Quick photo in the freezing shade
Monday, February 28, 2005
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
The Consumer
Søren is now in his 3rd week and eating like that one camper from the movie "Meatballs" featuring Bill Murray. You know which one I'm talking about? The kid who ate all the steaming hotdogs in the hotdog-eating contest with the other kid in the overalls from the rival camp full of rich kids. Yes, that one.
Measurements taken at Søren's last doctor's appt revealed that he had gained a pound and grown an inch in seven days. That was more than a week ago and his appetite is picking up. I'm guessing 8.5 to 9 lbs at this point. He is, as Kurt Vonnegut would have said, a "perfect eating machine." I suppose that makes Katherine a "perfect feeding machine." I think, however, that Katherine wouldn't mind if he took one night off to sleep instead of eat every 3 hrs.
Søren is also entering a new developmental stage. He's sleeping less and more interactive. Visual stimulation, music, close talking - He's now into this kind of stuff.
Measurements taken at Søren's last doctor's appt revealed that he had gained a pound and grown an inch in seven days. That was more than a week ago and his appetite is picking up. I'm guessing 8.5 to 9 lbs at this point. He is, as Kurt Vonnegut would have said, a "perfect eating machine." I suppose that makes Katherine a "perfect feeding machine." I think, however, that Katherine wouldn't mind if he took one night off to sleep instead of eat every 3 hrs.
Søren is also entering a new developmental stage. He's sleeping less and more interactive. Visual stimulation, music, close talking - He's now into this kind of stuff.
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Søren's story
So, Søren is nearly 2 weeks old now, and it's high time we recounted his arrival on the scene.
Let's go back ... way back ... to February 4th, 2005. Katherine and I went for her weekly appt. with the Ob/Gyn. We were hoping for news that the baby was in transit. Recall that his due date was the following day - Feb. 5th. Consistent as always, Dr. "Glass Half Empty" dashed our expectations. Finishing up her examination, she told us Katherine was only slightly dilated, and then asked us how long we wanted to wait before inducing. Crimony! The boy wasn't even due yet and she wanted to pull the plug. We told her we'd get back to her and left crestfallen. Oh yeah, I forgot ... she also did something sneaky during her examination which, as I will discuss infra, may have set things in motion. She "stripped the membrane" as it's known in the profession.
So, we left and Katherine never felt quite OK for the rest of the day and evening. We were, of course, trying to read the tea leaves in every symptom - real and imagined - and hoped things would start changing more rapidly. They did....
The Doctor's cervical antics apparently broke the freshness seal because the next A.M., Katherine was feeling nauseous and having periodic contractions. She'd had Braxton Hicks contractions off and on for a while, but these felt different. I went to work convinced that today was the day. We talked on the phone off and on throughout the morning, and I decided to come on home around 2:00 p.m. because the contractions were coming regularly now - every 7 minutes or so. Katherine was going into labor.
The contraction became more and more painful, and the interval between grew shorter - about 5 minutes by 5:00 p.m. By 8:00 p.m., Katherine was hurtin' for reals and the contractions were coming every 3 - 3.5 minutes. With great difficulty, we tried to pack some gear for the hospital. Katherine was lying in bed at around 8:15 when Emily came by and tried to hasten us on to the hospital. Katherine telephoned the Dr. on call and described her symptoms. He was skeptical of our belief that the baby was imminent; but we decided to leave any way.
We drove to Presbyterian (only about 5 minutes away) and tried to find our way through the maze of floors and halls to the labor and delivery. I should note that this whole time I was wishing I'd paid more attention during our childbirth class when they gave instructions on who to call and where exactly to go when you get to the hospital. At any rate, we checked in, and made our way to the triage wing where they put Katherine in a room and hooked her up to a fetal heart monitor and "contractionometer". There we received disheartening news. Katherine was only in the early stages of labor and they weren't going to give her a room. Instead they gave her the unsavory choice of walking the lime green and fuscia halls of the hospital for two hours or going home. Our doula had arrived by this point, and she suggested that we just stay at the hospital. Katherine, however, opted to go home.
