The Blanket

I was trying to get laundry done before Porter woke up and of course it didn't happen.  In an attempt to get more done I propped the baby up in the Boppy, noticed his feet were cold, so I tossed my silky that is now used as decor for our bed, on top of him and continued to do my work.  Upon tossing the blanket on top of him I heard a big sigh and within a minute Porter was out.  Ever since my baby blanket has been magic at calming our little bug.  If he ever feels the blanket with his hand he will kick in that direction so that his face is touching the fabric.  It is pretty cute if you ask me.  Looks like I will be sharing my precious blankie, good thing I kind of like him a lot.

Locks of Love

So my hair has a tendency to grow pretty fast and having been pregnant the past bit it has grown like a weed over the past few months.  It was long enough that it was constantly dropping into Porter's fact while I was feeding him, and with how thick it is I just didn't have the time to style it anymore.  I finally just had it and as soon as JD got home I left for Great Clips on the corner.  I walked in with a measuring tape, a rubber band, and a baggie and asked them to chop the pony tail off.  It is still really thick but takes a lot less time with 10 less inches to deal with.

L.L. Stub State Park

Free weekend!!!!  We are all still in recovery mode from having a baby, school, visitors, etc that we decided to stay a little bit closer to home.  We were able to go to L.L. Stub State Park for the first time.  I was going crazy without going hiking or being in trees or seeing ocean so our adventure was just the medicine that I needed.  We were able to hike around the park including part of the Veronia/Banks Trail-which I guess is a big deal, I don't know.  Porter was a champ, loved his Ergobaby carrier, and slept the whole time.  I was pretty worn out physically by the time we were getting back in the car, but my goodness it felt good to hike again.

Grandma JaNae

Luck would have it that JD's cousin Kate had a soccer tournament in Tigard this weekend so Grandma JaNae was able to hitch a ride and spend the weekend with us and see Porter.  It was so nice being able to feed Porter and leave him with Grandma so that I could get some sleep.  She made some yummy dinners and was a lot of help.  I think she is pretty smitten with Porter too.

Grandma & Grandpa Kelly

Grandma and Grandpa Kelly got into town about 1 hour before we left the hospital.  It was so fun having them for a week taking care of me and Porter while JD went to school and studied.  My mom was an absolute angel in cooking, cleaning, and bossing me to get some sleep or sit down while she would take care of Porter.  She would spend the day with me while my Dad and Matt would go hiking or sight seeing.  On the weekend when JD was home, they were all able to go to the coast twice and experience some crazy cool tide pools and other fun things.  Porter loves both of them, my dad is a bit of a baby hog but is magic in getting Porter to calm down when he is waking up enough to eat.  My mom loved giving him his first sponge bath.  I am so grateful for all the help they were and for coming all the way out here to see us.

 
 

Discharge Day

Finally got to go home!  Porter and I got to spend the afternoon waiting for Dad to get done with school so that we could be discharged.  The day went much better without the SCD's and having a very sleepy baby.  Allie with her amazing photography skills came to see Porter and to take some newborn photos.  They turned out so good and it was nice to have someone to help pass the time.  It was exciting getting out of that tiny room and going home, though I will admit a little strange going home a family of 3 when we entered the hospital a family of 2. 

Post Partem Porter

We had a few 'fun' days in recovery at the hospital.  By fun I mean going crazy in a very small room with a fresh baby.  It was kind of hard maneuvering around in the tight quarters on top of having to wear those lovely SCD braces again until starting back up on my Lovenox, though I did enjoy the view of the trees on the Northeast side of Portland.  It was nice getting to spend time with our new little family-though I could have done without the nurses constantly checking up on the last time I nursed throughout the day and night.  The first night Porter slept 5 hours straight before being woken up for his vital check.  The second night he maybe slept 40 minutes, though I don't really blame him having had a vaccine, blood draw, circumcision, and no medicine would make me grumpy too.  Timing worked out that Great Grandma Ann was in Oregon when Porter was born so she got to be my only hospital visitor besides my Aunt Char and our friend Allie from pharmacy school.  All things considered, I feel like I am doing pretty well, though I definitely watch the clock for the magic 8 hour mark where I can take more ibuprofen.

