Roscoe's First Month

This feels like a milestone to me. Maybe because everyone tells me the first month is the worst and I am hanging on to the hope that things get at least slightly easier. Regardless of the challenges, I end the month happy to have this little man with us and already forgetting everything that happened more than 24 hours ago.

Here are some highlights:

* The first 2 weeks were one big blur of fussiness and lack of sleep. The most frustrating thing I have ever experienced is spending hours soothing a baby and having him still screaming. Especially the first night after no sleep in 48 hours and feeling like I was run over by a mack truck the night before (i.e. labor). Ray and I set him down at one point and just looked at him screaming and looked at each other and no words were needed...

* At first I was in denial when Ray said he thought he cried more than most babies. Ha. No longer in denial after everyone that has spent considerable time with him has commented on his fussy-butt-ness. This actually makes me feel much better because there was a time when I thought for sure Roscoe would be an only child. Now I am thinking maybe someday far, far away we might have another and gamble that our next is an easier baby.

* He is growing up and already getting less fussy every week. Makes for an all around much happier family unit and it has only been a month. Just think how happy we will all be in a couple more months! :)

* Roscoe's Grandma Bird (my mama) came to visit for a week and spoiled him rotten. He spent most of the week sleeping in her arms and having conversations with her which he loved. In fact, just this morning I Skyped my mom and Roscoe stopped everything and sat in rapt attention staring at the computer as my mom talked to him. Ray and I were able to get more sleep and even go grocery shopping by ourselves. Yay for grandparents!

* He has broken in his crib (custom made by Grandpa "Papa Top") and although he will sleep there sometimes, he prefers to have play time there and stare at the slats while kicking his legs and squawking.

* Ray and I even managed to get out for a date night to Cirque du Soleil's Ovo (Ray's work's holiday event) while Lolo and Lala Friend watched him for a few hours. Ray's dad did look a little shell shocked when we returned (the fussiness can do that) and thought maybe he was just always hungry. Thankfully they have agreed to watch him again and continue to visit and generously take turns holding him while Ray and I enjoy whatever food they brought that visit. Wonderful.


* In the span of a month, he has managed to pee on himself more times than we can count; pee on both of us; pee on his own face; have many, many poop explosions up his back; throw up in Ray's mouth when Ray kissed him; throw up on me WHILE he was eating (with only a 1 second pause); throw up on the pediatrician at his one month check up and burp VERY loudly when we visited the birth center's childbirth class to tell our birth story. Ray and I are thoroughly entertained by this. Not sure if everyone else feels the same, but that's our boy and we love him.

* He has visited 2 of his Mama's clients and managed to look cute and make sure I have a job to go back to in a couple of weeks.

* He has tried a pumped bottle (liked it, anything with food in it makes him a happy boy) and a pacifier (a tough sell, which he will sporadically take). The pacifier was one of those things we did not intend to use, but a screaming baby with an extreme sucking reflex makes one reconsider these things. He uses it maybe once every other day now, for about 1 minute to calm himself and then he is over it. We are thrilled at this victory.

* He had his first 2 doctor visits. The first one our pediatrician came to our house when he was 2 days old. The second we went to the office and he blew (breastmilk) chunks on the doctor. We also took him to the hospital for his newborn screening where they prick his foot and take 5 or 6 blood samples. Shockingly, he slept through this entirely.

* Any concern that people voiced about him not getting enough food can be laid to rest (some people presumed that is why he was so fussy and since he also spits up a lot...). I was never concerned because he can chow down and we can both tell he is getting heavier by the day. This was confirmed at his 1 month appointment when he weighed 9 lbs 8 oz. Yes, our Porker with a capital P gained 3 lbs 2 oz in one month. The doctor joked (at least I hope he was joking) that if he gained more than 2 lbs next month he would have to put him on a diet. I personally think his new double chin is pretty cute.