We returned home at around 10:00 p.m. and Katherine was miserable. The contractions were overwhelming and she was nauseous again. She hurt so bad that she couldn't lay on the bed or sit on the birthing ball. Instead, she walked the lonely halls of our house from 10:00 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. It was the saddest thing I've ever witnessed. There wasn't much I could do except watch, and as I watched I grew sleepy. Through gritted teeth, saintly Katherine urged me to just go to sleep. I did. I woke up a little while later to find her pacing the bedroom. We called the Dr. back who, incredibly, tried to convince us to stay at home! Katherine dismissed that advice and told him we were coming in, and that he needed to have an epidural waiting for her.
We made our way back up to the triage unit where they did basically the same thing as before. But, mercifully, this time she'd dilated enough that they could give her the epidural. Finally! I've never seen anyone in so much pain. Katherine is more stoic than most, but she had reached her limit as she'd been in labor for about 15 hours. They admitted her to a birthing room where two awesome nurses were waiting. They immediately got her on an I.V. and helped her through the contractions. The nurse anesthetist (say that three times as fast as you can) showed up a few minutes later to do the epidural. She was a real pro and had Katherine prepped within 15 minutes or so.
The epidural was clearly the watershed moment in the labor. Things got much better for Katherine after the epidural. The pain dropped off considerably and she was actually able to sleep. It was mid morning and we waited. I went downstairs for a delicious cafeteria burrito and the saltiest cup of coffee I've tasted since the bus station in Tepic, Mexico. Note: I'm omitting various facts and events (e.g., enduring the doula) during this stage of the labor. Actually, this part of the labor seemed to pass rapidly because Katherine was dilating at about a centimeter an hour. Consequently, by around 1:00 p.m., the nurses decided she was ready to start pushing. There was a slight delay as our sage nurse endeavored to insure that Katherine would sustain no injuries during the delivery. She had Katherine lay on her side for a while so she would dilate evenly. A around 1:50, the Dr. showed up. She checked Katherine's cervix, gave us the thumbs up, and it was on!
That baby was waiting to go and had been for some time. His little head was crowning almost from the time Katherine started pushing. Incidentally, the nurses were blown away by Katherine's pushing. They had her do a practice push, and she about delivered the baby. Well, in any event, after about 7 pushes he was right there. The doctor had Katherine feel the top of his slimy little head. She pushed once and he was out in the world.
Søren Henry Olsen was born at 2:05 pm Saturday afternoon, February 6, 2005. Birth was followed by chaos as the nurses cleaned Søren and administered the Apgar tests, and the doctor took care of Katherine. But, within a few minutes the doctor, the nurse, and the nettlesome doula were gone, and we were alone with our boy, Søren.
It has only been twelve days, but it already seems so long ago....
Let's go back ... way back ... to February 4th, 2005. Katherine and I went for her weekly appt. with the Ob/Gyn. We were hoping for news that the baby was in transit. Recall that his due date was the following day - Feb. 5th. Consistent as always, Dr. "Glass Half Empty" dashed our expectations. Finishing up her examination, she told us Katherine was only slightly dilated, and then asked us how long we wanted to wait before inducing. Crimony! The boy wasn't even due yet and she wanted to pull the plug. We told her we'd get back to her and left crestfallen. Oh yeah, I forgot ... she also did something sneaky during her examination which, as I will discuss infra, may have set things in motion. She "stripped the membrane" as it's known in the profession.
So, we left and Katherine never felt quite OK for the rest of the day and evening. We were, of course, trying to read the tea leaves in every symptom - real and imagined - and hoped things would start changing more rapidly. They did....
The Doctor's cervical antics apparently broke the freshness seal because the next A.M., Katherine was feeling nauseous and having periodic contractions. She'd had Braxton Hicks contractions off and on for a while, but these felt different. I went to work convinced that today was the day. We talked on the phone off and on throughout the morning, and I decided to come on home around 2:00 p.m. because the contractions were coming regularly now - every 7 minutes or so. Katherine was going into labor.
