All About Rowan

So, now let me indulge in a little motherly bragging and tell you all about our precious bundle!!!

At the hospital right after birth - he peed all over the nurse!!! Too funny! He hated getting his bath in the hospital, but loved the heat lamp thing after his bath. He was never jaundiced at all, which was a bit surprising - Russ and Rach both were a bit yellow. Not bad, but we had to watch them.

He had his 2 week check up last week and he weighed 9lbs 8oz - so he isn't missing any meals!! I am breastfeeding him, which is going pretty well. We are still learning, well Rowan is, but I think in the next few weeks, it will be easier. He does seem to have some very painful gas and he spits up thru his nose sometimes. So, we are keeping our eye on that and hoping that will get better as he gets better at nursing.

So far he is a great sleeper. Now the first 2 nights in the hospital he was very fussy and didn't sleep, so that was rough and a bit scary - what was he going to be like at home??? It seems the kid wanted to be at home, he has settled into a pretty good schedule. At night he goes to bed between 9 and 10pm, gets up once at 2 or 3 and then again about 5 or 6. On weekdays, I get up at the morning feeding and get Russ ready for school, so that seems to be working out all right. Some nights it varies a bit, but that is pretty much how it goes. Adam changes his diaper and gets him reswaddled for me and then I feed him and we all get back to sleep. Rowan will sleep the first leg of the night in his crib, but prefers to sleep with us after his feeding.

Case in point.... One night I decided to put him back in his crib and he fussed and fussed. Adam - half asleep gets up changes his diaper and hands him off so I could feed him. Adam had forgotten we had just done this 30 minutes ago! ; ) But Rowan was chewing on his hands, acting hungry, so I thought, well, he must still be hungry. I swear the second he was in my arms, he was fast asleep. I guess he just wanted me. It was just one of those love moments, your heart bursts with joy.

This kid can poop like no other. I swear he poops all day, almost every diaper change. Rachel will just say - Oh, he pooped again! We have gone thru more wipes and diapers with this kid than I care to admit!!! He hates having his diaper changed too.

He hates the bath, but he loves to shower with Adam. His fussy time is usually the evening and nothing calms him like being in a warm shower with dad. It is so funny - he goes in with this look like, life sucks, I am naked and cold. And he comes out looking like he's, well in a way he looks like he's stoned. He's so mellow and happy, but then he has to get dressed and then he's cold and pissed again!!!!

He doesn't like his carseat, but always falls asleep in the car. He is following us with his eyes and does seem to recognize the 4 of us. He is turning his head to sounds, especially Rachel's voice. Probably b/c she is so loud!!!

He is such a sweet bundle! It is a bit challenging adjusting to life with a newborn, but you remember the tricks of the trade and the 3rd time around really doesn't seem as hard as the other two. I hope I didn't just jinx myself!!!

February 4, 2008 - On The Day That You Were Born....

Finally, a moment to sit and update the blog : ) You may have noticed the title change - one more R added!!! There is so much to say and I may have to do it in several short postings. We've had a lot going on. Besides Rowan's birth, we have finished updating the kitchen and put the house on the market, Russell turned 7 years old, our gray kitty, Riley, had to be put down due to liver cancer, and Rachel has been a joy to watch and listen to as she shows she is the best big sister in the whole wide world.

Let's start though with Rowan! Adam and I arrived at the hospital at 4am for the induction on the 4th as planned. Adam's mom was here and she stayed home with the kids. More on that later ; ) So, 4am.... We get hooked up to all the machines - IV with pitocin to increase contractions, fetal heart monitor, etc. Then we wait... Well, let me back up for a sec. We get with our nurse and she starts right in asking me about my lidocaine allergy. I am allergic to topical lidocaine. This is a problem b/c they use a form of lidocaine in epidurals. You see where this is going, maybe no epidural for Aimee - Dun dun dun. I had already discussed this with my OB and he said the anesthesiologist would make the final decision. Again, dun, dun dun.

Things are moving along and it is time to break my water, but they are pretty sure that when they do that, labor will progress very quickly, leaving no time for an epidural if I can even have one. Well, I wanted one if possible, I am not that brave. So, in comes Dr. whoever, anesthesiologist. After discussing the allergy, he thinks I am good to go (phew!) as there is one small chemical difference between topical lidocaine and the lidocaine they use to inject into your body for epidurals, dental work, etc.

In goes the drugs and after some adjustment it is working beautifully, they break my water at 8:30 am and 10am when they check me, it is time to push this kid out!! He was right there. Talk about fast. I went from like 4cm to 10cm in 90 minutes. I thought I had felt some pressure, but I was blissfully numb, so I couldn't be too sure. The proven pelvis got to work and again, quickly delivers a big baby!!!! 10:17 am, Rowan Andrew Bright joined our world at a whopping 9lbs 1 oz and 20.5 inches. He looked perfect, so adorable and we were instantly in love with him, of course!!!

His head was quite large and round and I tore quite a bit, so I had a lot of stitches and was very sore for a couple of weeks. So, that wasn't fun, but Rowan is healthy and perfect and that IS fun : )

I have to add that my OB has incredibly good relationships with every nurse that came in my room. They all are either patients of his, live down the street from him, their older daughters babysits for him; it was clear they all had a good working relationship, which made the process fun. These gals are just dishing out shit and teasing him and he's giving it right back. We felt like we fit right in. They are taking wagers on Rowan's weight, telling stories about some old school birthing techniques that OBs used to use, it was like social hour in labor room 8. I have never experienced that before or even heard of anyone having that kind of experience, but I can see why my OB has so many patients.

Okay, so then after having Rowan and moving into a recovery room, I became known as "Oh, you're the one who... _______________" And the blank is filled in with 'allergic to lidocaine', 'had the 9lb baby', 'had the 3rd degree tear and 2inches of stitches' and 'has that odd rash'. (On the 2nd day I got this bizarre rash, which was nothing, but no one knew what it was. The on call OB from my practice called it a pregnancy rash, which he followed up with, 'I know you aren't still pregnant' when I looked at him like are you nuts???? That wasn't my regular OB.)

All right, that is the birth story, and now Rowan is fussing and Rachel has been playing in my make up, so it is time to sign off for now and add more later....