C - for Connor Andrew [chinese name TBD] Li
We like the name Connor so much that we couldn't NOT use it, and then Andrew is named for my father - Ned. So his initials (without the Chinese name) will be CAL - not unlike his first cousin Calvin. :D
Isn't that just perfect?
Everyone is still doing wonderfully - Connor & I napped earlier today, and Connor & Jen are napping right now.
Everyone slept wonderfully last night - Jen told me the baby nursed all night long with no problems whatsoever. Going to spend the day with our new little guy relaxing & getting to know him better.
But of course, more photos:
BOY!!
Baby boy (name still TBD) was born in the birth pool at 3:50pm CST at a whopping 8 lbs 10 oz. :) Jen & baby are doing wonderfully. More later, but here are some photos to tide you over:
Contractions have continued to get stronger - Jen is doing awesome & continuing to vocalize through the pain. She still in the birth pool and feel like things are opening up. Stay tuned...
Jen is doing just great! The baby is no longer posterior (thanks to Cliff!) & is now positioned correctly, has good heart tones, and is all set to come out whenever that is! At last check, Jen is now dilated to 6cm - so things are progressing wonderfully. She's in the birth pool which seems to be helping her cope with the pain.
Jennifer's contractions began at 5:00 a.m. this morning. The midwives were all here by 10:00 am. The baby has a good heartbeat but it was determined that it is in a posterior position. The midwives successfully assisted Jennifer in moving the baby into a better position. Jennifer is currently dialated at a 3. Jennifer will be enteriing her birth pool soon.
Yes, we have three midwives here and all is well. Blood pressure is good and Mom is handling contractions well. The midwives have brought out the doppler to find the baby's heartbeat and determine the position. We will keep you posted.
Contractions are still going (stronger today than last Tuesday); midwives are on their way over; birth pool is filling....maybe it's baby day!!
Ladies and gentlemen,
When the gate opens, please move quickly into the car and pull the shoulder harness down over your head. Please keep your hands and arms inside the car at all times, and please don't leave until the car has come to a complete and full stop. We hope you enjoy the ride!
*click click click click click click...* [sounds of roller coaster car ascending to the pinnacle of the first huge drop]
Contraction summary:
Started: approximately 5:00am
Duration: 45 seconds
Frequency: 2 minutes
An Easter baby or another warm up? Stay tuned!!
As to be expected, we've had a variety of reactions from people when they found out we're doing a homebirth. Everything from "oh cool!" to "huh?" to "that's freaking crazy!" While we don't think it's for everyone, nor are we advocating it's the *only* way, it's something we want to do. Again, it's not something we've jumped into lightly without doing a lot of research - we've read a lot of information, and feel like we're making a good, educated, informed decision.
Here's an excerpt of an email I wrote to a friend and thought it would be prudent to post on here as well.
[begin excerpt]
The hospital birth more & more these days is like an operation or a procedure. You go there to have a baby & the doctor's job is to get the baby out (more often than not, quicker than it should take; hence all the cesareans & drug-induced labors). In fact, in a lot of cases, the cesareans & drugs cause more problems than they prevent. It's a very impersonal, methodical experience.
The homebirth is totally focusing on the experience, and sacred and spiritual side of giving birth. It's all about the comfort of the mother, done in a very comforting, familiar setting, rather than in this very strange, institutionalized room. I mean, how wonderful is it to have the baby in your very own bedroom, close by (or on your very own bed)? After the baby is born, you're not stuck in an uncomfortable hospital room, surrounded by strangers, and having to wait to have things done for you. The baby is already in a warm, cozy, loving environment.
And the moment that the baby is born - what an incredible, spirtual, sacred, *powerful* moment - a moment where you can feel just how precious life is, and that you're holding the beginning of a life in your very hands. Even though the baby has already been alive & developing for 9 months, it's at that moment where you actually feel like the baby is given life, taking its first breath of air. We feel like that moment should really be cherished between parents and baby in an intimate setting if possible, not in the chaos of a hospital room.
