The plan for today was I would work from home (since it's Thursday), and Steph and Connor would go into town and do the shopping. Well, this morning when I checked on the sick goat she had started scouring, not good! So we phoned the vets and had a change of plans. We would go into town with an 18 day old baby, and a sick goat in the back of the civic!
After loading the poor girl in the back and heading into Masterton, I went to the vets, whilst Steph went to Pak'n'Save.
Whilst coming home from the back of the car we heard
"Sneeze,Sneeze, Bleet" very surreal!
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Life goes on
This weekend was our first by our selves. So what did we get up to..
I can't remember on which day we did what, but I remember that we dagged the sheep and checked the hooves of the sheep and goats. Whilst we were doing that we discovered that one of the goat does had lost a lot of condition and was quite weak, she's now up by the house, and getting a better diet, just to try and build her weight back up, poor girl.
On Saturday afternoon I remember felling two macrocarpas in the back lawn area, I decided that I wanted a view from the kitchen window and those trees were in the way, unfortuanlty I now need a new chain for the saw, so we've still got a tree on the lawn!
Oh, yesterday I caught the little friend in the garage!
No doubt some of you are interested in the doings of Connor, he was weighed sometime last week, and had gained almost a lb, he's feeding well, and still sleeping most of the night. Last night was the first bath without any objections.
Steph is also doing well, she has started getting Markissa back into work.
Tomorrow is our first big road trip, we're all heading down to Wellington to visit friends, should be fun.
No photos this time.
I can't remember on which day we did what, but I remember that we dagged the sheep and checked the hooves of the sheep and goats. Whilst we were doing that we discovered that one of the goat does had lost a lot of condition and was quite weak, she's now up by the house, and getting a better diet, just to try and build her weight back up, poor girl.
On Saturday afternoon I remember felling two macrocarpas in the back lawn area, I decided that I wanted a view from the kitchen window and those trees were in the way, unfortuanlty I now need a new chain for the saw, so we've still got a tree on the lawn!
Oh, yesterday I caught the little friend in the garage!
No doubt some of you are interested in the doings of Connor, he was weighed sometime last week, and had gained almost a lb, he's feeding well, and still sleeping most of the night. Last night was the first bath without any objections.
Steph is also doing well, she has started getting Markissa back into work.
Tomorrow is our first big road trip, we're all heading down to Wellington to visit friends, should be fun.
No photos this time.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
It's fallen off
Yep, sometime last night Connor's cord fell off. That's all folks!
On the other subject of farmy things, the goats are getting their heads stuck in the fence again, time for the trick of putting a stick or something across their horns (and attaching with cable ties).
On the other subject of farmy things, the goats are getting their heads stuck in the fence again, time for the trick of putting a stick or something across their horns (and attaching with cable ties).
Sunday, May 20, 2007
1 Week.
So, 7 days old, and what's changed, well, he was weighed again today...Ah, sorry, not much farmy stuff this week so it'll have to be baby stuff instead, but next weekend we're dagging so expect something more animally next week, back to it....
His weight, he has gained 240 grams in the last week (for all those non metric people, that's 8.5 ounces).He's doing really well, last night he almost slept the entire night, we put him down at 9pm once he got back from the pub and had a "snack", and at 3:45am, we woke him up purely for Steph's comfort (other Mum's will understand!) . Yeah it's sad that we think that around 4am is the morning, but it's only 1 hour off my normal wakeup time, so not too bad really (fingers crossed for this evening).
Other things that happened this weekend was Steph's birthday (unfortunatly, due to the circumstances, not a great deal was done, but I've got plans for next year!), and we also had all the grandparents down, along with Aunty Amy, Uncle Nigel, and Uncle Tristan (or Amy,Nigel and Tristan to the rest of us).
Note:Next paragraph not suitable for older sisters (ie you Carisa!).
Whilst out in the garage looking for Possum this afternoon, saw one Rattus Norvegicus, the good old Norweigan Brown Rat. Consequently three traps have been set using the tried and tested bait of peanut butter, I'll get the little(actually not quite so little) bugger!
That aside, here's some snaps from the weekend.
His weight, he has gained 240 grams in the last week (for all those non metric people, that's 8.5 ounces).He's doing really well, last night he almost slept the entire night, we put him down at 9pm once he got back from the pub and had a "snack", and at 3:45am, we woke him up purely for Steph's comfort (other Mum's will understand!) . Yeah it's sad that we think that around 4am is the morning, but it's only 1 hour off my normal wakeup time, so not too bad really (fingers crossed for this evening).
