Going home

Much to our relief we were discharged from the hospital on Saturday afternoon. The hospital staff was great and we have no complaints. It was just time to go home. Here's Aubrey before we woke her up and got her dressed for home:

And her reaction to the news:

What's in a name?

As with many decisions T and I make, the name Aubrey Jae was many years in the making. I think we settled on this name about 6 or 7 years ago, at least a year before we were married. The idea was to have a name that could be gender neutral (originally Aubrey was a male name), but still pretty cute, amenable to shortening for a nickname (Abbie no, Brey or Brie, yes), and still have some family ties. Most important was the family ties. Here they are: Aubrey is T's dad's middle name. Jae comes from C's and T's family. C's dad and 2 of his 3 brothers have the middle name Jay and C's stepdad's first name begins with J, as does the grandparents, aunt, and uncles on that side. T's mom's middle name starts with J too. The initials, A. J., honor C's stepmom's side of the family and his grandpa who passed away unexpectedly when C was 16. For these reasons we think Aubrey Jae is a pretty special name and fitting for our special baby girl.

Sleepy time

Everyone is doing well today. We appreciate the love and support from our family and friends. Aubrey is much calmer today and is eating and sleeping like a pro. Here's the 1/2 of the routine we can show:

Aubrey Jae is here!

Hello everyone. We know you've been waiting a long time for an update and we apologize for the delay. It's been a long couple of days. I'll give you a short version now with some pictures and then post some more later today.

We checked in at the hospital at 5:30 pm on Tuesday as requested by our doctor based on time since the waters broke. T started active labor pretty quickly and we made good progress until 2 am Wednesday. At that point things slowed a bit (the dilation, not the contractions) and we made no progress for 4 hours. Pitocin was administered to help things along and labor continued, albeit slow dilation, until 4:00 pm Wednesday. T hit 10 cm and it was all systems go for 20 mins of pushing. We had good movement of the baby and things were looking really good until an exam revealed the cervix had retracted slightly, leaving a band across the baby's head. T stopped pushing and tried to relax through some pretty intense contractions hoping the cervix would dilate again. At 4:30 she tried pushing again but there was no change in the cervix. At that time Baby Jae's doctor brought in the OB-GYN for a consultation. After considering the time since waters broke, the amount of time spent laboring, the "stuck" cervix, T's energy level, and the risk of further laboring to baby, we were advised to have a c-section. Within minutes the preparations began. I packed the room, the nurse prepared T for transport to the OR, I put on some scrubs, and we were off. T entered the OR at 5:17 pm and at 5:34 pm on Wednesday Aubrey Jae was born! We were both amazed at how quickly things happened once the decision was made. The OR team was awesome, really efficient, and very considerant of us and the situation. A nurse snapped our first family photo when Aubrey was only 15 minutes old:

T spent an hour in recovery. Most of the attention was on her with secondary attention to Aubrey. Both did great and came through just fine. Here's a shot of me with Aubrey captured by T from her recovery bed:

We moved into our room at 8pm. Here's a pic of T and Aubrey taken around 8:30. After 39 hours, 24 of them in active labor, and a c-section, I can't imagine a more beautiful sight:

Today is my birthday!

Aubrey Jae

Time: 5:34 pm on June 25, 2008

Weight: 8 lbs. 4.5 oz

Length: 21.25 inches

We're pretty sure the weight taken at birth was incorrect (7 lbs 4.5 oz). The revised weight is the doctor's best guess based on weight at 24 hours. Looks like Aubrey did her best to adhere to the 8 lbs and out agreement.

Moving forward...

After a brief visit to the doctor this morning we were sent back home to wait and walk. We went for a 1.5 mile walk and that seemed to help get the contractions going. We're up to contractions every 7 - 10 minutes now and the contractions are longer and stronger than earlier this morning. We have another appointment this afternoon. I'm pretty sure we will be sent to the hospital at that point. It's just a question of how far things will have progressed. With the clock running since 3:30 am we have just over 12 hours before they will induce.

Progress!

T woke me up at 3:30 am to say that her waters broke. We called the hospital and were advised to stay home because contractions hadn't really started and to call them back in a few hours. We did and are still waiting at home. Contractions are getting longer and coming about every 15 minutes or so. Our doctor begins her shift in an hour. We'll talk to her and then go from there.

Past due Day 4

Grandpa Jeff stopped by on his lunch today and helped me move Baby Jae's dresser upstairs. Here's a pic of my handiwork:

And because it's been a long time since we had a belly shot here's one to prove that T's ready for Baby Jae to come out:

We hope to have some news tomorrow. 'Til then...

Past due Day 2

Today was a really pleasant day. We went to the farmer's market and walked the entire Capital square. We did stop half-way around the square to eat a cherry rhubarb bar and sit on the Capital lawn. When we got home I put a second coat of polyurethane on the dresser I'm building for Baby Jae. I think the top and the cabinet door will need one more coat and then the dresser will be done. T baked chocolate chip cookies. We relaxed for an hour or so this afternoon and then went to a Blues Picnic to listen to the Mud Angels. The wind was up, pushing nice puffy white clouds across the blue sky and keeping the mosquitos at bay. I laid on my back and watched leaves on a nearby tree dance to the music.

I made one of our favorite summer meals for dinner: mango avocado salsa. We put it on quesadillas made with super sharp white cheddar cheese and asiago cheese. A very yummy combination. After dinner we went for a walk in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, the breeze died down and the mosquitos were out in force. We headed home after only 2 blocks. I had a cloud, literally, of mosquitos trailing me the whole way home. T was laughing as she did her best to swat the mosquitos off my neck and back. I have 9 fresh mosquito bites. Tracy has 1. So much for pregnant people attracting mosquitos. We're going to watch a movie now and eat rootbeer floats.

Due date

Hello assiduous viewers of Baby Jae's blog. Today is Baby Jae's due date. You probably already knew that. I'm saying it again and really loud so Baby Jae will hear it: TODAY IS YOUR DUE DATE.

I wonder if she heard me? I hope we'll find out in soon.

ps. Yes, I learned a new word today. Thanks Dr. Fred.

Still waiting...

and the doctor said it could be any day now. She (the doctor) is requesting tomorrow since she is on call. Otherwise, we have to wait until Monday to have her deliver Baby Jae. The doctor seemed disappointed that T might not give birth tomorrow. I guess we are too. We like the doctor and are really hoping she will deliver Baby Jae. But, we don't want to wait too much longer either and Monday seems like forever. And a day.

An MD and Two PhDs walk into a bar...

The MD says Baby Jae is not likely to make her appearance in the next day or two. It's anybody's guess after that. So, here are some guesses by two anybodies:

Ph.D.1 (T) thinks contractions will start Sunday and Baby Jae will be born on Monday.

Ph.D.2 (C) says there's a 75% probability Baby Jae will arrive in the next 96 - 192 hours (sometime Monday - Wednesday), an 85% probability she will arrive in the next 72 - 264 hours (sometime Sunday - Saturday), and 99% probability she will arrive in the next 456 hours (by June 29th).

The Waiting Game

No news is good news, right? T is getting more uncomfortable each day and so is Baby Jae if the pushing on T's ribs and pelvis are any indication. Yet, so far no there are no signs that Baby Jae is ready to meet us. T struck a deal with her, though, that when Baby Jae reaches 8 lbs she will come out. Of course, she is welcome to come sooner. Maybe we forgot to tell her that?