I saw this in Target the other night and could not pass it up.  It was a onesie (can never have too many of those) and described Connor perfectly!

Here is a list of the top ten moments I have been privileged to see:

10. When he is staring out the window (at the bright light) from his pack-n-play after his morning feeding.

9. When I smell something “funky” and I think he has made a dirty diaper only to find out he has had gas (again).

8. How he stops fussing during a diaper change once the first strap of the clean diaper is attached. (His way of saying thanks.)

7. The way he looks when he is breastfeeding with Mommy as she is stroking the hair on the back of his head.

6. The way he looks after breastfeeding (think “drunken sailor”).

5. The rooting and fussing he does when taking off his clothes because he knows a feeding is coming.

4. When he his sound asleep in his crib, swing, pack-n-play, Mommy’s arms, or my arms.

3. When he appears to give you a smile (I know he is way too young to be smiling), but as far as we are concerned, he has smiled at us. (Probably has something to do with #9 above.)

2. The way he bites his bottom lip while he is sleeping.

1. When he looks at me with his big eyes and just stares at me and slowly blinks his eyes. His way of telling me that he loves me.

Connor has really taken to his swing. He doesn’t care too much for his vibrating bouncy seat or his vibrating pack-n-plays.

When all else fails to soothe him…swaddle and put him in his swing.

Thursday, January 17 — Dr’s Office

Victoria and I went to a scheduled doctor’s office visit to have her blood pressure checked. It was still elevated but not too bad. The swelling in her legs had gone down and the doctor said that she would like to see Victoria twice a week up until the time Connor is born. She only had 9 days until his “official due date”.

She also said that each time she comes in that they were going to do some fetal monitoring in the office and today would be the first. So they put us in another room, Victoria sat in a Lazyboy recliner and then hooked up a couple of leads to monitor the baby’s heart rate and her contractions

Shortly into the monitoring, the machine was registering a contraction. At that time the nurse walked in saw the contraction and looked a little perplexed. She asked Victoria if she felt that and Victoria said that she felt him moving. Well, what she thought was him moving was a significant contraction. She started to have several of them in a row and we watched each one. She never complained of any pain.  The nurse thought it was a little funny because Victoria was having significant contractions but was not really experiencing any pain.

A few minutes later the nurse came back in and noticed that Connor’s heart rate had decelerated on a few contractions and called the doctor in. She suggested we go straight to the hospital for some additional fetal monitoring (like we had done the previous Friday). We only live 2 miles from the doctor’s office, so I asked if we could swing home and pick up the suitcase. The doctor said it would be best to go straight to the hospital. I think my blood pressure must have jumped at that point, but off to the hospital we went.

Thursday, January 17 — Hospital

We had the same nurse we had last week which made us feel comfortable. We were old pros at this now and just relaxed and listened to Connor and watched Victoria have contractions.  She continued to say he was moving while she was having a contraction (no significant pain). Connor had two more “decels” (low heart rates) during a couple of contractions. The doctor was not overly concerned but decided to send us over to EVMS maternal fetal medicine for an ultrasound. Cool, we would get to see Connor again, get an idea on how big he is, and get clarification on what might be going on. The nurse told me on the side that she thought we would be having a baby sometime today/tomorrow, so that got me excited.

Thursday, January 17 — Maternal Fetal Medicine

They wheeled Victoria over to the other wing of the hospital as I carried her I.V. bag (they sent a wheelchair without an I.V. holder by mistake). During the ultrasound, Connor looked good and we got a few pictures. We also were told that he weighed about 6lbs 14oz, which relieved some of Victoria’s worries about having an 8+ pound baby. The doctor came in to talk to us and the first thing he said to us was, “You’re going to have a baby today or tomorrow.” Then he explained that Victoria’s amniotic fluid was half of what it should be and that the umbilical cord was bunched up and that Connor was pressing on it during contractions which caused the heart rate decels. He was concerned about the 50% of amniotic fluid, so he explained they would be inducing labor as soon as we got back to labor and delivery.

As we waited for our escort back to labor and delivery, Victoria and I cried a little. We both were scared and nervous but I told her she is a strong woman and I would be there to help her. I told her that everything would be ok.

Thursday, January 17 — 5pm (Inducing begins)

Victoria’s parents showed up at the hospital and met us in Labor & Delivery Room #8. The nurses started the medicine which induces labor and I headed home to take care of the cats, pick up the suitcase, and to change my clothes. My Mom and Danny would be making their way up to the hospital as well. Victoria started having more and more contractions since receiving the medication but was not having too much pain. Somewhere around 10pm, she asked for some stadol in her I.V. that would “help take the edge off”. That helped for a little while.

