First Dr. Visit

Well Jake had his first Dr. visit today. He had a good car ride over to the hospital, no fussing at all. The nurse had me get him ready while Sara rested and answered questions. He was doing just fine until they took his temp... rectally... He kinda had a look of "what the heck was that" and then proceeded to cry.

We left the hospital with Jake weighing 7lbs 6oz. He weighed in at 7lbs 11oz which is almost back up to birth weight. He also stretched out a bit, he is now 20.5" long. All his vitals were good and his jaundice is fine. We have another visit on Tuesday of next week.

After that we had to pick up some groceries so Jake went shopping. I asked Sara to stay in the car but she thought she could use some exercise.

Later on at home Sara had a loss of sensation and numbing in her left leg from her hip down to her toes. She called her Dr. and they said to go to the ER in case it is blood clot. Once we got checked in and settled in the exam room her numbness had subsided. They checked her out and figured it must be shifting of fluids which caused it. I think she was on her feet too much but I am not a Dr. She is home again and feeling fine now. Next time she will stay in the car when I go get the groceries... More later.

Baby Is Home Now

Well Sara and Jacob came home yesterday afternoon during a wicked rain and lightning storm. Once we got home, the cats were introduced to Jacob. Squirt the male cat seems to like him just fine. Jackie the girl kitty seems to me to be a bit jealous but has not bothered the baby at all.

Once we got that out of the way, we introduced the dogs, Toivo is a German Shepard and Zed is an Alaskan Husky. They were both real excited and still are. They want to smell the baby and I think they want to know if they can play with it. We are going to take it slow with the big oaf's. I had them sleep in the garage last night. They saw it fitting to chew off some insulation from the garage wall. Ha.

Onto the baby's first night. Well I can say that Sara and I are both tired. She tended to Jacob more than I did, though we were both up. I kept saying to let me take care of him but she wanted me to get some rest too. I don't know why, I did not just have a C-section.

So, Jacob was up pretty much every two hours or sooner. He fed well all night long, and did not fuss too much. I did get the pleasure of having a blast of poo come out at me right after I had moved the dirty diaper out of the way, I think I heard him laugh at me. So other than having very little sleep our selves we are doing good and Jacob is well. It was nice to finally be in our home rather than a tiny hospital room with only three options for sitting. We will keep you updated as best we can. That's all for now.

Bringing Jacob Into The World

Hello everyone, I am pleased to be able to tell the story of Jacob's arrival. As you know we went in on Wednesday Sept. 26 to start the induction. We arrived at the hospital at 0730 and the adventure began. Sara was given medication to soften the cervix and start the induction process, these med's were taken every four hours up until 1730 that evening. She was then given a 12 hour medication so she would not have to be bothered all night long. Sara had a rough night as things started to happen. Jacob dropped quite a lot during the night and mild contractions were starting. Sara did not sleep at all during the night, I felt terrible as there was nothing I could do, so needless to say Daddy got sleep.

The next morning everything was going according to plan. Sara was given another dose of med's to kick up the process. This was not easy for her either. She was in a lot of pain as my fingers can attest to that. At around 1030 she was given a epidural. This needless to say helped with the pain a lot. We waited and waited. We played a game of Cribbage which Sara almost won but I squeaked out a victory. It was a long day with quite a bit of anticipation and worry and excitement.

At 2030 Sara was fully dilated. Contractions were steady and the Dr. was on her way to the hospital. We had a Nurse and two wonderful student Nurses at our aide. We began to push around 2045. Sara did a wonderful job, and the Dr. arrived at around 2115 or so. She checked the progress of Jacob and found that he was face up on his way out. This meant that we needed to get baby to turn so he could make it under the pelvis. Sara was on her hands and knees for a half hour, and bearing with the contractions the whole time. I was by the head of the bed giving her ice chips and massaging her shoulders.

At 2145 Jake finally turned and we began pushing again. Sara pushed and rested for another hour and 15 minutes. It was noticed by the staff that Sara's catheter may not be working, the tried to back flush it, and that did nothing. Then they put a new one in. This too, did nothing, Sara's bladder was not draining and thus blocking the way for Jacob. She was so exhausted and could not go anymore. Her tears broke my heart. It was at this time that Sara was given the option of continuing or a C-section. After a sleepless night the night before and an exhausting day of labor, she could take no more. She was prepped for the operation and and by 2330 I was able to be by her side again in the OR. As the staff worked, I was there to comfort her. At 0006 on September 28th our son was born.

As I watched him come into the world, my emotions ran wild and tears welled up in my eyes. Shortly there after we heard a rather deep cry and Jacob was brought over the the cleaning area. I looked down into my wife's eyes and I saw the joy and the tears and I was completely beside myself. The miracle of life, is so amazing and my life changed at that moment. I now realize what life is about.

