John Paul Jones

Our son, John Paul Sieg Jones, was born at 1:24 am Thursday, December 1, 2011.

As many have noted, John Paul has a few notable namesakes. First, of course, is the late Pope John Paul II. Second, the lead bassist of Led Zeppelin - John Paul Jones, and third, the distinguished American naval captain John Paul Jones in the Revolutionary War. Apparently, said John Paul was the one who uttered the famous phrase "I have not yet begun to fight!" I think this may be a good lifelong motto for our little JP - first thwarting a cesarean, then making his way into this world so fast, we hardly dared believe labor and delivery were over!

After the last post about our change of plans regarding John Paul's birth, I continued to have the low-moderate intensity contractions that started during the stress test every 3-10 minutes. When I was sitting or lying down, they would slow, and if I got up to walk around, they would speed up a bit. However, they never lasted much more than 30 seconds, and they did not increase in intensity.

All day Wednesday, however, I noticed that my (TMI for some readers, probably!) mucous plug was eroding. By the end of the day, the contractions were getting slightly more intense and lasting more towards 40 seconds, and I decided that after going to the laundromat with Alex and my Dad, Alex and I should journey a few more miles south to Oregon City where I planned to have the VBAC. My mother was quite relieved at this pronoucement, as she wanted me to check into a hotel in Oregon City to be closer to the hospital!
We arrived at the laundromat around 8:40, and Alex opened a washer to do a repair while Dad started the coin pull. I was in the office sorting through some left laundry when all of a sudden - WHOOSH - I peed my pants. Just kidding, my WATER BROKE! This had never happened to me before, as with both Lucia and Magdalena, the doctor broke the water during my prolonged labors to try and speed things along.
At this point, Alex and I basically just had to go to the hospital, so as soon as he closed that washer up, we headed out. We arrived at the hospital around 9:17, and while I had only experienced about 3 contractions in the car on the way there, they were getting more intense, and each time more fluid would gush out, so I hit the "EMERGENCY" button to get the hospital doors to open without someone coming (as they would with just the regular "CALL" button), and waddled inside with a towel stuck between my legs. :-)

I was shown to a room, and Alex came shortly thereafter once he had parked the car. The nurse started getting me evaluated (6 cm dilated and fully effaced now - guess those contractions all day were doing something!) - and I told her that I DEFINITELY wanted an epidural. The contractions were coming on a lot stronger and faster, and I was already pretty sick of them from the low-med intensity ones I'd been experiencing for the past 24 hours. She did give me a dose of narcotics which were supposed to take the edge off, but if that is what that was, I guess the contractions were REALLY bad, because though my head felt a little loopy, I did NOT feel like the contractions got any less intense after just the narcs.
Fortunately the anesthesiologist came in around 10:30 and by 10:35 he had gotten my epidural in. It took effect about 10 minutes later, and that is when the doctor (a different one that who I was have been seeing, but a great doc as well) came in. She checked me and found that I was 8 cm dilated (within about 1 hour!) and we all watched as my contractions charted like the absolute value of a sinusoidal curve - every 2 minutes lasting about 45 seconds each, bringing me to "completion" (doc's word, not mine) by 10 after midnight! All I have to say is THANK GOODNESS for that epidural. It was also nice in that they have some new concotion that allows you to still feel your legs - even use them a bit for maneuvering, and feel the pressure of a contraction without the pain. I was thrilled with this, actually enjoying the progression of labor and the pleasant feeling of my legs as compared to the bloating and numbing epidural I had with Magdalena two years earlier.

When the doctor returned and told me I was complete at 12:10 am, she said she'd like to wait until I really felt the urge to push before going there. This was for two reasons. First, I tested positive for Group B Strep, and they had only just gotten the 2nd (of a desired 3) dose into my IV at midnight. Apparently it takes about 2 hours for all the antibiotics to get into the baby's system, so they wanted to get him as much as possible before delivering (note: if I delivered without it, they just watch him more carefully for signs of a fever or infection after birth - neither of which he has now). Secondly, the contractions were so strong that they alone were propelling him down the birth canal. When the doc checked me at 8 cm, he was "-1" (whatever that means) and now at 10 cm, he was "+2". She said that "+5" is OUT, and if we could minimize the stress on him, his placenta, and my old cesarean scar by just letting the contractions do the pushing for me for a while, that was a good thing. This, by the way, would not have been humanly possible had I not had an epidural, as the pain and desire to END labor would have been too great!

