Lindsay had her first checkup today. The nurse (I think) actually came out to our house so the girls didn’t have to travel. Everything’s looking good, Lindsay’s gaining back her weight very well, and the typical newborn jaundice is minimal.
Monthly Archive for January, 2004
Lindsay wasn’t the only thing born this weekend into our family (though by far the most important). Since Heather and I have family scattered around the world, I figured that I’d tap the power of the Internet to let people know what’s going on. Right now, all we’ve got is a picture gallery (courtesy of iPhoto on the Mac) hosted on my office’s firewall box, but it’ll grow from there.
Mom’s finally out of the OR, all stitched up (stapled, actually) and in the recovery room for close monitoring and a more peaceful environment for the first hour or so. Everything was going very well. I brought Lindsay in with me, and we thought we’d see about nursing for the first time. The little piggy latched right on as if she’d been doing it for months. Just laid her next to mom, didn’t even get her positioned perfectly, and she’d already started feasting. Like mother, like daughter, I guess. Never shy to take a meal.
After the nurses checked her out, gave her a quick bath, and did all the measuring, here’s how we stacked up:
Lindsay Michelle Boisvert
Born: 4:12 pm on January 9th, 2004
Weight: 9 lbs 1 oz
Length: 21.5 in
I fear for her sanity as a child, as just 20 minutes old, she’s already lifting her head and looking around at stuff. Hopefully she’ll be like her mom and be lazy, rather than obnoxious like me.
After waiting through the most horrible sucking noises (because her head was jammed so far into Heather’s pelvis), out came Lindsay Michelle Boisvert, a screaming, cheesy mess of a daughter, at 4:12pm. I actually saw her being born (aka, ripped from mom), and then she came over to the cleaning table to get wiped off. Got a quick introduction to mom and a picture of the three of us, and then off we go to meet the family, and return to our room for the initial examination.
Heather’s on her way to the OR to get prepped, doped, and sliced open, and then I get to go visit. Unfortunately, I don’t get to scrub and don a monkey suit, but I do get the sweet disposable overalls, knee-high booties, and a hairnet. Once they get her open, and are ready to start pulling the baby out, I get to come into the OR so I can see the actual birth, and then carry the baby out to meet the extended family. And they’ll even let me take pictures, which is great.
After pushing for a few hours, the doctor has decided that they’re now way the baby’s head is going to make it out the birth canal. She was concerned initially because the head was tipped a little bit to one side, and it didn’t get better as she’d hoped. It’s been about 3 hours of pushing with no progress, so we’re going to opt for the C-section. Unfortunately for Heather, she’s just got to sit there and continue contracting while they get the OR and the anaesthesiologist all set up for the surgery.
Heather’s cervix is all effaced and dialated, but we’re still waiting for Gail (Heather’s mom), Chloe (Heather’s sister) and Patrick (Chloe’s husband) to arrive from Portland. Fortunately, because Heather got the epidural, she doesn’t need to transition directly from labor to pushing, so she’s just going to hang out until they get her. Should help with the pushing as well, because her body will have a chance to relax and stretch on its own a little better.
After dealing with the contractions all night, and them getting steadily worse in the hospital, Heather’s in the process of getting an epidural to hopefully let her relax a little. No screaming or anything, but you can tell she’s just about at the end of her rope, and we haven’t even started pushing yet.
Well, we’re off to the hospital to see if they want to let us in. I don’t think there’s much chance of a denial, as Heather’s contractions have been 3-5 minutes apart and 60-90 seconds long for a good hour or two.