At this point, I sent everyone home to get some rest and told them I would call them if anything significant happened overnight.  It appeared nothing would be happening until sometime the following morning so the nurses and I felt it would be best that the grandparents and my brother went home and got some sleep (that way Victoria and I could rest as well).

Thursday, January 17 — 11:45pm (Significant pain)

By 11:45pm, she was asking for an epideral. After one failed attempt of the epideral, they finally got the epideral in the right location and the next contraction she had she did not feel. That was a tough hour or so for her and I felt so helpless. I could just tell her to take deep breaths and I tried to massage her the best I could. Now with the epideral in, she was able to get some sleep. They checked to see how far she had dilated and she was only at 2cm (1:00 am on Jan. 18th).

Friday, January 18 — 8am (still 2cm)

They checked Victoria at 8am and she was still 2cm. Her blood pressure was rising, so they put her on high blood pressure medication and also gave her an anti-seizure medication (magnesium sulfate). Evidently one can have seizures if their blood pressure is too high for too long. They said this would make her feel “yucky”, almost like she had a really bad flu. They were right, she was not doing too well on the medication but we all were lending our support to her (grandpaents, nurses, Danny, and me). We had some wonderful nurses up until this point (in OB Triage as well as labor and delivery), but the nurse (Jamie) that came on around 7am on January 18th was exceptional and very supportive of Victoria and me. She explained to Victoria as much as she could on how the medicine would feel and what to expect next. She also kept us in the loop on when things were going to happen and she provided reassurance and support to both of us.

Friday, January 18 — 10am (4cm)

They checked Victoria again at 10am and she was around 4cm. An improvement but it was not progressing as they had hoped. Discussions of a C-section began. They were going to check her in about 45 minutes to see where she was and if there was no improvement, then they would start to make plans for a C-section. Victoria and I continued to relax.

Friday, January 18 — 11am (5+ cm)

Dr. Maddela (the doctor who delivered Brenna — Connor’s cousin) came in and checked Victoria. She and Jamie were pleasantly surprised that Victoria had dilated beyond 5cm. This was the magic number for them. They said she was definitely beyond 5cm, so the C-section was put back on hold in hopes of a vaginal delivery. Victoria wanted to have a vaginal delivery and we had heard it would be better for her and Connor with regards to breast feeding. Plus she had gone almost 20 hours in labor and wanted to see it to the end.

Friday, January 18 — 12pm (9cm)

In less than 1 hour, Victoria dilated to 9.5 cm. Jamie helped Victoria and I start pushing. There was a little piece of her cervix that they could not slip behind Connor’s head. Victoria pushed with me coaching for about 30 minutes and then Jamie decided it was best that she rest and take some additional medication to help her relax so that she would not start to get swollen. During the pushing, Jamie told us that the top of his head was bald but he had blond hair on the back side of his head. She also informed us that he was coming out face up which was going to make this delivery even more difficult. So, Victoria kind of fell a sleep and I went out the waiting room to tell everyone that we were close and I would not be coming back out until Connor was born.

Friday, January 18 — 1:45pm (10cm)

Victoria started feeling the urge to push again, so Victoria, Jamie, and I started the counting.

deep breath and push, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10, let it go

deep breath and push, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10, let it go

deep breath and push, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10, let it go

We did this for quite sometime. I was the one counting for Victoria. Each time Jamie would say, “Keep going, your doing good, keep going!!!”, I would think we were getting close and my voice would start to crack when counting to 10. It was truly amazing and Victoria was doing such a good job.  I was excited, nervous, scared, proud, and a million other things all at once.  It was tough for me to hold back from crying at certain moments but I knew I had to help Victoria as best I could.

Unfortunately, Connor just could not make the turn around Victoria’s pelvic bone.

Friday, January 18 — 2:30pm (vacuum is being used)

Victoria took a short break and I ran out to get some additional ice chips for her.  While I stepped out, Jamie and Victoria had a little discussion and I just assumed it was about having the baby vaginally and not having a C-section.  All I heard about their discussion was that they had agreed to assist Connor on his way out.  Shortly there after, the doctor started to use a vacuum to assist Victoria and Connor. The device is not as big as you think — it is basically a suction cup that allows them to grab hold of the baby’s head and “pull him out”. The vacuum slipped off of his head 3 separate times and one time it nearly hit our nurse in the head. Things were not looking good and I could see/hear the doctor and nurse quietly talking about a C-section. Jamie convinced the doctor to try one more time and told Victoria that she would really need to push this time and if it didn’t work she would have to have a C-section.  Victoria was extremely tired from pushing and the Magnesium Sulfate was taking its toll on her.  Connor was doing fine and his heartrate was quite stable during most of the pushing/contractions (and excellent sign).

