Family Photos!

Sorry about the lack of postings... I'll try to get a bunch of photos and video up tonight. I am back at work today trying to get things settled so I can get back home and do important things like take pictures!

We are home! Things are going well! Lucas seems pretty into Ben. Rachel told Lucas she was going to feed him and clearly she is not doing a good job since he is emptying out the pantry to provide his brother with food. Pictured above is some juice and oatmeal, nice brother. The other photo is him catching Ben up to speed on how to properly kick back and enjoy some Wiggles...

More photos...

Hey all. So we get to go home today! Paul, Amy, and Rose left for the airport about an hour ago, but no worries as more help is on the way! Rachel's mom is arriving tonight to help us out. Such a sacrifice for her... :) Lucas is at a friend's house now, I am picking him up in a couple hours so he can nap at home. After his nap, we'll come back and bring the whole family home. My plan is to have Lucas help me convert his crib back to the newborn position (with the mattress moved way up). Trying to get him involved in welcoming hs brother home. When he first saw his brother, I could tell by his eyes that he knew something was up. So curious to know what is going on in his head. "Let's see, mom and dad kept calling her belly a baby, and now she is holding a baby, this cannot be good" He kept looking at Ben with a curious look- like who is this baby mommy is holding? Then he was like whatever there is a ton of stuff for me to break in this room, I need to get going! Then he started answering the phone, adjusting mom's bed, typing on dad's laptop. The true test is when we get home...

I'll post some more photos later in the day. For those still following though- everything is going well. We all slept great last night (despite my snoring). He is feeding great and Rachel is recovering well.

Stats: 20 3/4 inches, 8 lbs 2 oz
Getting his shots now. He's a tough guy.

He is here! At 4pm on 5/6/07.... weird! Stats to come!! He is healthy and awesome!

10cm! The pushing begins now!!!

9cm!!! Just a small anterior lip... Like I even want to know what that means. Baby is showing head compression and he's at 0 station! Anyone want to guess a time?? Email Ben at benjaminkerby@gmail.com!!!

This has got the be the most attention my blog has ever recieved! Ha. Rachel is trying to nap now- you got to love epidurals. From excruciating pain to sleepytime. Amy is in charge of pushing the button for the extra good stuff...

They are setting up all the baby stuff so looks like it will be any time now! Keep on checking!

She is fully effaced and at 6cm! The epidural is in full effect and she is over a BAD few minutes. Gotta get back...

Rachel is at 4cm! She is on top of the contractions and putting off the epidural for awhile. Why? I have no idea, but I am not broaching the subject...

Things are progressing well. We signed the papers for the epidural- the anesthesiologist goes to our church. Always good when the hand of God is involved. Hopefully he'll be able to administer the drugs soon. The doctor will come in an hour to check on her- hopefully photos of the baby will follow soon!

Just updating while I am able. Not much progress, more frequent contractions that hurt more. Still not at 4cm. The day goes on...

I got two hours of sleep! Mmm, hospital coffee. Pitosin is getting bumped up pretty high and contractions are a few minutes apart and lasting for a minute. They seem to be more painful than before. If the baby is born today- his birthday will be 5/6/07... something to shoot for!

We have restarted the pitocin. The doctor reduced the dose in hopes that the problem won't reoccur. Rachel got some sleep, Jake got none, Amy on the other hand was in happy dreamland. More soon...

Okay, so things have calmed down and I can elucidate the goings on. So, first off- why is Rachel getting induced? Rachel had severel symptoms of pre-eclampsia which is bad. The blood tests were negative so that's good. The doctor was worries that something is funny with her kidneys though and offered to have her induced just to stop the worrying about it. So, since Rachel's brother Paul and his family are here we thought why not? We have a babysitter with Paul, and Amy can see a live birth! (Rachel got to see her give birth to our niece, Rose).
So, we thought things would cruise along and there would be no issues. Rachel began contractions right away and they were consistent and strong. After 30 min, they checked her and she was at 2cm. When she arrived she was a little over 1cm. Soon after, they became concerned with the "late decelerations" of the baby's heartrate. Which means that the placenta was not getting enough blood and causing the heart rate to drop. Since that stresses out the baby, the doctor decided to take her off the pitocen. She was having contractions still after it was removed about every 2-3 minutes. Then it tapered to every four, then every five, and now she has not had one in over eight. A good thing since they want her to sleep. So now, Amy is sleeping on the couch, and Rachel was getting close to sleeping but now is getting hit with a monster contraction... 118! She maxed the little graph thing out! Baby's heart rate is looking much better now that she's off the pitocen and the instructions are for Rachel to get some rest. They cannot give her an epidural until she is 4cm- so we'll see how much rest she gets. I didn't sleep for nearly 40 hours when Lucas was born so I got to give Ben the same respect. I think this time though instead of pretending to sleep, I'll actually just catch up on work. (I have a feeling work is going to suffer in the next week!).

Doctor said we were stressing the baby out so they took Rachel off the pitosin until morning. So, won't be anytime soon. They will start it again in the morning...

Contraction are coming! So far about 2 minutes apart...

Hey everyone! Something to blog about! Ben is coming! Rachel was having some minor indications of problems so they decided to go ahead and induce. They just introduced the pitosin like 15 min ago. I will keep the computer online throughout the night to keep you posted!

Jake