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We went to Adlai's first official checkup this morning. He is a healthy baby boy but doesn't weigh enough (he is a few ounces short of his birthweight) so we must return on Thursday for a weighing. In any case, he has grown quite a bit over the past two weeks...
Weight: 7 lbs 14.0 ounces - 27th percentile
Height: 21 inches - 74th percentile
Head Circumference: 35.6 cm - 23rd percentile
We'll be fattening him up until Thursday.
Adlai sleeps most of the time. In fact, he slept for six hours in a row last night, ate, and then was out for an additional three. When he is awake, however, he enjoys sucking on our fingers, nursing, movement, being held, and, just today, focusing on interesting objects.
Boy, that toy looks like fun...
We made it through an entire day without using any form of electronic entertainment to capture the attention of Simon AND we still managed to shower and keep Adlai fed. This may not seem like a big deal but, trust me, it is a turning point in our ability to function as a family of four. If we can keep this up through the weekend, we can fool ourselves into believing that our lives are back to "normal" again.
Simon changed his first diaper this evening. The options were eat cinnamon toast or change a poop and he opted for the poop - THAT is brotherly devotion. We gave him the toast anyway.
Simon is also very interested in feeding Adlai. We haven't quite managed to explain why his boobies don't work as well as Mama's. Here he is ready to take one for the team with the Kagledom pumping bra...
Adlai isn't doing anything new. His blotchy skin has gone away and he looks darker than infant Simon. He is also looking less like a roman soldier and more like a little banker - a very squishy banker.
And, finally, I'm in charge of Adlai at night and Matthew is in charge of Simon. Guess who's getting more sleep? Hooray for team newborn!
Adlai Bernard Kagle was born on Tuesday, December 18th, one day after his official due date and the same day as his original due date. I had a check up that morning in which there was no indication he was about to make his appearance but I really felt he was coming. After the appointment, we stopped off at a Starbucks for my pre-labor maple oat scone. This tradition started with Simon's labor because I swear there is enough fat and sugar in the things to last anyone at least 24 hours.
Just before 1pm, I had my first contraction. It was just like the Braxton-Hicks contractions I'd been feeling for weeks. Just before 2 pm, I had my first painful contraction but, at that time, the contractions were still twelve to fourteen minutes apart and not all of them were painful. Just before 3pm, we called Grandparents Kagle and asked them to start driving toward us. I also silently dropped out of the call I was on for work and sent email explaining that I was in labor and would be taking the rest of the day off. At 3:20 we needed to get in the car to pick up Simon from school. I was afraid to be alone at home so we traveled together. At the time we got into the car my contractions were about 6 to 8 minutes apart.
In the five or six minutes it took to get to Simon's school I was in enough pain and had contractions so close together that we decided to alert the labor department via cell phone that we were on our way. I stayed in the car while Matthew ran in to get Simon. When Simon was strapped in to his car seat we explained what was happening and he said "HIGH FIVE!" Around fifteen minutes later we reached the hospital and I was in so much pain and the contractions were so close together that I couldn't walk on my own. An attendant (who didn't know where Labor and Delivery was) pushed me in the wheelchair while Simon gleefully held my hand and we made it up to labor and delivery around 4 pm.
Unfortunately, as with my first experience, there was no room available in the labor ward. I stood at the desk having contraction after contraction, sweating and wondering: if I just lay down on the floor, would anyone care? Around that time, Grandparents Kagle arrived and we kissed Simon goodbye. Matthew went off to demand a room and they immediately found something. A few minutes later a nurse arrived to set up all the monitors. I lay on my left side unable to move or talk during the contractions. A doctor came to check if I should be admitted and found that I was 5 cm dilated and completely effaced. I was admitted around 5 pm and moved to a birthing room.
