Baby Jamisen is a Model!

The Day After

There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us to learn from. 

~ Elizabeth Kubler Ross
 

 Despite a textbook perfect pregnancy (well, if you disregard the daily shots, extra tests, extra Dr's visits and the genetic clotting disorder, perfect), surprisingly, our C-Section did not turn out perfectly. That said, the important thing did: our son arrived healthy.

Talking over the procedure with the anesthesiologist

But, during the actual c-section, I developed a spinal leak from the spinal block. It could have been because my anesthesiologist had to go in twice to get a good pass. Or maybe it's because she hit a nerve the first time ('bout jumped me right off that table!). Or maybe it's because she jinxed it by telling me how great my back was and how my spinal would be super easy for her. Or maybe it's because I talked too much in the operating room (that's Chris's theory), distracting the professionals. Either way, **something** happened and we came out of the surgery with me puking for 20 hours (a side effect from the anesthesia probably) and my spinal fluid leaking.

The spine is a cool thing. It has fluid in it that knows it needs to stay filled to the brim. And when that level starts to drop, it alerts you by giving you the worst headache of your entire life. Migraine medicine doesn't touch it. Narcotics don't help. And, in a cruel twist of fate, it goes away when you lie flat on your back. But really, how many new breastfeeding Mommies get to lie flat on their back? Ha! 

The one 'fix' that works most of the time is to take blood from me and inject it around my spinal column to clot around the hole and make the leaking stop. I was scared to do that (terrified if truth be told) so I opted to wait it out, on my back, with huge amounts of fluids being pumped into me.

By the next day, I would have taken a crowbar to my spine to get that headache to stop and so a 'blood patch' it was. I requested a fresh anesthesiologist that hadn't been on call all night and while waiting for them, put in an SOS call to my Dad who came right over to comfort his little girl. Chris was comforting our son (which was the right thing to do) and so my Dad took all the photos here too. In a fun twist of fate, the anesthesiologist who had originally done my spinal was the one to try and fix it. 

Chris, comforting Little Man (see my awesome pink suitcase? It got a lot of compliments)

Drawing sterile blood - took 2 tries & they got 20 ml with a huge size needle

And that, people, is the needle that's headed into my back

Yay! 20 ml of sterile blood. Go forth and clot! Clot!

Unfortunately, after all of that, the blood patch only took about 50% so my headache was vastly reduced. The procedure did mean that I got to stay in the hospital an extra day but since Little Man and I were having some trouble breastfeeding (well, that would be ME having trouble since I was late getting my milk in), having that extra day in the hospital was SO valuable. I was able to meet with extra lactation consultants and figure out how to supplimenet Jamisen so we could arrest his fast weight loss. He was born at 6 pounds, 13 ounces and when we left the hospital, he was 6 pounds, 1 ounce. Yikes.

The headache stuck around for 6 days - until Thursday the 28th - but it seems to be fully gone now and all I have to show for it are these gory pictures and the most adorable, cutest, smartest, sweetest son in the entire universe.

I would do it all again this afternoon to get our Little Man Jamisen.

Jamisen's Birth Day

The day of Jamisen's birth was clear and crisp. Chris and I double and triple checked the birth bag, the Anne-Marie bag and everything else. I woke up with a feeling of exciting and gentle disapointment that I wouldn't be carrying Jamisen with me everywhere I went. I knew I'd miss him in my belly. Grandpa and Grandma Faiola came to caravan into the hospital with us (after one quick last stop at Bramble Berry of course).

The last time to leave our home without being a party of three

And the last shot of my belly! This is my Operating Room Nurse Cynthia (who had just finished the Boston Marathon on Monday! Talk about a seriously amazing gal!).

Last belly shot; I already miss it.

Thanks to my clotting disorders, we ended up with a planned C-section so we were able to know just when Jamisen would be born and make sure that everything was in place for his grand arrival. Here I am, suited up in the Operating Room with Chris patting my head lovingly. The gal with the funky head covering is our anesthiologist. She has 3 1/2 month old little girl at home. You can tell from the look on my face that I'm a bit nervous and scared. It was a comfort to have my Dad in the room as well. He took all these great photos. Thanks Grandpa!

Scared

Jamisen Louis Renoud made his appearance into the world at 12:04 on April 22, 2011. He looks rather grumpy to be out but our Doctor was quite delighted that he was yelling right as his head came out of the incision. She was rather impressed with his early crying.

Healthy baby boy

Another thing she was impressed about was this fantastic flow of urine - look closely and you can see Jamisen peeing on Mommy's sterile environment (and the Doctor is laughing at that too!).

It won't be the last time I get peed on!

