Titan & Max

My favorite part is how every other word/phrase is "Titan, NO!" haha, poor doggie.

Max's Birth Story- FINALLY

What a story this is! I think the best way to explain it would be by listing everything by date/time, so here goes!

Monday, August 3rd (1:00pm): OB appointment. I called in because Max was not moving much. They hooked me up to the monitor and though it took a bit for him to start moving, his heart rate was great. They did a quick ultrasound and though everything looked fine, I was having pretty consistent contractions- like, 2-3 minutes apart! Even though I was only 1cm dilated, my OB decided to send me down to L&D to be monitored- she wanted to make sure I wasn't in early labor.

Monday, August 3rd (5:00pm): After a few hours on the monitors, I was not progressing so they decided to have me start a 24-hour urine protein test and sent me home with instructions to come back if the contractions didn't stop. (Side note for those who may appreciate it- while I was collecting my urine, I lost my mucous plug. That was a unique and strange visual. It also made for a good laugh when I had to turn it in and explain why there was more than just urine in my collection jug.)

Monday, August 3rd (11:00pm): Still "Braxton Hicks-ing"... so we decided to go in. Long story short, I had not progressed at all and the contractions were becoming more erratic. Damn. I was pissed. Tears were shed. We were sent home.

Tuesday, August 2nd (all day): I spent the day walking around and trying to get stuff done and get the little man to start dropping. I went to Deer Park, Buy Buy Baby, and Ikea, where I picked up a little bookcase (the last piece of furniture for Max's room!) I was definitely "contracting" all day, but wasn't convinced anything was changing.

Tuesday, August 2nd (8:00pm): In all of my almost-a-Mom intelligence, I thought it would be a good idea to try and bring the (50lb +) bookshelf in BY MYSELF. Now, understand I had one of those little dollies so it really wasn't that heavy. However, it needed to get up our deck stairs. First stair and the wheel got stuck so as I pulled, the bookcase stopped but my back kept going. Immediately I knew (felt) the error in my ways. I hobbled inside (I could not stand up straight) and called Ben... "I need you to come home... NOW." In his rush, he told me later, he didn't know why I was summoning him. But he learned a few weeks ago that when I called with the, "I need you to come home NOW," he came home. I called my chiropractor and doula, who both scolded me, then stated I probably wouldn't keep progressing now that I was in pain and couldn't relax. A call to the OB (who also told me what an idiot I was) and we were headed back in to Labor & Delivery.

That tower in the corner is the "bookcase"

This time I made sure we brought all of our things- luggage, computer, camera, bag of snacks, etc. I was NOT going back to L&D for the third time in two days without having a baby. When we arrived, I was yelled at by more Nurses for my stupidity, and was checked... still 1cm. F*#^. But because my contractions were moderately strong and regular, my OB decided I needed a bit of pain meds to help me sleep- as others had said, I was not going to progress until I could relax. They admitted me, administered a happy shot, and ordered me to sleep. I ordered Ben home to sleep and we both slept until the next morning.

August 4th (8am): The nurse comes in to check me after a night of resting comfortably. 1.5cm. Damn it all. This has got to be a joke. She goes and talks to my OB, who advises Pitocin might be a good idea. I had been pretty against induction all along, but at this point I was so frustrated and confused as to why I was regularly contracting but not dilating, I became open to the option. With the promise of "starting slow", I agreed. Ben was not too pleased (like I said, we both were pretty against induction), but after talking to my OB, he understood and agreed.

A hour later, all hell broke loose. We are still not sure what happened- perhaps a reaction to the Pit or a surge or Relaxin, but suddenly I was in MAJOR pain, and not just with contractions. After trying a dose of narcs and me BEGGING the nurse to turn off the Pit, they ordered the Epidural, turned off the Pitocin and started flushing me with fluids. Honestly, it was all a blur. That's how badly my WHOLE BODY was hurting. Luckily the anesthesiologist arrived quickly and with little recollection, I was administered the epidural. Just a short while later, the pain was gone and I was resting comfortably. They Nurse turned the Pitocin back on (at the smallest level possible). By this point my Mom had arrived and it turned into a waiting game. I almost immediately fell asleep and didn't wake until...

August 4th (12:30pm): My water broke on it's own! As most stories go, I can tell I'm "leaking" and call the Nurse, who thinks it's probably just the catheter, only to discover that yes, my water DID break and I'm dilated to almost 6cm! I cheer momentarily, and basically fall back asleep.

