The "Newborn Fog" Begins

Birkeley John Rowe

"Birke"
27 December 2008
1:51 pm
7 pounds 6 ounces
20.5 inches long
Good Samaritan Hospital
Portland, Oregon

Dr. Robin Barrett joins us for a picture. She's delivered all three of our babies, right here at Good Sam!

"baby burrito" -- Devon is a serious pro at this technique -- thankfully

This was the actual color of his feet for the first couple of hours (called acrocyanosis) but they are nice and pink now.

Visitors

Avery & Birke
Avery thought he was pretty cool, was a little nervous to hold him at first, and was obsessed with the fruit plate they brought me from the cafeteria -- I think she ate half of it! Then she helped the nurse out with his first "bath"

Snuggles with daddy -- he wasn't too happy about rubbing up against the beard, though

Grandma Linda & BirkeGrandpa Earl & Birke

Nana Noma & BirkeKate, Kelly, & Ed even made a stop into see us, and Kate did a great job holding Birke (even though she was a little nervous at first). A big thank you to Kelly for the treats, the visit, and even snapping a few pictures for me!

My pre-delivery pedicure -- orange for me, blue for Birkeley. Of course I got them done last Saturday (then we got cancelled), but they held up for the week! Gotta have soft feet & fun toes for a delivery! Labor Story, etc.

Labor was induced, starting at about 1:00am last night. Actual labor began at about 8:00am today, and at 1:00pm things were progressing, but somewhat slowly. Then at 1:30 I felt him shift into "position" -- and he was delivered 21 minutes later (at 1:51pm). His delivery was short & sweet and thankfully uneventful, but we had a staff of nurses here to help out in case he got stuck like Jordan (she had a shoulder dystocia). I am feeling great, I guess the 3rd time's a charm.

Birkeley seems to be an extremely healthy baby. He was very average in weight & length, had APGARS of 9 & 9, and has no signs of the many anomalies we noticed right away with Jordan. His sucking, eating, and swallowing are great -- in fact a little too good for my tastes -- he wants to eat or suck every second he is awake. I finally relaxed and cried when he did (and he's good at it when he needs our attention), since Jordan didn't make a peep for a whole month, and to this day rarely tells us when she "needs" something.

It's easy to compare him to Jordan since she has consumed our lives for the last 3 years, but it's hard to remember what "normal" is and what Avery did. I feel like a rookie again, and am pleased to constantly notice the things he does do, instead of the things he doesn't do, or the things that don't seem right. Our own pediatrician is stopping by in the morning for a full check up, but I'm already optimistic that she'll give him a clean bill of health. I'm sure it'll be a few months before I'm completely convinced, and will wince at every jerk & cringe every time I think he's doing something "Jordan-like." But so far we're off to a good start. Now, if we can just get some sleep to keep us going through the "newborn fog."