While I was being sewed up (yes, I have all those photos as well but I'll spare you those details), Jamisen was being weighed and measured. He weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces at birth and was 19" long. He had no vernix (the white covering that most newborns are born with) on him and looked so nicely formed that multiple doctors suggested that perhaps his original birthdate and dating was wrong. I just prefer to think of him as quite advanced.

See me looking on? I didn't want to let him out of my sight.

Getting a first look at our perfect little boy:



First look!

The happy Renoud family in the Operating Recovery Room:

New Baby!

We were in there approximately 90 minutes. Jamisen did his first feed in there (thanks to some stellar help from the incredible nurses at St. Joseph's in Bellingham) and I had a lovely cry with Chris over our amazing good fortune and new life.

The Night Before

We were absolutely excited about Jamisen's birthday on April 22, 2011. But we had one last little thing to do: we needed to drive 2 hours south to Boeing Museum of Flight to accept an award from the SBA for 'Best Businessperson in Washington State.' It was a huge honor, made slightly more incredible by the activity that would be taking place the next day!

Faiola Family + newest addition in Mama's belly

The Faiola Family was there in force and having their support and love, in person, was amazing. I felt cradled in a warm blanket of happiness all night with them beaming at me and Jameson moving his little feet inside me.

Jamisen, where are you?

My intention was to write a full blog about Jamisen's birthday but I am finding my eyes closing so will stop here and pick up after a short nap.

Love,

Tired, Euphoric New Mama

The Countdown is On!

Jamisen wants out!

We had our fetal stress test today. Baby was fantastic! They were quite happy with his movement and heart rate and I exhaled a little bigger than usual when the doc said, "See these little lines? This is a sign that we look for to ensure that there is normal neurological functioning. And see this line? This shows that he's getting plenty of oxygen." The closer the time gets to meeting our little one, the more paranoid about his healthy and safety I get. I'm hoping this is normal.

All rolled up!

Our custom changing pads are here and they are more beautiful than I expected. They're so bright 'n' cheery AND they are large enough to contain the most aggressive blowout. Plus, they're washable. Chris is laughing at me for having them made but when it comes to this new adventure, you can't be prepared enough. =)

Happy colors!

Custom Changing Pads

Happy undersea adventure

My dear friend Lisa McShane took one look at the changing options we had for little Baby Renoud and suggested some additional options. Though I am positive he won't have any blowouts (you know, the kind that go all the way up the back to his hairline), my experienced friends aren't so sure. Just to be on the safe side, I took Lisa's advice and went to JoAnnes to get some waterproof fabric (yes, they make rubberized fabric for regular people too - it's not just for watersports anymore). It's not so soft though so Amber (the brilliant Amber who made the 'Advice Book' for the baby showers) from work suggested soft flannel (and went to buy the flannel for me - love her!)

Another pattern

In a crazy "coming full circle" story, the gal that did all of my wedding dress alterations is making the new changing table pads for us (as per Lisa's dimension suggestions) and they should be ready for us this week (which is good, because the little guy makes his appearance next week!). 

Baby Bag!

That's the changing table it's propped up on.

It was a tough choice, figuring out which baby bag to keep. We received some beautiful bags given to us at various showers (some practical with wipeable flaps, some not so practical made out of silk with beautiful stitching). I fell in love with a Petunia Picklebottom bag given to me by a dear friend. Alas, it was made out of a beautiful silk bag with elaborate stiching, more high end coutre than baby practical. But it had these backpack straps that I can envision myself using as I try to hold the baby in one arm, drag his carseat with the other arm, and then hoist lunch bags around my neck, all while balancing his baby bag on my back.

The oh-so-practical straps

Imagine my delight when I found THE Petunia Picklebottom bag ON SALE at Nordstrom's with a utilitarian wipe-off-able covering. It was though the heavens parted and the angels trumpeted their joy to the universe. Chris took one look at my face, pulled out his credit card and the bag was ours! The final piece of the baby puzzle (well, we still need to figure out sleeping arrangements but that will come after he's born) is complete. Little Sir Renoud can make his appearance at any time now ...

Overflowing! That's the fuzzy blanket for him ...

It's all packed and ready to go to the hospital with FOUR coming home outfits, diapers, wipes, a snuggly baby blanket (thank you Grandma and Grandpa Renoud). The overflowing bag has a place of honor in the back seat of my car, ready to spring into actions when needed.

One Last Project

Label Prototypes

The last of my major projects before baby is finished and delivered! YAY! About 5 weeks ago, the awesome local grocery store chain, Haggen, came to Bramble Berry and asked us to conceptualize and produce a local line of soaps, lotions and liquid soaps for their 5 Whatcom County local stores. And of course, we said 'Yes!'

Testing colors for sign

This is the stain we ended up with

The actual product and production wasn't as much of an issue as the full graphic design package that the custom line required. Thankfully, we have a talented in-house designer who works well under deadlines and pressure. She created a beautiful label package as well as a custom display for the product.