It's also very empowering for the mother - to know that she can go through this natural process that's supposed to be that way. We want to be able to bond with the baby after its born - not have it taken away for tests that can actually wait. We want Jen to be comfortable and do whatever she can to get comfortable - not confined to a bed. Actually, lying in a bed is probably one of the most difficult ways to deliver a baby, yet they do it all the time.
We just don't want it to turn into a situation where the hospital dictates what to do because they are getting impatient. In a lot of cases, the labor slows down and so they immediately call for drugs or a c-section. Whereas if they moved the woman to a different position or let her walk around or a variety of other things, they could probably keep the labor going.
Hospitals are required for emergencies, I give them that, but a lot of labor & deliveries are NOT emergencies. People in other cultures & (even historically) gave birth naturally all the time...why should it be any different here in the US or today?
That's another benefit of a homebirth - it's not set in stone what you have to or need to do - because every labor & delivery is different. It's all about trying different things to get Jen comfortable. If we don't have a waterbirth we won't be disappointed. Actually, with Braden, Jen did get into a tub at the hospital - but her labor slowed down when she first got in. So they made her get back out. We found out later that labors do sometimes slow down a bit when you get into the water, but it'll pick back up. They just didn't give Jen enough time...(see?? Impatient!)
The midwives are there to help & support through the labor & delivery - they have methods to turn the baby if it's posterior - they know what to do in a host of different situations. They are there to see that the placenta is delivered. We're actually quite excited to see this through! And I think hearing the stories of the other homebirthers last night gave Jen some inspiration that she can do it too. :)
The thing is...a lot of people go into a hospital birth thinking that that is the only way to do it & that's the only way it's done....they plan on getting an epidural, getting drugged up & being induced. They just want the operation over & done with with as little pain as possible. But sometimes, it's going through the painful struggle that makes it all the ever more rewarding at the end. I liken homebirth to running a marathon. People don't run marathons because it's comfortable or painless. It wouldn't be as meaningful if they ran the first mile and then rode in a car the remaining 25 miles. :)
[end excerpt]
Almost exactly a year ago to this day, I upgraded our digital camera from a craptastic Kodak to a much mo' better Canon A60 for free (thank heavens for Ebay THAT time!) Because it was such a hot deal, I shared it with my officemates and the camera purchasing spread like wildfire. One was bought for the office to replace the Beyond Ancient 640x480 Sony Mavica (which still stored photos on floppys). Other co-workers bought them for their families and themselves.
While highly regarded as one of the best 2.0MP digicams out there, ratings don't mean squat when their longevity has been cut short by Random Acts of Gravity. Within the last month, the office A60 disappeared into some unknown void when some co-workers of mine lost it on site. It'll probably turn up in a couple of eons when aliens discover it in an ancient archaeological dig. One belonging to one of the secretaries decided it wanted to see what bouncing on concrete felt like, and bounced down several concrete stairs. Last I heard it had knocked itself unconscious into a coma that it still hasn't awoken from.
Of course, this meant I've been extra careful with my own personal A60 since They say "accidents always comes in threes", right? Or is it "three is a charm?" In any case, I could just see some misfortune befalling my delicate camera just before we need it for the birth of baby.
I should fear no longer as number three just showed up unexpectedly at my cubicle door, bags in hand. Another co-worker of mine bought an A60 (unbeknownst to me), and she JUST brought it to me to see if I could figure out what was wrong with it. When the display looks like a TV with the worst reception you have ever seen, well, the best you can do then is search its pocket for loose pixels. That camera wouldn't voom if you put 15,000 volts into it! It's passed on. It's met its maker. It's pushing up the daisies. It is no more! (Brownie points to anyone who gets those two references). My guess is that it took a short walk off a long pier, but there's really no way to be sure.
