Friday, December 30, 2011

Date Night

Papa John and Grandma Jeanne offered to watch Matthew, so Mike and I had a date night!!  Ahhh...and thank you!!!

Oh, and a family tidbit, instead of rocking Matthew to sleep at night, Mike marches back and forth.  Really wish I could videotape it and then post it.  But our house is on lock down and by that I mean that it's completely dark.  So, I strongly encourage you to imagine it: a grown man marching desperately hoping his son will fall asleep.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Matthew Schwartz, Child of the Corn

You may have noticed in the video from the previous post that Matthew's eyes were aglow with a fire that could end a rainforest.  Turns out, this is a good thing.  Apparently, photo-ruining eyes are also cancer-free eyes.  The doctor told us that there is a rare eye cancer among infants that is revealed by non-reflective eyeballs.  Makes my son's possessed eyes a little less scary.

Top 10 of the Last 2 Months in Pictures

10. Matthew has received LOTS of love from family and friends:







 9. Matthew loves bath time with Daddy.


8. Matthew was really sad when Indiana lost to Michigan State in football by 52 points.


7. Matthew has a wonderful smile.  He woke up an hour after being put to bed the other night, and when we both got up to put him back to sleep he looked at both of us with the biggest smile.  All was forgiven.  Mom has also heard him laugh a couple of times in his sleep.  Cannot wait for his dad to hear it for real.




Quickest way to make Matthew smile: play with his feet:


6. Matthew's first night home, our heat was not working so it was 56 degrees in the house.  We were grateful (for this one night) that one of our rooms does not have central air, rather it has a furnace.  Matthew did not fall asleep until 5am and it was in Mama's arms on the couch.


5. Matthew has a cousin named Titus Victor Couleur, born on November 25th!


4. Matthew can lift his head!


3. Matthew does NOT like to sleep alone when napping!


2. Matthew has struggled with acid reflux and to help (significantly) Daddy would bounce Matthew.  He no longer does because Matthew is too big.



1. At his 2 month check-up, he was 25 inches long and weighed 13 pounds, 11 ounces.  He is a healthy, growing boy at the 95th percentile in all areas.


And the update on Mike and I:

Disclaimer: do NOT read if you just want to hear about how wonderful our lives are and how we couldn't imagine life without him.  I mean, come on, we spent nearly 13 years without him and just had him 10 weeks ago.  An inability to imagine life without him would be indicative of a serious and alarming memory disorder.

We feel so incredibly blessed and are completely in love with Matthew.  He is a wonderful little boy.  A wonderful, loving little boy.  A wonderful, loving, INCREDIBLY EXHAUSTING little boy.  We are freaking drained.  And have no idea when we won't be freaking drained.  This only slightly has to do with the fact that Matthew probably inherited ADHD and probably will have three siblings with ADHD.  Thanks, Mike.  Also, we REALLY miss time where it is just the two of us.  Sigh...

Going back to work is also hard, from both a seperation and workload standpoint.  I have gone back to work 1 or 2 days a week and have NO idea how mothers of newborns work full-time and parent.  But on the bright side, Mike and I have had 2 weeks in a row where he has only had to work 3 days--yey!  Also, Matthew is getting better and better at sleeping every night--he slept for almost 8 straight hours last night!  If only we could teach him how to nap alone...or on some days, nap period.  And how to stop crying for no reason.  That would be delightful.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

First Doctor's Appointment

We had our first doctor's appointment for Matthew on Monday.  The doctor said "He's perfect."  Could you ask for anything more?  Apparently you can.  The doctor said he was really cute, to which Mike asked him, "Cuter than your kids?"  Yes he did.  He then went on tell the doctor that his wife had said so.   

On Monday, he was one ounce from his birth weight.  Hooray.  We don't have to go back until his one month birthday.  Speaking of birthdays, today is his one week birthday.  He's so grown up. 

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

And on the third day...

...Matthew wore five different outfits.

1.) Matthew began Friday the 21st in a standard white onesie provided by the hospital.  Awesome.

