We're home

I remember when I first started waiting tables. Everything was going great in training, I was able to take orders, deal with problems, use the computer. It was awesome, until my first real shift- 8 tables, screwed up orders, kitchen running out of things, angry customers-way too much to deal with at one time. Feeling like I was in way over my head.

It's going to be a long weekend. I'll post again when I have a chance-probably when he's five.

-j

Having spent a few days with him....

I've really wanted to get more written for the blog, and thought I would have tons of time, but it hasn't really worked out that way. Things have been great at the hospital. I haven't been worrying about work, pretty much just been sitting around, looking at my son. Bobbie Jo has been having a rough time, she's not the kind of person who likes to be out of commission, and it has been very difficult for her to take it easy and let herself heal.

I've been enjoying being a caregiver to this little dude, and wouldn't have a problem being here for another week so that I can dedicate all of my time to my wife and Max, but unfortunately we have to return to the real world sooner or later. Looks like today may be the day. I think we'll probably leave sometime this afternoon.

I changed my first diaper yesterday. Not just Max's first diaper, but the first diaper I can remember ever changing. It went like this:

• I took off poopie diaper
• Kid pooped on the towel
• Kid peed
• I freaked and hollered "push the [nurse's] button I need help!"
• Kid stomped in pile of poop
• Kid rubbed his feet together
• I got it on my hands
• and on and on.....

It eventually went ok, and I was pretty pleased with myself when it was done. Even the nurse said I did a good job, but they are all pretty good at making us feel as though we've done something extraordinary even though we really haven't.

This whole thing is more incredible than I could have imagined, more than anyone could every explain, and more than I could ever put into words. I realize now that our entire lives lead up to this time, and that the years following Monday are what I've been preparing for my whole life without knowing it.

I've taken a ton of photos and video. I'm not ready to get the video up, but here are some of the best of the photos. Hope you enjoy them. Click on the picture below to go to the full gallery.

Maxwell Steven

The events of last night

Once Bobbie Jo hit 10cm, everybody started rushing around transforming the room. Bobbie Jo pushed for about two hours, but we weren't able to get anywhere with that. I was able to peek in and see the head, which was far more amazing (and much less gross) than I had expected. She tried pushing on her back, both sides, and even on all fours, but the umbilical cord would compress each time she pushed, and knock the baby's heart rate down from around 180 to less than 60. The doctor decided that the pushing was becoming too traumatic for him, and we would need to go with a c-section. There was a quick try with a vacuum sucker tool (that looked like a purple toy ray-gun) without any luck.

A terrified Bobbie Jo was carted away to surgery, and I was given a jumpsuit, hairnet and booties to change. I was brought to the room about 10 minutes after she was taken, and they had already administered anesthesia. I sat down at Bobbie Jo's head, as they did the work on the other side of the sheet. It was a lot of tugging and tearing, Bobbie Jo hung in like a champ, but it was very difficult. I have never imagined that I could be in the middle of such an emotional experience; something I will definitely remember for the rest of my life.

I managed to get up the stones to stand up and peek over the sheet, into the center of the 3 doctors who were cutting into my bride. I saw into her belly, and watched as they pulled my son out from the incision they had made. He was covered with the white stuff (vernix) that usually comes off in the birth canal. Because of the c-section this vernix hadn't rubbed off at all and he was covered from head to toe. He was much drier and less gooey than I had expected. He was placed on the warming table, had his throat sucked out, and began to scream. I got to hold him for about ten minutes while they finished sewing the mom up. Max was placed on her chest and rode with his mom back to the recovery room.

While in the recovery room, we were both able to begin to get to know the little guy. He was really alert, and was "looking" all over the place. I know there's not much going on yet, but it seemed like he had a great little personality, and totally looks like a Max. He's a tiny peanut, 5 lbs is really small. When they have him laid out on the table, he looks like a little featherless chicken.

We made it back to the room, I wrestled with the wonderful conversion chair that they offer to the spouse for sleeping on. I would have slept better on the floor. I got a few hours of sleep, Bobbie Jo didn't get any. The kid slept in the room with us and was quiet the whole night. The nurses came in every hour to check on Bobbie Jo so she didn't get a wink. She slept 4 hours the night before last, and zero hours last night. She's been a trooper but needs to get some sleep.

Sometimes they say that a father may not bond with his kid right away, and that it can take a week or two. I wondered if that was how it would work for me – not even close! I'm so amazed at how much I love this little guy. I don't know how to explain the thought that my feelings for him will only grow. Prior to last night I couldn't imagine loving something that much, I can't imagine what the coming days and years will bring.

Thank you so much for all your kind words, texts, visits, posts, and phone calls. We are so thrilled that all of you are able to join us in this awesome stage of our lives, as we start our family together – now even more complete.

Max is here!!

Maxwell Steven Reinhardt
February 25 11:12 pm
5 lbs 5 oz
Delivered via Cesarian

Mom and baby are doing well, the whole family is tired.



I've got so much to write about, but am more tired than I have ever been in my life. I'll write much more in the morning.

-James, Bobbie Jo, and Max

Just left 4 c section.

We' re at ten! Here comes baby!

waiting (part 3)

Contractions got bad. Really bad. So bad I was tearing up. Apparently an induced labor can cause sharper more intense contractions than regular labor. She got an epidural at 5pm or so, things are much better now. Now we're trying to get some sleep while the drugs are at their highest level.

They expect we may have a baby sometime in the middle of the night (2 or 3 am maybe).

This may be the last post of the night, we hope to have news by morning.

waiting (continued)

The doc came in and broke Bobbie Jo's water at about 1:15. The contractions started becoming noticeable about a half hour later.
She's feeling them now, and they make her wince, but they aren't too bad yet.

waiting......