Other things that happened this weekend was Steph's birthday (unfortunatly, due to the circumstances, not a great deal was done, but I've got plans for next year!), and we also had all the grandparents down, along with Aunty Amy, Uncle Nigel, and Uncle Tristan (or Amy,Nigel and Tristan to the rest of us).
Note:Next paragraph not suitable for older sisters (ie you Carisa!).
Whilst out in the garage looking for Possum this afternoon, saw one Rattus Norvegicus, the good old Norweigan Brown Rat. Consequently three traps have been set using the tried and tested bait of peanut butter, I'll get the little(actually not quite so little) bugger!
That aside, here's some snaps from the weekend.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Connor's First Trip to the pub (at 170 hours old!)
This evening we all decided to have a trip out to the pub for dinner, the Gladdy, our local. Here is Connor, and in the background you can see the fireplace of the pub, and mural of Gladstone.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Today's Excursion
Well, today was a major milestone for Connor, his first trip into the local hunting and fishing store.....cant start too early, 4 days old seems a good age to start.
Nah, really, today Steph and I took Connor into Masterton, since it was around lunch time, we had subway for lunch, then strolled around the town center for awhile, then went to the Warehouse and to Pak'n'Save for the weekly shopping. Connor slept all the while, and even slept through the rescue of a car on the way home. About 2km from home there was a car off the road and in the ditch, and the driver needed a bit of help getting it out. We tried putting some extra weight to see if we could balance it back down so as to reverse it out, and in the end, just straight reversing it worked fine!
Other than that, we also took Connor out and around the paddocks in the pushchair.
Ah, thats about it for today...
And no photos today (I hear you all breath a sigh of relief)
Nah, really, today Steph and I took Connor into Masterton, since it was around lunch time, we had subway for lunch, then strolled around the town center for awhile, then went to the Warehouse and to Pak'n'Save for the weekly shopping. Connor slept all the while, and even slept through the rescue of a car on the way home. About 2km from home there was a car off the road and in the ditch, and the driver needed a bit of help getting it out. We tried putting some extra weight to see if we could balance it back down so as to reverse it out, and in the end, just straight reversing it worked fine!
Other than that, we also took Connor out and around the paddocks in the pushchair.
Ah, thats about it for today...
And no photos today (I hear you all breath a sigh of relief)
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Things so far
Well, things are getting back to normal. Connor slept for most of the night, OK early days and we expect it to change, but I'm not complaining! He had a feed at the end of Boston Legal (10:30ish) and then we put him to bed in his own room. Both Steph and I were awake from about 1am expecting to hear crying, and didn't really doze until he did at 4am! Tonight will be a different matter though, I'm going to go back to sleep! I will admit to going in once during the night to check on him because we got 5 cats and I forgot to check that there were none in there. We've tried to maintain the nursery as a cat free zone for the timebeing, but there was a few minutes before bed when the door was open and the makeshift catscreen was not in place. So around midnight, I peeked in with a torch and all seemed well.
Today, back on the farm(let) life goes on, Steph and I moved some sheep across and setup some new fencing (only temporary electric) for Markissa (whilst Connor was asleep up in the house (with his bedroom door closed)), and earlier on Steph got to groom and lunge Markissa, something she hasn't done for a while, meanwhile I was mowing the lawns.
Earlier on in the day Connor slept through the boys barking their heads off, and me vacuuming his room - I think this is a good sign.
Oh, and I bathed him today, only drowned him once, but that's not major. Before the bath we were all eating dinner (well, Connor had just fed, so it was just Steph, myself and Jenny), and Connor was on the floor in his car seat - half way through we started exercising his lungs again, and we even had tears..So we carried on and finished tea, then since I don't chew and finished first, I had to calm him down (well attempt to). Once Steph had finished she came in and filled the bath, and I then bathed him. He was still exercising his lungs, but he did seem to enjoy being on his front. After that it was a quick dry, and a feed, and now he's in bed.
Gee's the rabbits are growing, I went out today to feed them, and they are almost ready! Oh, and I also managed to clean out the garage, as we're going to store the pushchair in there as it's going to be going cross-country every day when Steph takes him down to Markissa's paddock and we figured that we didn't really want it back in the house!
Anyway, more later, and theres another few photos on the albums ( (http://picasaweb.google.com/matthew.huck/Connor)
Oh, just one photo here today, Connor learns to flip the bird!
