Welcome, Scarlett! / In-Laws in Town / Baby-Moon / All By Ourselves
Welcome Scarlett Jane Rose
Born Sunday, March 19th, at 2:45am weighing 6lbs 11oz
It happened! My daughter is here! A new little rabbit and her name is Scarlett. As we had hoped, she was exactly one week late, coming into the world at exactly 41 weeks and affording her parents an extra week to prepare. The birth event itself was fairly uneventful. On Friday the 17th just as I was getting out of work at 5pm, Nicole started feeling new pains and contractions. It wasn't too rough but they didn't go away so we stayed up all night together to wait and see if the pains went away. By 4am Saturday morning, Nicole felt that the cramps had escalated enough to warrant us making the 30-minute drive to the hospital in anticipation of the main event. Fate had other plans, however, as when we arrived at the hospital, her pains and cramping had vanished. The staff was wonderfully accommodating, though, and did a thorough check. Nicole was 3cm dilated and although the contractions had paused, early labor was appearing to be in progress. We were advised to go home and rest and come back when things had progressed to a certain obvious point. That's such an arbitrary and unknowable thing for first-time mothers but we didn't really have much choice. It was a little scary and disappointing but we knew it could be days yet so we couldn't just linger int he hospital.
We got home and immediately tried to get some sleep as we'd been up all night and into the morning. A few hours went by and Nicole woke me up saying things had taken a turn and she needed me to be ready. We took a short, slow walk around the neighborhood and the whole time it was clear that Nicole was in pain of a new variety. Upon getting back to the house, there was no discussion or debate: It was time to go to the hospital. We made the long drive once again but this time, Nicole's contractions were only escalating. When we arrived, the staff immediately took us to the birth center where we were assigned a really large and comfortable room. Wave after wave of nurses and doctors began coming and going and it was quickly determined that Nicole was dilated to 7cm with frequent contractions; more than enough to convince anyone that she needed to be admitted and that the birth was near. This was about 1 or 2 PM Saturday afternoon.
Then began the waiting. Nicole further dilated to 8cm at which point she got an epidural. Unfortunately, the initial dosing wasn't dulling the contractions at all, so the anesthesiologist had to be called back to up the dosage. To add insult to injury, the dude overdid the meds and soon Nicole couldn't feel anything at all below her waist. Worse, because she couldn't feel anything, she couldn't move her legs and couldn't feel the contractions that would have helped her push. It gave her the shakes and even caused her nausea and vomiting at one point. It was an unfortunate turn of events but we were confident the more harsh effects would wear off before the birth.
At around midnight Saturday night, the night-staff noticed that progress was no longer being made. Perhaps the epidural halted things, which they warned us was possible. We had two options: Do nothing and hope the birth would happen naturally before the epidural ran out in twelve hours, or help things along with a very low dose of the hormone, Pitocin, which is identical to the natural hormone Oxytocin which stimulates contractions. We knew that if we said yes to Pitocin that the baby would be only hours away and that it was truly really about to happen. We agreed to help things along and sure enough, Nicole was at 10cm and feeling an urge to push within only two hours.
At around 1:45am, nursing staff monitoring from their station outside the room could tell the main event was close. Nicole herself could even feel new urges to push. Staff assembled and I was recruited to help with the dance of turning Nicole over every thirty minutes (Since she couldn't help us at all due to the lingering effects of the epidural) as well as assisting with helping her count out the pushing. Altogether, Nicole only had to push about one hour which was blissfully short compared to some of the horror stories we'd heard about where women would be actively pushing for 12-to-36 hours.
Then, at 2:45am, there Scarlett was and rather quickly too. Seeing her head emerge then immediately the rest of her was a singularly amazing moment in my life. This moment we'd been preparing for had finally arrived and here was this new creature all our own where before it was just the two of us. Scarlett was here! She took a breath and began crying but it wasn't long before she was wrapped up and calm. Nicole did really well and had no complications. Both mother and baby came through with little to no trouble. The event ended quickly and celebratory drinks, pictures, and hugs were had by all. Soon, somehow, we all got some sleep.