All I wanted was for the pain to lessen so they quickly set up a saline drip and added in a drug to help me relax in the thirty seconds or so in between contractions. It was close to 6:30 pm when the epidural was administered and it barely had any effect. Around 6:40 Matthew, expecting hours to go, went to the cafeteria to get some food before it closed. My water broke while he was away. At 6:55 they asked me to roll over on my back to check for progress. I rolled over and the nurse checked and a second bag of water, below the head exploded and a fountain of water gushed four feet across the room. (The nurses will never forget me.) Once the second bag was broken, the nurse asked me to do a "practice push." Someone yelled for a doctor. Adlai was born at 7:03 PM after only a few pushes.
He was really blue which gave him a one minute APGAR of 8 and a five minute APGAR of 9. Apparently he had some fluid left in his lungs because the labor was so fast. He weighed 8 pounds, 1.6 ounces and was 20 inches long.
We called Grandparents Kagle and Simon really wanted to see us so they all stopped by a short time later. Simon was thrilled to finally meet his brother, Matthew was shocked that it was over in only a few hours, and I was elated that the excruciating pain was over! We spent the required 24 hours in the hospital before we checked out to spend time as a family.
Hooray.
In just under an hour Adlai will be an entire week old. I'm not quite sure we're having fun but time is definitely flying. Over the weekend we had a nursing crisis and I spent somewhere near 12 hours a day trying to get Adlai to latch. This created a couple of problems: first, as I sat and tried and tried and tried, Simon felt completely abandoned by his Mama; second, well, let's just say there was a lot of pain and suffering and blood and sweat and tears. I turned, of course, to my trusty pump which caused more pain and suffering and a lot less sleep. On Monday, we bought a shield to help protect me from the pain and help Adlai latch and we've been fine since. But holy cow is having a newborn at Christmas annoying when you need help and no one is available. Since yesterday things have been much better around the Kagle abode. Simon has been less angry today (though he is not entirely cured) and Adlai is eating every two hours instead of every three to five. I'm not sure if the kid was so frustrated he was no longer interested or if he is just really that tired.
On the positive side, all that hoping and wishing may have paid off because Adlai is a good sleeper. He has already figured out day and night and will sleep from the time Simon goes to sleep to around 9 am. Last night he woke every two hours but, the two nights before that, he spoiled us with nighttime sleep in three to five hour chunks. This good sleeping is actually not all that healthy for newborns so we were torn... wake him up and get less sleep ourselves or let him sleep and assume he knows what he is doing? Monday he was weighed and he is progressing within the normal range for weight gain so the nurse told us not to worry and to appreciate the gift of a sleeping kid.
To celebrate the Christmas holiday, we went out for traditional Christmas Eve sushi. We opened the restaurant and our waiter was also our sushi chef and our server. A Christmas tree glowed in the corner, the Christmas music wasn't the annoying kind, and we all enjoyed the food. This morning Simon and I awoke to a little bit of Christmas sent here by Grammy and laid out in the night by Matthew. Simon and I decorated the wee tree and opened the stockings and gifts over waffles, milk, and cookies while Matthew and Adlai slept in. It was a quiet day but, with the nursing crisis over and more time on hand for Simon, it turned out to be a very nice Christmas after all.
Updates: Adlai lost his cord stump this afternoon so pretty soon we'll see what he thinks of water. And he has spit up a few times since the last post but the amounts are relatively insignificant. Was Simon spitting up so much because he ate so often?
We took the boys to Chuck E. Cheese this afternoon for a bit of playtime. Adlai was alert through most of the experience and received lots of attention from people amazed (and aghast?) that we would be out and about with a 4 day old. Good ol' Chuck has a sketch machine and the staff insisted we take a photo on them...
New Stuff:
We're starting to see a few sleeping smiles from the wee one. He slept five hours in a row last night and he has slept most of the day away (making us very nervous about this evening). He falls asleep in the car and enjoys sitting in the car seat (!). We went clothes shopping for him this afternoon because he is way too short for the 0-3 month outfits and seems annoyed by the fit. He has, so far, not spit up. Ever. Is this normal? It seemed Simon was vomiting on us from the very beginning. We only changed Adlai's clothes this morning because it seemed he shouldn't be wearing the same outfit for more than two days in a row.
