Pictures taken for Christmas 2010

Pictures taken for Christmas 2010

Introducing John Theodore...

Baby Jack at 7 weeks old.

Jack's First Christmas ~ 2010

Some family photos for Christmas...

Thanksgiving - November 25, 2010

Here are some pictures taken on baby Jack's first Thanksgiving...





With Grandpa.


Clementine enjoying her Thanksgiving treat. A new bone!


John working hard to prepare a delicious meal!




Cutting the turkey.



Sara helped by setting the table.




Grandma watching baby Jack.




Dinner is served.



First Thanksgiving, but very sleepy.




Turkey jammies.



Baby Jack





With Daddy.



Family photo

Catchin some zzzzz's

A few random pics of baby Jack during his first few weeks...mainly him sleeping. Life consists of sleeping, eating, and wet diapers in 3-hour increments.

Labor 10/31/10 and Delivery 11/01/10

10/31/10. Got a call from the hospital at 7:45am to com in. Got there around 9:00am. The first hour they hooked me up to the machines, had me settle in, etc. Around 10:30am they began the Misoprostol (a cervix ripener). I was attached to fetal monitors and was not allowed to get out of bed for two hours following insertion. After4 hours they examined me and I had not made much progress (70% effaced but 1 cm dilated). Dr. Wong decided to give me another dose of Misoprostol and repeat the process for another 4 hours. As you can see in no pain yet. Although I was having contractions, I could not really feel them.


10/31/10. At 6:30pm I was examined again and not much progress was made in terms of cervix. It was decided to start the pitocin at this point. An IV was inserted and pitocin started a mild dose and slowly increased. It was not painful at first and time continued to go by. We were waiting all night and pitocin was slowly increased. Around 3:30am I was in a lot of pain from contractions and woke John up and got my nurse. We tried some natural pain relief methods (such as massage, breathing, balance ball, walking) to no avail. By early morning hours I decided to try a narcotic to help pain. Although it did provide some relief between contractions it was still very painful so around 9:30am on 11/1/10 (23 hours in labor) we opted for an epidural. At this point I was 4 cm dilated.

The pain was completely relieved and I was able to nap. While I took it easy they were able to crank up the pitocin and labor was really under way. Before I knew it, it was the early afternoon and I was fully dilated and ready to go. They broke my water, turned down the epidural and at 2:30pm I began to push. This is where it became very challenging and I had to dig deep to make it through the final phase. I did some hyperventilating and only John and the nurse were in the room to help me calm my breathing and push effectively. It was one of the most difficult things I have done. I was in a lot of pain and could feel contractions. Pushing was exhausting and I had no idea how long it would last. The only thing that helped was having John there to support me and to dab my face with a cold wash cloth.





11/01/10. The final pushes were a relief because I could feel him and knew the end was near. A few final pushes with the doctor present and he was here! It was painful, but all worth it because at 3:33pm John Theodore Schild was born!!! He was 20 inches long and weighed 8.03lbs.




He really took my breath away. Nothing else mattered at that moment when I set eyes on him. Not the pain, how tired I was. I was in awe at this little person John and I had created.




He was measured and examined and was perfect in every way.




Down to his little toes!




JT had a tough day too and was tired immediately.



Here he is getting his first bath.




Mommy was extremely tired too.



Happy birthday little one and welcome to the world!




11/02/10. On day 2 we found out JT had a bit of jaundice and his bilirubin count was 7.7. It was projected to be over 20 at day 3, which is the cut-off so they began intervention of light therapy and formula feeding. All this was a bit overwhelming, but John did our best to handle it in stride and do everything they recommended that was in the best interest of our son.




11/4/10. We made it home on Wednesday 11/3/10. We were discharged from the hospital around 1:30pm with a biliblaket (light blanket to continue with his treatment for jaudice). For a while we didn't know if we would leave without him, so it was a relief to go home together. The first day and night were overwhelming. Any pattern we had in the hospital was out the window. But slowly things got better, we started to adjust, and get into our little groove. This picture is in the morning after an early feeding. JT is such a sweet, mellow baby. He is so content here (as usual). He rarely cries unless hungry and has adapted so well given the circumstances. He is breast feeding like a champ and switching back and forth from bottle, formula, to breast with ease. We are very lucky and so blessed!





More pictures of our big boy to come...

Final Weeks of Pregnancy

October 25, 2010. Week 39. Getting so close! Doctor told me I am not dilated or effaced yet. I guess baby is not ready to come out yet. Platelets dropped to 93,000 below the point where they felt comfortable. So I was told they wanted to induce. We opted for 10/31/10 so we could wait as long as possible and go to the hospital over the weekend. Guess no trick or treating for me this year. We are excited to meet our little pumpkin.



October 30, 2010. Week 40. Well I'm at my due date and no such luck that I went into labor naturally. John helped me paint a jack-o-lantern on my belly to commemorate the occasion. We spent the day taking Clementine to a dog Halloween festival and doing everything we could to spur labor (walking, spicy food, EPO). We also watch the SF Giants in the world series to pass the time. Go giants! Tomorrow is the big day that I will be induced. To be continued...

Pregnancy Progression - 2nd and 3rd Trimester

PREGNANCY PROGRESSION ~ PART II

8/5/10 ~ Week 28
Left for our drive moving cross country on 8/4/10. First stop was our friends' house Leisha and Billy near Ann Arbor, MI. I am 28 weeks pregnant and can't believe I am driving cross country! But so far so good. The only hard part is our dog Clementine likes to use my belly as her personal pillow during the trip.





