Baby Elliott gets 3 Surgeries in 4 days

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Our little guy has been through a lot in his first week of life.  First he was delivered via C-section under the harsh bright lights of a very cold operating room, where he was yanked from his warm cozy home of 9 months.  Then he was circumcised on his second day of life.  They assured us that the local anesthetic they applied would keep him from pain, but I'm sure it was still traumatic.  We thought after that he would be able to recover and get started with the business of living his life without further prodding and poking.  And then, on day 4, we visited the pediatrician.

Welcome Home Baby Elliott!

\Wednesday, September 14, 2011

We had thought our time at the hospital would be nice to rest and relax, since going home we would be responsible for caring for our son all on our own (scary!).  We found the hospital to be neither relaxing nor restful - there were constant intrusions throughout the night from various nurses, doctors, and hospital staff, and baby Elliott fussed and cried through the entire night.  So even though we could have stayed at the hospital until Thursday, we decided to break out as soon as possible on Wednesday morning.

Once completing the necessary paperwork and getting the doctor approvals, we were left to dress our son for the first time and get him into the carseat.  Being competent adults Steve and I thought this would be no problem, but he was so wiggly and fussy it took 10 minutes of struggling to get Elliott into the cute sleep sac we planned to bring him home in (image a large long sleeved shirt with a drawstring at the bottom which covered his legs).  Unfortunately when we went to put him in the carseat we realized that the seatbelt needed to go between his legs, so the cute sleep sac wouldn't work at all.  By the time we struggled to change his outfit again (poor Elliott was screaming at this point), it was time to nurse.  So after 2 hours of trying to leave we were finally carted downstairs, Steve ran to get the car, we loaded up the family, and drove the 3 blocks home.

Welcome to the world Elliott Ford Reed!

The Details
Born: 10:40pm Sept 11th, 2011
Weight: 7 pounds 15 ounces
Length: 21 inches

The Story
As  you probably know, we have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of our son due September 12 - and not very patiently on my part.  As the big day approached and my doctor told me that the baby would most likely arrive on the late side, my impatience got the best of me and I started looking for ways to get the ball rolling.  Steve and our friend Heather humored me as we devoted Friday night to "Get the Baby out", where I tried every piece of labor inducing advice I could get my hands on - a long walk up a hill in our neighborhood rumored to have started several other labors, followed by "Labor Pizza" (pineapple and jalapeno, foods also said to do the same), and ending with a good bounce on the exercise ball.

One of those old wives tales must have worked because the long wait finally ended on Saturday evening when those strange back pains I had been feeling all day became a pattern making me realize they were actually contractions (who would have guessed I would experience labor entirely in my back). At 2:30 Sunday morning, after about 4.5 hours of labor, the contractions were strong enough and close enough together that Steve and I said good bye to Reese and hopped into the car to make the 3 block drive to the hospital and get the party started.  After being examined we were told I was only 1.5 cm dilated.  Normally they would send me home until things progressed farther, but there was some concern because Elliott's heartbeat would drop during contractions, so they decided to admit me to monitor him more closely.