Photo Friday

I'm learning that I can't afford to lag behind with my photo postings of Gavin since he looks different practically day by day. To make up for lost time, I decided to make this "photo Friday" and post images from the past two weeks of Gavin with our many visitors. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

He's a Heavyweight Champion!

We took Gavin to the pediatrician yesterday and he was a true weight-gaining champ! Over the course of four days he managed to gain seven ounces, putting him over his birth weight. Actually, I will take some of the credit here since I fed the kid just about every two to three hours for four days straight! Mama wants some sleep.

Eat, Poop, Sleep...Eat, Poop, Sleep

My posts may be short and sweet for the next few weeks as I learn how to deal with an infant that seemingly spends 20+ hours a day eating, pooping, and sleeping. And it's almost impossible for me to "just sleep when the baby sleeps" since he often cries if I put him down. I've just resigned myself to the fact that I am not going to get much done over the next couple of months, so it's a good thing I don't begin working again until the end of June! And for all of you out there who have called or e-mailed me with no response, please don't take it personally. I am lucky if I get to check my e-mail once every three days, and returning phone calls is even more sporadic. Yikes.

So, the big thing with Gavin this week is that he's not gaining enough weight. He was supposed to have gained seven ounces over the past week to bring him back up to his birth weight, but he only gained two. It's so sad. I feel like I've been starving my baby! My pediatrician referred me to a lactation consultant, though, and she is working with me to get G's weight back up again. We have a weigh-in on Monday, so hopefully he will be on his way to packing on the ounces. I have had to give him formula a few times to supplement and was a little bummed out about that. But, we are more concerned that he plumps up at this point.

Funny Face

These photos were taken last Wednesday, when Gavin was one week old. His expressions are so funny as he tries to decide whether he likes his car seat or not! That was our first little trip out as a family, and we rode in the car to pick up dinner and back home again. Unfortunately, it was quite painful for me since my incision opened up, so that trip was followed up by another car trip to the doctor the next day. Everything is fine now, and we were even able to take Gavin to Dr. Shana for his first check-up. Gavin is in the 75th percentile for height (20 1/2 inches) and 25th - 50th percentile for weight (currently at 6 lb. 13 oz.)--tall and skinny! Since I'm the only short person in my family (well, my dad is average height, but he is a twin and had to share the wealth!), I'm glad there is the possibility Gavin might inherit some of that height. And Joe's dad is quite tall as well.

The Story

So, here's the story about Gavin's birth and how the c-section went. I know a lot of you prayed for me as I faced a potentially unusual surgery for Gavin's delivery that involved a large fibroid (in fact, the chief resident at the hospital came in to "observe" my surgery since it was so unusual...I'll spare you the gory details on the blog, but am happy to share the story in person if you want to know it). Long story short, God really answered those prayers (yay!) and my entire c-section went more smoothly than even the doctors envisioned, resulting in a healthy me and healthy Gavin. It turns out that the fibroid was in an entirely different location than the ultrasound indicated, so I basically had a "regular" section, with no complications. And the other good news is that my worst fear was unfounded. My spinal block didn't wear off during the surgery! I know this is a weird fear, but wouldn't it be freaky if it did wear off? I guess it's been known to happen, but my doctor tells me it would slowly wear off and wouldn't involve some big flash of pain.

My medical team was incredible, and after about an hour of prepping me for the surgery with IV placements (my first) and heart rate monitoring for the baby, I was ready to go into the OR at about 8:15 a.m. After walking into the OR with Nurse Tina (Joe had to stay in the labor/delivery room while I was being prepped), I met my anesthesiologist and my OB and they were great about piling warm blankets on me while I shivered away in the icey cold room (I guess my shivering was partly from the cold and partly from nerves since I hadn't had any medication at that point). I was given the spinal, and I have to say that it just felt like a bee sting--not bad at all. After that, things seemed to happen very fast, and I lost feeling in my legs and torso. Joe was escorted into the OR at this point, and talked to me. I thought I would need him to distract me from the surgery, but there was so much going on in the room that I wasn't really thinking about what was happening behind the sterile sheet in front of me. I felt slightly nauseous at one point, but was given some medication and it quickly went away. Gotta love those anesthesiologist! After about 15 minutes, Joe was invited to look over the sheet to watch our baby boy being delivered. The look on his face was priceless as his eyes grew wider with each passing second. In less than a minute, Gavin Peter was pulled out and gave a wail before even reaching the table for clean up! At this point, Joe was able to cut the umbilical cord and hear Gavin let out an even bigger wail as he quickly turned from blue to pink. What a miracle!