Last night I felt like I was 8 years old, trying to fall asleep on Christmas Eve. I woke up every few hours, too excited to sleep all the way through the night.

We had our appointment, and as expected our OB suggested that we induce this morning. The fluid level hasn't gone up, and he may not be getting the nourishment he needs. The baby is healthy, and everything else looks good.

We came across the street to the ER, and got right in. We checked into our room (a nice one, pretty big) and made some calls.

The Ptocin (sp?) was started to help Bobbie Jo's contractions start. She's nervous, but she had some Jell-o, so she's doing better.

We were told that just like any pregnancy, inducing it doesn't really speed things along, so we should be prepared for a long haul. It could take hours, or it could take days.

She'll kill me for putting this on here, but how can we document this awesome day without a picture!

Today is the day. We're in the hospital room now.

Less than a day

We're planning on tomorrow being the day. Our OB seemed pretty confident that the baby is coming tomorrow. We've got tons to do! Bobbie Jo and I have both let work know that we probably won't be in next week. All of our co-workers and bosses were excited and extremely supportive. We're pretty lucky to have the great jobs that we do.

Expecting a 8-10 pound kid we exchanged a lot of the "Newborn" size clothes for bigger sizes. We did this on Wednesday morning (on our way to the OB appointment). So, now that we are expecting a 5.5 lb kid, we had a serious hole in our wardrobe. We made up for that yesterday, and got enough outfits to last us for a few days at least (we're keeping the tags on as I don't trust anything any doctor says anymore).
I got the car seat installed in Bobbie Jo's car, and am working on all of the other odds and ends (while trying to fit in the Midterm paper that I have due tomorrow). We did get to spend some quality time together, and went to Bonefish for dinner. A kinda "last date" for this stage of our lives that is about to end.

We're going to keep working on stuff today, and try to catch up on our baby book reading.
To paraphrase "Juno", we're prepared, but I don't know that we're ready for this to happen.

Recruits

The girls from Bobbie Jo's work threw her a shower today and delivered us a fresh batch of recruits for the Frog Army. The Army is getting stronger by the day, and we believe that World domination is not far off.

Beware the Frog Army!!

An inexact science

During this journey of pregnancy we have "learned" the following from our OB:
-It'll probably be a girl
-The baby looks big, he may need to come out early so he's not a ten pounder
and
-The baby should be around 8 pounds

This baby stuff is proving to be an inexact science.

Today, at the ultrasound we scheduled back in the "Giant Baby Coming era", we got some news. The baby is small, around 5.5 pounds and the fluid level surrounding him is low. Given this info, unless there is a MAJOR change in the state of things, Bobbie Jo can expect to deliver the baby on Monday.

YES, MONDAY. 5 DAYS FROM TODAY, 24 DAYS BEFORE WE WERE EXPECTING HIM!!!

We've scheduled an ultrasound for Monday at 8:45 am, and should know by ten if labor will be induced. I had a very difficult time getting the doc to give us a percent chance, she varied from "well, the baby could pee which could get the fluids where they need to be" (GROSS), to "You should plan on telling them you won't be at work at all on Monday, because this baby is probably going to come out". Either way, we've been told to bring Bobbie Jo's bag (and my Nintendo).

None of these issues are anything to worry about, the kid is at full term and everything appears completely normal. They ran some tests today and other than the two things noted above, everything else is completely normal.

We're excited, and terrified, but mostly excited that we might be able to meet him so much sooner than expected. To be honest, I think that if we don't do this on Monday, we might both be a bit disappointed.

I have the blog programmed into my cellphone, and am able to send posts in from wherever I am. Feel free to check back often on Monday, as I plan on making updates whenever I can.


Unrelated to all of this news, we did some baby shopping this weekend. We started to realize that the baby was coming in just over a month (if only we had known the truth), and we were missing some very important things that we had to have when the baby came home. Things like diapers, a thermometer, sheets, other boring stuff.
We picked up an 80 pack of diapers, and with the 60 pack we already had our math puts that at a 10 day supply. 140 diapers in 10 days? we must have screwed up our math somewhere, we're probably good. As for the butt thermometer, I still don't know why you need to know what temperature a kid's butt is, but we've got one.

We had planned on picking up the car seat sometime this weekend or next. Looks like I'll be making a trip this weekend.

We've had a long time to plan for all of this, and now that we may only have a handful of days left, we've got a lot to do.

We'll keep you posted,

-James

The Nursery

The nursery is painted, we've got all of the furniture, and is mostly complete. We've got a few things to do yet but wanted to get pictures of it up for those who are too far away to see it in person. Here's a quick "video tour" of it if you want to see it.
It's interesting, before the kid arrives, all of these new things that will soon be invading our cupboards and closets get put in his room. For the time being the rest of the house is still "normal", but the nursery is a little bit packed!

Thanks so much to everybody who has helped us fill this room!! The little guy is going to have plenty to look at when he shows up.

I am feeling him move

I have a lot of people ask, and yes, I have been feeling him move a lot more lately. It used to be a lot more exciting as the baby would really kick or punch, now he just shifts a lot. The baby is packed in pretty tight, and he doesn't really have the room to "wind up". (None of this makes Bobbie Jo feel any better as she feels him move constantly and he might as well be winding up).

Last night, in the middle of the night, I rolled over and put my hand on Bobbie Jo's belly. The kid pushed against my hand shortly after. I think he was saying "hi", or "get to work on my nursery so it's finished when I come out", either way it was pretty cool. It's always pretty cool.

I better get off the couch and get working!

-j

Belly Photo Update - 32 weeks