* He definitely takes after his Daddy in that he likes to be moving at all times. He wiggles and kicks and flails his arms and cranes his neck (looking like a turtle since his forehead is all wrinkly). If he is fussy (and not sleepy or hungry or too gassy) I can usually make him happy by having him practice sitting up and standing (obviously with a lot of Mama support). For some reason he loves this. He absolutely did not get this need to move from me. And after spending a few days with Ray cooped up in the house and watching Ray's sanity melt away until he could go for a run or something, I know he is his Daddy's son. He also loves to "Ride The Bike" when I pump his legs, loves his Tummy Time and even likes bath time.

Ok, so he didn't like his first bath...

* His doggy siblings are well adjusted to his presence already. Roscoe rarely flinches when they bark (must be used to it from in utero), but the dogs did not know what to do when Roscoe screamed. Mela usually hid under the desk and Ikaika would pace and whine looking at us like - what the hell, do something about that. Ikaika is more protective and sometimes gives up his cushy dog bed to sleep on the floor next to Roscoe in bed. He also alerts me when I leave Roscoe in his crib by sitting outside the nursery and whining and looking between Roscoe and me. Mela, true to her personality, has already snuck in a cuddle or two.


Here are some more photos of Roscoe's first month. Some of them are not the best quality because I took them on my phone.

Roscoe's First Christmas: Only 1 day old

Cuddling with Mama:

Roscoe's First Raider Game: 3 days oldBurping can wear you out...Meeting Kuya Basi:

Getting bigger:

Making faces:

There are more pics on Ray's photo site if you are interested... http://ranthonyjuachon.smugmug.com/Roscoe/RoscoePictures/10885784_VFmpk#759791852_b5JHS

Roscolito's Arrival

The lack of blog entries for a month can only mean one thing... he has arrived!

The official stats:

Roscoe Anthony J
born 12/24/2009 3:28am
6 lbs 6 oz
20 inches

For those curious about the details (warning: long and somewhat graphic):

How it started
First, let's talk about "false labor." Whoever decided to call this labor "false" has obviously never experienced it. It felt so much like real labor that I didn't know I was in labor all day until I was in active labor and was already halfway dilated. In fact, I was in labor while I wrote the last post (oh, the irony). Everyone asks me how long my labor was and it is hard to say. It could either be almost 3 weeks long (false labor contractions started 12/5/2009) or something more like 20 hours. I wasn't really paying attention to this bout of false labor because I had gone through it so many times already, but I know I woke up with contractions on the 23rd. So, the day went on pretty uneventfully. Ray went to the gym and the hardware store. I wrote a blog and was scanning photo negatives. I remember talking to Heather and saying he might as well wait a few days now so he isn't born on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day (alas). Also funny is that we had "early labor activities" planned that are supposed to help distract you and get you through the many early hours. I had been trying to save some of mine during the false labors so that I had some left when the real deal hit... haha, no need for that obviously!

