Two Birthdays (Welcome Nathan Robert Jackson!)

10 October 2008, Friday

It was Dallin's 7th birthday today. This morning, I got ready early so I could make him crepes for breakfast. I woke the kids up at about 7:00 and I heard Sam and Dallin arguing about when, exactly, Dallin turns 7. Dallin claimed to be 7 already, but Sam insisted that he wasn't 7 until he blew out all of the candles. After some parental intervention, the matter was settled, and Dallin is officially 7.

I came home a little early to watch the kids while Jana went to the doctor. The doctor had a difficult time measuring her and she was still feeling pretty sore when she got home.

As soon as we were all together, we drove down to Superior to Chuck E Cheese's for Dallin's birthday dinner. We had a very fun time. On the way home, we got a call from Grandma Smith for Dallin and when we walked in the door, we got a call from Grandma Jackson. After he got off the phone, Dallin opened his presents and we had cake and ice cream.

Jana has been contracting all evening.

11 October 2008, Saturday

Jana had contractions all day and had other signs that she was getting close. In the morning she called a friend to ask her if she could watch the kids if we had to go to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital at about 5:00, she was at about 6 cm and a -1 station. They moved her from the triage room to a labor and delivery room. A little after 6:00, Jana got an epidural which caused a pretty severe "spinal" headache. The doctor, whom we really like, came and checked her a bit later and she hadn't progressed much so he broke her water. He then told her to take it easy and headed off to perform a C-section.

Laying down seemed to ease the headache, but that was about all she could do. The nurse checked her and found that she was "complete" and that the baby was crowning. They told the doctor, who had just started the C-section. There was no way for him to make it, so they called his partner to deliver the baby. When he arrived, the baby was ready to come. Two contractions later he was born at 9:09 PM!

He is a healthy baby. His APGARs were 7 and 9. He has a a lot of blond hair and has two stork bites on his eyelids. He has bruises on his nose and forehead from the quick descent. He weighs 6lbs 4oz and measures 20in long.

Initially after birth, he was making a little grunting noise that indicated he was having some trouble breathing. We moved him to the nursery for observation. He and I were there about an hour and a half and he did well and had his bath. I brought him back to Jana. What an amazing woman I married!

At about 1:00 AM I went home to relieve the babysitters and to try and think of a name. The baby wasn't able to stay the whole night with Jana, since he was not keeping his temperature up, so he went back to the nursery for several hours.

12 October 2008, Sunday

After everyone had eaten and had a bath, we drove out to visit Mommy and baby. We decided to call him Nathan, but still hadn't come up with a middle name yet. Jana's headache has really been bothering her. While we were there, the anesthesiologist did a "blood patch" by taking blood from her arm and inserting it into the hole left by the epidural. This didn't have an immediate effect, but her headache got steadily better throughout the day and by evening she was just feeling tired.

The boys wanted to eat at the cafeteria downstairs, but I told them we would go to McDonalds or Taco Bell instead. They immediately chose Taco Bell, so it was decided we would go tomorrow when Grandma flew in from Pennsylvania. After saying goodbye to Mommy and Nathan, we went home to let Kaylie (and Daddy) have a nap.

We came back to the hospital in the afternoon and decided on a middle name of Robert, after Jana's dad. After a while, the kids and I went home to have a quick dinner. A friend came over later to watch them for a little while so I could spend some time at the hospital without corralling kids.

When I got to the hospital, Jana really wanted a rest so I held Nathan while she closed her eyes. No wonder she doesn't get any rest in the hospital. Even without the kids there, someone was coming in to poke and prod either Jana or Nathan every fifteen minutes.

13 October 2008, Monday

This morning, the kids and I got up and got ready at our usual time. After breakfast and cleaning up a bit, we drove down to the airport to pick up Grandma Smith who flew in to take care of her little girl. The kids were extremely excited to see her and couldn't stop talking all the way back to Longmont. As I promised yesterday, we went to Taco Bell for lunch. Kaylie surprised me by eating a whole taco (except the "celery" i.e. anything green). Then we went to see Mommy and Nathan in the hospital.

When we got there, Jana told us that she could be discharged at any time. So, after visiting for a little bit and letting Tanya hold Nathan, I drove them home. I cleaned out the baby car seat and got some clothes for Jana, and drove back to the hospital to pick them up and bring them home. We love having our Mommy back home with us!