Do I Look Any Different?

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Because I'm an aunt now!!!

I have a nephew, Caise Michael!


If Autumn couldn't make it till 09/09/09 like we'd hoped (and scheduled!), I think it's pretty darn cool that lil' neph waited till 10/10/10 just like I'd told him to. :)

Wednesday the 6th (Jessica's due date) came and went. On Friday she came and spent the day with me and the kids. I told her that I'd been hoping she'd go into labor on Saturday night and have "Kevin" in the wee hours of Sunday morning because it was 10/10/10. She just wanted the baby to come A.S.A.P. (without a pitocin induction) so we'd stopped by Vitamin Cottage and looked at supplements that you sometimes hear working...red raspberry leaf, black or blue cohosh (one is okay, the other is not)... She didn't end up getting anything because my kids were being rowdy and she wanted to do a bit more research anyway.

So I took a few pictures of her and her belly and she went on her way:


She had been considering trying out her new breast pump as that releases oxytocin into the body which causes contractions. On Saturday she told me that she and Janna walked and walked (also to bring on labor). They ate a spicy lunch. She took a hot shower. Had a nap. And she also tried out the pump a couple of times. That evening around 6:30 she gave me a call and said her water had just broken!


It was seriously perfect timing. She and Janna were together (meaning neither of them were at work). She was freshly showered and napped. They were able to calmly pack their stuff and begin their drive down the mountain to the hospital before the contractions really started kicking in. I was impressed with just how calm and in control she seemed. I expected nothing less from Janna, but Jessica was doing great as well!

I was hoping to be there in the hospital waiting room when "Kevin" was born and so I anxiously waited to hear from them after they'd checked in. They weren't going to check her dialation because of her water being broken (increases the risk of infection) so my mom, Lauren, and I decided to meet down there and hang out for a bit and get an idea of her progress.

Jessica was handling labor remarkably. I grew up with that girl and she was not known for her ability to handle pain but she was awesome. Everyone tells me contractions hurt worse when you no longer have that bag of water cushioning things but she was super. We all hung out in their labor room with them, chatting and visiting, listening to the swish swish swish of the heartbeat on the monitor. I loved hearing it speed up when Jessica would have a contraction. Good lil baby.

Occasionally Jess and Janna would walk the halls. Contractions would understandably hurt more when she was up and about. Eventually they decided it was time for an epidural. Once she was comfortable with that they were finally going to check her cervix. So we left the room for all that and hung out in the empty waiting room for a bit. When we got the all clear we headed back down to their room where poor Jessica said she was only a half a centimeter at that point. After 6 hours of labor. So since she had the epidural they also added some pitocin to her IV and Moo, Lauren, and I went home for some sleep hoping Jessica and Janna could sleep a bit too while the pitocin worked on her but the epidural covered it up.

Our way out had some excitement as the parking garage wouldn't take credit cards and my mom had just a $20 (I had $0). We'd checked with the security guard about what we should do and he said no one was there, we could just leave. Well, my mom was parked where she could get out but I was stuck behind gates that were now charging me for two days worth of fees when I stuck my ticket in. Oh, nuh-unh. So my mom guided me (in Jason's FJ Cruiser) up the curb and around the gates. Shhhh. :) I'm expecting a photo ticket at any time now.

I got home around 2 a.m. but didn't sleep well. In fact, it took me forever to get to sleep with all the pending excitement.

In the morning, Jason and I talked about how it would be nice if I could spend some time with the kids as I'd likely be gone much of the day but I got an email from Jessica saying they'd checked her again about an hour prior (6 a.m. ish) and she was 4 cm but in her email she also told me she was feeling lots of pressure. I spent enough years on labor and delivery to know what that means so I hopped in the shower instead of hanging with the kids and while I was in the shower Janna texted that yup, Jessica was "9 and 101" as I'm sure that's just how the nurse said it: nine, a hundred and one. That meant 9 cm, 100% and +1.

My sweet husband gathered my camera and made me a to-go cup of coffee and sent me on my way back down to the hospital. I was so nervous I wasn't going to make it in time but I did. Even with my brief stop for gas.

Jessica and Janna hadn't gotten a ton of sleep but I guess they'd rested some, at least.


Once we were all in the room, Gramoo, Lauren, and I gathered around and we prayed with Jess and Janna. Then we took our spots out in the hall as Mama was about to start pushing. It was five to 9:00. I had high hopes for a 10/10/10 at 10:10 birth. :)

So we waited:


And we stared at the door of room 5:


And we waited some more.

We saw the doctor head in after awhile. He had spikey hair so Lauren dubbed him "Beaker". However, when he walked out the door I realized I knew him, "Dr. K?!?! I used to work with you in Boulder before you came down here." He was all, "it's been 10 years since I worked up there" but what a crazy coincidence. He is the only doctor I'd have known down at that particular (large) hospital and that's the doctor Jessica got! I neglected to ask if he also knew Jason's ex-wife who used to be an L&D nurse at that very same hospital. :)

Jess was quietly pushing away. 10:10 came and went:


Moosie and Lauren walked to Starbucks and the bagel shop next door to the hospital.

Eventually Janna's mom arrived (after taking care of Jess and Janna's three dogs) and she brought her iPad. She and Gramoo played Scrabble on it:


We waited some more.

Lauren and I played some iPad pinball. And then we could tell things were starting to happen. A few more nurses headed in (and I could recognize they'd be the ones to take care of the baby when it came out). The doctors went back in. And we listened but it was super quiet. Jessica was a very quiet pusher. :)

Just after noon we heard a little newborn cry. There was suddenly one more person behind the door to room 5. Us four gals in the hall got all teary-eyed as we heard the little squawk. We didn't know anything else. They were letting Janna announce the gender and she's not a shouter. I thought I'd overheard someone say "little guy" but I tried not to hear that as I know they wanted to tell us the gender themselves. Plus I wasn't entirely sure what I'd heard.

Nurses left the room for the scale being sure they didn't make eye contact with us. Hee hee. The doctor came out and said, "Success!" but that was all. Another doctor came out and said, "You guys still don't know anything, right?" and she was right. We were still waiting. Patiently. Eventually a nurse checked with them and said we could go in the room:

It's a boy! (How beautiful does Jessica still look after all that work??? Amazing!)

They introduced us to little Caise (pronounced Case). Janna's mom got him first. Then Gramoo:


Then me. Then professional, fourth timer auntie Lauren:


He was so sweet. We were all impressed by how alert he was. His wide eyes just seemed so big! We got to be in the room for his first little bath. That was always my favorite part of my job in the hospital:







Caise weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces and was 20 inches long. Jessica pushed his 14 inch head for just over 3 hours!!! Apparently they were starting to talk vacuum or C-section but she rallied and got him out the old-fashioned way. :)





In addition to his noteworthy large eyes and alertness, he also has incredibly long fingers and toes just like his mama:


Does this not look like a fist?


His little head was about the shape you'd expect after being squeezed out "two steps forward, one step back" for three whole hours. Ouch! But I've seen him since and he's got a nice little round head now. He's perfect and I'm such a proud first time auntie!

It was awesome to be at the hospital for such an exciting time!