He's Here

My wife, Jennifer, just gave birth to our first child last week so I decided it was time to set up a blog. This seems to be the easiest way to pass on information to people of interest. Certainly I have had many moments of inspiration which led me to consider that fact that I should start a blog, but only now am I feeling compelled to do it.

That being said...Let me introduce my son.

THE 'PLAN:
Jen was due to have a cesarean on Thursday, June 14, 2007. Our Son Marcus was breech which these days is pretty much an automatic birth by c-section. I tell Jen there's a range that covers the birthing process and we have been blessed to have been towards the easier end. All things considered of course.

CONTRACTIONS:
Sunday, June 11 we went to dinner with our good friends Bobbi and Jerry for our annual wedding anniversary celebration. This year marks #7 for us and # 16 for them, (I think that's where they are. You will discover this is a trend with me. My wife is the one with the gift of memory. And being pretty. :-)

Jen had been having contractions all day which were steadily increasing. Jerry commented how Marcus could come at any time and may decide to come now.

Fast forward and it's now midnight. The contractions are mildly severe and are now coming every 2-5 minutes; lasting a full minute or more each. Jen calls the doctor and leaves a message with the nursing service. After waiting 30 minutes for a response she calls her Mom who tells her it's time to go in. Then the doctor calls and says her Mom was right, go in and get hooked up to a monitor to see what's happening.

CESAREAN SECTION:
We get to the hospital at 2:28AM on Monday, June 11, and within 45 minutes Marcus was born. It was amazing. There were a team of people around us from the start a couple of whom were giving me scrubs and telling me to change.

They keep the operating rooms cold to fight bacteria, which combined with her hormones and nerves, caused Jen to start shaking significantly.

This is probably a good time to mention that I was looking forward to watching the surgery, in particular seeing Marcus inside Jen's stomach. I have long been a fan of horror and gore flicks, so the blood etc. doesn't bother me much. I realize I need to balance this with a larger dose of being up next to Jen to support her. Once everything began it was clear that is where my time would be spent, by her side and talking to her.

We chatted about Eric and Tanya and in particular discussed the order in which their five girls were born. This proved to be a great distraction for Jen and made me feel much better knowing she was doing OK. I did manage to see a lot of what was going on and it was incredible. There really wasn't much of the 'mess' most people might suspect, but then the sight of him inside her and being pulled out will likely be what I remember the most over time.

A NEW LIFE:
Marcus was placed on the scale in the next room about 10 minutes after arrival, then a nurse took me with him down to the nursery on a lower floor. I hung there for a bit and watched them do their thing then returned to the OR to see about Jen.

Jen was already in the recovery room where she stayed for about an hour, then they took us to our room on the 8th floor, and that became our family's first residence. This was also where Jen first held Marcus.

Everything after that has become a blur in which my whole life has completely changed. I imagine Jen is feeling something equally as amazing. We continue to be fortunate in that Marcus has really taken to feeding very well. He also sleeps wonderfully, for now, and his systems appear to be functioning just fine. In particular his digestive system seems to be firing on all cylinders, and then some which is...interesting.


Here is the last email update I sent before this post:

An update for you...

Jen and Marcus were released from the hospital today around 11:30AM or so. My Dad was in town by then so the three of us packed up the goods (and the baby ;-) and headed back to the the crib.

Jen spent the majority of the day - and subsequently this evening - tending to Marcus and resting when she could. I did a lot of cleaning, getting back on top of the household chores, organizing (clearing out clutter), and tending to Marcus to relieve Mommy as she begins to establish her routine.

Jen will have the Summer off and return to work sometime around Labor Day. I will be taking a little time off to help Jen recover and to spend time with Marcus and will return to work part-time for a few weeks, then full time.

The dogs have really taken to him as we expected and we are not surprised to see that the elder of the two, Joker, has established himself as Marcus' guardian and #1 fan (though there is stiff competition for that distinction). It was funny to see him actually try to decide whether he should maintain the minimum-safe-distance of two feet from Mommy at all times (as she rested on the couch) - previously a no-brainer - or hang in Marcus' room to make sure Daddy was rocking him properly and giving up the proper amount of consolation. Ultimately he decided to give a little time to each.

The cats have made a real effort to claim his belongings as their own. After being scolded and tossed out of his bassinet, dumped from his car seat, banned from the top floor of the house where we sleep, and threatened with the real possibility of pissing Dad off for looking at his crib for too long, they are now fussy and have taken over the furniture in our front (sitting) room. Of course to hear them tell it these decisions were are clearly theirs. They get that from their Mom...

We are both so appreciative of all of the help people have given and offered to give, and the love and support we have gotten. We are truly blessed with an abundance of cherished family members and great, great friends. It will be awesome to watch Marcus discover how fortunate the three of us are. Thank you all.

ps - I have updated pix in Marcus' facebook photo album:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9907&l=5755f&id=732236421