart last night I kicked it into high gear.

By bedtime we got the bag packed, decorated a onesie for the baby, played around with the new camcorder, helped clean the house, bought a new outfit for myself for the baby pics, said some prayers in church with Lu, put the mobile together and got the monitor working.

Of course the contractions went away overnight, and boy was I glad.

In addition to being the anniversary of Hiroshima, August 6th adds up to '23'. [8 plus 6 plus 2 plus 00 plus 7].

Hey, I didn't like the movie and I don't buy the 'enigma', but why chance a jinx?

Today YaYa had some friends (annabelle and georgie) over and my mother-in-law took them and Lu swimming. When I dropped them off at the house Lis was on the front porch in obvious pain.

The contractions were back, but she'd kept quiet about it.

Great.

Man, am I nervous

Wish us luck.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

5 days to Go

Next Tuesday Lis is scheduled for an inducement. When folks ask "How's she doing?" I respond sincerely:

"She's miserable and resents me for impregnating her."

Well, that first part is accurate; I hope the last part isn't the case.

She's been pushing hard to give the other kids every conceivable day of fun before the birth. Among trips to Stonefire Pizza, the park, and the lake (she went with 14! kids and three other adults yesterday) she barely has time to rest up for the birth, a fact I've tried to hammer into her head.

The LAST thing I need is for her to give birth early. I still have to:

1. Put the bassinett back together

2. Put the carseat in the car

3. Finish packing the bag for the hospital

4. Repair the mobile

5. Get the baby monitor working

6. fix or replace our camcorder (dropped by a nurse the day Parker was born)

etc. etc.

Yikes, my nerves are shot just thinking about it!

I'm going to try and catch up on some posts in the next few days, but in all likelihood the next entry will be the words introduction to my new little one.

Wish us luck!

Friday, July 20, 2007

Barry Bonds and #755

This weekend Barry Bonds will play at Miller Park here in Milwaukee, the very town where Hank Aaron played 14 years of ball and hit #755, and hometown of Bud Selig.

There's a good chance Bonds might make this the only city in the world to host two home runs numbered #755.

I'm not happy about it of course. In a much earlier post (circa 2005) I ranted about the injustice of steroids and how it will corrode the fabric of the record books.

 I still feel the same way. I don't think Bonds accomplishment can/will ever be viewed without suspicion and wariness. It's not like he'll soar past the all-time mark and bury it; if he finished with 1000 homers I'd say "Man, it's not likely the drugs account for all 300 of the extra dingers" but if he finishes at 775 or even 800 . . .

Well its more than likely steroids account for less than 50 homeruns, even by the most conservative of estimates, don't you think?

But . .

I am very much a pragmatist and barring an act of God the record will fall. Without question Bonds has been the most feared hitter of this decade, alarmingly so, and I do believe that minus 'roids Bonds would still be a Hall of Famer (albeit with 500 or so home runs).

Does it make it right? No. Does it make it equal to Aaron and Ruth's marks? Naw.

Is it going to happen, and is it still impressive? Yes and yes.

So I'm going to swallow my bile and raise a wary but complimentary round of applause for the guy when he sets the mark.

And then I'm going to sit back and hope he gets indicted in the near future.

* * *
On the subject of historic events in baseball, in 2007 I have seen Justin Verlander no-hit the Brewers and the Phillies lose their 10,000th game (both on TV).

And I just might watch the home run record fall too (again, on TV).

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Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Father's Day 2007

This Father's Day the family got me a telescope off of Craigslist, a $150 value, for $20.

Mind you I've only used it once, but still, it means I can cross one thing off my 'Things I've wanted forever' list.

We didn't do a whole lot. We had my Dad and Lisa's over for dessert.

 

We chewed the fat for a bit, and that's about it. It was a nice, relaxed day.

Here's some random pics from the evening.

Doctor Who

Thanks to a heads-up from my Mom, I've rediscovered Dr. Who, THE GREATEST sci-fi show of all time.

When I was a kid the local PBS affiliate broadcast every existing episode in order, from the 1963 premiere on for years, each weeknight at 10 p.m. It was a nightly ritual for me and my long-suffering Grandma.

It went off the air in England in the late '80's, then came back in the new century.

Sci-Fi airs new episodes each Friday; the local PBS station now plays epiodes a few years older on Saturday nights.

Naturally, my wife thinks I'm a dork.

As for the Doctor's  . . Chris Eckelston, Doctor #9, doesn't do much for me. He's all herky-jerky expressions mingled in with dark monologues . . a little too much for me.

Doctor #10 David Tenant ROCKS. He's the perfect mix of whimsy and sarcasm, innocence and naughtiness. He's right up there - dare I say it - with the Jon Pertwee version of the Doctor.

Pregnancy Pic

This pic, of my very pregnant wife, was taken on Fathers Day.

As this is the 'official' pregnancy portrait, or as near as we shall come, and thus will be viewed my children in the years to come, I regret the necessity to say . . .

That this shot really, really, REALLY makes me hot.