Jameson was born on Dec. 16, 2010 at 10:06 pm, weighing 5 lb 13.5 oz and 19 3/4″ long.
On Tuesday, we went in for our follow up appointment with ultrasound to check the fluid levels. We were at a 5.8 fluid level, which is borderline being too low. The doctor recommended induction, and scheduled it for the very next day at 4pm! I finished up work for my last day and Brian and I both tried to relax a bit on Wednesday morning, though I did have Brian do a little housework in preparation for baby’s arrival.
We didn’t really know what to expect for induction; I had read that induction can mean many things, including using hormones and pitocin to start contractions. On Tuesday, I was about 1 cm dilated, which was better than the previous week with no activity, but apparently that is still not enough to start right on pitocin, so when we arrived I was allowed to have dinner and then the hormone was inserted for 12 hours. Brian and I were not expecting such a long wait! The next morning I was only at 2 cm but I was allowed to have cheerios, and then they started me on the pitocin. I began having mild cramping contractions, but really didn’t feel anything until they finally broke my water at 4 cm. Less than a minute after that, I had severe painful contractions. I did attempt for a little bit to go natural, and used pain killers and breathing for about an hour and a half to manage the pain. Then I decided to go ahead and get the epidural, for which I am very thankful!
After that, things moved very quickly. I went from 5 cm to 9 cm in an hour. Brian came back with his dinner, expecting we would have a long wait still ahead of us, and the nurse told him he better get my dinner ready too! Then it was time to push, and Brian helped hold my legs; it was great to be able to have him involved and helping during my labor! After about 1 1/2 hours of pushing, baby boy Thomas was born and Brian got to cut the cord!
Brian and I were torn between Brendan and Jameson as the first name for our son. However, after seeing him we both decided that Jameson was definitely his name. His middle name is Charles after Brian’s grandfather. They took his blood sugar level, which was a great 77, and his apgar score was also good, about an 8. I shook for a little while after his birth, which was interesting. I enjoyed dinner and then we went to the recovery room.
Thankfully, we did not have to have a roommate during our stay. Since I had already been in the hospital so long, I was ready to come home right away. The nurses were very kind and helpful, giving tips for breastfeeding and swaddling. The hospital food was great for me, though Brian did not enjoy his cafeteria food as much!
I went home on Saturday and Brian’s parents brought over lasagna dinner! The proud grandparents waited in the hospital for his birth and are so excited about their first grandchild!
Tomorrow night, Jameson will be one week old! The past week has been amazing (and tiring). I am pretty sure I must still have some great hormones running through my system because I am running on little sleep. Brian has been great staying up with me almost all the time while we got through nursing together and my milk coming in. Everything has been a learning experience, and it’s been great having my mom around since we got home from the hospital. She has helped us keep up on our laundry and vacuuming and of course helping watch Jameson, and enjoying holding him.
We did get Jameson circumcised, and today finally we stopping putting Vaseline on it, it is healing well. The past few days have been difficult changing him with just one person while we keep his legs away from his body and use warm washcloths around the circumcision. The belly button has been tough to work around too as we have to be careful while diapering him!
His first outing was to the doctor’s office on Monday, 12/20. He was 5 lb 9 oz, which is what he was when leaving the hospital, so we stopped his losing weight fairly quickly. When we went again today, he was back up to his birth weight already! He gained weight twice as fast as the doctor usually expects. We had been on a fairly strict schedule of feeding him every 3 hours, with no more than a single 5 hour stretch between feedings. While he usually stuck to the schedule himself, we did have to wake him up sometimes. After this most recent visit, we are going on an “on demand” feeding schedule. It will be interesting to see what kind of routine he has. So far today he has been awake a lot because we had visitors!
First bath (sponge bath anyway), 12/20
We had visitors on Sunday from my family; my dad, Tyler and Holly came to visit with Jameson for a day. Today, my Aunt Carol stopped by to see him.
Jameson has so many facial expressions. He does smile some, a reflex right now, but hopefully soon it will be because he’s looking at his parents! So far he seems pretty content with sleeping, eating and peeing a lot! I am excited to watch him grow. See more pictures of Jameson!
