Happy Halloween

Here are some pictures of a couple of Jordan's outfits for today. We had purchased a main bumble bee costume that was rated for 0-3 months but it would probably fit a 4 year old and the hat that came with it almost fits Jamie's head. I had to get one of her great faces she makes as well.

Finding a schedule and more pictures

Jordan is almost 2 weeks old now.  It seems like it has been both a year and only one day since we brought her home.  Now that Jordan has settled into a bit of a schedule the days seem to go by very quickly but it seems like we have been doing this for a long time.  Our days now, pending any appointments we have, consist of Jordan waking up at about 8:45 for a feeding.  I get ready for the day while Jamie feeds her then I take her downstairs while Jamie gets ready.  Jordan sleeps for about 2 hours then needs to be fed again.  After this feeding she wants to sleep and sleep and sleep.  We usually put her in the swing at about 11 so we can take a nap if needed or do other work.  She would probably sleep in this swing all afternoon but we usually wake her up at about 2 or 3 to eat.  She will nap again for a few hours before needed fed (obviously she eats and sleeps a lot and I have spared you the details on her bowel movements).  At about 5 pm she decides to wake up and provides us with some entertainment as she kicks around makes grunting noises (i.e. "Daddy I am filling my diaper") and looks around curiously at anything that moves in front of her.  She is already lifting her head up for long periods of time to check things out, which provides us with some laughs.  This is Jamie and I's favorite time of the day because we get to interact with her, however, we also know what is coming next.  The 5:00 happy hour soon leads into the 8:00 I'm pissed hour.  The first night she did this we, as new parents, struggled to get her to stop crying, however, Jamie has become the PRO at getting Jordan ready for bed.  This usually consists of feeding, a little rocking in the chair while reading a book to her, and some burping.  I gave it a shot one night but failed miserably and Jamie had to take over with her magic touch.  She will generally fall to sleep about 11:30 waking at around 3:00 am and 6:00 am for feedings.

So far that seems to be her schedule.  I would say we are pretty lucky, but I really have no room to talk as I am not the one who has to sit up and feed her when she wakes at night so Jamie may have a different take on it.  Jordan seems to be growing every day and becoming more aware of her surroundings.  We celebrated Jamie's birthday yesterday as a family.  Jordan got her mommy the movie "Nightmare before Christmas" so we watched that and had some cake and ice cream.

Peaceful Days, Restless Nights

Now that Jordan is 1 week old, mom and dad are finding that adjusting to life with an infant is physically and emotionally draining. Jordan's wake, sleep, change, and feed schedule is ever-changing and therefore difficult to anticipate. She is becoming more alert and interactive than those first days in the hospital, but sometimes she chooses to do so in the middle of the night when mom and dad are most tired. It's also been a struggle to initiate bedtime sleep, as this seems to be the time of day when Jordan decides to cry relentlessly, despite our best efforts to calm and soothe her. Last night was especially frustrating, after a cycle or two of cuddling/feeding/burping that lasted from 11:00 pm until 3:30 am before she calmed down enough to sleep the rest of the night. We are hoping to figure out how to avoid the bedtime drama before we both lose our minds!

Jamie has had an especially challenging time with the transition to motherhood because she has limited mobility and lifting restrictions from her c-section that require her to be dependent on others' help--which she is uncomfortable with in general. She is feeling like a lesser member of the parenting team, and is very frustrated about it. In addition, Jamie has been struggling with the "baby blues" and readjustment of hormones, but things are improving with every day that passes. She is looking forward to being able to walk for longer durations without pain (at this point the mailbox and back is as far as it gets) and to leave the house for short periods. However, her incision seems to be healing well and she should be feeling better soon.

Jordan swinging

Yep it is another video. Jordan loves the swing Uncle Jeff and Aunt Amy got her!

Plethra of Baby Pictures

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Jordan and Grandpa Chris

Baby Jordan's first video

Jordan is holding my hand and sticking her tongue out.

Summary of the day

As Jordan's birthday winds to a close we have a very tired mom and baby.  Everything went very well.  The Dr. said Jordan was definitely in her own little nook right up in Jamie's ribs and was not that excited to leave it.  Jamie is finally at ease being able to breath better now that her ribs have gone back to the anatomically correct position.  The day went by very fast with a whirlwind of nurses checking vitals, working to get Jordan to feed, my first two dirty diapers (and yes they were full), and visitors.  We want to thank everyone who stopped by and sent wishes from afar.  Jordan has a lot of people who love her.

She is a nice big healthy baby.  Surprisingly amongst all of this commotion going on around her she has slept the whole day. We have had to wake her up just to feed.  The technique that seems to work the best is changing her diaper.  That seems to get her crying enough to realize she is hungry.  When not feeding she seems content to sleep while giving us a gamut of facial expresions ranging from sly smile to an oops I craped my pants looks.  One random event today was Jordan flipping me the bird as I tried to waker her up.

