Mom's Pregnancy
Click here to see mom's details about the whole pregnancy from start to finish.

The weather on the day of the birth
It was not a typical May 12th. It's usually sunny and warm by mid-May, but not this year. This year it was cloudy and drizzling and it was actually quite chilly. When mom and dad left the restaurant where they had brunch around 2pm, mom was freezing.

Our trip to the hospital
On Thursday, May 9th, mom lost something called a mucus plug. She said that had never happened with any of her other pregnancies so it was a new experience for her. She didn't know quite what to expect or if that meant I would be coming soon or what. The next day (my due date) she was having a really watery discharge. She was concerned that maybe her water had broken. She called the doctor's office and they told her to go to Labor and Delivery to get it checked out. The nurse on the phone told her that if her water had broken then they wanted me to be delivered within 24 hours. So mom's best friend, Necole, took her to the hospital. They hooked mom up to a fetal monitor and she watched my heart beat. They tested the fluid twice and it turned out not to be amniotic fluid, so her water hadn't broken. It was still just part of that mucus plug. I wasn't ready to enter the world yet. But the nurse at the hospital told her that she expected mom and me to be back over the weekend.

Mom wanted to wait until Wednesday the 15th before I was born. That way she accrued another vacation and sick day at work. You know how stingy mom is with money. But unfortunately I didn't care about those additional days cause the nurse was right. I met my mom and dad for the first time on Mother's Day.

Beginning on Friday night mom started having contractions. They started about 7pm and they were 20 minutes apart. Mom timed them all night long. She tried to get some sleep in between. They weren't very painful, just uncomfortable. But still a little worse than the Braxton Hicks she was having throughout the last few months of the pregnancy. By about 3am the contractions slowed to about one an hour. And by morning they had stopped.

About 10pm on Saturday night the contractions came back. And this time they were 10 minutes apart. Dad was helping mom time the contractions. Mom had told him that if they got to be about 5 to 7 minutes apart that they should go to the hospital. Around 2am one of the contractions was 11 minutes so dad fell asleep. Ok so it was pretty late, but still. What a goof.

So the next morning the contractions were still coming every 10 minutes. Mom and dad went to brunch with Grandma O, Grandma Cathy, Granny, Aunt Candy and Grandma O's friend Dorothy. Mom had a few contractions while she was there. They weren't slowing down for anything.

That afternoon, mom was studying for her Management final. She was supposed to take it on Monday night. But she couldn't study because the contractions were bringing tears to her eyes. Around 3pm she called Labor and Delivery and talked to a nurse. She explained that she had been having contractions that were 10 minutes apart for about 17 hours and that they were getting more intense. The nurse told her to drink four glasses of water and lay down. She said they might go away, but if they got to be 7 minutes apart for at least an hour to come to the hospital. So mom gave that a try. But that water wasn't stopping me.

At 7pm mom couldn't take it anymore. The nurse on Friday told mom that with her history of fast labors they wanted us to come in when the contractions were closer to 7 minutes. The contractions were still only 10 minutes apart, but they were very painful. So Granny came over to watch my brothers and sister and mom and dad headed for the hospital.

On the way in to the hospital mom had a contraction. She tried to be all big about it since she was in public, but it hurt and it was too painful to walk through. So mom and dad had to stop and stand in the middle of the parking lot until it was over.

Mom thought for sure they were going to send her home. After all they had told her not to come in until the contractions were 5 to 7 minutes apart. But they just wouldn't get any closer than 10 minutes. She explained all of that to the nurse and she could tell by the nurse's expression that the nurse was expecting to send her home too. But the nurse hooked mom up to the fetal monitor. And then mom started having more contractions. She had two not very painful, just tight contractions within a minute of each other and then a couple of minutes later she had a painful one. After about 20 minutes the nurse finally checked mom. She said, "How does 6cm sound? We're going to admit you right away." So another nurse came in and rolled mom (in the bed - which she thought was kind of embarrassing because she was more than capable of walking) to a birth suite.

The delivery
The delivery went pretty quickly. Once mom got in to the delivery room they confirmed that she wanted an epidural (which she did). They said that they talked to the doctor on call (Dr. Barker) and he said to give mom a shot of Nubane. The nurse told mom that they wanted her to have a whole bag of fluids in her system before they gave her the epidural.

There was a nurse who must have been fairly new cause the other nurse was filling her in on what to do. The new nurse put in mom's IV (she did a pretty good job) and she gave mom the shot of Nubane. It didn't really stop the pain of the contractions. Mom said she could still feel them. All the Nubane really did was give mom that disconnected medicine head feeling.

But it didn't take long to go through the bag of fluids. Dr. Barker came in and told mom that he would break her water as soon as the epidural was in. Mom agreed that was a good idea. Apparently when she had Keaton, Dr. Barker broke her water and she was immediately at 10 cm. That meant she had to push Keaton out without drugs.