"Praise God!" my doctor said when the surgery was done. It turns out she had her bible study praying for me as well.

We all spent the better part of the next half hour or so watching the baby procedures before I was ready for the recovery room. The recovery room was a special time for our new little family as the three of us had time to spend "just us," getting to know each other. At this point I was able to feed Gavin for the first time while he was in his quiet, alert state. A few hours later I was taken to my room on the maternity floor and given some nice, happy medication.

I loved the time I spent in the hospital. The medical staff was so nice and the nurses constantly helped me with nursing and took the baby to the nursery whenever I needed some rest. It was also great having visitors and lots of phone calls throughout our four-day stay, although I feel bad about not remembering some of the phone calls due to my Norco-induced sleepiness! Oh, and as a follow-up to my thread of stories about Cozy Thai...the owner, B, bought us dinner twice! Once at the hospital and once last week when we were home. Not only that, but B and two of the other restaurant staff came to visit us at the hospital!! A photo is attached.

Our time at the hospital was very sweet, but most of all because we came home with a sweet baby!

A Crazy, Beautiful Week

I can barely believe that more than a week has gone by since Gavin's birth. Ten days to be exact. He is already so different than when we first met him in the OR after delivery. It's been pretty busy around here, as you can probably tell from my absence from the blogosphere. Some thoughts on motherhood so far...

• Never wake a sleeping baby or you will pay for it with a lack of sleep. (Yes, I made this rookie mistake, mistakenly believing that I needed to wake my baby for feedings every two-three hours, just like at the hospital!)



• There is nothing wrong with your baby if he sleeps for five hours in the middle of the night. (Yippee! Gavin actually did sleep for five hours a few nights ago!)



• Babies sure do eat a lot. I feel like a dairy cow.



• Babies are a lot of work. What am I going to do after my husband goes back to work and my mother goes home?



• How can one baby be SO CUTE??? All we want to do is hold him for hours, babbling nonsense.

I know a lot of you are seasoned professionals in the parent arena and are probably chuckling at these comments, but there sure is a lot to learn. The days are just flying by, and there is always something to do: feedings, diapers, naps, laundry, trying to squeeze in visits with friends and at least one phone call a day. Small goals are best. But that's okay. We just love our little baby!

Baby Name Contest Winners

We are happy to announce the following winners of our guess-our-baby's-name contest....

The first name:

We don't know how she did it, but we are guessing she has a prophetic gift since Nicole Foster guessed Gavin's name with very few clues to go on! And she provided it in writing on this very blog. Nicole, how you guessed both Gavin and Annikah is beyond me. You should come with a warning label for anyone trying to keep their baby names a secret. Ha! Good job.

Two other people guessed Gavin's name, but did not send the guess in writing. But we are still impressed. Those people are mother-in-law Janet and Melody Van Der Werff.

The middle name:

Props go to Andy Studee for asking Joe at the church retreat if our son's name meant, "the rock." Actually, Gavin's middle name is Peter, so Andy scores the win for the middle name, in a round-about way!

Honorable mention:

My friend, Karen Hearn, gets an honorable mention for trying the hardest to guess Gavin's name. She spent a weekend with me about a month ago and took every opportunity to try and trick me into saying the name. Although I didn't let the name slip, she has been persistant! I really thought she would guess it since her husband is British, but she did come up with many other names--some good and some colorful! :)

Okay, if you are mentioned here you get a Starbucks drink. Great job, everyone!

Welcome to the World, Gavin Peter!

We are happy to announce the birth of Gavin Peter, Wednesday, April 2 at 8:58 a.m. Our boy weighed 7 lb. 4 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches. We think he is the cutest baby in all the world!! Thanks to all of you who prayed for a safe and uneventful delivery...things couldn't have gone better and I will post more of the details later this week. Suffice it to say that God has blessed us incredibly throughout the entire pregnancy and birth process, and now through our new baby. We feel like we have been living in a little warm bubble during our last five days at the hospital, and have enjoyed every moment with Gavin and our time visiting with friends and family.