Jackson's Birth Story

As we are preparing to meet our newest family member, Nick and I have been discussing certain things about the day Jackson was born and although it hasn't been that long and we haven't had any other births to confuse it with, we're already forgetting some details. Oh and by "we" I mean Nick of course. So I decided just in case I start forgetting or mixing up details I would post Jackson's birth story.

Nick was on his OB rotation in medical school and he had an overnight shift on Wednesday, May 23rd. I had my weekly appointment that morning but nothing had changed from my previous appointment so the doctor did a membrane sweep and sent me on my way. Later that day I started having contractions, nothing painful and not too consistent. That night I met Erin for dinner at Flying Biscuit and I realized through dinner the contractions were definitely consistent although not quite close together yet. I updated Nick and enjoyed the rest of our dinner.

I got home and got ready for bed...realizing later there wasn't going to be much sleep that night! To my surprise, a short while later Nick came home early, they figured it would be better to let him go just in case I was in labor. At about 3am the contractions were painful enough to wake me up so I got up and started keeping track of the consistency, length, pain, etc. At around 6am they were bad enough for me to wake Nick up although not quite 5 minutes apart yet. We both showered and got ready and by that time they were increasing in every sense including time so we called the doctor and were told to head to the hospital.

A minor sidenote to this story...I had been rotating through all of the doctors at the practice during my pregnancy. There was only one appointment I left feeling annoyed with the doctor. That morning when the OB on call returned my call, I was relieved to find out it wasn't the one doctor I disliked, that is until the end of the call when the OB told me her shift ended in a few minutes at 7am and the new OB on call would meet me at the hospital. Well of course the new OB was the only one I was hoping wouldn't deliver my baby. However, I quickly realized she was totally different that day than she was at our appointment and definitely made me feel I had her complete attention and more importantly, she gave me a perfectly healthy baby boy and a successful surgery for myself too.

Okay back to the actual birth story. We arrived at the hospital on Thursday morning around 7am and got settled into our labor and delivery room. I was going into labor with an open mind, without having decided on getting an epidural although not totally against it either. Well things changed pretty quickly. Dr. Fairbrother came in to check how far my labor had progressed (4 cm) and unfortunately realized immediately there was meconium present. She explained that meant there was something that happened to the baby that caused the baby to poop and that led her to believe a c section might need to be considered. So without any hesitation or delay, she advised I had to have an epidural in case I had to have a c section, they didn't want waiting for meds to cause a delay. Needless to say I was so upset and the waterworks started immediately. Looking back I know none of it makes a difference but at the time I was mad I didn't get to make the choice of whether or not I was going to have an epidural and then of course freaking out that something could be wrong with the baby. On a lighter note, a few minutes later the anesthesiologist walked in with a big smile on his face and asked, "Someone wanting an epidural in here?" He was probably used to having moms in labor ecstatic to see him but I was far from it, so much so that I sobbed, "NO!" right back at him. At first he was shocked and started backing away until Nick called him back over. The epidural was the most painful part of labor, since I was only 4 cm I hadn't gotten to the really bad part yet.

The rest of the morning went pretty quickly. They were monitoring the contractions and the baby's heartbeat and saw that with each contraction, the baby's heart rate would decelerate which wasn't a good sign. They gave me some meds to stop the contractions and waited for Dr. Fairbrother to make the call. She came in a little before noon and said it was time for a c section. About an hour later, we were off to the OR to meet our baby. Dr. Fairbrother announced during the surgery (as she was quizzing Nick since she knew he was a med student) that the baby had tied the cord in a true knot. But none of that mattered anymore, she had safely delivered our baby BOY and we were finally able to relax knowing he was okay.

Jackson David Kelly was born on May 24th 2007 at 1:37pm, weighing in at 6 pounds, 11 ounces and 20 inches long. They took us to the recovery room but unfortunately, Jackson's blood sugar was low so they had to take him away and give him some formula and wait an hour to retest it. This went one for a couple hours before his blood sugar was back up and he was ready to meet us in our room. Unfortunately, our room wasn't ready for us for another couple hours but eventually we all made it and got to introduce our son to our family members.

Baby Update 34 Weeks

How far along: 34 weeks (I can't believe it!!!)
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Total weight gain: 17 pounds
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General disposition: Okay
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Sleep: It's hit or miss, some nights I get a good amount of sleep in between all my bathroom breaks and other nights I am up all night.
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Best Moment: Hearing the heartbeat...it never gets old!
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Movement: All the time and I love it!
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Labor signs/body changes of note: None
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What I miss: Hmmm when I don't have heartburn, I've been craving a deli sub from Publix. I've already told Nick that's the first thing I want brought to me at the hospital.
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What I'm looking forward to: Making it to full term, only 3 more weeks!!!