Well it is time for us to try and catch a little shut eye.  The night will be a long one filled with feedings, vital signs being taken, baby being weighed, and medicine being taken.  From our new family we would like to thank everyone who have helped us through the past 9 months to bring this beautiful little girl into the world!

Welcome to the world Jordan Jeunette

Born 8:02 am
Weight: 9 lbs 3 oz
Height: 20.5 inches

Both Mom and Baby are doing well.

Checked in

We are all checked in Jamie is getting lots of fluids through her IV. Now just waiting for 7:30 to come around. Both of us are a little nervous and very excited. Still very dark and very cold outside.

Heading to the hospital

It is 5 am and we are headed to the hospital. Stay tuned for pictures and news this afternoon.

Penciled In

It's 0fficial--since baby Jordan has not flipped head down on her own (or by the forceful hands of doctors) we were scheduled for a C-section that will occur on Monday, October 19 bright and early. This scheduled date, however, could be ignored if baby decides last-minute to flip around, in which case we might be required to let nature take its course. Additionally, there is always the possibility that labor could begin before October 19. If this occurs, I would still require a C-section if baby is still breech, it would just be under more stressful conditions.

So, while we are prepared to become "mom" and "dad" on the 19th, we are keeping the go-bag ready in the event of unplanned "labor."

The surgery will last about an hour, most of which will be spent sewing me back up. We were told that extracting the baby really only takes about 10 minutes or less (beats hours of labor if you ask me). I won't be able to hold the baby immediately after the surgery as she will be wisked away to the nursery to be cleaned up and checked out while the doctors "deliver" the placenta and get me sewn back together. Josh will be able to follow the nurses to the nursery to bond with baby Jordan, then eventually he will be allowed to bring her back into the recovery room to be with me too.

The expected recovery period following a C-section is about 6 weeks including 2-3 days in the hospital. I'm hoping that the surgery won't put me totally out of commission for the entire 6 weeks! That being said, I plan to follow doctor's orders to the "T" so that I minimize the risk of injury to other areas of my body that may be compromising for my healing abdominal area.

So barring some unforseen circumstance, we are penciling in baby Jordan's birdate as October 19, 2009!

External Cephalic Version: Unsuccessful

Thursday morning I received a call from the doctor to schedule the external version. While I wasn't expecting this to happen until October 6th or 8th, it was scheduled for Friday morning (yesterday). Here's how it went:

6:00 am- arrive at the hospital, check in. I am asked to change into a hospital gown, after which I am hooked up to the usual monitors (one for fetal heart rate, the other for uterine activity). I am given an injection of a medication to relax my uterus, as well as an IV for precautionary measures.

7:00 am- Dr. Guida and Dr. Richards enter the room and explain the procedure to me again. They explain the potential risks of the procedure (breaking bag of waters, fetal distress, inducing labor) and the success rate (50-60%). I was assured that the procedure is safe and in their 25-30 years of experience they had seen the water break once, and fetal distress once. I was feeling okay about the risks.

7:05- procedure begins. A quick confirmation of where baby's head and hips are and a starting fetal heart rate is determined using ultrasound. Dr. Richards works on pushing from baby's hips, while Dr. Guida attempts to manipulate the head out from under my ribs. Both doctors are really digging in and kneading at my stomach to try and turn the baby.

7:10- procedure ends after 2 or 3 unsuccessful tries. The doctors decided to stop trying because the baby's heart rate started to decrease a little and they didn't want to endanger her. At this point my abdomen is very sore and feeling bruised in certain spots. The doctors were pushing so hard that their arms were shaking. ouch.

7:15- I am hooked back up to the monitors again and monitored for another hour.

8:30- Baby seems to have taken the stress well and is back to "normal." I am discharged and will see the doctor again on Tuesday to schedule a C-section.

Tracking Baby's Progress

Well, no big surprise, baby Jordan prefers to go against the norm and remain in her cozy apartment upright instead of the usual head-down position. So now our doctor, Kim Guida, will enlist the help of one of her colleagues in attempting an external cephalic version--fancy words for "let's flip the baby!" We are anxiously awaiting a call from the doctor to schedule a date for "the version," but were told it would most likely be either Tuesday or Thursday of next week (October 6th or 8th).

This procedure will be done at Pullman Regional Hospital, where I will be hooked up to some fetal monitors and given an IV should the need for an emergency Cesarean occur. Guided by ultrasound, the doctors will attempt to manually manipulate the baby into the head-down position. We were told they will know within 10 minutes whether they will be able to turn her or not, and won't force the issue and risk sending me into labor or causing fetal distress. (Though I don't think I would mind too much to have the baby early) The success rate for this procedure is about 50%, and should it fail, the doctor will not attempt to deliver her breech, and will instead schedule me for a Cesarean.

Jordan is a very healthy weight (which I cannot share because it would provide an unfair advantage for those of you reading this who are participating in the baby pool at work) and would probably not have any problems if she was born early. In fact, some might say she is a chunky baby. I will say this: (for those who remember that day fondly back on October 30, 1981) that "little" Jordan has already surpassed her mother's birth weight, with 24 days left in the womb!