This year, we had our our own little Jack to dress up and a cute baby pumpkin, too! SB scooped out the seeds, and Matt did the carving honors.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Jack-O-Lantern
Last year, Matt and I carved Jack Skellington's face on our Halloween pumpkin...
This year, we had our our own little Jack to dress up and a cute baby pumpkin, too! SB scooped out the seeds, and Matt did the carving honors.
This year, we had our our own little Jack to dress up and a cute baby pumpkin, too! SB scooped out the seeds, and Matt did the carving honors.
Jack Rolls Over
Jack's been doing this since about day 5, but here he is rolling over on day 16. Pardon my "encouragement"...
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Tummy Time Tricks
Jack had his first doctor's appointment on day six. Although he's only in the 10th percentile for weight and 25th for height, he is VERY strong. Case in point: the pediatrician placed Jack on his stomach and Jack pushed himself up on all fours and lurched forward (his first "crawl"). The doctor was shocked and so were we! A few minutes later, the pediatrician set him on his back and had him grasp her thumbs with his hands. The test was to see if he could pull himself up and hold up his own head—which he did for a long time. The pediatrician just shook her head, amazed and said, "This is not a one-week-old..."
During tummy time, Jack likes to roll from his stomach to his back (both to the right and to the left). During the night, he squirms and worms his body 90 degrees. We just watch and think, what are we in for with this active little tike, who boxes the air with his fists? He might have some of his Grandpa Getz's genes: legend has it that Grandpa Getz crawled out of his crib at nine months. :)
During tummy time, Jack likes to roll from his stomach to his back (both to the right and to the left). During the night, he squirms and worms his body 90 degrees. We just watch and think, what are we in for with this active little tike, who boxes the air with his fists? He might have some of his Grandpa Getz's genes: legend has it that Grandpa Getz crawled out of his crib at nine months. :)
It's a Jack!
Explanation of Jack's Name
Lewis Samuel Getz was born Wednesday, October 21st at 5:23pm, weighing 6lbs-8oz and stretching 19.25in. He is named for CS Lewis, and like his namesake we’ll call him “Jack.” Samuel is an old Getz name, and he is also named for Samuel of the Old Testament.
Birth Story
In case you want to know the details, here they are! Sarah Beth woke up Wednesday morning around 2am with contractions. She woke Matt up around 3am since they were consistent and stronger than usual. By 4:30am they were averaging 3min apart for about 45sec. By 6am they were 2-3min apart for about 1min, so we started getting ready. By 9am we climbed in the car and drove to the hospital. SB was in pretty significant pain, as the contractions got stronger and a little longer (~70sec). They took us to triage, and the nurse got her hooked up to the fetal monitor.
At about 10am the Resident came in to check on her, and the nurse was telling her (the Resident) that the contractions have been really strong and consistent for a long time, so she expected SB to be pretty far along. SB was in a LOT of pain, so they were hoping to get her in the water, since that’s a natural pain relief method. Sadly, she was only 2cm dilated, which shocked the nurse (and us). So the Resident called our midwife, Kristin, and said that SB shouldn’t get in the water until 5cm, as that can slow down labor unless you’re far enough along. Kristin then recommended that SB walk for 2 hours to help labor progress.
The problem was, SB was in so much pain that walking was extremely difficult. At this point Mom Erdel had arrived to help Matt walk SB around. It was tough going, but she was able to walk around for about an hour-and-a-half. At noon, the Resident checked her again and she was barely 3cm and in TONS of pain. At 12:30pm, Kristin came to check on SB and verified that she was only 3cm. Kristin also checked the baby’s position and discovered that he was out of position and causing back labor—hence the pain. Kristin also said that, since the baby’s head wasn’t pushing on the cervix, the contractions weren’t effective. Had the baby been in the right position all along, she thought he’d already have been born. At that point, Kristin gave us a choice: either labor for a while at home with exercises to get the baby into position, or get an epidural.
Now, we were very committed to natural birth, but SB and I agreed that this was a situation that called for intervention. She was already very tired (it’d been 10.5 hours) and wasn’t sure she’d have the energy to push. Kristin concurred, and we were then admitted into the Labor and Delivery Unit. By 1pm the epidural was administered, and immediately her pain was gone! She was then able to relax, rest, and generally prepare for giving birth. This was huge, since Kristin came in around 3pm to check her again, and she was already 7cm and progressing quickly! Amazing: it took 11 hours to dilate 3cm, and only 2 hours to dilate another 4cm.
At around 4:30pm, SB told the nurse that she felt like she should push. The nurse briefly checked her and said she’d call Kristin. At 4:50pm, Kristin arrived and checked SB...and told her to push with the next contraction! For thirty-three minutes, SB bravely pushed. At that point, Matt briefly looked at SB to encourage her, and when he looked back Jack was born! Kristin let Matt announce the gender ("It's a Jack!") and place him on mommy’s chest, and the Getz family spent the next couple hours getting to know one another.
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