Owen Makes His Debut!

Owen Keith Neerings
9.10.09 at 4:29pm

8 lbs 1 oz, 21 in

Counting Down

I was so sure that I would have Owen by the 5th that once I got passed that date it was like I considered myself overdue. So at my appt on Sept. 8th (39 weeks 3 days) I was very ready. My dr stripped my membranes for the second time and told me it was a good weekend to have a baby because he was on call. He said if by Friday, the 11th I hadn't delivered I could call the office and set up an induction for the weekend when he'd be there since I would be 40 weeks on the 12th. Well, I worried about it and debated whether I should schedule an induction or wait it out. I asked all sorts of people for advice, but knew I really just wanted it to happen on it's own. I walked the mall with a friend on Wednesday the 9th and then took another (more brisk) walk that evening with Paul, Audrey & Dexter. During that walk I had my first REAL contraction. I could still walk, but it actually hurt. I had a couple more that night, but nothing once I went to bed...so I figured no luck.

The Birth Story

The contractions started at 8am Thursday morning, an hour or hour and half apart. Around 11:30 they were sometimes 15 min apart. At noon I called Paul's parents to come sit with me just in case. Around 1:00 I called Paul at work to come home. At 2:00 we were driving to the hospital, they quickly got to 4 min apart on the ride there. Met Paul at hospital. My water broke while I was using the bathroom at the hospital one last time before getting checked at 2:30 and was 6cm. I was 7cm by 3:00 when the epidural went in. (SOOOOOO glad I could get epidural in time!) I was 10cm by 3:30 and was resting comfortably while waiting for the dr to get to the hospital. (Of course since it was not the weekend, my dr wasn't on call, and the only dr at the practice that I haven't met yet delivered Owen. Oh well.) Started pushing, they had to turn my epidural OFF because it works so well on me. Plus they gave me a huge shot at once because I was so close. 30 min of pushing, then once his head was half way out she said "one more push, oh wait...nevermind, he's coming on his own." He just flew out! Literally! (Sorry, that may be TMI for some of you!). He came out so fast the cord got real tight so she had to hurry and cut it, but everything was good. And he looks JUST like his big sister did! I will find some pictures to compare and post them later.

I was fine to be discharged at 24 hrs--Friday afternoon--but we were there an extra 24 (well, technically 28) because the pediatrician heard a little heart murmur when she checked Owen Friday morning. He got an echo Saturday morning, also circumcised, and then we were waiting for the cardiologist to read results from echo...ALL Saturday long. The cardiologist said the scan looked fine, apparently it's common to have a little murmur as the circulation is changing from being in the womb, to being out. The ped said the murmur was even more faint than the day before. So there should be no cause for concern. Yay! Finally, we were discharged and got home around 8pm Saturday night.

Being Home

We've been home for 4 nights/5days. Audrey is adjusting. She loves to laugh at him when he is awake, moves his arms or legs. She says "he's silly!" But when he cries she gets nervous. The first couple days she would run and hide in another room when he cried. Now she will either cuddle close to me or put her hands over her ears if it's a real high-pitched cry. She helps bring his diaper when it's time to be changed, and offers one to me many times throughout the day. Her newly developed 3 year old attitude is still there, but hopefully it will change as she gets adjusted (and older). She's been very defiant lately and we have to try not to get frustrated with her. We just keep trying new things. It's just hard to decide when to give her a little break, we know she's adjusting to having a sibling. We all are!

So far he is a pretty mellow little guy. Crying when he's hungry, needs a diaper, etc. He loves to sleep while being held. He's a good eater, though sometimes not a very long eater so I end up feeding him sometimes every hour and a half. I think I got about 3 hrs of sleep last night, it was the most sleepless night so far. Though I am sure there are more to come!

First Visit to the Dr

Yesterday I took Owen to his first visit with our pediatrician, Dr. Gentile. He said everything looked great and heard no murmurs in his heart. :o) Owen cried a little at first when I had to take him down to his diaper, it's cold in dr's offices! But then he was really mellow and just chilled while the dr checked him. He even relaxed so much that he peed and it came out his diaper on the table! The dr commented on how mellow he use during the visit. (Probably why we had a tiring night last night!) When we left the hosptial Saturday his weight was 7lbs 9oz, and yesterday he was 8 lbs--almost back to his birth weight in 3 days! We go back in two months...shot time. :o(

Websites

The hospital has a little web page set up with some pictures they took. Similar to the one for Audrey when she was first born. If you get a chance I would love for you to visit it and write a little message for Owen in the Guest Book. I still have Audrey's printed out and in her baby book from her baby hospital page, I'd love to have one for Owen's too.

Click Here to sign Owen's Guest Book!

Click here to see more pics in our Shutterfly albums

Come back to our blog any time, I try to update at least once a month. I will try to be a little more frequent as I know people will be requesting updated pictures, babies change so much, so fast!