We were advised to spend "two midnights" in the hospital and we took them up on that. We wanted to get as much instruction and monitoring as we could before it was all on us. On Monday the 20th, I was able to begin making phone calls to get the ball rolling on notifying people and my workplace. The company I work for graciously gives their employees sixteen weeks of paid paternity leave that I can use throughout the first year of a newborn's life. We've decided to burn eight weeks of it right now then sprinkle the remaining eight through to Christmas and New Years. We were discharged on Tuesday and we drove home with our new baby into a new world.
It's now been three weeks since her birth and they've been challenging but there have been some big bright spots. Scarlett is an easily frustrated girl who likes to make noise when disturbed and constantly wants to feed. Every two-to-three hours around the clock, she demands milk. It's been nearly impossible to create a bank of milk for her since she demands to feed so often. The upside of that is that she quickly put on weight and is thriving. But yea, the constant feeding has meant that neither Nicole nor myself have had more than three or four consecutive hours of sleep since before the birth. It really is true what they say about not getting sleep with a newborn. We're expecting another four-to-six months of this easily. But thankfully we're both unencumbered and are here for Scarlett around the clock.
Also around was Nicole's mother and eventually her father (Scarlett's grandparents on her mother's side). Both the in-laws were here to help us with meals, upkeep of the house, and simply reassurance. We learned a lot and were very thankful to have had them around for the weeks we did. Once they left about a week ago, it's been literally just Nicole and me with Scarlett alone around the clock. We think we're doing a good job but half of it is simply nurturing each other and showing that supportive affection that is so important right now. I've taken on so many roles around the house from cooking all meals to changing diapers around the clock. All I want Nicole to do is nurse our daughter, sleep when she sleeps, and continue to recover from the birth. Everything else is something I can handle. It's been a winning strategy so far.
For her part, Scarlett has been a silly little rabbit. She thrashes around with her strong arms and legs and cries with passion. She cries often but seemingly only to be fed. We're aware that her crying can begin to escalate after two weeks and through to the six month mark, so we're not looking forward to that. She looks around a lot but doesn't seem to be focusing on anything just yet. Right now, she's just a sleepy, hungry, aloof little noisemaker. But she's ours and she's precious and we're filled with so many sensational emotions all at once. It's not every day that I know my life will change and it's funny to be going through that right now. One day I expect she'll read this and wonder what it must have been like for her parents to have lived through this moment. We'll have pictures and videos to show her, of course, but that seems so far away from right now and it's difficult to contain in a simply journal entry just what this experience is truly like. Nicole is worried that this moment will pass by quickly and that she'll be grown before we know it. She's probably right. I wonder what kind of lady Scarlett will become. I cannot wait to meet her!
At the beginning of March long before the birth, Nicole and I ran away for a week-long "Baby-Moon" vacation in Cannon Beach, a coastal town about an hours' drive away. We stayed in this really nice hotel that happened to give us the only two-story cottage that wasn't connected to any of the other units. It was private and wonderful. They had a Jacuzzi which allowed us to relax as well as a pull-out couch which we spent days reclining on watching bad '90s movies. It was wonderful to be in a beach town during the offseason. Everything was available to us. There's a great candy store we were able to visit and we were the only ones there the entire time. I'd never had that much time to look at things before. Also, we found a fantastic bakery that we had to go back to morning after morning. It was just a nice trip and a needed break before the birth.
Fast forward to now and with the in-laws gone, it's literally just Nicole, Scarlett and me for the foreseeable future. In some ways, it's good that we're alone. We're able to set our own schedule and be as comfortable as we want; wearing baggy clothes all over the house and not worrying about who Scarlett's crying is waking up. But in other ways, it's tough. Having extra help around was really nice when I was too overwhelmed to make meals or do grocery shopping or watch Chip while we get Scarlett to a routine exam. There's going to be a lot of visitors over the next eight months anyway, so there'll be opportunities for relief again. Although in August, we have another beach trip scheduled with Nicole's family, so that'll be the first real test of taking Scarlett somewhere. It could be pretty crazy. We'll see.
So here we are! Our silly little family is growing. We're at the beginning of the rest of our lives. It'll be amazing to read this journal as the years go on and we see little Scarlett's progress. I'd better wrap this entry up or else dinner will never get made!