2.) At around 1:30 that afternoon, the insurance company and hospital jointly decided that the same people who seriously considered going to McDonald's before heading to Labor & Delivery, mere minutes after being told "you need to be induced immediately," were fit to bring a completely helpless human being home with them to raise on their own.  To celebrate this, we changed Matthew into another white outfit.  This one actually was awesome, though--it is the same clothing worn by E and both her brothers when they came home from the hospital post-birth.


3.) At around 4:00, Matthew pooped.  Mom held up Matthew's legs.  Dad removed Matthew's diaper.  Matthew pissed everywhere.  Changing table, crib, mom, Matthew's mouth and the 34-year old outfit needed to be cleaned immediately.  Following the thorough cleansings, Matthew was placed into a new onesie.

Still 3.)  At 5:00, Matthew pooped again.  Mom held up Matthew's legs.  Dad removed Matthew's diaper and cleaned Matthew's butt.  Dad slid a new diaper under Matthew's clean butt.  Matthew immediately pooped into the new diaper.  That is $0.17 we will never see again.  But at least the clothes stayed clean.

4.) At 6:30, Matthew enjoyed his first blowout, if "enjoying" involves screaming through it.  One day, he will learn to savor these simple joys.  Anyway, the byproduct was everywhere within the confines of his diaper, including all over his freshly circumsized penis.  This probably had something to do with the screaming.  However, the by product was not on Matthew's onesie.  That is, until he decided to slap his crotch with his onesie sleeve-covered hand and then follow that will a jab to his eye.  Following another thorough cleansing, we switched to yet another onesie.

5.) At 7:30, Matthew opted for an encore of the 4:00 show, again peeing everywhere immediately after we removed his diaper.  At least the fifth onesie made him look like a cute little monkey.  More importantly, we didn't have to change his out of that one until the next day, which is kind of shocking, given the number of diaper changings that occurred as he cried until 4:30 AM.

We're having fun already :)  And man oh man is he the cutest thing ever...

Matthew's Birth Story

Here's the highlight reel and each of our thoughts and emotions to each event:

Standard Ultrasound and Non-Stress Test-Turned-Induction:

E: An Evanston Hospital technician and student start with the ultrasound and are recording how big Matthew's legs are, finding the heartbeat, etc. when the technician says, "I don't know if this a good thing or a bad thing but...your amniotic fluid looks really low."  I put two and two together that this meant we needed to be induced.  The technician then left the room to speak with the doctor at the clinic and then paged our doctor.  She came back and confirmed that I needed to be induced because a desired level of amniotic fluid is 8 (no idea what the unit is) and mine was at a 4.49.  My feeling at this point: disbelief, shock, and excitement over the fact that we're really going to have our baby today.  It was a lot to take in.  While we knew that being induced was a possibility, I just didn't expect it.

We got our belongings and walked to labor and delivery...


When using Pitocin to induce, labor tends to be longer and contractions are stronger.  The nurse said on average, labor takes 24-48 hours when induced, but since I was already dilated and my cervix was softening, she thought it would be faster than that.  I sure hoped so.

M: What's funny is that I have spent the entire pregnancy asking a billion questions and making sure I know everything that could possibly be going on with E and Matthew, yet I clearly didn't understand what the ultrasound and non-stress test were intended to accomplish.  I thought the ultrasound would tell us if Matthew was still head down and that the non-stress test would tell us if the fluid levels were low.  Thus, when the nurse said, "I don't know if this is good news or bad news," I had no idea what in the world she could be talking about.  Call me old-fashioned, but when it comes to your wife's ultrasound of your unborn child, there is no middle ground; things are either good news or they are bad news.  There is no in between.  For example: baby has ten fingers = good news; baby looks like wife's co-worker = bad news.  So, needless to say, I was curious what her next line was going to be.  And when I heard it... I just started laughing and said to E, "so I guess we're having a baby today!"  It was pretty cool, to say the least.

One Last Attempt at No Pitocin:

E: We had learned in our childbirth class (a 9 week, 3 hours per shot class aimed at an all-natural childbirth) that there were other ways to get labor started, such as breaking my water bag.  We asked the nurses and resident about these options and were informed that unless the baby is fully descended in the birth canal, this is dangerous because the umbilical cord or an arm can come out first, requiring an emergency c-section.  As upsetting and fear-inducing it was to learn that I needed to use Pitocin, the decision was clear.  Pitocin it is...

