Sense of normalcy

Noah is currently taking the longest nap of his young life. He's been out for about 2 hours. We had a celebration dinner tonight. Weldon cooked and opened a bottle of wine while Ann sat with Noah on the back porch. Jenna and I got to go for a slow walk with the dogs. Callie still won't leave Noah or Jenna's side and she really doesn't like it when he cries.

I worked today and it was really rough. It was actually more bitter-sweet. I missed my family terribly and called every hour to check on them. I also got to strut around the schools like a peacock. I told several people I felt like I gained 4 inches and all of a sudden developed huge pec muscles. I walked around all day with my head high and my chest out. I just waited for people to congratulate me so I could preen. If someone didn't say it quick enough, I'd tell them Noah was born and then preen under the glow of their congratulatory words. It was great.

When I got home there was a big sign in the yard announcing Noah's birth. Kyle and Misty dropped that off this morning. We really are blessed with so many good friends. I think Noah is clothed until college with all the gifts we received.

Tomorrow Jenna goes to the doctor to have her staples removed. She really is feeling a lot better. The collostrum is gaining in volume so we think her milk will be here soon.

Sorry for a lack of updates today. Here are a couple more pics. Don't forget you can check out Noah's main website at here for more pictures and videos. I know I need to update it but a baby is a full-time job.

Getting used to the new household

Whew am I beat. I'll tell you guys because I wouldn't say that to Jenna. That poor girl has been poked, prodded, tubed, cut, sewn, and who knows what else. Not to mention having a small mammal attached to your body in a way that can't be comfortable.

Anyway, everyone is doing good. Noah has fed a couple of times now and has been put in his crib. It is absolutely hilarious how small he looks on that big ol' bed. I'm going back to work tomorrow (a half day) and Jenna's mom is going to help her out tomorrow while I'm gone. Jenna's up and moving so much better today its hard to believe how far she's come so quickly.

The dog's are still unsure. Callie is by far the one freaked out. She won't leave Jenna's side. She's curious about the baby (not as curious as Vader) but mainly she wants to be around Jenna. We're being careful to not let them around Jenna when she's walking and we're trying to let them "see" the baby without "playing" with the baby. We'll see how this goes :)

We had some visitors and now we're unwinding. I think more than the lack of sleep that's exhausting, it's the stress from the past few days and finally being home. Now we have to adjust to a life with a child and all that entails. We wouldn't have it any other way.

WE ARE HOME!!!!!!

We had a whirlwind of activity in the past 3 hours but the short story is that we are home!!!!!! The lactation nurse was very impressed with how Noah fed at his 1 o'clock feeding so the call went to us and of course we couldn't wait to get him home.

We got home about 5 minutes after 3 and the dogs are quite confused :) They keep sniffing him and of course Vader just wants to lick him. I'll give more details later but I wanted to put this up in case I can stop someone from making a trip to the hospital.

Yeah!!!!

Wednesday update

Noah finally decided we may have something with this whole food thing. He breastfed big time this morning. He's had a hard time sucking hard enough to get the collostrum (sp?) out. He'd suck a shield and Jenna was generating colostrum but he couldn't get it out on his own. They decided to try to pump Jenna yesterday and see if we could get some collostrum for him and it was a huge mistake. Well the husband/father thinks it was a mistake anyway. After the pumping Jenna got uterine cramps so bad she was in tears. Unfortunately this was not timed well with her pain meds and it was an hour and 45 minutes before she could get more medicine. It is the hardest thing in the world to see the woman you love in such severe pain and you can't do anything and the people taking care of her can't do anything either. It was better by the afternoon and last night but he still wasn't 'latching on' strong enough. Overnight we gave him some formula via syringe. They don't want to give him a bottle so he doesn't confuse that nipple with Jenna's so we would just shoot some formula in the nipple shield and he would suck it out. When he got tired we just shot some in his mouth and let him swallow. So this morning when the lactation nurse came in I was asleep. Jenna told me they could do it so I laid back down. When I woke up again Jenna was smiling. She said "He's got it." I woke up again and he was still going. I dozed again and when I awoke the nurse had left and he was still going. It's such a relief.

