William Alexander, 16 Sep 2002 18:11 CDT 4lbs. 11 oz. 16 in.

Update: Tue Sep 17 09:03:22 CDT 2002

Mom and baby are fine, although baby is the nursery on a warming bed now. These pictures were taken in the first 3 hours after birth, and shown here in order. The Dr. has asked that baby have no visitors and Jen is still resting / recovering. We will update the page later today if there are changes. Until then, here are a few pictures. He does have healthy lungs, although we didn't take any MPEGs. Maybe later today.

Update: Wed Sep 18 22:38:57 CDT 2002

Mommy is home, the hospital released her around 8PM, but she is still confined to bed for most of the day and should not have many visitors. She would appreciate e-mail though. The nice people at the hospital are keeping Bill warm and helping him eat for a few more days. He's getting enough to eat, and plenty of rest. He's quite strong too, he can scoot a little, which is a reflex that will fade in coming months and return when it is time to really crawl. Daddy fed him today and noticed that it is getting difficult to pull the bottle away---a good sign. He has a little tube for feeding in case he is too sleepy to eat. The tube will put send the food right to his tummy, which will keep his digestive tract working better than an IV would. There are a very few new pictures today which we will put online tomorrow.

Jennifer asks those wishing to send FLOWERS... to please send balloons instead! Some of us are allergic to flowers :(

Update: Mommy's side of the story ...

I went in for my 36 week check-up with Dr. Brasher-Giles at 9:30 AM on September 16, 2002. My weight came up as 192 lbs (which I really didn't believe). Then at 10:10 they took my blood pressure, and checked my urine sample. The blood pressure came back as elevated, and there was protein in my urine (uh oh!). To say I was upset would be understating things. At 10:20, Dr. B-G came in and told me I had mild pre-eclampsia, and I was not going back to work or to home, but was being taken straight over to Admitting. There, I would be observed for 24 hours for protein levels, swelling, and blood pressure. Okay - not good: I got REALLY upset. They needed me at work, and I had to call people if I was going to go into the hospital. I got so upset that Dr. B-G's nurse called Jay and put me on the phone with him. She told Jay that we were delivering that day - she told me it was a POSSIBILITY, so I was still in denial.

At 10:45, I was put in Squite 7 at Seton NW, on the 2nd floor. My nurse, Chris, hooked me up on an IV for fluids. Also, they noted my blood pressure had come down some. At 11:30, Jay arrived at the hospital. He had called my parents (who had JUST gotten home from being down here the week before for my baby shower), and Dad was booking Mom on a flight to Austin. At 11:35 CST, Mom was on a flight out of Louisville. At 12:00, they brought me lunch, but no one had told the staff I was on a low-fat diet. I munched a bit here and there, but was soon depressed again, as my blood pressure shot up when I sat up to eat.

At 1:00 PM, Dr. B-G came up and told us that there wasn't much point to stretching out the pregnancy longer - William could handle life, but he might need a little assistance. Dr. B-G said we were going to start a Potocin drop and contractions would start to kick in about 40 minutes later. During the 2:00 hour, Chris started the Potocin drop. Shortly after that she added Ampicillian (antibiotic) to help ward against possible strep-B problems. Jay says that around 2:30 PM I started commenting I was having contractions, but they were still mild. When they checked me I was 4 centimeters dilated (I was 3 cm at the dr's office at 9:30 AM).

3:00 PM and the contractions were getting closer and closer. I used some breathing techniques from class, was was restricted to being on my left side/back in bed. My back hurt really bad fro mthe contractions. Jay says that by 4:00 the contractions were 1 minute apart. At 4:00 PM I "gave in" to an epidural. I was scared of getting a needle in my back. The anesthesiologist administered it while I was having contractions at 1 minute intervals. When I was examined this time, I was 7 cm dilated. I felt "normal" again after getting the epidural. I could talk and I didn't think I was still having contractions. Everything from the belly down felt tingly, like being on novocaine for a filling at the dentist.

4:46 PM - Mom lands in Austin. Daun picked her up at the airport to bring her to the hospital (and to bring Jay food). Meanwhile the nurse (Carol - shift change) was monitoring my blood pressure and they stopped the Potocin because my contractions where getting too close together. Somewhere around this time, the doctor on call (B-G was off for the afternoon) came in and popped the amniotic sack.

Around 5:45, I remember feeling pressure, almost like a bowel movement, but I wasn't pushing. I commented on it to Jay and Carol the nurse, so the doctor did a quick exam, said I was 9-10 cm dilated (full) and said "there's the head." The doctor and the nurse were joking around about "how do you know it's a head" and "otherwise his other end is full of hair." They asked Jay to come back in the room (he was munching dinner in the hall while Mom stayed with me). Mark Harrill was also in the hall, as was Daun.

About 6:00, we asked Mom and Daun to leave the room. Mark was already waiting in the lounge. Jay was next to me and they asked me to push "down." After three pushes, out came little Bill (1-head, 2-shoulders, 3-rest). They put Bill on my chest to see him and then asked Jay to cut the cord. Nana couldn't wait to come back in the room. "30 seconds" after Bill was born, she was calling out from the hall - "can I come in, can I come in?" and then she and Jay followed Bill from my bed to the weigh-in, toweling-off, Apgar test, etc.

After that - it was two weeks in NICU for Bill, and then he came home on October 1, 2002. *the end*

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