M: I am really happy we took our Bradley Method class, but this kind of bothered me.  The class was great for learning about natural pain management skills and our instructor was fantastic.  But there were times where it felt like the class painted all things medical as evil; pitocin being one of those things.  E and I were under the impression that doctors only call for pitocin because they wanted to rush you through to delivery.  It turns out, pitocin was necessary to make E's delivery as safe as possible.

It's the 4th Quarter

E: Mike and I had prepared weeks in advance to use visualization techniques to get through painful contractions.  Here's what I used:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o7cLQg1NJo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVDZE8LnjYI

Not kidding.  Clay Matthews: Linebacker by day, inspirer of pregnant women by night.  Fortunately for Mike, I don't find four foot long blond hair attractive.

And Lawrence Taylor, well, I envisioned I was him, or that I was able to escape from him to get a touchdown.  For my lady friends, except for Abbey, who need an explanation of who this is...he is one of the greatest linebackers of all time. 

M: I would like to say I was there to watch her run from LT, but I can't.  That's around the time I fell asleep for an hour.  It just happened.  Fortunately, my wife had been telling me for hours I should get some rest, so she wasn't upset.  Probably because she preferred I wasn't there while she fantasized about the physical prowess of other men.  Also, it's important everyone knows that I repeated the line "4th quarter" throughout the entire labor to continue to use football for inspiration.  My word do I love this woman.

The Decision to Get an Epidural and God Sends an Angel:

E: It has been over 5 hours and I had yet to move past 7cm.  My contractions were extremely painful and it felt like I was never being given a rest period.  Additionally, I was having urges to push, but was told I was not dilated enough along.  Uuuughhh...I was exhausted and very discouraged.  Mike and I made the decision to get an epidural because I could not fathom laboring for several more hours to then face the most painful and difficult of tasks, the pushing.  The anethestiologist "just so happened to be" in a different building and it took him twice as long to get to me as usual, about 20 minutes.  In this time, Mike was reviewing the consent form, which among many things, said that death was a rare, yet still possible consequence of an epidural.  And then a midwife, whom we had never meant and was not the one responsible for my care, barged into our room with great authority and demanded to check my cervix because it seemed like I was ready to push.  I was 9.5cm (which she could push to 10) and my cervix was good to go.  Brittany, this occured the moment you texted me that you were praying for me.  Surprising?  No.

M: It really was like God decided "Alright, that's enough, no epidural for you."  I was disappointed for E that she was going to be getting an epidural; after dominating labor for so long, I was worried she would feel like she "gave up and took the epidural."  That, of course, could not be farther from the truth.  For Pete's sake, she went 14+ hours medication free.  I complain when I have gas pain.  Or when I'm sleepy.  Anyway, when we were told E was ready to push, it was like we had new life.  We just looked at each other and had one of those "this game's ours" looks.  I told her "We're doing this!"  She then looked at the anethisiologist and actually said "Sorry, I'm not going to need the shot anymore."  AWESOME.

Delivery Time:

E: The end was in sight.  I was going to meet my son.  And soon.  I asked the doctor to tell me how long she thought it would take.  She said it could take 5 min to 3 hours.  Everyone continued to give me encouragement, saying I was doing well.  I told the doctor I needed a goal.  She told me 30 minutes.  Wow, was that motivating.  Done and done.  Baby arrived 5 minutes later at 10:34am.

M: The rocking out was complete.  17 hours, no medication, healthy and happy mama and son.  I couldn't have been more proud.



That's a handsome son and pants combo.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Welcome to world, kid

Matthew Jeremiah Schwartz was born October 19, 2011 at 10:34 AM.  Both he and mama did (and are still doing) amazing!

Pictures and birth story to follow!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

It's October 19...

...and our rock star is at 4 cm. Just had the water broken by the doctor. Labor is definitely getting more intense but she's doing great!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Labor

It's boring. Uncomfortable, but boring.

Actually...

Get excited. Get very, very excited.

Turns out our son has become quite large; between 7.6 and 9.6 lbs. Nurse thinks it is closer to 7.6. E's whosiewhatsie certainly hopes so. Anywho, the issue with Matthew being so large is that now there isn't enough amnionic fluid. Ipso facto, E is being induced. Now. Seriously. I am writing this on the iPad while sitting next to E as she is getting the pitosin IV. So yeah. It's game time.