August 4th (5pm): I wake again to lots of pressure. I call for the nurse who checks me and to her surprise, I'm 10cm, fully effaced and Max was at a zero station! She calls the OB who comes in just as surprised as we all were (she later admitted she was sure I wouldn't have Max until the following morning). They "set up shop" and had me start doing some practice pushing. I got the hang of pushing pretty quickly, and was mostly excited to meet our little man!

Just us two for the last time!

But let's fast forward to...

August 4th (6:15pm): I AM STILL PUSHING. I also had a "leak" meconium so the NICU nurses were called in to be present in case he had swallowed any. By this point, I really have no idea how I'm going to do this. I made them move the "I want to see the birth" mirror because really, it was more discouraging by that point (again, HOW THE H AM I GOING TO DO THIS?!?!) Eventually, the OB realizes he is coming down with his head a bit sideways... an episiotomy would have to happen. And seriously, the moment after she did...

August 4th (6:47pm): MAX MAKES HIS DEBUT!!! He was quickly put in the little heated bed and looked over- Ben went to be with him as they checked him out. They had to suction his lungs a bit, but he hadn't really swallowed much of the meconium. He was, however, breathing rather quickly (normal rate is preferred to be below 60 breaths/minute... he was at 120). We were told that is part of the transition, and some babies just take a bit longer. Ben got to cut the cord, he was swaddled and finally I got to hold him for about 5 minutes. He was quickly taken to the Special Care nursery for his bath and another APGAR test. Ben got to stay with him and our family was able to look on from the viewing window of the nursery.

Holding tight to Daddy's finger

Not a fan of his first bath

IN THE MEAN TIME, my placenta wouldn't release and when it finally did, I started loosing blood. A LOT of blood. It did eventually stop, but not before the OB almost called for a transfusion. And then the sewing began. We will simply leave it at I had "a bunch of tearing" due to pushing for so long, and the OB just wanted to make sure "every thing was put back together in its proper place." My Mom said she lost count of how many stitches I actually got. For more information, email me at IWasTooOutOfItToCare@firsttimemom.com.

I don't remember arriving in the recovery room. I actually don't remember much of anything until I was wheeled into the Special Care nursery to FINALLY see my boy. Mind you, this is almost 10pm. It was then we were told that if he didn't transition soon, he would have to go to the NICU. Around midnight, he was transferred there and put on Oxygen. Of course by the next morning he was doing much better, but they had to wait until his breathing had been below 60 for a good 24 hours before they'd consider releasing him.

Sweet, sweet boy

Too many wires :(

So for the next 2.5 days, I tried to recover and Max grew stronger. By Friday morning he was off the oxygen, and his IV was out later that afternoon when he received his last dose of antibiotics. Providing his bilirubin levels were normal, we were told he'd get to go home the next day.

Now, technically, my 48 hour "normal delivery" stay should have ended Friday night. But my OB found a way around it (I mean, I did have a postpartum hemorrhage for pete's sake) so we could hopefully be released at the same time.

August 7th (4:30pm): We were ON OUR WAY HOME!!!! After a crazy first birthing experience, Max, Ben and I were on our way home to start our life as a family.

Off we go!

I am so grateful for so many things:
- A healthy baby boy!
- The peace that, even though he was in the NICU, I always just KNEW he would be OK.
- That we got to go home TOGETHER. I can not imagine having to leave the hospital without him.
- That, as crazy as it was, it was my FIRST experience- although I know it 'should' have been different, that craziness was all I knew.
- Our amazing families who were SO supportive through every part of Max's delivery and arrival.
- And finally, my unreal husband who was with me every second of every part of the experience. He jumped into Fatherhood with strength and ease, and has never been more handsome, tender, sexy, and PRECIOUS.

We are adjusting to life together swimmingly, and can't wait to share our lives with everyone!

Pictures!!!

So I posted a bunch of pictures (and by a bunch I mean hundreds) on Facebook. Rather than taking a hundred hours to post all of them here, I'm putting up the links so you can peruse them at your leisure!

Max's Birth and Hospital Stay

Coming Home/Meeting the Doggies

Marking his many "Firsts" Milestones

Life with our Max

Max and his Doggies

Model Max (Professional Pics)

Enjoy!!!

Perspectives from Ryan...

My brother wrote this post yesterday and it is just too sweet not to share.

He is an AMAZING writer, totally worth following if you don't already do so.

Enjoy Ryan's take on our new Max!