Now that I'm satisfied my camera is in the clear, I'm going to let her out of my safekeeping and let her go see new and unexplored places. After all, if you love them, you've got to set them free, right? Or as Wayne & Garth put it, "If you hurl and she comes back, she's yours. If you blow chunks and she bolts, then it was never meant to be."
What is to be learned from this lesson, grasshopper? Just remember kids, digital cameras should never ever be subjected to acceleration on the order of 9.81 m/s^2 or 32.16 ft/s^2.
from the birthing class, that is. Last night, Jen & I attended our final birthing class with Mary Alexander. She had invited 3 new moms to come share their homebirth stories with us. However, only one of the dads made it (the others were home babysitting older children), but it was more than worth it to hear the experience from his point of view!
Mother #1 just recently homebirthed her 3rd child (she had homebirthed numbers 1 & 2 as well). This time was her first time doing a waterbirth, and she said it was definitely worth it! Her husband even "caught" the baby, although he wasn't quite prepared to do it. For this mom, her mom had homebirthed all of her children, so to her, it was a very natural and common thing. In fact, she admitted that she didn't even know about hospital births until she was 12 yrs old!
Mother #2 homebirthed her second - and said it was a very empowering feeling giving birth to your child without drugs or intervention. She used a combination of meditative techniques to help her through the pain.
And mother #3 had the best story to tell - she also waterbirthed her baby, but her labor was relatively fast & hard. In fact, she had hard labors for 4 or 5 hours which only got her 3 cm dilated, and then went from a 3 to an 8 in a matter of 45 minutes. Her story was the most hilarious because she talked about how she & her husband sang the baby out. Her focusing technique involved singing a hymn that she knew, but instead of singing the words, she hee'ed & hoo'ed to the tune.
Jen also got her two shipments of newborn cloth diapers yesterday so she brought those to the class for show-and-tell.
One observation/theory we have about why she had so many contractions on Tuesday - Jen remembers drinking some of her herbal tea that night before, which is supposed to induce labor. And she hasn't drank any since then. Maybe that explains why she hasn't had many contractions since then?
Ariel also started up softball again yesterday with her first practice of the season. She'll be playing in the U-12 division this year so all the girls on her team are new to us. On the positive side, she's also no longer the only tall, lanky girl on her team. There are several so she's no longer quite so out of place.
Went to bed last night with anger issues against Ariel's softball coach (from last year), the Ebay scumbag who thinks I'm lying about the fencing foils, and He/She Who Shall Rename Nameless. Grrrr....not getting into all that right now though.
"Not a creature was stirring, not even a baby..."
Well, that's not exactly true as the baby seemed to be wanting to punch/kick its way out through Jen's bladder last night while we were watching the Japanese version of Shall We Dance (courtesy of Netflix). I told the baby in no uncertain terms that it was going the wrong direction if it wanted out!
But aside from a few contractions this morning, all is quiet. Our last birthing class is scheduled for tonight - I wonder if Mary Alexander will check Jen to see if she's dilated at all.
Ariel also starts softball season tonight with her first practice!
So while nothing is really going on, how about a poll of which boy's name you think we should choose? You can leave your opinions as a comment or email me. :) Please rank them in order of preference:
And here are your choices:
Andrew*
Caleb
Connor
Darren*
Ethan
Nathan
*'ed names have my dad's name contained within them - so while significant, not the overall deciding factor.
Well, the good news is that Jen & I both got a decent night's sleep. So the answer to the question that y'all are obviously waiting for is that there is no baby YET. ;) Jen's contractions pretty much stopped for the night after she went to bed, so it looks like it was a hoopla for nothing. Well, I'm sure her body did *something*, but not enough.
You just gotta love this emotional roller coaster that we're on! Feel free to get off when the car comes to a complete stop. Or feel free to keep riding along with us!
Well, Jen's contractions lasted through dinner, but since then, have sort of petered out. She's still having them, although fairly infrequently now and not for very long.
Looks like we'll try again tomorrow!
