Introducing . . . Baby
Leo Curtis. Born November 5, 2010 at 5:29 am.
Weight: 7 lb 13 oz
Height: 19 inches long
Today is the first ever blog entry from Keith (which is actually just the email he sent out after baby was born).
We've had lots of request for the 411 on our happenings and it's been way to eventful to keep in contact or update everyone, but here's a start.
We're so excited to have a new baby in our family. After what seemed like a month of contractions....false contractions.....and who knows what, the real deal finally came and just as everyone tells us, you'll know when it is time to go to the hospital. Lisa woke me from my slumber last night in the middle of the night. I think it was around 1:30 or 2 (I think we had been in bed for a whole hour) Lisa was having some pretty heavy contractions and consistent. She says she clawed me in the back, but I don't even remember. She says I screamed cause it hurt so bad, but I really don't remember. I timed her for about an hour's worth of contractions which included some time in the bath, bed, etc.. she was about 3-5 minutes consistently so we finally decided to go. Once we decided to go, we called our lovely neighbor, Jan, to come and watch the boys until morning when Mari would relieve her from post. During our trip to the hospital I started to wonder if Lisa would make it. She was really hurting bad during her contractions.....3:33, 3:36, 3:40...etc. Luckily I have a history of speeding, as many of you know, and you do the math....yep, a total of about 10-15 minutes to the hospital. Those of you who think we live in the boonies, I think it's simply a matter of how fast you drive, not the distance. :) For once, Lisa didn't even give a report on my speed the whole way here. I felt so alive! Have I mentioned I made it to Vegas once on a tank of gas in dad's car...
Anyway, we pulled up about 3:45 and trying to hobble Lisa inside who was ready to collapse, a kind security guard came dashing outside with wheelchair in hand and we wheeled her inside and upstairs (side note: any of you that are shocked that the security guard actually did something helpful, don't be, the nurses were as well. - she was a woman however, so she was probably more helpful here than she would be keeping the place secure anyway.)
The nurses took over and wheeled her into the "death room" Lisa calls it that - she always gets sent home from there it seems) or triage room. The nurses tried to stand her up from the wheelchair to get in bed, when they realized she couldn't stand they immediately sat her back down and wheeled us down the hallway to the real deal - labor and delivery room 12...booya! The nurses were crying out to get her clothes off and get her into bed immediately so she could get checked and ready for labor. We proceeded to help her gown up. The whole time she cried out "I want an epidural NOW!!" - in her most kind and sweet voice. I seriously bet she asked for the epidural 20 times. The nurse checked her out and she was a 6+ or 7. Epidural man was just down the hall so he came in and gave us the quick talk about it ...1 in 300,000 have major problems, etc. and got to work. It was a repeat of past experiences hearing how small Lisa is and so it's hard to give one. The nurses also told her how small her ankles were. I guess they get pretty big sometimes. Lisa said it was the best epidural ever. I asked Mary what that meant and she explained that you can still feel what's happening, but no pain. Lisa agreed.
4:35 - Lisa has an epidural and is feeling fine. The nurses just tell her to hang out for a while, which gave just enough time for mom's foot rub recommended by all of Lisa's books she reads. It's amazing how quickly it can go from mayhem to calmness with some drugs and a good footrub. 5:00 Lisa took an extra shot of the epidural (You can do that every 20-30 minutes). Right after the nurse checked her and she was at 9+. She said they better get the delivery room later. That took about 15-20 minutes. Lisa thought the nurses looked like they were in a bit of a hurry, but she couldn't figure out why because she felt fine. at 5:20 Lisa took another extra dose of epidural and the doctor walked in and said let's have the baby. Lisa was still confused about it being time because she felt no urge to push. The doctor sat down and told her to push anyway. "Just push and he'll come flying out". I guess she was ready to push when we got there supposedly. She pushed through 3 contractions to completely get the baby out. Delivery at 5:29 AM. She said she still didn't feel the urge, but could feel very much what was going on. I guess that's the evidence of her amazing epidural. Baby looked great! Lots of hair and cute as can be. He only sat with mom a couple of minutes before he was cleaned up, weighed, measured. (7lb 13 oz and 19 inches long) and taken downstairs to the nursery because he wasn't breathing real well. He got put on a breathing machine - like dad's- cpap? ccap? cat? crap? not sure. I'm sure someone does. I sat there and sucked junk out of his throat with what I call a dentist vacuum. They also but a tube in his throat and pulled out a couple of syringes of fluid from his stomach. They said he didn't cough up enough, plus he swallowed some fluid on his way out. He stayed on that machine for about an hour. The other complication was his blood sugar. It was low, 24 and they like it to be 44+ with the newborns. Not sure what the cause was, but it sounds like they think the fast delivery was traumatic and took a lot of energy thus burning a lot of his sugar... who knows. They put him on an IV and would plan to wean him off through out the day as Lisa started giving him the real nutrients he needed. He's been a level 2 patient all day and hopefully will be released and given to us any time now. It's just a matter if his blood sugar test is ok before this next feeding and then he will be monitored for the next couple of days to see how it is.