Bye for now.
Today, back on the farm(let) life goes on, Steph and I moved some sheep across and setup some new fencing (only temporary electric) for Markissa (whilst Connor was asleep up in the house (with his bedroom door closed)), and earlier on Steph got to groom and lunge Markissa, something she hasn't done for a while, meanwhile I was mowing the lawns.
Earlier on in the day Connor slept through the boys barking their heads off, and me vacuuming his room - I think this is a good sign.
Oh, and I bathed him today, only drowned him once, but that's not major. Before the bath we were all eating dinner (well, Connor had just fed, so it was just Steph, myself and Jenny), and Connor was on the floor in his car seat - half way through we started exercising his lungs again, and we even had tears..So we carried on and finished tea, then since I don't chew and finished first, I had to calm him down (well attempt to). Once Steph had finished she came in and filled the bath, and I then bathed him. He was still exercising his lungs, but he did seem to enjoy being on his front. After that it was a quick dry, and a feed, and now he's in bed.
Gee's the rabbits are growing, I went out today to feed them, and they are almost ready! Oh, and I also managed to clean out the garage, as we're going to store the pushchair in there as it's going to be going cross-country every day when Steph takes him down to Markissa's paddock and we figured that we didn't really want it back in the house!
Anyway, more later, and theres another few photos on the albums ( (http://picasaweb.google.com/matthew.huck/Connor)
Oh, just one photo here today, Connor learns to flip the bird!
Bye for now.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Connor Day 3
Don't worry, we're not going to do a blog and photos for every day (well actually I do intend taking a photo a day and then running them all together to create a movie of his development, but that won't be here for a while, strangly enough).
Today, Steph came home, and things are still going well, Connor had a really good night feeding, ie every hour or so! But Steph, as expected, coped with it well, but she did crash this afternoon for a few hours snooze, thankfully so did Connor.
But todays images are Connor playing on the play mat Aunty Amy and Aunty Carisa bought him, and his first encounter with Strider. He did also meet Gandalf, but the photos didn't come out very well, oh well.
There were going to be photos of the clothes he came home in, the blue knitted top and hat Grandma (Mum) made him, but just before we took the photo, I changed his nappy, and he pee'ed all over the top...And those buttons...grrrr...cute but I think they might be coming off (they are train shaped buttons, and are a bugger to get done up or undone)...Thanks Mum!
Anyway, here's the photos.
Today, Steph came home, and things are still going well, Connor had a really good night feeding, ie every hour or so! But Steph, as expected, coped with it well, but she did crash this afternoon for a few hours snooze, thankfully so did Connor.
But todays images are Connor playing on the play mat Aunty Amy and Aunty Carisa bought him, and his first encounter with Strider. He did also meet Gandalf, but the photos didn't come out very well, oh well.
There were going to be photos of the clothes he came home in, the blue knitted top and hat Grandma (Mum) made him, but just before we took the photo, I changed his nappy, and he pee'ed all over the top...And those buttons...grrrr...cute but I think they might be coming off (they are train shaped buttons, and are a bugger to get done up or undone)...Thanks Mum!
Anyway, here's the photos.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Connor's First Bath
Well, thats day two over, and Steph is doing fine. Connor has started feeding properly and Steph almost has got the hang of it.
Not a great deal of excitement or anything today, I changed my first nappy (hmm, not pleasant), and Steph gave Connor his first bath.
We're hoping that tomorrow morning Steph will be discharged from the hospital, she's only there tonight to get a little bit of help on her technique, but other than that, shes all sorted to come home.
Thankyou for all you comments and emails, Steph and I will attempt to reply soon.
Enjoy the video....
Not a great deal of excitement or anything today, I changed my first nappy (hmm, not pleasant), and Steph gave Connor his first bath.
We're hoping that tomorrow morning Steph will be discharged from the hospital, she's only there tonight to get a little bit of help on her technique, but other than that, shes all sorted to come home.
Thankyou for all you comments and emails, Steph and I will attempt to reply soon.
Enjoy the video....
Weird Things in hospitals
Steph seriously thought about pressing the third button many times, but like Simon said, the whole thing is a miracle.
I tried pushing it, but nothing happened.
I tried pushing it, but nothing happened.
Same photos, but a better size.