So I waited about 15 minutes, and when the last 3 contractions in a row also arose in me a strong desire to push, I called the nurse and doctor, and we hunkered down to go. Alex, by the way, was being great in helping me move (doing it for me before the epidural by picking me up and shifting me to the right position on the bed for the injection), giving me ice chips, and being all around supportive. :-)

I started pushing around 12:40 am - three ten-second pushes with each contraction, and a deep breath in between. The contractions were still spaced about 2 minutes start-to-start. The doctor soon was able to see JP's hair, and informed me that she had a vacuum to use if we needed it - something she would try before resorting out to c-section, but otherwise would not use. Fortunately JP moved well with each contraction, and about 40 minutes later, his head was sticking out about 2 inches. I was able to reach down and feel it - now THAT was weird! His head was out with the next contraction, and his body with the one after that - and there he was at 1:24 am! Way to go John Paul - total trooper! I was able to take him immediately and cuddle his slimy body while the doc waited for the placenta. If anyone wants to see pics of a "marginal" umbilical cord on the placenta, let me know. I was so fascinated, I made Alex take some shots (now I can compare them to Lucia's normal placenta picture too!).

John Paul did suckle a bit, but wasn't too interested in nursing. The nurses didn't take him to do his stats until about an hour after birth (oh, and apparently he pooped for the first time on the way out, so that detracted some as well). He was a big boy at 9 lbs 5 oz, 21.75 inches, and 14.5 inches head circumference (transfers to an 11.7 cm diameter, which is bigger than my 10 cm dilation! I did tear, but only a little, fortunately).

If I had to sum up my feelings on this VBAC delivery, I would say THRILLED. Compared to the c-section where I could barely walk, couldn't use the bathroom without a catheder for over a day, and just felt even more achy plus knowing that I had to be on stronger pain meds for longer and not able to pick up Lucia - I am so happy! The doc I have been seeing came in on Thursday and told me that I have NO restrictions on my physical activity or what I can lift - just to use my instincts and probably not go for a hard run the first few weeks.

The girls and my parents came to visit us yesterday afternoon and I had showered and was able to hug them and hold them and tuck each of them in my lap for a few minutes. They were enamored with their little brother - Lucia wanted to hold him a lot and kept touching him and giving him kisses. Magdalena even got into the kisses game, and we have pictures of her holding him too. Time will tell whether and how much they get envious of their little brother and the attention he will require over the next few months, but I hope that they grow to love him and protect him, and I'm sure they'll be ready and willing to tell him what to do soon enough!

John Paul spent his first day not too interested in eating, but content to sleep, poop, and pee a few times. I was starting to get worried about his lack of appetite until about 11:30 today (even tried getting his latch to improve with a nipple shield which I have never had to use before), but between 11:30 and 3:50 he has eaten 6 times, and no longer needs the shield to latch on. So I guess the amniotic fluid that was in his tummy is now expelled, and he is finally hungry! I'm still just making colostrum, but hoping that with this increased feeding frenzy, my milk will come in tomorrow and he'll be able to get a nice belly full to stay content longer.

Also today, JP has not really wanted me to put him down for more than 5 minutes at a time until about 30 minutes ago. He would nurse for 15 minutes, fall asleep, and I'd try to put him down only to have him wake up crying and inconsolable. I'd play with him for a while, try to get him back to sleep, but he'd cry more and we'd nurse again and repeat cycle. Finally I gave up and let him sleep on me for 45 minutes and this time when I put him down to eat my dinner tray and finish this blog (started with him balancing in the crook of my left arm!), he let me put him in his bed and is sleeping on his own. Poor kid, he was probably exhausted! I hope he'll rouse for a few hours around 6 when Alex gets back from class, cluster feeds some more, then has a nice long sleeping night. Even though we send him out of the room when he's not nursing (so we can get some sleep!), it is still disruptive to my sleep to get him back frequently for nursing. He has only lost 7 oz so far - down to 8 lbs 14 oz, and I'm hoping that he'll make that up quickly when my milk comes in.

Nothing more to report - he is definitely a cutie! We're planning to go home tomorrow, so that's when the real fun (and challenges!) of a 3-kid family will truly begin!


Here he is stretching out to be weighed and measured after birth!

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Mama loves John Paul

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Daddy loves John Paul

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I still look very puffy in this pic from all my IV fluids and you know, pregnancy, but still - it's our very first Family of Five photo, so it had to go up:

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Magdalena held him too!

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John Paul gave Lucia and Magdalena a book ("I Want A Hippopotamous for Christmas")- they brought him the little blue bunny/dog you see Magdalena holding here:

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Ama loves John Paul:

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Apa loves John Paul:

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Lucia was very interested in John Paul:

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Magdalena was happy to be on the bed with me, THEN giving kisses to John Paul

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And finally, an arm-out shot of JP and me today - his 2nd day of living on the outside of the womb:

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That's it for now - I hear JP whimpering a bit over there in his bassinet, so I think it's time for the next cluster feed! Can't wait to introduce John Paul to all our friends and family over the coming weeks and months.