First prototype!

Since we have a full CNC machine at ELF Industrial (our soap mold company), Norman (our incredibly efficient superman of a COO) commandeered it for about a week while he was cutting these beauties. But we think they turned out great so it was worth the short hijacking.

Prepping the order

Amber and I delivered the first two stores together. When she realized that I was virtually useless for doing anything besides smiling and chatting up the receiving employees, she quickly fired me from delivering product and took another employee for the rest of the drops.

Standing proudly at the Haggen store

This is the Fairhaven store display. It's not near the bath and body products but is instead in a very prominent walk by location near the cafe. We shall see if it's a good location for bath and body products or not. I'm guessing not but I can hope!

Almost as large as I am!

A close up of how cute everything looks

Only 2 Months Left!

Ha! Less than 2 weeks until baby is born and only 2 months left of the (now twice) daily shots for my blood clotting disorder. I am very much looking forward to their cessation. I've been super anal about the daily notes that I keep for the shots and it will be great to quit with that dark daily diary.

 

We're counting down the days until we meet our little boy. The house is as ready as it's going to be. Bottles are sterilized. Pacifiers are sterilized. Diapers are unwrapped and stacked, waiting. Breast pump is unpacked. The only thing left to do is put batteries in bouncy chairs & swing, pack my hospital bag (difficult to do because I use most of the stuff daily) and hang up the tapestry blanket and the onesie decorations in the baby room.  Oh, and have the baby ...(details details).

Bump Report - 2 Weeks to Go

 

With just 14 or so days to go until we meet our little Bramble Bump, he is growing like a champ. Our last ultrasound showed him at 5 pounds, 6 ounces and that was 10 days ago! He should be over 6 pounds now. My waist is currently 41" around and I've gained 26 pounds for the pregnancy (thus far - we still have a little bit to go!).

I'm still soaping every day and happily working more than full time (which is easy because I love my job!). In the above photo, I'm whipping up a batch of our Liquid Castile Soap Base to test out fragrance clarity (for future reference, Lavender 40/42, Oatmeal, Milk & Honey and Energy all stay clear but you do need to heat the Lavender to clarify it). I'm still working out regularly but have been reduced to prenatal yoga, pilates and walking. But, I am thankful to have mobility and am relishing our last few weeks before life changes (and hopefully improves) forever.

Take a look back at some other fun baby bump posts. It's fun for me to look back and scary to see my rapid growth: It's a Boy!, 6 1/2 Month Bump, 7 1/2 Month Bump, Baby Shower 1, Baby Shower 2

Baby's First $2!

Unveiling the piggybank from dear Courtney from Bramble Berry

The inaugural deposit

Thank you Courtney at Bramble Berry for teaching our son his earliest financial lesson. The piggybank + his first cash deposit was a present from Courtney at our baby shower and I was thrilled to make the deposit on his behalf. Of course, his father is already spoiling him and threw some extra quarters in there. He doesn't understand that quarters are going to be like gold when we're paying that kid $.07 per day for doing all his chores....

Yes, He Will Appreciate This

Washing most of the bottles

This fantastic display of bottles in the dishwasher happened AFTER I tried to disinfect the bottles (as per instructions) for ten minutes in boiling water. They all came out smelling like garlic. So, I made a baking soda water mixture and let the bottles sit in that for 24 hours before washing them in the dishwasher.

After our little gem shows up, I'm sure he will appreciate how sanitized his bottles are milk storage containers are.

The Definition of Nesting

I think we like to buy in bulk!

I woke up at 7:15 this morning and immediately started in on my list of baby-to-dos. First up was figuring out the breast pump; I'll spare you the gory details but there was a lot of sterilizing. Next up was tackling the bathroom. There is nothing actually wrong with our bathroom and it's perfectly functional but it needed a makeover.

Think I bought enough organizers?

It was fun to go buy out entire shelves at Target. Though, it didn't quite make up for being at Target on a Sunday afternoon. That place was packed! I was so happy to get home even though it meant that I had a crazy pile of stuff to try and organize. Also, hidden under there is an expensive huge pack of 'soft' toilet paper. I splurged because one of my 'New Mommy' books said I needed to have lots of soft toilet paper on hand. They didn't specify what 'lots' was, nor how long I would need it for so I went safe and bought the largest pack of 'Angelcare' I could find.

The LabelMaker is my new BFF

But, it's all organized and labeled and beautiful! I also have far too much stuff. It's a side effect of my job - constantly trying new things means a lot of half-empty bottles of product everywhere.

Perfectly organized

See the labels? Again, the new labelmaker and I partner up for another fantastic experience - sort of like peanut butter and chocolate.