It's funny how last night I was really careful to try and get all the detail in, yet still this morning, I remembered bits I forgot, not to worry. Moving on with the happerier side, here are some better photographs (actually just a better size), be sure to check the top level albums occasionally as I'll start putting up the really good ones.
http://picasaweb.google.com/matthew.huck/Connor1Day
and
http://picasaweb.google.com/matthew.huck
Now for day 2 of Fatherhood.
http://picasaweb.google.com/matthew.huck/Connor1Day
and
http://picasaweb.google.com/matthew.huck
Now for day 2 of Fatherhood.
Just another weekend, Yeah Right
OK, wow what a weekend, the best description I can think of is to quote the Cypher off the Matrix "Jesus, What a mind job".
There is nothing in the world that could have prepared me for Saturday, I will try and put down as much as I can, and unlike most story's I'll start at the end, and then go back to the begining.
Steph, Connor and I are all well, and very happy, despite the following account, the outcome was fantastic, and I would do it all again; the day will still rate as the worst, but also one of my happiest, days in my entire life! Why? I will explain.
After an eternity the lady with the colorful headdress, that's all I can really remember, called me in and sat me beside Steph, I recognized a few faces, the anesthetist who came in for the epidural was there, Simon was present and so was the specialist, and one of the midwifes. They sat me down at her right arm, and all I could do is hold her hand, once more how pathetic is that, there is my wife, having all sorts done, going through so much pain, and all I could do is hold her hand.
Wow, an earthquake (1:25am Monday), back to the story, almost done.
The specialist started with vontouse do-hickame, and from the comments I heard the rotation was successful, but they could not extract him with the vontouse alone, so they used the forceps (http://www.fmed.uba.ar/museos/risolia/forceps.jpg) and with Steph pushing in time with the contractions and them pulling Connor was delivered at 4:01pm, the lady in the colorful headdress was right with Steph giving her words of encouragement, and instructions.
Simon called me to have a peak just as the head was coming out, now since this was just normal (well normal, but not common) blood etc, I can handle that no worries, and quite frankly the head looked like a giant poo. As they extracted the body they pulled the cord etc out, and I heard several exclamations on the thickness of the cord, apparently it was huge, then they discovered a true knot in it, possibly it was because the cord was so thick this story has a happy ending, no more need to be said!
There was also a loop, but Connor was taken over to the table in the corner, and his APGAR done (scored 9/10), and a quick clean up, and then I was called over to look, and Simon shook my hand, at this point I cut the cord, give me a sheep, and my hand is steady, and I can cut things easily, a simple thing like the cord, my hand was all over the place, and it took two cuts.
Then they wrapped him up and gave him back to Steph and I, Steph was still on the bed being put back together (stitches). Unfortunately Steph had some slight shakes from the stress before the epidural, and the epidural just amplified these so much she had problems concentrating on anything else really.
The epidural was removed whilst in theater, and I was given back Connor and taken into the recovery room where I waited for Steph. A few minutes later, she was wheeled in, and they started monitoring her, which was made more difficult by the shakes, but 10 or so minutes passed, and the midwife had Connor on Steph, flesh to flesh, and a little while later where taken back to the ward to recovery.
Phew, I am so glad reliving that is over, it's nothing like the day, but still I think the main bits are there, and now onto the happy ending (or is it our beginning).
Fastforward till next morning (let Steph get over the epidural wearing off)
This morning I took Steph her first "Mothersday Card", she is very perky, and feeling happy (although a bit sore), Connor is doing well, and Dad is thrilled to bits.
Connor has only had a few feeds, but we're getting there and had a couple of soiled nappies, the joy just begins!
A few stats about the little guy:
7lbs 14oz (3.75 Kg)
18" long (50cm)
Born at 16:01 on Saturday 12th May, after ~22 hours of labor, by a vontouse & forceps delivery with an epidural.
Not sure if any of the staff will ever see this, but if they do, I would like to extend them a great big thankyou. The staff of the Masterton Hospital Maternity ward, and the theater crew of that day did a wonderful job, and Simon was great. I will always remember their efforts.
Now, here's the bits every has been waiting for, the photos, and 'cause I always have problems I've put all the captions here!
Bed time I think, since it's 2am...but some video before I go...
There is nothing in the world that could have prepared me for Saturday, I will try and put down as much as I can, and unlike most story's I'll start at the end, and then go back to the begining.
Steph, Connor and I are all well, and very happy, despite the following account, the outcome was fantastic, and I would do it all again; the day will still rate as the worst, but also one of my happiest, days in my entire life! Why? I will explain.