Born Sunday, March 19th, at 2:45am weighing 6lbs 11oz
It happened! My daughter is here! A new little rabbit and her name is Scarlett. As we had hoped, she was exactly one week late, coming into the world at exactly 41 weeks and affording her parents an extra week to prepare. The birth event itself was fairly uneventful. On Friday the 17th just as I was getting out of work at 5pm, Nicole started feeling new pains and contractions. It wasn't too rough but they didn't go away so we stayed up all night together to wait and see if the pains went away. By 4am Saturday morning, Nicole felt that the cramps had escalated enough to warrant us making the 30-minute drive to the hospital in anticipation of the main event. Fate had other plans, however, as when we arrived at the hospital, her pains and cramping had vanished. The staff was wonderfully accommodating, though, and did a thorough check. Nicole was 3cm dilated and although the contractions had paused, early labor was appearing to be in progress. We were advised to go home and rest and come back when things had progressed to a certain obvious point. That's such an arbitrary and unknowable thing for first-time mothers but we didn't really have much choice. It was a little scary and disappointing but we knew it could be days yet so we couldn't just linger int he hospital.
We got home and immediately tried to get some sleep as we'd been up all night and into the morning. A few hours went by and Nicole woke me up saying things had taken a turn and she needed me to be ready. We took a short, slow walk around the neighborhood and the whole time it was clear that Nicole was in pain of a new variety. Upon getting back to the house, there was no discussion or debate: It was time to go to the hospital. We made the long drive once again but this time, Nicole's contractions were only escalating. When we arrived, the staff immediately took us to the birth center where we were assigned a really large and comfortable room. Wave after wave of nurses and doctors began coming and going and it was quickly determined that Nicole was dilated to 7cm with frequent contractions; more than enough to convince anyone that she needed to be admitted and that the birth was near. This was about 1 or 2 PM Saturday afternoon.
Then began the waiting. Nicole further dilated to 8cm at which point she got an epidural. Unfortunately, the initial dosing wasn't dulling the contractions at all, so the anesthesiologist had to be called back to up the dosage. To add insult to injury, the dude overdid the meds and soon Nicole couldn't feel anything at all below her waist. Worse, because she couldn't feel anything, she couldn't move her legs and couldn't feel the contractions that would have helped her push. It gave her the shakes and even caused her nausea and vomiting at one point. It was an unfortunate turn of events but we were confident the more harsh effects would wear off before the birth.
At around midnight Saturday night, the night-staff noticed that progress was no longer being made. Perhaps the epidural halted things, which they warned us was possible. We had two options: Do nothing and hope the birth would happen naturally before the epidural ran out in twelve hours, or help things along with a very low dose of the hormone, Pitocin, which is identical to the natural hormone Oxytocin which stimulates contractions. We knew that if we said yes to Pitocin that the baby would be only hours away and that it was truly really about to happen. We agreed to help things along and sure enough, Nicole was at 10cm and feeling an urge to push within only two hours.
At around 1:45am, nursing staff monitoring from their station outside the room could tell the main event was close. Nicole herself could even feel new urges to push. Staff assembled and I was recruited to help with the dance of turning Nicole over every thirty minutes (Since she couldn't help us at all due to the lingering effects of the epidural) as well as assisting with helping her count out the pushing. Altogether, Nicole only had to push about one hour which was blissfully short compared to some of the horror stories we'd heard about where women would be actively pushing for 12-to-36 hours.
Then, at 2:45am, there Scarlett was and rather quickly too. Seeing her head emerge then immediately the rest of her was a singularly amazing moment in my life. This moment we'd been preparing for had finally arrived and here was this new creature all our own where before it was just the two of us. Scarlett was here! She took a breath and began crying but it wasn't long before she was wrapped up and calm. Nicole did really well and had no complications. Both mother and baby came through with little to no trouble. The event ended quickly and celebratory drinks, pictures, and hugs were had by all. Soon, somehow, we all got some sleep.