PS - no need to worry, I was able to change into the candy stripe pants. The kid will be born a Hoosier.

PSS - also, a low fluid level that leads to being induced is completely normal when you are past due, so no need to worry about that either.

PSSS - the goal is to give updates on the blog but no promises. We don't want to see "Laboring wife murders blogging husband; authorities defend her actions" in the Trib tomorrow.

Heading to the Hospital Today

But don't get too excited.  It's not to have a baby.

This afternoon we are doing fetal non-stress monitoring and having an ultrasound.  If the baby is still thriving, we will walk across the street for a standard appointment with our doctor.  If they find that the baby is in any way distressed, we will be induced.  So, our bags are packed and in the car just in case.

Yesterday, I had blood work done which revealed that I do not need another rhogam injection (the injection that I had at week 28 due to my negative blood type) because there is still an adequate amount in my system.  Yey.

Many people have been asking how we are doing.  We really appreciate knowing how much people are thinking of us, praying for us, and definitely have gratitude for the empathy and encouragement.  We are actually much more at peace and content than we were even a week ago.  We know that this baby will come in God's right timing (not that we didn't always know this, but I think we feel it more).  And I think the passing of the due date has helped.  Seemed like the date was a goal that you're reaching for, but once you're past it...well, I don't know how to describe it, but we're more peaceful.  We've been taking advantage of having more quality time together.  And I've definitely been making the most of the time to sleep!  Last night I for sure feel asleep at 9pm and besides a couple bathroom breaks, I slept till 6am.  That won't be happening for awhile once the little guy arrives!  Oh, and did I not mention that I then took a nap from 8:15-9 this morning.  It's a good day.

Well, I should probably shower before I get my pedicure.  It's been a tough 24 hours...

We'll be keeping you posted.

Friday, October 14, 2011

This Is Important

E is 98 minutes from officially being over 40 weeks pregnant.  And she still looks absolutely beautiful.  I thought it was important for you all know to that.

That is all.  Goodnight.

Due Date

Here I am, on our due date:



We thought Matthew might come on his exact due date (only 5% of babies do) because I had contractions about every 15 minutes throughout the night last night.  At 6am, I got up to see if they would continue once I was up and active.  Braxton hicks contractions can stop, but real labor will persist no matter what you are doing.  Well, as you can see, I am not writing about the birth of our son.  Contractions came to a complete halt.

One of the natural induction techniques that we have learned about is drinking castor oil.  We heard of a "castor cocktail" today, made up of castor oil, almond butter (which will definitely be eaten on an apple ASAP...mmmmm...yes, I'm still pregnant), apricot juice, and white wine.  It was a tolerable, but not an enjoyable drink.  How it works?  It causes unspeakable bathroom experiences which can instigate contractions/labor.  Did it work?  Um, step one did.

Remember When Mike Was Too Lazy To Get the Camera?

WBU: Week 39


Wednesday, October 12, 2011

We Have Ourselves A Bee-Bopper

Great news.  Apparently, Matthew is a magician.  Which is terrific, because we were definitely looking for a magician, as opposed to a baby that is delivered on time.  Yesterday, our little one performed his first trick: defying gravity.  While I am still about 2 cm dilated, Matthew has re-ascended and is no longer engaged the way he needs to be for labor to occur.  Mike actually made a joke about Matthew re-ascending and burrowing inside me, obviously thinking that this wasn't possible and that, given the laws of physics, Matthew could only go one direction: down.  Little did Mike know that Matthew spits in the face of science.

So after an aggressive exam, the doctor said that she could not feel Matthew's head and that an ultrasound would need to be done to see if the baby had flipped to breech.  She asked if I had felt him flip, to which I said "no".  The ultrasound revealed that he is still head down.  This is a good thing, because breech=C-section=not exactly the natural birth we're looking for.  In retrospect, this isn't particularly suprising, because I have been feeling far less pressure in the pelvic region the last couple of days.  What I have been feeling a lot of is my Tasmanian son bee-bopping around.  Constantly.  It turns out, the combination of Matthew being a Pixie Stick in fetal form and me not having very many contractions basically popped him out of an engaged state.  This kid's level of energy does not bode well for our future sanity.  I'm considering asking my friend, Dr. Naomi, for a prescription for Ritalin.  Why wait?