Jacksonism and it's a good one!

Jackson and I were at dinner with friends tonight and he was scrolling through the pictures on my phone and came across this picture and announced, "This is when I was Jesus!"

Baby Update 32 Weeks

I had my 32 weeks appointment a week ago but then rushed to Atlanta to meet my niece Lila so I haven't had time to update since then.
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How far along: 32 weeks
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Total weight gain: 15 pounds
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General disposition: Good
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Sleep: It was getting better but since we've been in Atlanta and I've been sleeping with Jackson, I haven't had much sleep.
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Best moment: Although this was a little bittersweet, it still melted my heart. Last week, out of the blue Jackson gave me a hug and said, "Mommy, I'm going to miss you." I asked him what he was talking about since I wasn't going anywhere. He said, "I'm going to miss you when you're in the hospital having the baby."
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Movement: Yup, lots of it and getting higher and higher...translation: causing lots of heartburn! I am just recently noticing movement that I'm pretty sure are hiccups.
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Labor signs/body changes of note: Just getting rounder
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What I miss: Having an appetite and enjoying food
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What I'm looking forward to: The baby! Meeting Lila has just made me that much more excited and anxious to meet our newest addition :)

Baby Update 28 Weeks

How far along: 28 weeks

Total weight gain: 14 pounds

General disposition: Good

Sleep: What sleep? I can't wait until I'm up all night with a sweet little baby instead of just being awake for no reason!

Best Moment: We finalized our names!!! So exciting and a big relief because Nick and I are so different when it comes to name preferences. Oh and of course passing the glucose test!

Movement: Oh yeah, this is one hyperactive baby...wonder where he/she gets that from? ;)

Labor signs/body changes of note: I feel the baby much higher now so it's getting a little more difficult to tie my shoes.

What I miss: My clothes! I know that sounds silly but I only have a few maternity pieces and they aren't that exciting.

What I'm looking forwad to: Hearing back from the scheduler at the OB's office confirming our tentative date of May 20th.

Potty Training SUCCESS...so far

Jackson has been potty trained during the day for about a year and a half now. He stopped wearing a pull-up during naptime about a year ago but nighttime was a different story. He was consistently waking up with a full or overflowing diaper. The strange thing was that he never drank that much later on in the day so there wasn't much we could do to limit his liquid intake. We weren't too worried about it because one pull-up at night isn't that big of a deal and he's not even four yet.

A few weeks ago we decided to just give it a shot...a casual one. So we took off the door knob cover on the inside of his door and told him he to try to keep his pull-up dry and go potty in the bathroom during the night. He never went, literally NEVER! After a couple weeks I decided to try waking him up to go, he would go to sleep at 7 or 7:30, Nick would take him to the bathroom around 10 before Nick went to sleep and then I would take him in the middle of the night (when baby would wake me up to go, ha!). We quickly realized, he only needed to go once a night and he was waking up dry. I wasn't sure what my next step was going to be until I realized I only had 6 pull-ups left. I had to give it a shot and quickly before I had to buy another pack and before our weekend trip to Atlanta!

Sunday morning when he woke up dry, I asked Jackson if he wanted to sleep in underwear. He was thrilled which was good because I didn't want to force it. He told everyone we saw yesterday that he was going to sleep in underwear for the first time, his excitement was super cute :) He got ready for bed the same as every other night minus the pull-up. This morning when he came in my room before 7am, I was a little worried that he was coming to tell me he was wet but HE WAS TOTALLY DRY!!! I know we'll have accidents and obviously we'll have to figure out how to get him to learn to wake himself up but it's a step in the right direction and I'll take it!

Since it was still early Jackson got in bed with me to cuddle and put his head on my chest. After laying there for a while, he sat up and said, "The baby is kicking my ear!" I told him it wasn't the baby, he was hearing my heart beating.

The first of hopefully many

Today Jackson received his first school acceptance letter! Yes, I realize it is preschool and not that competitive, but I'm still proud. He will be going to St. John Neumann Catholic School. I have been there for an informational tour and Jackson and I went to their Christmas breakfast with Santa in December. At both visits I was very impressed and pleased with all the teachers and students I met. Once they assign students to their classes, the respective teacher will come to our house to meet him this summer. Unfortunately, we will only be in Columbia for one more year so he will only be there for preschool.