We were advised to spend "two midnights" in the hospital and we took them up on that. We wanted to get as much instruction and monitoring as we could before it was all on us. On Monday the 20th, I was able to begin making phone calls to get the ball rolling on notifying people and my workplace. The company I work for graciously gives their employees sixteen weeks of paid paternity leave that I can use throughout the first year of a newborn's life. We've decided to burn eight weeks of it right now then sprinkle the remaining eight through to Christmas and New Years. We were discharged on Tuesday and we drove home with our new baby into a new world.
It's now been three weeks since her birth and they've been challenging but there have been some big bright spots. Scarlett is an easily frustrated girl who likes to make noise when disturbed and constantly wants to feed. Every two-to-three hours around the clock, she demands milk. It's been nearly impossible to create a bank of milk for her since she demands to feed so often. The upside of that is that she quickly put on weight and is thriving. But yea, the constant feeding has meant that neither Nicole nor myself have had more than three or four consecutive hours of sleep since before the birth. It really is true what they say about not getting sleep with a newborn. We're expecting another four-to-six months of this easily. But thankfully we're both unencumbered and are here for Scarlett around the clock.
Also around was Nicole's mother and eventually her father (Scarlett's grandparents on her mother's side). Both the in-laws were here to help us with meals, upkeep of the house, and simply reassurance. We learned a lot and were very thankful to have had them around for the weeks we did. Once they left about a week ago, it's been literally just Nicole and me with Scarlett alone around the clock. We think we're doing a good job but half of it is simply nurturing each other and showing that supportive affection that is so important right now. I've taken on so many roles around the house from cooking all meals to changing diapers around the clock. All I want Nicole to do is nurse our daughter, sleep when she sleeps, and continue to recover from the birth. Everything else is something I can handle. It's been a winning strategy so far.
For her part, Scarlett has been a silly little rabbit. She thrashes around with her strong arms and legs and cries with passion. She cries often but seemingly only to be fed. We're aware that her crying can begin to escalate after two weeks and through to the six month mark, so we're not looking forward to that. She looks around a lot but doesn't seem to be focusing on anything just yet. Right now, she's just a sleepy, hungry, aloof little noisemaker. But she's ours and she's precious and we're filled with so many sensational emotions all at once. It's not every day that I know my life will change and it's funny to be going through that right now. One day I expect she'll read this and wonder what it must have been like for her parents to have lived through this moment. We'll have pictures and videos to show her, of course, but that seems so far away from right now and it's difficult to contain in a simply journal entry just what this experience is truly like. Nicole is worried that this moment will pass by quickly and that she'll be grown before we know it. She's probably right. I wonder what kind of lady Scarlett will become. I cannot wait to meet her!
At the beginning of March long before the birth, Nicole and I ran away for a week-long "Baby-Moon" vacation in Cannon Beach, a coastal town about an hours' drive away. We stayed in this really nice hotel that happened to give us the only two-story cottage that wasn't connected to any of the other units. It was private and wonderful. They had a Jacuzzi which allowed us to relax as well as a pull-out couch which we spent days reclining on watching bad '90s movies. It was wonderful to be in a beach town during the offseason. Everything was available to us. There's a great candy store we were able to visit and we were the only ones there the entire time. I'd never had that much time to look at things before. Also, we found a fantastic bakery that we had to go back to morning after morning. It was just a nice trip and a needed break before the birth.
Fast forward to now and with the in-laws gone, it's literally just Nicole, Scarlett and me for the foreseeable future. In some ways, it's good that we're alone. We're able to set our own schedule and be as comfortable as we want; wearing baggy clothes all over the house and not worrying about who Scarlett's crying is waking up. But in other ways, it's tough. Having extra help around was really nice when I was too overwhelmed to make meals or do grocery shopping or watch Chip while we get Scarlett to a routine exam. There's going to be a lot of visitors over the next eight months anyway, so there'll be opportunities for relief again. Although in August, we have another beach trip scheduled with Nicole's family, so that'll be the first real test of taking Scarlett somewhere. It could be pretty crazy. We'll see.
So here we are! Our silly little family is growing. We're at the beginning of the rest of our lives. It'll be amazing to read this journal as the years go on and we see little Scarlett's progress. I'd better wrap this entry up or else dinner will never get made!