Grayson under the lights

Well here is Grayson getting some phototherapy. He's very jaundiced and these lights help to break down the excess bilirubin in his system. He had to be kept there all of Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, though the pediatrician let him come home Sunday night. We went and had bloodwork done this morning in order to ensure the levels hadn't risen since being taken from the lights. He was given a good bill of health with the exception of the jaundice. For what its worth, I too had jaundice as a newborn. Hopefully this won't be something that requires multiply doctor visits. The visit today was stressful enough for all of us with Grayson having to get pricked several times to get bloodwork done. Results show the bilirubin levels are back up, but the doctor says its okay right now. He's not having enough wet diapers to the doctor's satisfaction, but we're working on that. Just as I type this he's having another wet/dirty diaper changed. Things will continue to get better. We're all exhausted, but somehow making it. This is a big change for me, but I'm loving every minute I have with him.

Grayson Reid Heyboer

After all these weeks of waiting, Friday at 2:09 p.m., July 18th, 2008 - My son was finally born. He weighed 8 lbs 11oz, and was 21 inches long. We're exhausted but doing well. Thank goodness for wireless internet in the hospital! I'm still absorbing the experience, but for now I give all a picture. More to come.

Aah! We're having a baby!

Psych. Not quite. So last night around 6:30, I get a phone call from the wife. She's at Vacation Bible School and she says that she's pretty sure her water just broke. I tell her to come on home and we'll call the hospital. She gets home, we call, and they tell her to come to the E.R. She went ahead and ate a light dinner, we packed the car (assuming we might not have come back home) and drove to the hospital a little after 7. At this point, Jen still wasn't having any contractions, but we got up to the room, she got checked out and hooked up, and the nurse gave her a quick check up. The water had not broken, but since we were there, as policy they wanted to observe her for one hour. So we watched "John and Kate plus 8" to pass the time. Eventually, Pam (the nurse) came back in and released us. An experience we didn't really want, but not horrible (at least from my perspective). Jennifer had been determined to not be one of those people who go in for a false alarm. Once isn't that bad though.

Anyway, this afternoon brought week 41's checkup. The doc says she's 1-2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Better than last week. After consulting with us and allowing us to talk amongst ourselves, we now know that baby heyboer will be with us no later than sometime on Saturday. She's scheduled to go in around 6 p.m. Friday night for induction if nothing has happened by then. We're still hoping for a natural labor and delivery, but if he hasn't come by then, we're comfortable with getting the process started. That'll be 10 days past the due date. She's not delivering an elephant after all. So that's where we stand. These final days will be marked by last minute preparations (though how much more can we possibly do?) and finding ways to keep ourselves occupied. It's weird being away from work for such as long period of time. I want him here so I can begin my new "career"! Until the next post - "bring on the labor!"

What else can we do?!

Me to my son on a nightly basis: Seriously dude. This is your daddy speaking. It's about time you made your way out of the womb and into the world. We have everything ready and both of us would really like to stop talking to people about when you're going to show up. Let's get this ball rollin'. Don't make me count to five. 1,2...

It really feels this way. We went to the doctor today (her 40th week of pregnancy according to the menstrual date - which we have learned is far more accurate than the ultrasound tech's date) and were told that nothing had really changed. Pretty disconcerting news considering we really hoped that labor would have begun prior to this appointment. Initial discussion with the doctor was quite frightening, with phrases like "probably about a 35% chance of requiring a C-section" and "you'll need to watch your body and child closely over the next week to make sure he continues to progress safely". These were unnecessary, for the doctor wasn't on the same page with previous doctors as to the official due date. So anyway, to wrap up this mess, wife and child are fine, and we'll be going back next tuesday for the final appointment for the next step that needs to be taken. Unless he decides to come between now and then, which is what we want. Here's a picture of the wife doing what she can to get him going. Enjoy :)

By the way, I've enabled comments on this now; please let me know if you're reading it, and what you'd like to know about!