The anesthesiologist came in to give mom her epidural. He had her sit on the side of the bed and curl her shoulders over like bad posture. When he threaded the catheter in to mom's back she didn't even flinch. The anesthesiologist told mom that she should write a book on how to get an epidural. He was very impressed with how calm she was.

Once the epidural was all taped up, they tested how numb mom was. Mom couldn't feel her butt and her legs were pretty numb too. The nurse asked mom how her epidural was with Skyler & Spencer. Mom told her that she was really numb then too and only pushed because the doctor told her too. The nurse said that it's good that mom is such a good pusher since mom could no longer feel the contractions (or her body for that matter).

Once the epidural was in place, Dr. Barker came in to break mom's water. After he broke her water he told mom that there was merconium in the fluid. That meant that I had a bowel movement already. Dr. Barker told mom that when I came out she would have to stop pushing so he could clear out my mouth and nose to make sure I didn't swallow any of that merconium. Mom asked Dr. Barker if she was still 6 cm. He said "No. You're more like 8 cm now."

Around 10pm the nurse checked mom. She said that mom was 10cm and fully effaced. They called Dr. Barker and told him that mom was ready. They all got ready and scrubbed up and they lowered the bed. Mom couldn't tell when she was having a contraction unless it was a really really strong one. And then all she felt was pressure. So the nurses told mom that they would let her know when she was having a contraction so that she could push.

Dr. Barker came in and we waited for the next contraction. The first push that mom attempted was not very good. It's hard to push when you can't fell anything. But with the next contraction mom gave a good push and my head was crowning. The contractions were about 5 minutes apart at that point so we had to sit around and wait for the next contraction. Mom had to push through about 6 or 7 contraction before my head finally poked out.

Once my head was out, Dr. Barker told mom to stop pushing so he could suck the fluid out of my nose and mouth. He said that the fluid was clear so I hadn't swallowed any of that icky merconium. Then mom gave one final push and I was all the way out.

I was facing mom's butt, so as Dr. Barker was turning me over he said, "It's a girl. No wait...it's a boy." Mom was kind of shocked cause she thought for sure I was a girl. She said this pregnancy was just so much different from her other pregnancies. But every pregnancy is different I guess.

Dr. Barker lifted me up so that mom could see me. As he was turning me around for mom to see I peed on his shoe. I guess Keaton had peed on Dr. Barker when he was born too, so I'm already taking after him.

That's when Dr. Barker saw my cleft lip and told mom about it. Mom and dad weren't very concerned about it. They figured of all the things that could go wrong with a pregnancy, a cleft lip was really no big deal. Dr. Barker told them that my cleft lip was pretty minor and it would hardly be noticeable once they did surgery. The nurse asked mom and dad if they new I was going to have a cleft lip. Mom said "No. Is that something you can see in an ultrasound?" The nurse said that she didn't think they usually caught it in an ultrasound, but some parents said that they just knew that something was wrong. The nurse then explained that there was a cleft lip and palate team in town that would talk to mom about it and answer any questions she may have.

Meanwhile, Dr. Barker was delivering the placenta. He told mom "Congratulations. It's a placenta." She laughed. He then had to sew mom up cause he had to do a small episiotomy to get my big head out.

Mom kept watching the nurse clean me up. She told dad, "He doesn't look as big as Keaton was." Dr. Barker asked how big Keaton was and when mom told him he agreed "Yeah, I don't think that's a 9 pound baby." The nurse weighed me and I was 8 pounds 6.6 ounces. Then she measured me and I was 21 ¾ inches long. So I was still a pretty big baby.

After my birth
The next day, my family doctor, Dr. Hayes, came to check me over. Besides my cleft lip, I had a slight heart murmur. But within only a day it was starting to fade and they can't even hear it now. Dr. Hayes said that some kids will have that when they are born and it's not really anything to be concerned about. It's was probably just part of my transition from the womb to the world.

They also tested my hearing. My left ear passed the first day, but they had some trouble with my right ear. Dr. Hayes said it was nothing for mom to be concerned with. He said that my ear probably just had some fluid in it from the birth. They tested my right ear again the next day and everything was great.

Just like when mom had Skyler and Spencer, her milk did not come in right away. She kept putting me to the breast at every feeding though. I was still hanging in there and being a good sucker. As soon as we got home she started using the Supplemental Nutritional System that the Lactation Consultants gave her when she had Skyler & Spencer. But it was really a lot of work and took a long time at each feeding.

Finally when I was a week old, her milk came in. But all of a sudden I stopped being a good sucker. Mom started pumping and giving me breast milk. She also still kept putting me to the breast, but she was getting frustrated with my disinterest.

