A Baby Story

For the short and sweet version go here.

Dear Logan,

This is the story of the first week of your life.  Hopefully, one day you will be able to read it and appreciate how you came into the world.  This is also to help mom and dad remember all the details.

The date that the doctor anticipated you being born was November 30, 2011.  Since mom couldn't travel for Thanksgiving, Grandpa and Grandma Mac came up to help us celebrate.  We even thought you might make your arrival when they were here.  But you didn't come on Thanksgiving.  When you hadn't come on your due date, we made plans with the doctor for an induction on December 9, 2011.  We made plans to go in the hospital early Friday morning and let everyone know to get ready.

You had other plans, however.  Mom woke up early Thursday morning feeling uncomfortable.  After unsuccessfully trying to get more sleep she decided that she might be having contractions.  I finally convinced her to call the doctor and they told us to come on in.  When we made it to the doctor around 9am, they sent us back and hooked mom up to a monitor to check your heart rate and see if there were contractions.  Your heart rate was good and mom was having contractions about every 3 minutes lasting about 50 seconds apiece.  The doctor came in to check how dilated mom was.  At previous appointments she was dilated 2 centimeters, but now she was up to 5 cm.  They put her in a wheelchair because her blood pressure was a little high, and we went on over to the hospital. 

We were in the hospital room around 10am.  Mom was ready for an epidural, so the nurses started getting an IV ready.  It took a couple tries and a blown vein to get it in correctly but they got it in.  I had to leave the room after feeling queasy, but I made it through without passing out.  Next came the epidural.  The anesthesiologist got it in without any issues and the next few hours went well.  Before we knew it all of your grandparents were here or on their way and mom was dilated to 9 cm by around 3pm.

Things started to slow down after that, but we were ready to start pushing at 6pm.  Mom started pushing and was doing a great job, but things weren't moving very fast.  You were trying hard to come out and making a little progress, but not enough.  Over the next three hours we saw several different doctors, midwives, and nurses.  Mom hung in there while I tried to encourage her.

At 9pm Dr. Martin started his shift and came in to see us.  He said we could try the forceps or the vacuum, but he couldn't promise that would work.  We talked about it and decided to go ahead with a C-Section.  I put on an awesome hair net and some scrubs and mom was wheeled off to the operating room.  Before we knew it, we could hear your first cry coming from the other side of the room.

You were born at 9:54pm.  You weighed 8 lbs, 9 oz and were 20 inches long.

Mom was sewn up and taken back to the room.  Your grandparents patiently waited while mom fed you for the first time, but the time finally came when they were able to hold you for the first time.  After a couple of hours they took us to a new room where we would spend the next few days.  It was around 1:45am by the time we finally got to sleep.

The next day there we lots of people that came to visit you.  Grandpa and Grandma Mac and Papa and Nana Horton were there.  Aunt Connie also brought your cousin Emma Kate.  Lots of our friends from church came.  Travis and Tawny, Chelsea, Lindsay, Lacy, Jim Dalton, Doug & Angel Couch, and Melissa all came to see you after you were born.  Josh, Holly, and Conner also stopped by.

We originally thought that we would get to take you home on Sunday, but we had another thing coming.  Overall, you were a healthy baby.  You started to lose a little too much weight so we started a little bit of formula to supplement nursing.  After that, things went well for you.  You were actually released from the hospital before mom was.

Since you were released before mom was, I got to take you to your first doctor appointment by myself.  While this could have been an adventure fit for a sitcom episode, you were a very good boy and we didn't have any issues.  You were measured and were around the 48th percentile in height, weight, and head circumference. 

Mom's blood pressure was high all during labor and after you were born.  It reached as high as 180/120, but was typically less than that.  However, the doctors weren't comfortable sending us home until they felt is was under control.  They put her on medication and increased the dose and added a second medicine to try and figure it out.  By the time we left the hospital, mom was on 1200mg of Labetalol and 90mg of Procardia. 

After mom's blood pressure was averaging about 150/90, we were able to talk to the doctors and they let us go home Thursday morning.  After we got home and got some rest, mom's blood pressure went down significantly.  We are still monitoring it, but we are down to 400mg of Labetalol and 30mg of Procardia.  It is likely that that will be reduced again when we see the doctor.

After all was said and done, we spent a week in the hospital, which was about 4 days longer than we hoped, but we left with a beautiful, calm, sweet little boy.  If you asked either one of us, we would do it all over again.

Love,

Dad

A Baby Story (Dragnet version)

"Just the facts ma'am" Version of Logan's Birth.

Logan Scott McReynolds

Born December 8, 2011 at 9:54 pm via C-Section at Overland Park Regional Medical Center

8 lbs 9 oz

20 in long

14 1/4" head circumference

The hospital stay lasted a week due to Stefanie's elevated blood pressure during and after labor.

Partly Cloudy with a chance of Showers

We were treated to a lovely shower from our Red Bridge family.  Thank you for all the wonderful gifts.  They will be a great help as we continue to get things ready.  Stefanie is now 32 weeks along and we are getting closer to arrival day.  We are getting anxious and trying to make sure we have everything prepared for when he arrives. 

It's a ...

BOY!

For those of you who weren't aware, Stefanie and I are expecting our first child around November 30th. We are very excited and anxious about the way our life will change from now on. Hot summer days will quickly turn into brisk fall evenings, and before we know it, baby will make 3. Our new addition will be the first grandchild for my parents and the first one in several years for Stefanie's.

Ever since we first started talking seriously about kids, I have found myself observing parents much more as I have struggled with all the different challenges that are sure to come our way. I have no doubt that I have underestimated both the joy and difficulty that this child will bring, but I know that I have never met a parent that would give his child back.

Stefanie will not be going back to school this fall and is looking forward to staying at home with our little guy. Names are still being discussed, but the inner planner in us will soon take over and a decision will probably be made sooner rather than later. The last sonogram showed no signs that the baby was abnormal in any way, but we continue our prayers for a healthy baby and mommy.

We would love to hear your thoughts about what you wish you knew before having kids or any recommendations (diapers, toys, furniture, cameras ...) that you are willing to offer.

Thanks for checking in with our seldom updated blog!

Spring has Sprung, kind of

Spring is officially here. However, it doesn't exactly feel like it. The forecast is calling for a bit a snow today, just to remind us that we really have no idea what to expect. For those of you who don't know, we have purchased a house just south of Olathe and we will be closing at the end of April. We are eager, excited, and ready to have a little more space.



I have done pretty well so far keeping up with my reading goal this year. Now the real challenge is to not just read for the sake of reading, but to actually gain something through the process.

As warmer weather draws closer, Stefanie winds down her school year and construction season picks up for me. Stefanie is anxious to get standardized testing out of the way and I am looking forward to getting outside again and blocking traffic.

2011 & Beyond

As I look back on the recent blog posts, it appears that fall was completely skipped in what had become seasonal updates. I had originally intended to post more often than that, but it just hasn't been a priority. A lot has been going on the last few months, but I won't bore you with all of the details. It mostly involved the usual things, family, friends and travel.

Moving on to recent events, I finally found out today that I passed my PE exam. Sometimes I wish that was for physical education, but it is actually for my Professional Engineering License. I had a wonderful wife who supported me during my endless hours of studying that spanned the months of April - October.

Stefanie and I also spent time this fall teaching Financial Peace University at our church. It was beneficial for us to go through the program again and we had a great class join us.


Like you, we don't know what 2011 will bring, but we are ready for the ride. One of the things I want to do is to read more this year. I haven't read much in my adult life, but I think it will be good for me. The nerd in me is even considering purchasing an ereader. I have already started reading one book that I got for Christmas.