Friday, January 18 — 2:50pm (the last push)

Normally, they push 3 times during a contraction (10 seconds each). Well, on this “last cycle of pusing” they kept telling Victoria to keep going so she would take a deep breath and push again as I counted to 10. On about the 7th push, the nurse pushed the nurse on call button above Victoria’s bed. On the 9th push, Connor finally came out! At that moment, the nurse’s station answered the on call button and asked what they needed. Jamie told them to cancel the call. She said they were going to request the OR for a C-section, but our the baby was just born. They put Connor on Victoria’s chest and cut his cord. There was no time for me to cut it because of the difficulty they had delivering him. The took him over to the other nurse in the room and she cleaned him up. As that happened, I buried my head against Victoria’s and began to cry. I was so proud of her and was so proud we finally had our son.

They invited me over to see Connor. They cleaned him up and then allowed me to take him over to Victoria.  As Victoria held him, she said a few things to him and then said “Happy Birthday, Connor”.  I also said it to, “Happy Birthday, Connor.” And what a birthday it was!

Victoria held him and I snapped a couple of pictures.  Then I held him and snapped a couple of pictures of me and him.  It was some moment.  The next generation was born and Victoria and I instantly became parents.

I quickly called my brother to give everyone an update because Victoria and I wanted to spend sometime with Connor.  He answered and I said, “He is here.”  I was tired and overcome with emotions and cannot recall what else I said.

Victoria asked the her Mom and Dad come in and see her, so I think I went out to get them (I can’t recall, this was a blur too).  Her Mom and Dad came in saw Connor and spent some time with Victoria.

I gained 3 ounces in 3 days and I am almost back to my birth weight a week in advance.  My doctor was amazed at how well I am doing and he said that I could tell Daddy to go back to his day job and give up the bottle feeding.

See, Mommy would breastfeed me and then Daddy would supplement with formula.  I was taking almost 2 ounces from Daddy just a couple of days ago, but I have been slowly taking less from him and getting more milk from Mommy.

So, I gave Daddy his pink slip today and I hired Mommy full time based on the doctor’s recommendation.  Daddy is always standing by, but I don’t think I will need him too much because Mommy and I are doing such a good job.

Daddy can do the other things like change my dirty diapers.  😉

Love,

Connor

Daddy was taking my picture with this Nike Air Jordan cap on the other day and was telling me that my birth stats:

6lbs 6oz and 18″ long

really are what the doctors think I will be when I am 21 yrs old:

6ft 6inches and a size 18 shoe

College basketball at ODU and NBA potential.  Quick, find me a sports agent and tell Uncle Danny and Uncle Tony that I will be scoring 25 pts a night on their respective college teams (JMU and ECU).  😉

Love the future athlete,

Connor

3 nights in the crib and 3 good nights of sleep for Connor, Mommy, and Daddy.  We got up every 4 hours last night to feed and Connor went back to bed each time he was put back in his crib.

Hopefully he is getting the hang of this — but he may just be snowing us into believing he will be a good crib sleeper.  😉

We took some pictures yesterday and I will try to get them posted this afternoon sometime.  We have a busy day with a Dr. appt for Connor and one for Mommy, too.  So, check back tomorrow or later tonight for some new pictures.

Connor has Mommy and Daddy fooled into thinking he is into a routine.

For the past two nights, Connor has been sleeping in his crib like a big boy. He has taken well to it and we are hoping it is routine he/we can keep.

We change his diaper, feed him, read to him, and then put him to bed in his crib. He has done well the last tonights and sleeps for 4 hours or so. I wake him to feed him and then back to bed he goes.

In the morning, we feed him and then put him in his pack-n-play located in our bedroom. He learned to gaze out the window (all he probably sees is a bright light) and just relaxes for about 1.5 hrs before he starts his day. Mommy and Daddy can take their showers and then have breakfast together downstairs (listening to Connor on the baby monitor). Once breakfast is done, we go get Connor and put him in the pack-n-play located downstairs so we can spend the rest of the day together.

Here is a little video of Connor “starting his day” in the pack-n-play.

In the past:

Now:

The only other boy in the family (great-grandchildren) on Victoria’s maternal side is Nicholas.  Well, Connor is the 2nd boy and it is pretty amazing that him and Nicholas share the same birth date (January 18).  Nicholas posted a comment a couple of months ago about how happy he was that he won’t be the only boy anymore.

When we found out that Victoria was going to be induced on the 17th, Nicholas thought it was cool that he and Connor would probably share the same birth date.

When I called Phil (Nicholas’ father) and gave him the news that Connor had been born, they all were elated that Connor and Nicholas were born on January 18th.  “Connor was a birthday present for Nicholas.”

I know Nicholas was interested in surfing in the past, so hopefully one day Nicholas can teach Connor how to surf (since Daddy never learned how to do that).