First Walk

I am guessing there will be a lot of first's this year for Patrick. Yesterday, friends Shay (March 15 b-day) and Rachel came over for a walk in the beautiful 70 degree weather. Patrick was awake and alert the whole time and really seemed to enjoy it.

A day in the life...

Hangin' With Dad after work


First Bath


Nappy Time


Ready for Bed

Birth Story

Saturday, April 12

3pm-felt lower pains, different than the contractions I had felt the last few weeks.
5pm-went to sleep, woke up after an hour and pains were gone
10pm-made peanut butter fudge, felt like it had to be made before Sunday?? Strange nesting instinct??
11pm-went to bed
1am-woke up with intense pains that were different and just knew they were "it". Got in the tub right away. Contractions became more intense, had some bloody show. Contractions were anywhere from 3-7min apart and lasted from 45sec-1min long.
3am- called midwife. She said I should probably come in soon. I couldn't talk through the contractions at this point.
4:30am-left for the hospital. Checked and 7cm at arrival. Contractions intensified, got rechecked in an hour, still 7.
6:30am-labored on ball, in shower (didn't like this), on all fours in bed. Anything to make the pain go away! (oh, btw, it doesn't until you push the baby out!) Lots of leaking fluid, confirmed that it was my water.
8:30am-checked again, still 7cm Midwife offered Pitocin or breaking my water after checking that outer layer broke, but not actual sack. I didn't want either because it already hurt so bad and I didn't want it to get worse... yeah, yeah, I know it has get worse to get baby out. But I wasn't really thinking!
10:30am-agreed to break my water. Contractions intensfied and I felt like I had to bear down with each one.
11:30am-start pushing. Ryan was behind me the whole labor offering counter pressure on my lower back.

Sunday, April 13 12:37 Patrick arrives. No drugs, no anything.

I pushed very hard and Patrick sort of shot out at the end which resulted in a 3rd degree tear.

After a fully natural birth, my tear lands me in the OR with a spinal and IV to fix it. The staff was great though and kept Patrick on my chest the whole time and also breastfeeding. They didn't even weigh him for the first 3 hours!

We are home now recovering and figuring life out, outside the womb. Natural, Vaginal birth hurts like hell, but you are present in every moment and get something magical as a reward in the end.

Beautiful day!

Patrick made his neighborhood debut today. It is in the 60's, sunny and gorgeous here. We strapped him in the sling and sat out on the deck to enjoy the sunshine. We even saw our first flower of the season opening up. Patrick sure did a good job waiting for spring to come into the world. We had lots of neighbors stop by and see the newest addition. He was sleeping most of the time, but of course still looked cute as a button. Mommy and Daddy were alone for the first time this afternoon. Nana and GB spent the day in Lanesboro, MN seeing the sights with friends and taking a much needed break. Daddy is busy raking the yard and getting the garden prepped for the flowers to come up. The daffidills are just about to open.

Patrick has been eating much better and mostly all breastfeeding with the occasional breastmilk bottle to fatten him up before his next appt on Monday for a weight check. At his appt yesterday he was back up to 7lb 3oz (from 6lbs 9oz at the lowest). We are shooting to have his birth weight plus a little by tomorrow.

Thanks for all the great comments and emails. It is fun to take a little break and read them all and I will respond when I can. Our main computer is down, so pictures may be a little tough for a while. I'll do my best to keep them up to date though as I swear he changes a little each day.

Well, we are off to enjoy a little more sun to help with the jaundice.

Pictures

Can this guy pose or what?!?

Patrick updates

Wow, what a week it has been. I can't belive I actually have a moment to post updates. I wish I could say this first week is a breeze, but I would be kidding myself. Being home from the hospital was great, but coming home with no instructions attached to this little pumpkin proved a bit difficult.

Patrick has been in to see the dr. everyday so far. He continued to loose weight and his jaundice continued to get worse. He was having a very difficult time feeding. He just kept getting his tongue in the wrong spot so he wasn't able to get anything out. Because of this, I was becoming engorged and on the verge of mastitice. He was hungry and I was very sore but we just had trouble connecting. This made for a very long couple of nights with Patrick crying for up to 2 hours at a time. Mom was also doing her share of dropping the tears.

On Wednesday we got some relief with a good pump but we were feeding from a dropper to avoid using a bottle. This just wasn't getting him enough of what he needed, but I was finally getting some relief. Thursday we went with a bottle and really worked to push the milk day and night. I was up feeding and pumping every 2 hours.

Patrick was getting happier throughout the night the more he got in him, and mom was also feeling much better (but certainly sleepy). Today we went back to the dr. and he gained almost all the weight back that he lost while home and his jaundice is finally improving. Because he was calm, he also latched on like a tropper and is now getting some milk straight from the breast.

I can't tell you how good it feels to finally have a happy baby. He is quietly sleeping in a sling in my arms. I did get some pictures today and hope to upload soon. Thanks for everyone's support. It has been a really hard week, but we see a bright shiny light at the end of the tunnel.

Love to all from Patrick, Mommy and Daddy!

It's a Boy!

As you can imagine, Dad and Mom have been a little busy with our new bundle of joy.

Patrick William came into the world on Sunday, April 13 at 12:37 pm.
He weighed 7lbs and 6.5oz. He was 19 and 3/4 inches long.

He came au natural with a 12 or so hour labor. I was able to make it to 7cm before heading into the hospital about 4:30am. Labor is certainly that, LABOR! It was a labor of love though.

Mommy did experience a 3rd degree tear, so she is really sore and dad has been awesome to help.

We hope to have much better pictures soon, but enjoy the news as we have.