Sorry, got interrupted

I last posted at 4:30 on Thursday. As I'm sure you could guess, things really moved after that and I was not able to post anything new. Just a quick timeline:

6:30 - The Doctor came in a said the baby's head was poking through, but she wasn't dilated enough to make it. This made it an easy decision to go to a C-Section. There was sufficient pressure from the contractions to push the baby, but not enough dilation for her to be born.

7:15 - The doctors took Carrie and prepped her for surgery.

7:24 - I walked into the OR and the C-Section began.

7:31 - We heard baby Emily cry!

I don't really know the times of all the rest of the milestones, but most importantly she was born 7:31 on August 13, 2009, and we were discharged from the hospital and returned home Sunday just after noon.

We have the best family and friends. We had an outpouring of support from sooo many people. If you believe in "what comes around, goes around." then Carrie and I will have to turn into Mother Theresa to give back what we have received the past few days. Thanks to everyone.

Baby Day 4:30

Still nothing. Unfortunately nothing has happened to let us know that the baby is ready. She began contractions last night, but she couldn't even feel them. She still hasn't requested any type of pain meds. The contractions come about one every 1-2 minutes but they don't really hurt and not much else to report.

Hopefully the doc will be in soon to discuss options or give recommendations.

Baby Day!

The day is finally here! I was going to use this forum to document our day. We got in around 8:00 last night and not much else happened. They hooked her up to a monitor and gave her some meds that are supposed to "get things started." Carrie got a sleeping pill around 10:00 and was out. I got to sleep on a pull out chair - with no sleeping pill.

Today started at 6:00am with an IV and the meds have started. The contractions are very close together, but Carrie is not feeling them at all. Not sure if that is a good thing or not. Lack of pain is good, but it also may indicate lack of progress. Wish I had more to report. Right now, we won't see the doctor again until noon. Their latest best guess is 3:00 or so....we'll see.

An Open Letter

Friends:

We are about 24 hrs. from being introduced to baby Emily! A very exciting time for Carrie and me. As the time nears, there is a lot of planning and information that needs to be communicated. I thought an open letter to friends and acquaintances would be a good way to broadcast information.

For me it is hard to accept help and harder to ask for it. I know that many people have offered many things. Food, support, babysitting, etc. I also read that it is advisable to accept all help offered. I would like to organize the help. I will be taking the next week off of work and will be able to spend 24 hrs. with my wife and baby. Then, I go back to work. She is taking 12 weeks off from work. Quick math. There will be 11 weeks where I am at work and Carrie is home. These weeks would be a great time to come visit, especially during the day if possible as Carrie will be alone.

Hospital visits: Carrie will be induced on Thursday morning. I think it is reasonable to expect the baby to be delivered Thursday afternoon/evening. After delivery, Carrie and I are going to want some time to bond with Emily. We will take at least an hour with just us and the baby. After that, we will start letting folks in the room. I expect Thursday to be a full day. We would prefer friends, if they want, to visit on Friday, or just come to the house Saturday or Sunday.

Finally, not to be too rude, but let's all be sensitive to Carrie and Emily's rest time, feeding time, etc. I think I'd like to keep the visits fairly short or as a minimum be understanding with mom and baby, if they leave the room for a while and you are stuck with just me!

Stay tuned to Facebook or the blog for updates, we will attempt to get pictures up as soon as possible.

Thanks,
BW