In other news, we had to schedule another Rhogam injection (this is round 2 of the required injection for my uncommon blood type) for Monday, if I don't give birth by then.  We also had to schedule stress testing and an ultrasound for Tuesday, which is standard if you are past your due date.  In the end, despite the jarring nature of seemingly moving farther away from the delivery date, everything looks fine.  Head down, strong heartbeat; we can't really complain.  We will just continue to earnestly hope and pray that Matthew drops, comes via a natural labor and is healthy.

P.S. - Let the record show that while this is a joint blog, this is actually the first post that was equally composed by both of us.  We have gone from being Harrison and Starr to Lennon/McCartney.

Friday, October 7, 2011

We're Due In A Week...

...but it feels like it's months away.  It's getting really aggravating.  We pretty much did a stellar job of not getting too excited over "why can't it be the due date yet?!" through the first eight months, and were fine through the first few days of month nine.  But then E started having pre-labor symptoms that all the doofuses online say are indicators of being 2-4 weeks from delivery.  Well, it's been four weeks, lying jerks.  Also, when we found out she was dilated 1 cm a week and a half ago, it seemed like Matthew's arrival really was imminent.  Yet here we are 10 days later.  Don't get me wrong, E might still go into labor tonight.  Or she might go into labor next July.  Regardless, the waiting sucks.  Neither of us are really nervous about being parents or the pain of labor or having to be in a hospital or any of the other "normal" stuff soon-to-be parents worry about.  But we like structure.  And we like planning.  And we do not like wondering every day when this is going to happen.  It is not going to be a pleasant three weeks if we have to wait until the induction date.

WBU was taken tonight, but I'm in bed and the camera is in the other room.  You can see the predicament I'm in.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

One More Thing

I'm fine.  Bad cold.  Fever has already gone down.  I'm even on antibiotics just in case I do, in fact, have gonorreha.  Everyone can now rest assured that my inevitable sneeze all over Matthew's 90-second old face will have little-to-no impact on his health.

Amazing Gifts of Humor

Yesterday, Mike and I went to the doctor to get Mike tested for Strep...and Gonorrhea.  Or at least one of those things.  The lobby was full of gifts.

It starts with a woman who greets her 90+ year old husband.  She's talking about how hard it was to find a parking spot and then says, "I may have hit someone.  I looked at their car and the side is all scratched up."

I remember this conversation almost verbatim, mostly due to the fact she repeated it three times because her husband couldn't hear her.

Speaking of not hearing, two minutes later a 70+ year old woman comes out to her husband talking Mike-style, i.e., screaming.  She's declaring that her hearing is "so much better."  "The doctor took so much wax out of my ears!  No wonder I couldn't hear even with my aid in."  Um, ma'am, you might still want to check your hearing aid because even the Taliban can hear and understand you.

The loveliness continues when we get to my parents house for a visit.  My mom says, "You know, the good  thing about pink eye is..."  Mike quickly interrupted, "Wait!  What's the good thing about getting poop particles in your eye?"  My mom did have a point, but I don't want to share that.  It would take away from the funny.

And finally, today, Mike and I were walking at a park near our house.  An older man appearing very tired, walked past us and then this happened:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d-67gRDa4s&NR=1

Unbelievable.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Clarification

The doctor did not say "You are dialated 1.5 cm."  She said, "You are dialated 1.5 - 2.0 cm.  Definitely 1.5, probably 2.0 if I had really gotten aggressive."

I would like to thank the doctor for not punching my wife's girl parts.

Was Hoping for 8, Left with 1 1/2

Centimeters that is.

We are progressing and getting closer and everyone is healthy. :)

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Shane Gets Married

As E noted in a previous post, we made a trip to God's Country this weekend for my buddy Shane's wedding.  It was a great weekend for a variety of reasons:

1. Weddings are always a happy occasion, especially when your friend can lock down a way hotter chick that himself.

2. I got to see IU friends I don't get to see enough.

3. The groomsman gift was these pants:


Let the record show I am wearing them now, as I did when I received them two nights ago, and as I will when we head to the hospital to have E's placenta, and anything attached to it, removed from her body.