Simon has been a terror all day long but his anger is directed toward us and, since we were able to get him into bed for the night at 7 pm, we think it may just be that he is exhausted. Adlai doesn't cry a lot but he gets really angry when we change his diaper (did we mention he poops a lot?) and when he is trying to nurse and Mama's boobs are, well, like rocks (this should go away in a day or two). It is possible Simon is being awakened by all the action in the middle of the night. We're not sleeping much over here.
He's awake! And now we will be all night as well...
Writing is going to be unpredictable over the next week. Everything is well. Everything is 1000 times easier than the first time around. We are professionals! OK, maybe not but It is nice to feel like we know what we are doing.
Adlai Bernard is a good baby. I know we're not supposed to compare the boys to each other but as long as we don't do that in front of them it is alright for now, correct? Besides looking exactly like Simon at the same age, Adlai and Simon are different. Adlai hates a soiled diaper while Simon could have cared less. Adlai is also a "normal" eater (so far) none of this every hour on the hour, nursing for an hour stuff. He gets right down to it and can have an entire boob liquidated in 10-15 minutes flat. He went in for his newborn checkup this morning and had lost exactly 10% of his body weight (which is normal). We're doing "so well" that we don't need to go back in for a follow-up; we decided to schedule a weighing for Monday anyway (just in case).
Simon has been wonderful. From the moment of labor, Simon has been nothing but thrilled. He said "High five!" when we picked him up from school and told him we were going straight to the hospital to have a baby. We took Adlai to Simon's school yesterday afternoon so Simon could show him off and BOY did he show him off - making every friend and adult look with adoration at his younger brother. The only issue so far seems to be patience - he asked if we could teach Adlai to walk this morning and wanted to play ball with him this afternoon. He wants to touch Adlai all the time and Adlai isn't appreciative of the icy cold hands on his face.
I'm still sore in places (mostly at the site of my two preventative shots, the epidural, the saline drip, and, of course, my poor boobies) but doing fine. I'm just so thrilled those few hours of the most excruciating pain of my life are over. I'm also really happy not to be carrying around all of that extra weight. Of course, Matthew and I are both extremely tired. All is well and as it should be.
More news later when there is more time! Flickr photos are being updated.
Thanks for all of your emails and comments; one of these days, we'll respond.
Hava
Adlai was born at 7:03 pm on December 18 after a short but VERY INTENSE labor. We arrived home just before 10 pm this evening. He looks a lot like Simon, is an excellent eater and an amazing pooper. At only 20 inches and 8 pounds 1.6 ounces, he is less large than expected. Apparently I had TWO bags of water in there (one attached to the other). How we found that out is an entertaining story that can be saved for another day...
First Cell Phone Photo:
By the way, my cell phone ceased to work after I sent out the text message about his birth. It is still having problems.
Hava
Ouch.
Nothing much new to report. Dilation remains at 3 cm. Effacement is minimal. The doctor said he is "really low"; she could feel his head.
Next checkup is December 24.
More of the plug was lost yesterday followed by a few hours of contractions. I felt "odd" all day - in a nauseas but extremely hungry and tired sort of way. This morning it feels like he is about to fall out - much more than before. It isn't comfortable to sit. We think he is coming today or tomorrow but we'll know more after my check-up this morning.
Hava
I'm still pregnant and feeling crampier than usual but without contractions. We tried pretty much every "home remedy" to induce labor this weekend - just to see. If I could walk the kid right out of my uterus, or scare him out with spicy food I would have but I'm here to tell you that IT DOESN'T WORK. I should mention that my doctor has offered to do a "membrane sweep" at my last two appointments and we have turned her down. Not only does it sound terrible but I'm really not all that anxious to kick him out when he isn't ready - no matter how many stretch marks have appeared since her offer.