I said it once, and I'll say it again - this is definitely the "worst" part IMO - the waiting and not knowing when the hard labor will begin. Of course I'll post something if something does happen! Again, you *never* know about these things.
Last check? Contractions still going, pain in varying degrees. Nothing new to report. I need to go make dinner & wontons (for freezing & eating later)!
Jen just called me - the contractions haven't stopped. She took about a 2 hr nap and was woken up by some stronger contractions - these seem to be coming every 3 minutes or so, lasting about a minute in duration. In fact, she had 3 contractions while I was on the phone with her. I may not be here at work much longer as I still need to go by the grocery store before going home!
I hate seeing her in so much pain & discomfort, but it's what the body needs to do to get the baby out! I asked during one of the birthing classes for the women to try to describe to me what contractions feel like...so I can try to relate. If anyone else thinks they can do better, feel free to email me. :)
I should probably just go home as I can barely concentrate here at work anyway. And seeing as how the report got sent out yesterday, there's nothing pressing for me to be here for right now.
The midwife checked Jen out & told her she's not effaced yet but her cervix is at 1cm or 2cm on the outside, and is definitely ripe for more contractions! Man, makes her sound like a fruit or something. So it could be later tonight or it could be days from now...but Jen is continuing to have contractions so we'll just wait & see again.
The midwife left but told Jen to call her if anything changes. Jen is continuing to do her daily chores to keep her contractions going. :D The midwife (Mary Alexander) was also impressed that we had done a trial run with the birth pool & that I had figured out how to siphon the water out of it, and we had everything ready. I guess a lot of couples don't often think that far ahead.
See? Being an engineer is good for something! I guess I sometimes take the logical way of thinking & always planning ahead mentality for granted.
More if anything changes!
So Jen called the midwife and the midwife told her how to check to see if she was dilated and how much. So last I heard, she was going to go do that & call me back. Well, that was nearly an hour ago, so I just called home to see what was going on.
My sweet daughter answered the phone and told me Jen couldn't come to the phone right then because the midwife was there!
Oh gee...thanks for keeping me up to date! I'm only the father, forcryingoutloud! I guess *someone* got a little too excited and forgot to call me!
So now I anxiously await to hear what's going on. Still no plans to leave work early...YET.
Jen just called me here at work telling me that she's had 3 contractions in the last 15 minutes, each lasting about 45 seconds in duration. She's going to call her midwife is see what she thinks. Either her midwife will come out to the house now, or she'll tell Jen to wait for her appointment.
Jen's been having contractions off & on pretty much through the entire night. She definitely feels like these are doing "something", although they are still somewhat infrequent - probably having 3 or 4 every hour, lasting about a minute in duration. She has an appointment with her midwife later today, so I expect we'll find out if she's starting to progress then.
Don't get TOO excited yet though...this *could* last for several days before the REAL thing happens.
More updates as the situation develops!
A panoramic shot of the surrounding landscape from when we were a top of Pinnacle Mountain on Saturday:
Note: Generated in less than 20 seconds flat using free Autostitch software from a series of 3 photos!
And just another test of a new photo site I'm considering using for baby photos:
Tick...tick...tick. The clock continues to run and Jen continues to get more & more uncomfortable with each passing day, but no baby yet! I somehow managed to get down to New Orleans/Baton Rouge and back for four days without having to hop on last-minute flight to try to get here in time for the birth of my baby.
The trip to Louisiana was to present our final results for a huge modeling project I've been working on for the past year - the Mississippi River Reintroduction into Bayou Lafourche, one of the largest 2D hydrodynamic models ever constructed.
While I was down there, I got to visit with my brother-in-law, Brett, who is doing an externship at the Palace Cafe in New Orleans as part of his program with the CIA. My boss is somewhat of an amateur chef & food connoisseur so they got along just grand. Amidst 15 lbs of boiled crawfish, we had a lovely dinner and chat about the restaurant industry. The culinary fare for the rest of the week consisted of po'boys & other Cajun delicacies. Mmmm. Can't say that I could ever get sick of Cajun cuisine.