Noah is also a very popular man. He had a lot of visitors yesterday. He was passed around for everyone to see and to hold. Of course he didn't mind at all. I teased his Granda (Jenna's mom) and my Aunt Sarah (is that Great-Aunt to Noah?) they were going for the Guinesss Book of World Records for continually rocking of a baby. But I actually didn't mind. I love the way he makes people smile. I can't believe how much he's changed in 2 days. I know everyone says it to you, and of course I believed them, but I still can't believe how much he's changed.

If you still haven't gotten to see Noah and you want to see him at the hospital, you may want to hurry. Since he's feeding better there is a good chance we'll go home today. Of course we have no idea what time or if it will happen. The nurses yesterday all thought we could go home today except the lactation nurse and she still hasn't said she'll sign off on him leaving, but there is a chance since he's doing so much better.

Thanks for all your help everybody. I don't know how we ever could have done this without our friends and family to be here. Here's a picture I took this morning when Jenna had finished feeding him and laid him on her chest. They both fell asleep and I just couldn't help snapping the pic.

New Pictures!!!!!!

Okay I've posted some pictures on the web of Noah and the process up to and after his birth.

They are uploading now so if the link doesn't work just wait a minute and try again.

Click here for the pics!!!!!

Update

Everyone is doing great. Noah went down for his hearing screening and 1 side was normal and the other side couldn't get a reading because he was moving too much. The pediatrician saw him and he was fine. He breastfed for 10 minutes with the lactation consultant here. He's doing great.

Jenna's doing good as well. She got up and went to the bathroom with the nurses earlier and she made herself beautiful. As if she needed help.

I'll let you know if anything changes as the day goes on.

Room and Weight Changes

I forgot to post last night they changed our room while we were in the delivery room. We're in Room 29 now. Go to the 2nd nurses station and take a left. It's the second room on the left. The new phone number is 479-684-3029.

Noah also seems to have lost some weight overnight. I was standing next to the nurse when he was weighed. It came up in kilograms or something I didn't know and I asked her how much he weighed and she said 6 lbs. 7 oz. I pantomimed the number to everyone watching through the window. Today I noticed on the chart his weight was listed at 6 lbs. 4 oz. Jenna was told in recovery 6 lbs. 4 oz so I think the nurse who told me his weight just did bad math. He was definitely 6 lbs. 4 oz. Sorry for all the confusion

First pics

These aren't that good because they were taken with a phone but I won't have a card reader until the morning so they'll have to do for now :)

Update on Noah and Jenna

Well the dust has settled and we're all alone. Jenna's asleep and Noah and I are staying up. He tries to sleep for about 3 minutes and then he'll cry for about 15 seconds. He's so beautiful, I can't really express it here. You'll just have to meet him yourself.

The delivery went great. Dr. Duke came in and checked her and gave the go for the C-section. They prepped Jenna and whisked her off. They made me put on a blue suit so I could go in. We had a couple of minutes of comic relief when they didn't have any shoe covers big enough for my size 13's. After about 20 minutes they came and got me and I went in. They were already hard at work and I sat down and held Jenna's hand. I could tell she was scared but she's so brave. There was some small talk with the Dr.'s and then Dr. Harris (the anastesiologist sp?) asked if I was squeamish. I said "Not usually" and he said well stand up and look if you want to see your son be born. So I did and it was amazing. They were pulling him out and they clamped and cut the cord. He looked just like you imagine he would look :) They whisked him off to the lamp and Jenna and I just looked at each other. After a couple of minutes they asked if I wanted to come over and see my son and I looked at Jenna and she nodded her head emphatically. I went over about the time he stopped crying. The nurses were cleaning him up and I started talking to him. The doctor's are right. They do recognize voices. When I started talking, he stopped moving his head and flailing his arms and just looked at me. He has dark blue eyes (of course that may change) that will just melt your heart.

I was so wrapped up in the moment Jenna had to snap me back by asking me what he looked like. I started describing him to her. I told her he had dark hair, long fingers, long toes, long legs, my nose, blue eyes, and her chin. He was beautiful. I talked to him for a while telling him everything was okay and he was about to meet the first woman he'll ever love. After the nurse wrapped him up I was able to take him over to her. We shared a brief cry. She couldn't touch him because her arms were strapped down but I let her see him and she kissed all over him.

We had to leave Mommy and go to the nursery. Everyone was at the door waiting for us and I carried him to all his grandparents so they could meet him. Then off to the nursery where I talked to him while the nurses weighed him (6 lb 7 oz) and measured him (19"). Then I had to leave and I went out into the hallway for a bunch of hugs and kisses.

I got to go back in for Noah's bath a little while later. Jenna was doing fine in recovery and they were able to bring Noah out to her when she came out. She got to hold him for a couple of minutes before they needed to prep her in the room for her morphine pump. They dressed Noah and brought him down about 15 minutes later and he's been with us since.

NOAH'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!

Noah was delivered via Cesarean just before 9 PM. Mom and baby are doing fine. He is 6 lbs. 7 oz and 19 inches long. Jenna's still in recovery but I got to bring him out for everyone to meet and take him to the nursery. Jenna should be out recovery in the next 10 to 15 minutes and if Noah's temp is good (which it looks good so far) we can bring him out to hold him. I'll update again in a minute hopefully with a pic.

Thanks for all your prayers.

We love you all.

C-section it is

Dr. Duke came back and still no change so she is being prepped for a C-section now. He's expecting to have her back there by 8 and a baby by 8:10. I'll post again when Noah's here and the dust has settled.

More waiting

Dr. Duke came by on his way to the OR and checked Jenna before scrubbing in on his other C-section and...no change. He says the odds are very strong for a C-section. He should be back in under an hour to check her again and make a final decision.

Not so fast my friend

Well Jenna hasn't changed any, but she gets a reprieve until a decision has to be made. A C-section got put on the board before Dr. Duke had to make a decision. So there is no change but he's going to wait until the other woman's C-section is complete (about 1 1/2 hours) and then reexamine her and make the decision then.

I'll keep you posted.

Small Setback

Dr. Duke just checked Jenna and said she hasn't progressed any so he's less optimistic about a vaginal birth. He's going to give us 1 more hour and if Jenna hasn't dilated any more then he's going to do a C-section. Keep your fingers crossed and continue to send your love and prayers to Jenna and Noah.

4cm and that dang heartbeat

We're up to 4 cm now!!!

They decided to put Jenna on oxygen. Noah's heartbeat drops with each contraction which is normal, but it was taking him a long time to get back up to his 'normal' range. The nurse said he's acting like a tired baby so they hoped oxygen would get him to perk up.

Doing good on oxygen

Noah's doing fantastic since Jenna was put on oxygen. His heartrate has been strong and steady over 140 even during contractions.

We're still going slow but that's okay because Pops (Jenna's Dad) hasn't made it yet. So far we have Granda (Jenna's mom), Magga (my mom), and Papaw and Mamaw (my dad and step-mom) here. Just waiting on Pops and we can get this party going :)

3 cm

Well Dr. Duke just measured her at 3cm. It doesn't necessarily mean she's moved 1cm in the past few minutes. 2 different people measured so it's possible they just measure different.

They also want to get a better reading of Noah's heartbeat so they inserted a scalp monitor. It's a small metal lead they put under the skin of his scalp. The monitor helps them differentiate between his heartbeat and Jenna's.

His heartbeat has really leveled off since they scaled back the Ptosen.

Dilated to 2cm

We're finally making progress with her cervix. They upped the Ptosen a couple of times and the contractions were doing better and then...Noah became distressed again. So...they dropped the Ptosen back down. What's happening is Noah's head is right in the money spot. But, since she's not dilated much, his head is getting a lot of pressure from her contractions. Pressure on his head is freaking him out so it looks like we're here for a while :P

8 1/2 hours and counting

We've crossed the 8 hour mark and not much has changed. Jenna's contractions are a lot stronger so we're just waiting for her body to get fully ready. If we end up having one of those marathon labors at least Jenna's not in pain.

Good and strong

Everything from the new Ptosen drip is doing well. Noah's heartbeat is stable at 130-140 and Jenna is doing good. Contractions are 2-3 minutes apart and are getting stronger. Dr. Duke has said now that he may have to break the scar tissue himself. Not sure how he'll do that but he seems confident :) I'll update when something new happens.