Hava
Dear Little George,
We don't know much about you and your first few months aren't going to reveal a whole heck of a lot. If you are born tomorrow we will consider you attentive! prompt! punctual! If you are born after tomorrow, you'll be stubborn, tardy, and maybe even lazy (until we know better).
Think about it...
Love,
Mama
OK Little George,
I worked from home yesterday fully expecting your arrival (remember, we had that talk about how Thursday was a perfect day?). Daddy and I took a walk around the neighborhood at lunch which produced nothing but discomfort in my nether regions and a contraction here and there. And you know how much I LOVE those contractions! Woo hoo! Bring on the false labor party!
I decided to come in to the office today for two reasons:
1. Daddy isn't home today and I don't have a car so what's the difference?
2. If you're going to make me uncomfortable, I can certainly make you uncomfortable by sitting in pants with an increasingly tight elastic waist -- ALL DAY LONG. (My maturity is dwindling along with my patience.)
If you are born tomorrow, you and Simon will be exactly three-and-a-half years apart. I'm not going to suggest that would be cool or anything. You decide.
Love,
Mama
Dear Little George,
False labor started around 3 pm yesterday and lasted semi-regularly until around 9 pm. You waited until after Wednesday! Now we're ready.
Love,
Mama
You're so low I'm afriad you're going to fall out if I stand up. Please wait until I'm NOT AT WORK.
Please. Please. Please.
Dear Baby A.B.,
In an hour or two I will be finished with all of my projects at work. Thanks for giving me that time. I've been working on this stuff since August and it feels great to have been there until the end.
By 6 pm this evening, Daddy will have finished administering the midterm to his class. He is very tense imagining that you are going to come out before he can finish and drive back in rush-hour traffic. The meeting on Friday can be moved. Daddy just wants to make it past today.
I think you dropped this morning.
Love,
Mama
P.S. If I could marry the bottle of Benadryl, I would. Holy cow, breathing is underrated!
Dear Little George,
Our weekend adventures brought me to 3 cm dilated. At 4 cm, I can be admitted into the hospital although, there is that whole problem that you're supposed to be in labor AND 4 cm dilated. So, on the positive side, I'm 30% ready to give birth to you. On the negative side, you haven't dropped so nothing is happening. In summary, whenever you decide to move down, things will progress quickly.
The doctor joked again how we're not going to talk about the height of my fundus (how many "weeks" you are measuring) but she continues to look surprised like you're off the charts huge (she reminded us that your head is average and, really, that's all that matters). She was also surprised that I'm still going in to the office every day. There was some discussion of how fun it might be to terrify my coworkers. Throwing water on the ground, Lamaze breathing, etc....
She suggested trying Benadryl to help the congestion since Sudafed didn't do a darn thing and I still can't breathe.
Daddy wants you to wait to drop until after he teaches his class tomorrow and waiting until after his big meeting on Friday is ideal.
Love,
Mama
Dear Little George,
Let me tell you a little story about a boy who cried "WOLF!"
The end of this pregnancy is turning out to be very different from my last experience. I'd never ever felt a Braxton-Hicks contraction before our little experience of a few weeks ago and now I feel them all the time. Last time I lost the plug in labor not days (or weeks?) before and, the night before it happened, I experienced "the show" so I knew it was coming. This time? No show and I'm walking around slightly dilated which, last time, didn't happen until the day I went into labor.
So I don't know what's going on. Simon says I should go to the doctor so she can get you out. I'm just afraid that the next time this happens I won't know it is the real thing until it is too late. My doctor says that, because my Braxton-Hicks contractions can be so close and regular and uncomfortable, the sign I really need to look for is intense PAIN. But by the time I get to intense? I want to be close to an epidural.
Love,
Mama
Nothing interesting happened today on the baby front. The contractions stopped at some point (they were never painful).
Either things are progressing really slowly or this is another false alarm.
