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
Family photo
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.
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!
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...