When we knew we were in labor
As much as I was not aware of when labor started, I know the exact time that "active labor" hit (the hard stuff, usually begins around 5cm): 7:51pm on the 23rd. Maybe around 7pm or so I started to think "these contractions are getting pretty intense, maybe we should time a couple for the hell of it." Ray started timing a few and they were consistently like 3 or 4 minutes apart (again, nothing new). Then at 7:51 I had a contraction that immediately changed the mood. Ray said my eyes got huge and I said "holy shit." He even wrote on his pad of paper "7:51 Holy Shit." Not sure yet if that is going in the baby book. :) I felt kind of a pop and then a tearing sensation in my cervix and then a shooting pain radiate from there (after so many cervical surgeries, I know exactly where my cervix is and what it feels like to be messed with). After that everything changed. I no longer wanted to talk between contractions. I was just focused on relaxing and getting through the next one. I ended up in the bathroom and refused to leave. My preferred labor position became on my hands and knees with my head in the tub, puking. I did take a couple of hot showers, which definitely helped, but our hot water ran out after about 30 seconds each time (I am sure it was slightly longer, but didn't feel that way). I would not let Ray leave my side for even a second (to be fair the contractions were really close together and I needed him during the contractions!) He had gotten in during one of my showers so I could lean on him and then was stuck with wet boxers on. Since I wouldn't let him leave he just had to tough it out, freezing, with wet boxers on... of course, I had no idea at the time, but it makes me giggle now. Our doula, Tricia, came over and was helping press on my back during contractions. It helped me manage the pain so every time I felt a cx coming on I just yelled "Tricia, SQUEEZE... HARDER!" Ray's sister was our back up support in case we felt like we wanted more when the good stuff hit. She got called and was over timing contractions and helping Ray (heat the rice pad, bring me water, etc, since Ray wasn't allowed to move an inch). Ray was trying to keep me drinking water and eating yogurt or something, but I couldn't keep anything down. Ray had been calling back and forth with our midwife, Judi, since the Holy Shit Contraction and Judi thought I might not be as far along as I thought I was (apparently first time moms tend to think they are like 8cm when they are only 2cm). Judi said if we weren't 5cm she would send us home to labor some more because it could take a very long time to progress (early labor tends to progress slowly). I was positive that I was in very active labor, but I wasn't really communicating that to Ray. I refused to move at all (too painful), so he was thinking - if she isn't far along and we have to go back home to labor some more, how the hell am I going to get her to the birth center, back home and then back to the birth center if she won't even leave the bathroom?! Finally, I said we are going to the birth center, I am definitely over 5cm. For a moment I thought we might not even make it. I said to Ray - forget the birth center, we are driving straight to the hospital so I can get the drugs. At that point I remember thinking that everyone told me as soon as you think you can't do it anymore then you are almost done. I also had an urge to push. Urge is not even the word, it wasn't an urge, I actually did push and I couldn't have stopped it if I wanted to. Kind of like throwing up when it is inevitable. It just happens. All of this together with the back to back contractions and more throwing up and I thought - uh, oh, we are getting close and I am still in the bathroom. This was probably 11pm or so. We didn't actually arrive until 12:30am. The birth center is only about a mile from our house. First, I had to leave the bathroom, walk down the hall, down the stairs, to our car and survive the potholes while having back to back contractions. I (normally quite modest and private) was wearing an open bathrobe, slip on shoes that someone put on me and a beanie that Ray put on my head. It was midnight and I was half naked and yelling at the top of my lungs during contractions (my throat hurt for days). And, yes, there were people on the street.

The home stretch
We arrived at the birth center and I had to do a pee test - surprise, surprise I was severely dehydrated at this point. Hours of throwing up will do that to you. I got checked and I was already 10cm. Since I am Group B Strep positive I needed penicillin via IV within 4 hours of labor, which we obviously didn't have time to get going so I got a shot instead. I got in the birthing tub and even though I hadn't necessarily planned on a water birth, there was no way I was leaving once I was in there because I didn't want to move at all! I was just pushing as the urge came, a few times every contraction, but it was taking forever. The midwives later told me I "got primal" and Ray told me my eyes were doing crazy things and freaking him out a little - one was rolling back and the other moving around or something. :) I was pushing and pushing and apparently the baby was in a strange position - "sunny side up" and so they had me change position every couple of contractions. Hated that, but it worked and he turned. Judi says he did a Spin & Spit - after 2 hours of pushing he turned and flew right out. Good for him, not so good for the damage done to me... but so the parental sacrifices begin. Oh, and my water never broke. Eventually maybe an hour and a half of pushing I told them they could just break it already. Ray was able to catch him, which was pretty cool. And he came out screaming... we should have known then what was to come! :)

Roscoe's first moments
Roscoe got to hang out on my belly for a little bit and then they had to work on me, so Ray took off his shirt and had skin-to-skin bonding with Roscoe while he was super alert after the birth. It was very sweet and Roscoe still adores Ray. I had a bit of a rough time after the birth and they considered transferring me to the hospital but thankfully my vitals stablized and I felt better after a few hours. We were both healthy and we made it through, so I consider it a smashing success. And I am so glad we got to have it at the birth center how we wanted. Here are a few pics: