Welcome to the World!!
Name: Jacob Bailey Connaway
DOB: Saturday, September 15th
Time: 12:14 pm
Weight: 7lbs 15 oz
Length: 20 1/2 inches
At last, Jake decided to make a grand entrance, after being 6 days past his due date. On Friday, Nate and I saw our doctor and she determined that there was no need to wait until next week for an induction and tried to get us admitted to the birthing center that evening, but they were too full and we were put on the waiting list for this weekend or beginning of next week. Well, Jake had other ideas...
I woke up on Saturday morning at 12:57 am with a contraction, had another a few minutes later, then got up at 1:30 am and my water broke. Nate got up with me and we timed the contractions, which were about 10 minutes apart. We called the birthing center to let them know we would be coming in during the next few hours and we just waited out the contractions which got progressively worse. The contractions got to about 6 minutes apart (they prefer 3-5 minutes to be admitted to the hospital) but I had an extreme contraction at about 3:30 am during which I could not stand or sit and could not speak, so we decided to head to the hospital anyways. We were admitted at 4:00 am, I was dilated to 4 1/2 cm and was 80% effaced and my contractions were in full swing, although still about 6 minutes apart. My mom joined Nate and I at the hospital, so between the both of them, I had a great support system! And lots of hands to squeeze tight!
Around 6:20 am, I received my much appreciated epidural!! It gave me almost immediate relief, but I still felt extreme pressure and was able to know the moment each contraction started and still breathed through each one. My doctor arrived around 7:00 am, found out I was dilated to 7 cm and now 100% effaced, baby had dropped down as far as he could. She told me to take a nap and get rested, I would probably start pushing around noon. I tried to rest, but could feel the contractions quite strongly even with the epi (I can't imagine how it would be without it). I asked to be checked again, thinking I had progressed quickly and I was 9 1/2 cm at 9:00 am. The nurse sat me up in a vertical position to help with the last 1/2 cm, which was incredibly uncomfortable (baby had decided to lodge his legs in my ribs). Our doctor arrived shortly after and I started pushing, after just a few pushes, Nate was able to see our baby's head.
But after 2 hours of hard pushing, our doctor had come to the conclusion with assistance from another doctor that our baby was OP (posterior) which is facing the wrong way (facing up). My ultrasound on Thursday had read the baby was 9lbs, 6 oz, so the doctors became concerned with the possible size of the baby and the OP position, it would be too risky to continue to push and started discussing c-section. It was very difficult for Nate and I to hear, especially since the baby was right there, you could see him, and I really wasn't looking forward to the recovery that is involved in a c-section. One of the doctors decided that they would use a vacuum on the baby, but not to get him out, only to attempt to rotate him before I pushed him out. They were concerned attempting this, they normally don't on large babies, but all the nurses and doctor's that visited our room really did not think he was that large just by looking at me.
So, I had 3 doctors, 2 nurses, Nate and my mom in the room while they turned him with the vacuum... and out he came! They immediately placed him on my stomach, he was so beautiful!! I had previously warned Nate that sometimes vaginal birth babies may not be "pretty" but he had great color and was wonderful! His skin is absolutely flawless, no redness, no rashes, no dry skin, no bumps... just perfect. He has blonde hair and bright blue eyes (for now) and did NOT weight almost 10 pounds (thank god). Did I mention that my epi wore off by the time of delivery?!?! The doctor said that is a good sign that I was pushing correctly using all the muscles that an epi usually numbs, so it wakes up your muscles again.
Jake is an absolute angel, quiet little baby and did very well his first night in the hospital. He quite the little cuddle bug and LOVES his fingers. He likes to be swaddled in a blanket only if he has access to both of his hands for sucking. At all of our ultrasounds, he was always sucking on his thumbs, fingers or entire fist. While he is sleeping, he loves to link his hands together, or have them on his face. It is just too cute! But it calms him down and he hardly cries (yet). We hope our first night at home is just as wonderful as last night.
Nate had been so wonderful, he was great in the birthing room, coaching me through my contractions and counting (although his counting seemed very slow at times!), holding my legs and keeping me updated on Jake's progress right after the birth. He has changed every diaper so far (Jake pooped 4 times yesterday and 7 times today... I know, we are proud parents) and burbs him after each feeding. He has been such a wonderful support to me and we are so proud to be parents, we couldn't love anything more, didn't even think it was possible.
We have a few pictures downloaded, trust me, they don't due Jake justice. He is a beautiful baby, yes, we are partial, but he is perfect! I will continue to post pictures as I get more and we download more onto our computer in the next few days... trust me, you will get tired of seeing pictures of him!
Jacob had his 1 week birthday yesterday, Nate and I can't believe how fast it has gone! He is just our little bundle of joy and our cuddle bug. He is sleeping pretty well at night, but absolutely loves to sleep with Nate in the rocking chair from 5am - 9am each morning, it's their bonding time. We have had lots of family and friends visiting over the past week, so Jake has gotten to meet his grandparents and several of his great-grandparents, snuggling up to all of them. We had our first non-doctor outing, my mom and I took him over to her work to meet some of her co-workers and Jake slept the entire time. We have had 2 doctor visits this past week, Jake lost 17 oz by day 4, so they wanted to monitor him closely. But we are happy to report, 2 days later, he gained back 6 oz! All of his tests have came back great, so he is nice and healthy and just handsome as ever!
Jake with Great-Grandma.
So, we are proud owners of a 2004 Acura TL. It's fully loaded with navigation, leather, sunroof, 6 CD changer and most important - it's a 4-door vehicle! The car has a lot of hands-free tools, we can ask the car to change the temperature, fan levels, radio station and we can call someone through the car and talk to them without touching our cell phones (which will be really nice with kids in the back seat). And when I have an incoming call, the car will let me know who it is and ask if I would like to answer the call. It will take some getting used to, but it's a nice feature.