The contraction became more and more painful, and the interval between grew shorter - about 5 minutes by 5:00 p.m. By 8:00 p.m., Katherine was hurtin' for reals and the contractions were coming every 3 - 3.5 minutes. With great difficulty, we tried to pack some gear for the hospital. Katherine was lying in bed at around 8:15 when Emily came by and tried to hasten us on to the hospital. Katherine telephoned the Dr. on call and described her symptoms. He was skeptical of our belief that the baby was imminent; but we decided to leave any way.
We drove to Presbyterian (only about 5 minutes away) and tried to find our way through the maze of floors and halls to the labor and delivery. I should note that this whole time I was wishing I'd paid more attention during our childbirth class when they gave instructions on who to call and where exactly to go when you get to the hospital. At any rate, we checked in, and made our way to the triage wing where they put Katherine in a room and hooked her up to a fetal heart monitor and "contractionometer". There we received disheartening news. Katherine was only in the early stages of labor and they weren't going to give her a room. Instead they gave her the unsavory choice of walking the lime green and fuscia halls of the hospital for two hours or going home. Our doula had arrived by this point, and she suggested that we just stay at the hospital. Katherine, however, opted to go home.
We returned home at around 10:00 p.m. and Katherine was miserable. The contractions were overwhelming and she was nauseous again. She hurt so bad that she couldn't lay on the bed or sit on the birthing ball. Instead, she walked the lonely halls of our house from 10:00 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. It was the saddest thing I've ever witnessed. There wasn't much I could do except watch, and as I watched I grew sleepy. Through gritted teeth, saintly Katherine urged me to just go to sleep. I did. I woke up a little while later to find her pacing the bedroom. We called the Dr. back who, incredibly, tried to convince us to stay at home! Katherine dismissed that advice and told him we were coming in, and that he needed to have an epidural waiting for her.
We made our way back up to the triage unit where they did basically the same thing as before. But, mercifully, this time she'd dilated enough that they could give her the epidural. Finally! I've never seen anyone in so much pain. Katherine is more stoic than most, but she had reached her limit as she'd been in labor for about 15 hours. They admitted her to a birthing room where two awesome nurses were waiting. They immediately got her on an I.V. and helped her through the contractions. The nurse anesthetist (say that three times as fast as you can) showed up a few minutes later to do the epidural. She was a real pro and had Katherine prepped within 15 minutes or so.
The epidural was clearly the watershed moment in the labor. Things got much better for Katherine after the epidural. The pain dropped off considerably and she was actually able to sleep. It was mid morning and we waited. I went downstairs for a delicious cafeteria burrito and the saltiest cup of coffee I've tasted since the bus station in Tepic, Mexico. Note: I'm omitting various facts and events (e.g., enduring the doula) during this stage of the labor. Actually, this part of the labor seemed to pass rapidly because Katherine was dilating at about a centimeter an hour. Consequently, by around 1:00 p.m., the nurses decided she was ready to start pushing. There was a slight delay as our sage nurse endeavored to insure that Katherine would sustain no injuries during the delivery. She had Katherine lay on her side for a while so she would dilate evenly. A around 1:50, the Dr. showed up. She checked Katherine's cervix, gave us the thumbs up, and it was on!
That baby was waiting to go and had been for some time. His little head was crowning almost from the time Katherine started pushing. Incidentally, the nurses were blown away by Katherine's pushing. They had her do a practice push, and she about delivered the baby. Well, in any event, after about 7 pushes he was right there. The doctor had Katherine feel the top of his slimy little head. She pushed once and he was out in the world.
Søren Henry Olsen was born at 2:05 pm Saturday afternoon, February 6, 2005. Birth was followed by chaos as the nurses cleaned Søren and administered the Apgar tests, and the doctor took care of Katherine. But, within a few minutes the doctor, the nurse, and the nettlesome doula were gone, and we were alone with our boy, Søren.
It has only been twelve days, but it already seems so long ago....
Sunday, February 13, 2005
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