Jacob Matthew Tormala: Weight: 7lbs 13oz Length Overall: 19 1/2"

As you can see, Jacob is a beautiful little guy, and look at his mother, isn't she just glowing. I am so happy to have been able to experience this.

One More Day!!

Well, tomorrow morning at 7:30am we are to be at the hospital to start the induction process. I was only dilated to 1 cm last Thursday so I am sure it won't be the most pleasant experience. However, it will all be worth it when he arrives. The doctor joked around with us and said we better have him by Friday morning because she is on call the next couple of days. I am predicting he will be born sometime on Thursday afternoon. Hopefully I won't require too much pain meds, but I will be willing to take anything if necessary.

In case you were all wondering why we are inducing a few days early, it's because I am losing my 100% health care coverage on Oct 1 ( our due date). My new insurance isn't as good and since I lost my short term disability and will have no income coming in, we don't need any added expenses. I will be returning to work sooner than planned, but will still have 6 weeks with our new baby. Pete will be home for 75 days, which started on Sept. 18th. So he will get to have a couple of weeks with the baby while I am working. We have day care lined up, which is something we both don't want to do, but we don't have a lot of choice at this point. Maybe if we have another, then I can stay home....we shall see.

Well, that's it for now. The next blog will be introducing our little guy. So stay tuned....

No baby yet, but pics from Baby Shower #2

Hello all,
It's been a while since our last post but these last few weeks have been exhausting. I am now 37 weeks and 3 days. I only have 2 more days of work left...hurray!! I can't wait for Jacob to join us in this world. Even if he keeps me up all night, I will be able to breathe and maybe lay on my stomach :)
My mom came up last weekend and will stay until after the delivery. My dad will come up as soon as I go into labor. Pete will be home this weekend sometime. Our 1 year anniversary is Saturday, but I don't think he will be home until a day or 2 after. That's ok though because he will be home for about 75 days then and we can enjoy the first several days with Jacob together.
We were fortunate enough to have a second baby shower up here on Sept. 1. It was a blast. My sister-in-law surprised me with a visit from Texas!! It brought tears to my eyes, but of course I am a total emotional wreck these days. She helped my mother-in-law and Pete's aunt and cousin throw the shower. There were about 20 people there and I think they all had a good time. Here are some pictures of that great day.










Identify the candybar in the diaper-game! AWESOME!!

35 week checkup

Today was my 35 week checkup and things are going well. I have been having some rather strong Braxton Hicks contractions lately and so the doctor said that I shouldn't work much longer. That's good because my last day of work is Sept 14. Unless things progress a little quicker. I am not yet dilated, but am effaced. So it's only a matter of time now. I am getting nervous because I don't know when exactly Pete will be home, but it should be around the time I am done with work. I will be meeting with yet another doctor next week and will be with her the rest of the time. I am scheduled for a birthing center run-through on Sept 15, so that should be fun. I have already visited the center when I went to my birthing class a couple of weeks ago, but this will be an individual tour.

Hope all is well with everyone. Stay tuned for future updates as we get closer to our new arrival. Take care, Sara

Baby update

Hi everyone,

Well, time is ticking away rapidly now. I am 32 weeks and just had my latest ultrasound on Monday. Everything looked good. Jacob weighs about 4 lbs 3 oz. His head is now positioned downward, so that's good. It's only a matter of time when he is actually here. I am getting a little more scared, excited, anxious... for the big day. On Tuesday, I met with my new doctor. My other doctor decided to take a year off for some reason, leaving me to find a new one. I met her, Dr. Jennifer Thome, yesterday and I really like her. The only bad thing is she is only filling in for another doctor who is on maternity leave until mid-September or so. So, at least I will have her for the next month or so. She informed me that I wouldn't have to have any more lab work done, since everything looks good. So that's great. Next visit is Aug 28, and then they will be every week until I deliver. Oh yeah, and my due date changed. It's actually Oct. 1, not 2 as I originally was told. But apparently, all the documentation says the 1st, so a day earlier is good. So, Darci, I hope you don't mind sharing your due date with me:)

Pete went back to work on Aug 3. He is currently in Mobile, Alabama. The ship needed to do some maintenance work that can't be done when cargo is onboard. So they are at dry dock as they call it for about 2 weeks. This is where the boat is actually taken out of the water completely while they work on it. Where they will go after that is unknown at this time, but he should be home a couple weeks before Jacob arrives, but you never know. He is very active and I think he wants out. Pete will miss our 1 year anniversary by only a few days, so we will be able to celebrate that hopefully before the next big day.

Well, I hope all is well. Take care and talk to you all soon.