Dear Little George,
Now isn't such a great time. I'm so close to being done with five different projects at work. Daddy has a really important meeting on Friday for which he must prepare and isn't yet ready for teaching on Wednesday. He made five course dinners for two families with new babies yesterday so the kitchen is a mess. Simon played "creatively" and alone while Daddy was cooking so an odd combination of objects is strewn about the house. I can't seem to completely get over this cold. We actually made plans with friends for the weekend. Daddy went to sleep after midnight and it is now 2 am...
But I was mistaken; I'm excited to have lost my mucus plug and am thrilled to have just started feeling the embers of unpleasant contractions.
I'll let everyone sleep until things hurt.
Looking forward to seeing you... soon?
Love,
Mama
Dear Little George,
It looks like you're going to miss Hanukkah this year; we're already half way through. That's ok, we don't have a menorah for you and didn't buy you any gifts - except, of course, all the stuff we've bought for you over the last nine months that you have yet to see.
Daddy and I are just starting to realize that there will (one way or the other) be a baby in our house sometime in the next few weeks. Hey, we're slow and the idea is overwhelming. Of course we'll think you are crazy cute and love you completely but, after you've raised someone like Simon for three and a half years, you'll understand our hesitation before using the words "excited" and "thrilled" when describing the impending arrival of your second child. Simon is an absolutely fabulous little person who has mastered exactly where to push and pull, give and take, before the mental implosion begins. But without him... meaningless is given new meaning.
Love,
Mama
Dear Little George,
We just returned from my 38 week appointment. These are the things we know:
There has been no progress.
You are not coming out anytime soon.
You are very large.
We didn't ask how large and it was clear the doctor wasn't about to offer the information. Does it really matter?
She suggested some Sudafed for my head cold. I haven't taken any drugs while pregnant but I'm pretty desperate at this point; Simon and I are still congested and two weeks is long enough to suffer.
Love,
Mama
Dear Little George,
Last night I took you and Simon to the tree lighting ceremony in Downtown Mountain View. We're going to miss Christmas this year (a first) so experiencing a little Pagan/Christian holiday tradition seemed appropriate. A heck of a lot of people were listening to the local singing groups and Simon had a wonderful time dancing the night away. There were hundreds of chairs set out around the Civic Center Plaza but it was a very informal occasion so people got up and moved around a lot and stood and sat where ever they pleased. I asked to sit in a few empty chairs near where Simon was dancing. Not one person offered to let me sit. The cold concrete became my spot. It's not like it mattered that much - I'm not an invalid - but I found it interesting that no one offered me a space - not even the woman with the newborn who was saving a seat for her husband.
Let's just say that it didn't warm the cockles of my heart or make me want to share my figgy pudding.
Love,
Mama
Dear Little George,
38 weeks! You're good enough, you're smart enough, and doggone it, people like you. More importantly, you're done cooking.
My pressing assignments at work this week (the final week of my project) were given to someone else. No one wants me to start but not finish and you are big enough to scare anyone away from giving me new work. There is much to do but the stress of deadlines is gone. You can come out now, it's ok. Really. Don't be shy. Apparently all you do at this point is accumulate fat. I offer you some of mine; I have enough to share.
Want to see what your brother's first week was like?
Not so bad.
Love,
Mama
Dear Gentle Reader,
When I go into labor there will be a mention of it in this space. If anything happens, you will know. It is just that way around the Kagle household (or work - if it happens during a weekday); I am never far from a laptop. Labor usually takes a long time; they don't just let you walk into a hospital at the first sign of pain and suffering.
If you want to be among the first to know of A.B.'s birth along with a photo and you have the ability to receive SMS/MMS/Picture Mail, please drop your cell number into one of our email inboxes and we'll make sure to include you in the text message. You should be aware, however, that if you leave your cell phone ringers on at night, you may be in for a rude awakening! Also, the maternity ward has no reception so the message will be delayed until Matthew exits the building.
If you are not cell phone savvy and not directly related, we probably won't call you right away (there will be a few things going on). A mass email will be sent introducing A.B. along with his stats as soon as time allows.
Thank you for your patience. I've run out of mine but hey, what can I do?
Yours,
Hava