4. Weddings = Photographs = Another swell opportunity to see how much neck skin I have added since high school.  I fully understand that I am no longer the model of fitness I once was,


but I also don't look like the Nutty Professor.  Unless there is a camera on me.  In which case I look like this:


or this:



or this:


And let's not forget what I look like being Glamour Shot while jumping off a boat.

Sidebar: I learned tonight that that picture of me is now one of my friend's computer background.  I would like to congratulate his wife on having a husband whose computer background features an overweight shirtless man.  I also would like to document the fact that I caught the ball.

Other wedding pics:

The wedding party

Please congratulate E on mastering the zoom out feature.

The aforementioned much better looking than Shane bride, being walked down the aisle.

The one on the right has two kids; the two next to her will each have one by March.

Shane walked into the reception wearing the candystripers while Indiana, Our Indiana played in the background.  It was awesome.  And then I touched his shoulder.

12 days...

Friday, September 30, 2011

"Greatest State in the Union"

If  you're wondering which state in our country is the best, just ask Mike.  He'll tell you sweet home Indiana is.  Of course!  We are heading to Merrilville, IN today for a wedding that Mike is in; it is one of his best friends.  I wonder if he's also hoping that Matthew is born there.  I bet he would if you got citizenship in a state in the same way you do when you have a baby in another country.

Well...I have had stronger and more regular braxton hicks contractions.  Interestingly, it's only at night and early in the morning.  Maybe he will be an Indiana baby.  But probably not because we're only going to be an hour and a half from the hospital.  Unless this baby launches out of my genitals, I don't think we'll have a problem.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

1 Down, 9 to Go

Warning: If you do not want to read about my cervix then you'll want to skip this one.

Doc: "This was a good first exam."

I am 1cm dilated, my cervix has softened and I am at a -1 to -2 as far as effacement (baby dropping) is concerned. What does all this mean? While there is no way to predict when Matthew will make an appearance, the exam shows that my body is progressing towards delivery really well. The doctor said that many women are not even dilated come their due date, so being that I am already dilated we can have confidence that Matthew will probably arrive by his due date (2 1/2 weeks!), rather than late or via an induction which would occur if we went 2 weeks past our due date. Effacement indicates where the head of the baby is; baby starts at -5 and will move to +5 when it's time for him to be pushed out!

We are incredibly grateful that things are progressing as they are and trying our best to contain our excitement!

Friday, September 23, 2011

WBU: Full Term

At 37 weeks, our little peanut is officially full term which means that if he were born today, there would be great confidence that all his vital organs would be fully formed making life in this world possible without medical intervention and/or assistance.  The lungs are of particular concern late in the pregnancy as they become fully formed at the end of this week.  In other words, Matthew, we're ready to meet you!


Tuesday, September 20, 2011

And Then There Were Four...

...weeks until the due date.  Week 36 WBU:



My rockstar wife is in pre-labor now.  Signs include abdominal cramping and Matthew slowly starting to drop, a.k.a. wedge himself into his mother's crotch.  Here's to hoping I never have to observe my son doing that ever again.  Anyway, before you all start to sound the alarms and get too excited about pre-labor, realize it can last up to four weeks.  Which makes one wonder why it is called "pre-labor" and not simply "the ninth month of pregnancy."

Baby Showers

We are truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends in our lives.  I had two baby showers and it was amazing to spend time with these great people.  On top of this blessing, the hostesses all brought their A-games with fun games and incredible food.  And the generousity and thoughtfulness of people...wow, it's overwhelming.

Mike with HIS diaper bag! :)
 
My cousins Julie and Mary. 
A week and a half ago, dear and sweet friends of mine hosted a shower that lasted 3 hours--that's how fun it was!  It felt so good to be with friends and to receive gifts from friends from far away that couldn't come, just made me feel like they were still there with me.  Here are some pics from that shower:


The Hostesses and I


Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Pure Michigan

This is a much belated post as we took a trip to Michigan with our friends in June, right after graduation.  But I really needed you all to know why I love my husband:

Pat catching a football while jumping off the boat.

John

Mike