Of Nephews and Novels

15AUG20101 Comment

by PagingDrPoling in Current Events 

What is precious to me?

One week ago, I met the newest member of my family: my nephew, Max. Barely four days old and far shy of eight pounds, he was as small a human being as I had ever seen. He flailed about madly, mouth groping blindly for a bottle. This tiny creature, too helpless to even support the weight of the brain that gives him his humanity, is my relative, my genes, my own flesh and blood, and holding him in my arms is at once a lesson in my strength and my weakness, my hope and my frailty, my helpless past and my as-yet-to-be-determined future. And he is my sister’s son. He is not a child that my older sister is babysitting; he is my sister’s child.

Few things have been clearer to me about my sister than that she is wired for motherhood and has been for as long as I have known her. She has always been a mother first and a sister second. (Thankfully she has learned, slowly but surely, to stop mothering me.) Children, younger brothers, high schoolers, anyone placed in her care, has enjoyed and benefited from her benevolent maternal glow. And this is no more apparent to me than when I watch her with Max. The grass is green, the sky is blue, and my sister was born to be a mother; these are the immutable truths of my world.

I have little doubt that my sister would call Max her most prized possession. He isprecious to her, and she is such a good mother because of her love. Psychology and theology alike have their explanations for why the mother-child bond exists (oxytocin or imago Dei, take your pick), but let’s just say for a minute that this bond arises because the mother understands, at a deep, preverbal level, that this child is an act of creation. My sister loves Max because Max is made in her image. That which she creates, that which bears her image, is precious to her.

But what is precious to me?

It is now quarter to three in the morning, and I have just spent the last hour or so reading through some of my old writing. I have a folder on my computer, appropriately titled “Writing”, that contains every single thing I have written since high school. All of my journals, all of my love letters, all of my research papers and reflections and ruminations, they are all saved digitally in this one folder. Someday when I tire of this blog, I’ll export its contents into a Word document and save it in my Writing folder as well (probably somewhere in the “Jots and Tittles” subfolder – I’ll explain later). For now, however, reading through my old school papers and half-written short stories brings me a deep and satisfying peace. These words are precious to me. Should I lose my Writing folder in a hard drive crash, I would feel as though I lost a part of myself (assuming, of course, that the two other hard drives and one online backup also fail). My Writing folder is my most prized possession. It cannot be sold for a price because its contents are made in my image. That which I create, that which bears my image, is precious to me.

I have yet to experience fatherhood (thankfully), and I have only begun to experience uncledom. I do know, however, that I am driven to create, and my creations are precious to me. Perhaps Max has inherited the penchant for writing that his grandfather and grandmother passed to his uncle. Perhaps someday he, too, will learn the joy of the written word and create an anthology all his own. What will be precious to him?

But that is a question for later. For now, his only task is to grow, fully nurtured by his mother’s love.

Max is here!!!

My heart still skips a beat every time I realize I not only have a son, but that he is here and perfect and sleeping and pooping and eating and just making our lives amazing.

I will do a post on his birth story soon, but he will be demanding the boob soon and I want to actually accomplish something without having to come back to it later... thus a short but sweet post.

Max had his one week check-up and is in the 30-50th percentile for most everything- he's down to 7lbs, 5oz (down 4oz from his birth weight), but eating really well so Doc is sure he'll be back up and over in no time. He is just such a sweet little peanut!

Here are a few pics of our time together thus far:

Being burped by Daddy in the NICU

Meeting their new little brother

Titan helping Daddy with a diaper change

Waaaaay too big for such a little man!

First bath! He actually didn't mind it as much as this picture makes it seem :)

Introducing...

Max Thomas Greeno

Born August 4th, 2010 

at 6:47pm

weighing 7lbs, 9 oz

20.5" 

THE LOVE OF OUR LIVES!!!

Baby Come On!

Officially on baby watch! I am 1cm dilated and about 50% effaced... contractions are now 4-5 minutes apart... but I've been 50% since Friday and let's be honest, it's 1cm. I'm getting checked again tomorrow night so I will update!

SO who knows when this babe will come! I need to post pictures from the last couple weeks as my belly has surely decided to look mondo-preggo.

I officially have no leads on a job. I was at least hoping to have something in the works before Max arrived, but I know God will provide. In the mean time, I will simply enjoy our little family!

Titan turns 3 on Friday, so wish him a Happy Birthday if you think about it ;-) Hopefully Max will arrive before then so we can be here to celebrate with his cheeseburger and nuggets! haha

Until later...