8/9/10 ~ Week 29
Still on the road on our trip cross country (final destination near San Fran in the bay area in a place called Sunnyvale). Here is John, Clemmie, and I visiting Uncle Paul in Denver, CO. Still doing pretty well along the drive. Moving cross country at 28-29 weeks pregnant isn't too bad. Although I can only drive a few hours at a time because my back starts to hurt, but luckily John drives a bunch and we are making good progress. We just loved Denver and visiting Uncle Paul. The trip has been much better because we broke it up visiting family between driving days. (See John's post prior to this for full trip pics). The rest of the trip we will be in hotels.








8/21/10 ~ Week 30
Finally made it to Sunnyvale, CA and our new apartment!! This week was harder than the drive because we spent the week on an air mattress waiting for our furniture to arrive. My hips and lower back were really hurting. I am a happy camper in this pic because the furniture had just arrived that day. Yay!






8/30/10 ~ Week 31
Sleeping much better on my queen size, pillow top mattress, but back and hips still hurt a bit. I guess it comes with the territory. I am up about once per night using the bathroom. It is usually around 4am and then I have trouble returning to sleep. So use my CBT-I skills on myself and go watch TV on the couch until I feel sleepy again. It usually works and helps not to disturb John and Clementine.







9/5/10 ~ Week 32
Started my new job at Stanford as a postdoc this week. Everything is going well. I find it a bit uncomfortable to sit still through therapy sessions and seminars, but am managing. Starting to experience a lot more heart burn and shortness of breath. Also, I seem to waddle more and baby is starting to push on bladder when I walk. John and I are busy unpacking and getting the nursery ready.






9/12/10 ~ Week 33
Still feeling pretty good. Went for 1st appointment with new OB, Dr. Ann Wong. It went well. She checked me out and all still seems well. Had blood sugar test to check for gestational diabetes, which came back negative. Whew! Found I gained about 15 pounds since my last appointment in June. I have to start watching my diet better. Belly is measuring 32cm. We decided we will be delivering the baby at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, CA. We also found out my platelets are a little low at 122,000. They were normal at 150,000 when last checked in April. Anyway, they will continue to monitor.





9/21/10 ~ Week 34
Still feeling pretty good. Went to an HR appointment this week to figure out my maternity leave. Found I will be paid for 8 weeks and will hopefully cover November and December, if everything goes as planned. We took a child birth prep class, which was a great anxiety reliever. It helped me to get a handle on what to expect during labor & delivery, taught me signs and stages of labor. We also learned breathing and relaxation techniques and took a tour of the hospital. I am starting to get really big. Strangers are commenting on how big I look or I look like I am having twins! It is funny looking back at pics early in the pregnancy because my tummy seems so flat compared to now.







10/3/10 ~ Week 36
Feeling some fatigue, heartburn, and general discomfort. I had another appointment with Dr. Wong (starting to meet bi-weekly now). My platelets appear to continue their downward trend and are now at 112,000. Dr. Wong mentioned if they get too low they may have to induce because around 80,000 I can not have epidural and 50,000 risk needing a platelet transfusion due to blood loss of delivery or c-section. I am starting to feel some cramps again, but have been stretching and doing some light exercise in prep for labor and delivery.






10/11/10 ~ Week 37
I am now full term. I went for another OB appointment (now weekly) and found that baby is in the correct position (head down), but not that low yet and cervix is not dilated at all. My regular OB is on vacation for 2 weeks, so I am hoping not to go into labor. I did get a flu vaccine and tested negative for Strep B. However, my platelets did drop more to 106,000. Belly is measuring 37cm which is perfect, but people keep asking me when I'm due. I decided to sit to take a break on some boxes while shopping at Costco and 2 ladies approached me and asked if I was okay. I guess I look like I could go into labor at any time. For now it appears body and baby aren't quite ready. Baby is kicking and moving a lot. It is fun to watch my belly move and baby responds to rubbing the belly. Hanging in there and waiting to see where nature takes me and if I will need to be induced. Hoping to hold out until the end of the month.






Well nursery is all set, we managed to get all the essentials we think we might need, have installed car seat and had it checked, packed a bag for the hospital, and found a peditrician. Watched about as many videos, birth reality shows, and read as many books as I can digest. If we are not set now, we'll never be ready. I guess the rest of learning is on the job and trial by fire. The picture about is a message from by brother-in-law, Dave, that we found when we opened the crib box to the crib they passed down to us. It was really cute and touching!






Here is a picture of the crib they gave us (well a little -- more to come when John posts pics of the new apt so check back). They also gave us some decorations for the nursery and crib bedding. The crochet blanket on top is from my mother-in-law. She is so sweet to hand-make all these beautiful blankets for the baby. We put one in the crib and put a smaller one in my suitcase to bring with us to the hospital. She sent gender-neutral because we kept the sex a surprise. Clementine was checking out the crib and mobile. I am sure it will be a huge adjustment once baby comes in a few weeks. I can only imagine she won't be happy to have her sleep disrupted by a crying baby and less quality time with us. She'll still be our first baby though.

MORE TO COME DOCUMENTING THE LAST FEW WEEKS OF PREGNANCY AND ARRIVAL OF OUR LITTLE PUMPKIN (DUE 10/30/10), SO CHECK BACK SOON!!