We are still indecisive about a boy's name. One that we're liking more & more is "Darren". Jen told me last night she thinks we're having a girl so it may all be a moot point. ;) We shall see...
Received the birth pool a couple of a days ago and did a trial fill-up run last night, just to see how long it would take to fill it up once we were officially into labor. Looks like it will only take about an hour or so, so no worries there. We still need to rearrange the furniture somewhat in our bedroom to make space for it, but it is large enough that both Jen & I will be able to fit in it.
Jen has been having some isolated contractions this past week - nothing continuous, so it looks like her body is starting to warm up to the idea of pushing that baby out! I'll keep y'all posted if anything develops...
Still no "news" yet! Jen is now in her 38th week but I suppose it could happen any day now. She's been having some warm-up contractions the past few days - hopefully THAT is ALL they are for now!
Jen ordered this large birth pool a few days ago - we're hoping to use it for our waterbirth! :)
The birth class last Thursday was very informative. We talked about my responsibilities & duties while Jen is in labor...I think I'm ready!! Hehee. I look forward to seeing our baby soon and possibly even being the one to "catch" the baby after he/she is born.
I'll be incommunicado for the next few days...so don't go thinking that we went & had that baby already!
And one last thing - NBC is finally showing The Office (pilot is on 3/24) - the American remake of the hilarious BBC version. However, after seeing the sneak peaks for it, I don't have very high expectations for it. The BBC version had the perfect characters, and was so well-written and produced - I can't see the American version even coming close. Plus they copied the same characters & plot from the BBC version - I just don't see it working.
- AvP: Sucky plot, some good AvP fights. Good thing it was a free rental.
- Riding 8 miles w/Braden on a trailer bike behind me is probably the equivalent of riding 20 miles solo. At least that's the way my legs felt trying to go up steep hills. We had a blast Saturday afternoon though - got out into the warm, spring air along the Arkansas River with our new Camelbaks & gave Jen some peace & quiet at home.
- Another victory in our table tennis league brings Co-worker buddy & my record up to 5-2 overall. Driving back in my truck with the windows rolled down, the warm air gushing past our ears, Sonic Route 49 slushies in our hands, Tiny Dancer cranked up on my stereo, and singing at the top of our lungs - life just doesn't get much better than that. It's moments like that that I will miss *especially* once CWB is gone this summer. *sigh* In some ways, he's like the brother I never had....
- My heart is finally troublefree now that my friend Joshua's computer is protected from viruses, spyware, and hackers. He got DSL several weeks ago but I haven't been able to go over & help him set up all these protections until last night. Yay us!!
- Apple's 30" Cinema flat panel monitor RULEZ all. I drooled all over it when I saw it at CompUSA today.
- Signed Ariel up for softball again this spring. I can't wait!!!
- March Madness is coming up in 2 weeks. I can't wait!!!
- Baby is due is less than 3 weeks. I can't wait!!!
Changing out a heater core? Check. Replacing car speakers in the door? Check. Removing the entire panel of each door? Check. Changing out a car battery? Check. Installing a car amplifier? Check. Replacing a malfunctioning turn signal switch? Check. Replacing a bad center taillight? Check. And most recently - changing my car headlight? Check.
It just got me wondering - do most people (as far as the general public goes) know how to do some of these basic (yet probably not important) tasks? If you don't, what do you do when your turn signal stops working or you have a busted taillight? I'm no auto mechanic by any means, but I was just curious what people do for basic maintenance with their vehicles?
*****
Talked to my sister the other night and she suggested a name that almost meets all of our criteria. It certainly has my father's name contained within it, and it's close to the letter 'C' - Darren. It's certainly a possibility, I think. The coincidental thing is that I actually know a Darren Lee that works in Louisiana. I did promise my BIL that we won't use the names he has reserved for his kids - Angus & Hildegaard. Believe me. Those names are safe. ;)