When I was 12 days old we had an appointment with the Lactation Consultant. The Lactation Consultant said that some kids with cleft lips have no trouble sucking on a soft breast, but it gets difficult for them when the breast is full. She watched me and discovered that I was having trouble keeping the nipple in the back of my mouth. Plus I like to take lots of breaks rather than continously suckling. So she gave mom a breast shield to try. That keeps the nipple in the back of my mouth even when I'm not sucking very strongly.

So mom took that home and tried to breastfeed for 20 minutes and then pump and give me the rest of what was pumped. Only I would not stay awake for feedings. I'd drink a four ounce bottle in 15 minutes, but I just kept falling asleep at the breast. Mom tried everything to get me to wake up. She tried putting me on one side and then changing my diaper and putting me on the other side. That didn't work. She tried rubbing my head, tickling my feet and tummy and touching my jaw. But she could not keep me awake. The Lactation Consultant suggested mom feed me while I was naked. That worked for a little bit, but then I was just off to sleep again. It got to the point where it was taking over an hour for mom to feed me and she just couldn't do it anymore. So she continued to pump for a couple of days and then she just gave up.

So now I'm just drinking formula. It was so frustrating for mom to not be able to breastfeed me though. She had no problems whatsoever with Keaton, so she thought it would be easier with all the other kids. She blamed her inability to breastfeed Skyler and Spencer on the fact that they induced her. But they didn't induce her with me. Mom asked the Lactation Consultant about why her milk didn't come in right away. The Lactation Consultant said that it was probably because now mom has more kids and is busier and more tired. Both of the Lactation Consultants told mom she gave it a great try and they applauded her for sticking with it for so long.

My first visitors
Since I was born at 11:04 at night, I didn't have any visitors until the next day. My very first visitors were mom's friends Necole and Staci from work. Necole thought I didn't like her cause I cried when she held me. But it wasn't that at all. I just wasn't used to visitors yet and I was hungry. I warmed up to her a few days later when she visited me at my house.

While Staci was rocking me in the rocking chair, the parish nurse from church came in and gave my mom three roses. I thought that was very sweet.

After Necole and Staci left, my Grandma Cathy came in. I actually warmed up to her pretty quickly. She even rocked me to sleep.

Later that afternoon, my great-grandpa Brunsting and Ardyce came to visit me. They thought I was very handsome.

That night, Grandma Cathy came back with Grandma O. Grandma O thought I was a cutie too. She rocked me for quite a while in the rocking chair.

While I was visiting with them, Carolyn (mom's friend from work) and Lisa (Skyler & Spencer's babysitter) came up to visit me. They brought me a couple of boy outfits. Mom didn't know if I was going to be a boy or a girl so all she had gotten me were yellow and green outfits. Finally I had some blue outfits to wear. And Lisa gave me the cutest little Winnie-the-Pooh outfit with matching booties. If only it would warm up so I could wear my new clothes.

That same night, dad brought Keaton, Skyler and Spencer up to visit me. They were all very impressed. They all wanted to hold me. Mom let Keaton hold me first since he's so grown up. Then she left Spencer and Skyler hold me (while mom was still holding on to me). We got pictures of all of them. Skyler and Spencer were pretty excited about having a new baby. They kept kissing and touching me. We'll have to see if that's still the case when I get home.

Our trip home
We went home on Tuesday, May 14th. Dr. Hayes had done my circumcision that morning and he wanted us to hang around until at least 10:30am to make sure everything went ok with that. It didn't really bother me that much, but I was pretty sleepy.

They also needed to do my Metabolic Screening test. That test is awful. The lab tech came and pricked my heal. That part wasn't so bad, but then she squeezed my heal until she got five circles of blood on this piece of paper. It took about 3 minutes and I screamed the whole time.

Finally around noon we were ready to go. They had checked me over one last time and made sure the car seat worked ok. Mom got our discharge papers and we were out of there. It was great to finally see the great outdoors.

The weather was quite a bit nicer for the trip home. It was sunny out and warmer. Still not typical May weather, but at least it was in the high 60s. It was a little bit windy out and mom kept putting my blanket over my head. That was driving me crazy. On the way home dad stopped at Computer Heaven cause he was looking for a cheap computer. Mom wasn't too happy about that. I guess she just wanted to get home and relax. Plus I was hungry and I wanted to eat. After that we stopped by Granny's house so I could meet her. She came out and said hi to me while I was sleeping in the van. She was pretty excited to see me. After meeting Granny, we finally went home and I got my first glimpse of where I live.

Where I live and with whom
I live in a nice ranch house with my mom and dad and brothers, Keaton and Spencer, and my sister, Skyler. In the summers and every other major holiday, my big brother Justis comes to visit us too. I haven't met him yet, but he comes this summer and I can't wait. We have four bedrooms, so Keaton and Justis share a room in the basement that dad finished off for them. Right now, Skyler and Spencer are sharing a room and I have my own room. But mom says that when I'm about 1 I'll move into the other room and share it with Spencer. Then Skyler will have her own room. She's so lucky. But I think it will be fun to share a room with Spencer.