Happy Birthday Porter!

We are so happy to have a healthy and happy Baby Porter Dee Speth here at last!  Things definitely went in an odd order from what I anticipated in getting him here.  We went in to the hospital late Sunday night to start the Cervadil to get me ready for Pitocin the next day.  From the time that I had seen my doctor on Monday to going in on Sunday I had been having some very fun contractions but they had all but gone away on Saturday and Sunday.  The doctor had emphasized multiple times how important it was that I sleep that night for when they would start the Pitocin in 12 hours if everything was looking good.  Problem was: I could not sleep. I hated the monitors with a passion.  I had lovely SED's on my legs to keep circulation going and not clot and they were hot, uncomfortable, and sweaty.  My usual night time contractions were already present, and any time I moved they lost the baby's heart rate.  So what was supposed to be a night full of sleep didn't really happen.  I started getting a little concerned about my situation, I was supposed to be sleeping but I wasn't comfortable and I hurt.  I negotiated to not have to wear the SCD's and the nice nurse gave me a half dose of pain medication that I was hoping more for the sleepiness effect so that I could get more rest and ignore the contractions and the monitors.  I was able to sleep, but not for as long as I was hoping.  I woke up to more contractions.  The nurse gave me another half dose to help me fall asleep again, only this time it didn't really do much, she explained that I was having coupled contractions, two different contractions that were back to back with a shorter break in between, and that was probably why I was having a hard time.  So I was just awake. 

The nurses changed shifts around 6 am and I was still just awake wanting to sleep before meeting with my doctor at 10.  I asked if I could have another half dose and the new nurse said I couldn't have one but that she would check to see where I was at.  I was shocked when she did her check and said, "well my dear, you are dilated past a 6, you are ready for an epidural if you want it."  I was kind of shocked, I was just trying to sleep but at the mention of epidural I was thinking that didn't sound like such a bad idea.  So I got the epidural and I was finally able to get in that nap I had been waiting for.

Pretty much the rest of the experience was amazing.  It was a really calm and peaceful morning waiting for Porter to be ready to pop out.  I just kind of went with the flow the rest of the afternoon.  JD and I were able to hang out and talk and watch those contractions come and go on the screen-that was fun.  My nurse came to check my progress after a while and instead of a number we heard a small gasp and were told that he had a lot of hair, she left for a minute and then came back to say that it was time to push and so I pushed.  About 40 minutes later I was told that the baby's heart rate was dropping and that we needed to get him out.  It only took hearing my nurse reserving a spot in the NICU to get me to push like crazy, contraction pressure or not, to get him out.  So 4 pushes, an episiotomy and tear, and vacuum assist later (about 3 minutes) our little guy was here and in my arms and not going anywhere.  He cried a little bit, but it wasn't long before his big eyes were open and he was looking up at me with a look that pretty much said, "what just happened mom?" 

JD and I got to spend about 2 hours with Porter before they even took him away from me to do his check and get him all cleaned up. I was able to cuddle our sweet boy and feed him and hold him while the world went on around me, JD, and Porter. Everyone was guessing around 8 1/2 pounds for weight and they were all very wrong when they put him on the scale and we saw a whopping 9 pounds 4 ounces on the screen.  The assistant nurse measured Porter's length and said he was 23 inches long, my Nurse Candace didn't believe her and remeasured and sure enough he was really 23 inches long.  I wasn't so surprised since I had his feet stuck high up in my diaphragm constantly kicking to the point of discomfort for over the past 3 months.  So we have ourselves a very long and 'skinny' baby. 

Things have been going really well, Porter is a sleepy baby, I'm recovering, and JD is already back in school.  What adventure we have in store!