More photos are now online! And i moved the first set, so it will all be more hierarchical and logical and stuff.
So, you can select an album from here: http://www.webmonk.net/micah/
see the original set of photos here: http://www.webmonk.net/micah/week1/
And see the latest here: http://www.webmonk.net/micah/week3/
Yay baby!
Hello dear friends. Sorry for the lack of update, there has been much that i want to write about, but limited time (and sleep) to work with.
We have been home with Micah for 2 weeks now. It’s been a really amazing time of community, adjustments, and learning to communicate with the little guy.
Sarah and I are so very grateful for the wonderful support and encouragement we have received from our friends, near and far. The blessings have come in the form of prepared meals, joyful visits, and generous gifts. Such an outpouring is humbling; we offer our deepest thanks. Our little house can barely accommodate it all!
If Harvey Mudd taught me anything, it was how to function on limited sleep. Once again, those skills are proving useful. Micah wakes up for a mid-night snack or a changing between 3 and 6 times at night (11p - 8a). We are learning to transition in and out sleep very quickly, but it is still exhausting. Most days we don’t get out of bed until 10a. Sarah and I work hard to make sure we still love each other well in spite of our grogginess, which is not always easy. I also find it difficult to stay focused on work during the day — this is my most important area to grow in over the next few months. Time to knuckle down!
On the flip side, we are really enjoying time with our baby. Micah amazes us with his complete set of tiny internal organs, his rapidly changing facial expressions, and his ability to melt our hearts with one peaceful moment of eye contact.
He lives a straightforward life these days. He nurses when he’s hungry. He lets us know if he needs to poop or be changed. When he is alert, his eyes soak in all aspects of his surroundings (sometimes he will just stare at the wall, trying to figure out what it is). He practices holding his head up to strengthen his neck muscles. And when all that wears him out, he sleeps for a few hours, dreams baby dreams (of being back in the womb?), processing all he has learned. A few hours later, he awakes to have another go at it all.
As parents, we are both learning to better understand Micah’s methods of communication. If we can get his messages, and respond appropriately, we eliminate a lot of crying, and more importantly encourage him to keep using those style of expression. Thankfully his desires are simple enough and his clues are clear enough that this is coming along well. I just hope he keeps communicating with us throughout his teen years! Build a good foundation now, eh?
I have a new set of photographs from the first weeks at home. I will be trying to get those up this weekend, so stay posted. I also have a bunch of fairly disjointed thoughts and reflections on the whole process that i will try to get into writing here. So stay tuned if the details of my life are interesting enough to you!
And once again, many many thanks for all the assistance and encouragement we have received. We love you all!
at long last, photodocumentation of the last 30 hour is now yours for the viewing. we were prepared for newborn funkiness, but i don’t think it is just my bias in insisting he is a cutie.
He was born at 6lbs, 13oz, and 18″ long. he has currently lost 3% of his body weight, which is very normal. he continues to pass the full battery of tests with flying colors, and will be on his way home tomorrow (saturday). but that’s a whole ‘nutha post.
without further ado…
(you can view as a slide show with the play button in the corner. can you believe we were all that small?)
Wow, what an amazing 24 hours. perhaps the most intense joys and pains of my life.
Sarah is doing well, with minimal tearing. she made it through the entire process with no pain killers. Labor was mercifully short — she impressed 4 nurses and 2 doctors with her strength. she is my hero.
Group Health thinks we are such a great family, they want to keep us until saturday. for now, we are both exhausted. so do we get to sleep now?
After a very intense last 4 hours, he is born!
He’s healthy, happy, latched, and loving life.
We haven’t even weighed him yet, but eye-ball estimates put him in at around 6 pounds. He was born at 5:08pm, pacific time.
Many, MANY thanks to all the encouraging emails we have recieved from people. You’re prayers and encouragement are so valuable to us.
Many many pictures to follow!
Phew, after 12 hours of painful contractions that kept sarah to about 2 hours of sleep and fitful rests, she was able to lay down and get some sleep at about 1.30pm. she fell asleep almost immediately. while she napped, our doctor came by, and got a “petosin” drip set up to help induce labor. no pattern was establishing, and contractions were ranging from 2-5 minutes (even 9 minutes while she slept).
two drops of the meds, and contractions jumped to regular three minute intervals. by the sounds of it, they are much stronger contractions as well. the necessary work is getting done. but it will still be a while.
it’s really hard to see my wife in such pain.
It’s early (or late). 5:20am. we have been able to sleep on and off, disrupted by nurse visits, restlessness, contractions, and uncomfortable beds (even with all those shaping/tilting/lifting options).
Sarah’s contractions are still a little irregular, ranging from 3 to 6 minutes apart, lasting from 30 to 90 seconds. they aren’t too strong yet, but definitely strong enough to prevent deep sleep.
we only attended one week of birthing classes. luckily we learned the signs of labor, and got some critical questions answered… but we currently know very little about breathing patterns, pain management, and what to actually DO during contractions. so between naps and contractions, i’m flipping through a few books trying not to read about everything that can go wrong to find some helpful instruction.
slow breathing. massage. mental focal points. signaling breathes. repetitious prayers. these things really seem to be helping. ok, now i just gotta find the strategy for the next phase… Sarah, what page are you on?
The hospital staff here at Group Health Central has done a great job of helping us to get comfortable. It’s now just past midnight, and Sarah has been sleeping in her robotic bed that moves in 12 different directions to create whatever shape she desires. She has an IV drip for fluids and antibiotics, and has two monitors on her belly — one for tracking contractions (which she can barely feel most of the time), and the other for monitoring Micah’s heartbeat.
The heartbeat ranges from 130 bpm to 160 bpm, more than double Sarah’s. The staff really like his heartbeat. the variance shows he is healthy, apparently! That’s really encouraging to hear for a pre-termer (he missed “full-term” by 3 days, not bad!).
Here’s his heartbeat, as recorded by the crummy mic on my Treo:
Hopefully some pictures will be coming soon…
It’s 8pm now. About 3 hours ago, Sarah’s water broke! We are still about 4-5 weeks away from when we expected to do this, but apparently, Micah has other plans! She will stay the night at the hospital, and if things don’t get rolling on their own, they will induce labor tomorrow morning.
So far, Sarah is doing well. She had a little bit of a chance to catch up on rest this week, after an exhausting previous 2 weeks. We are both really excited, but also caught off-gaurd. There was so much we wanted to get ready over these next few weeks. Ah well, we have a loving place to bring Micah home to, and don’t really see the need for much more.
I’ll try to post updates here as i’m able. Otherwise, we will likely be checked out of society at large for a while.
Happy thoughts, prayers and mindfulness appreciated.
Welcome, Micah!
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