Sweet, Sweet Jacob

Hi everyone -

As everyone probably knows by now Jacob Daniel was born on November 17th. He was born at 7 lbs even and is 19 1/2 inches long. His delivery was pretty eventful and somewhat trying at times, but having him finally here makes everything worth it.

For those who are interested in the details of his delivery, here is a summary of the chain of events. I went in to the doctor on Friday (Nov 16th) for a blood pressure check and was taken straight to the hospital after my blood pressure would not go down. Once checked into a labor and delivery room, I was officially diagnosed with Preeclamsia. I was immediately given a mix of IVs to help treat it and the doctor on call (Dr. Nord was out of town) recommended induction of labor. I was given medication every few hours over night to begin to get my cervix ready. I was already dilated to 1 cm, but he said it would be easier for me if it was more prepared when he broke my water in the morning. Once my water broke, the contractions intensified and were coming about every 1 1/2 minutes. I got an epidural around 3 cm dilation which was the greatest thing ever. They started to notice that that every time I had a contraction, Jacob's oxygen level dropped too low. It was quickly decided that a c-section was the only option for both Jacob's and my safety and the rest is history!

I was dead-set against a c-section, but now I see why people opt for one. Sure the healing time is longer, but it went quick and I don't know how well I would have done through a long labor. Now the next time we will be able to plan the birth a lot easier and my nerves are already severed, so might as well go that route again :)

Now onto the more important reason for this blog! Jacob is doing so well and we just can't get enough of him. I could literally sit and watch him all day. We feel so blessed that we were given this precious gift after such a long time wanting this. Other than a couple of fussy bouts in the hospital the first couple of nights, he spends his time sleeping when he isn't nursing or pooping. I was very lucky that he took to nursing right away and it seems to be his pacifier. Dan jokes that I will continue to feed him food long into his teenage years everytime he cries just to make him feel better. Dan took most of last week off and it has been so nice to have him home during these first few days at home. Dan now considers himself a professional diaper changer and I will miss having him here when he goes back to work on Monday. We seem to have everything in control at this point and it almost seems too good to be true!

He is definitely Dan's baby! He has so many of Dan's features and is unmistakenly a smaller version of him. We have taken lots of pictures of him and I plan on creating an online album to share with everyone sometime soon. In the meantime, here is a link to the hospital's web site if you would like to take a peek at him. http://www.bromenn.org/body.cfm?xyzpdqabc=0&id=275&action=detail&ref=88681

Well, I have gone on and on and should probably attend to Jacob now, not that I mind!! I'll let you all know when I have pictures up online to view and thanks to everyone for your warm wishes.

Angela