Anyway, by the time baby was stable Lisa had been bathed and moved downstairs to recovery - nursery area. Lisa decided to join us for the bath time since she had to go into that room to nurse because baby couldn't come to us yet. About 7:30 the bath took place and then 8:00 was the first feeding - that boy was hungry! What a good eater, I think our best one yet. No problems there. They just pulled some curtains around us in the nursery for that part and ate for a good 20 minutes on each side.. He's been a good eater all day 8:15, 10:30, 2:30, 7:00, and now we're waiting for the last feeding of the day and blood sugar test.
Lisa feels incredible. She was up and about in no time. She's had a shower in the afternoon cause she said she stunk like sweat. Also, no tearing or anything. An interesting thing is the epidural was so quick that they said all the side affects of the epidural...itching, shivers, etc. that normally happen when you get it would happen after the delivery, and they did. She about clawed herself to death scratching and she kept me busy itching her legs, back, etc. The other funny thing is this whole pregnancy is Lisa kept telling me we're done having kids because she is so miserable, but alas, as soon as that baby came out she said, "That was easy, let's do it again". I shouted a silent HORRAY! and was grateful she did so well.
Lisa's cousin works here in the nursery and it's been fun to have her around. Feels like we're at someones house instead of the hospital because someone is here we know and love. We've always said that labor and delivery nurses are surely set for heaven, but now that we've spent some time with the nursery nurses, we're certain they are too. what wonderful ladies with kind hearts.
Lisa's mom drove down today and she's on duty at the house taking good care of that place.....swimiming, going to the park, playing with the boys. I asked her tonight if she needed anything before I came back to the hospital and she said, "We have a credit card and car, what else could we need?" Isn't that the truth!
We're so anxious to actually get to spend some real time with this precious little boy rather than just the 40 minutes of nursing time so we can work on a name. We finally have a few favorites, but we're open to suggestions. I've taken one from Adam's friend that I love in honor of jello salad in Utah...orangello. Kind of catchy. Tonight, Mary said she likes Korver. We asked the nurses what not to name him and they said jackson and william are the most common names around. 20 minutes later we were in the nursery nursing behind the curtain and a new dad was doing the bath. The nurse said, "Do you have other kids?" "yes, 8 years old and 4 year old" "what's their names?"...you guessed it!! Jackson and William. I've been going through baby books like crazy. I had to laugh because my German name in high school was in there..Dieter. Nate used to make fun of it and I'm pretty sure Curtis did as well (Curtis's was gehrt I think - much cooler ) Anyway, it means "a friendly girl", guess I deserved to be made fun of.
NEW UPDATE!!!
Just got back from the nicu and have our sweet baby boy with us. He passed his blood sugar test and ate like a champ.
Just a couple more key notes before heading to bed.....or at least laying down wide awake on this crappy couch! We've had the chance to listen to the nurses visit in the nursery for a quite a while today. Here are a couple of things we've learned.
1. They work out their butts all the time and still have cellulite on them...so all you people out there with cellulite on your butt. Don't feel bad, these nurses have it too.
2. Most of the nurses took a marriage test today and the result shows that most people after their first year of marriage don't sit by each other on the couch when watching tv. All you fine people who don't really want to snuggle on the couch with spouse or even watch tv in the same room because you really can't agree on what to watch...you are the norm.
3. You can have white hair when you are 52. Patty has white hair, but dyes it. Her mother never got it until she was 65. Patty doesn't really feel that old either.
Last fun update. I have a UVU shirt on I got form Dick Hunsaker (basketball coach) Everyone asks me if I work or coach there. I tell them we make signs for a living. Some of them have found out my work history and my degree in ME. One nurse, while I was asleep, told Lisa it was such a shame to have a really good degree not ever use it. Man am i a loser!!
Thanks for all the love, prayers, and support. Our hearts are full of gratitude today for the opportunity to witness yet another miracle in our lives. We are always amazed how blessed we are. Might be because I married the luckiest girl on earth.
Lisa still looks beautiful as always.
Love you all, here's a few pics of the day.
Keith