Friday:
Both Steph and I were quite anxious about the concept of induction on Tuesday, consequently we tried almost any idea to induce (some more fun than others!). It just so happened that I had a chiropractor's appointment that morning, and she suggested several things to aid things along, namely Steph moving around on all fours, gently pressing on an area above her ankle, and stroking her tummy.
Obviously one of these methods worked, 'cause around 6pm contractions started, and were around 15 minutes apart. After 2 hours, we rung the hospital, and they invited us in, instead we went to a friends place for a coffee and chat for an hour. At 9pm, we rung the hospital, and headed up to be put on the FHM (Fetal Heart Monitor) just to see how things were going. After packing the car etc, we arrived at Masterton Hospital around 11pm, and were taken down to the Lowkey delivery room, where they start monitoring you. They stuck the FHM on Steph, and it was reporting reasonable contractions (Steph could still manage them), and a healthy fetal heartbeat.
After a few contractions, a unusual trend was seen, the fetal heartrate dropped after each contraction (typically it will drop during the contraction (think bear-hug!), and then rise, and drop back down). In our case, it went the other way, consequently we were asked to stay on the machine for longer, and meanwhile, an exam was done to gauge progress, which was 4cm, only 6 to go!
Saturday:
After a few hours (3:45am Saturday morning) the contractions started getting stronger, and Steph was getting tired, and unable to handle the pain, and requested some pain relief. The midwife wanted to start with Pethidine, but after mentioning Steph's allergy with panadol, and her possible sensitivity to pain relief drugs (she gets high on 2 nurofen), we decided that Peth was to high risk, and decided to give gas a go. As you saw from the photo yesterday, gas became her new best friend. Both Steph and I managed to get about a few hours of sleep (admittedly my sleep wasn't broken, unlike Steph's, she was so tired she basically slept between each contraction). Around 8am, Simon (our doctor), came in, and examined Steph, and by this stage we had gained an extra 1/2 to maybe 1 cm! Since things were heading in at least the right direction, things were left to trundle along.
Around 10:30, Steph's contractions (well, duh they wouldn't be mine would they!) actually started to back off, and instead of being 5 to 10 minutes apart move to 15 to 30 minutes. Once more Simon's weekend was disturbed and he came in. At this point he decided (in consultation) that this baby was being delivered today, so he broke the waters.
Now, OK this bit, many people(women) will disagree with me, but it's my blog and my thoughts and perspective on things, so take with a huge pince of salt! I'll continue...Ah the waters breaking, I was dreading this happening, both for Steph's sake as she was on the receiving end, and mine; I'm not particularly good with my own blood being spilt, or even worse, my loved one. Anyway, the actual procedure, was "uncomfortable" for Steph, really I think I'm understating it bit, (and even that is an understatement). From the perspective of my thoughts for Steph, it was dreadful, but in terms of the procedure, it seemed very simple (that doesn't mean I'll do the next one), and was over quite quickly. The amnihook did truly look like something out a grandmothers crochet basket. Once the waters were broken, the contractions came in quick and hard.
At the time, I thought there was nothing worse than the feeling of total and complete uselessness I was feeling then. There was Steph going through excruciating pain, and all I could do to help was hold her hand, and tell her:
"All be over soon", what a complete lie, we had no idea how long it was going to take
"Just breath dear, deep breaths", quite frankly, I think she had more important things to do than listen to her hubby telling her to breath, if I was her, and her,I, I'm pretty sure my reply would be along "I am colorful-expletive breathing", I really don't think I could have done it!
"Just think of your special place", not sure if that one helped, at one point I got the reply "I want to go home now", I can't remember my reply, but it might have been "Sorry dear, but it's a bit late, and it will all be over soon!" Once more empty promises.
After a few hours of these contractions, I was sitting with Steph holding a wheaty-heaty on her back, and the FHM on her tummy (as the straps were a real pain the ass and it wouldn't stay in the right place), and a contraction hit, she started sucking really deep on the gas (which by this stage was cranked right up), and as you would expect with little oxygen, and a greater concentration of N2O2, and an awful amount of pain, things just shut down and she fainted. This for me would have been fine, I knew why, and didn't worry, but she started toppling forward off the bed, and the only thing I could catch her with was my cheek (on her shoulder!). She was out for around 30 seconds, and then came back. I thought nothing more of it. A while later, we had 2 midwifes in with us, and Steph was on the edge of the bed, and I was standing behind her hold once more the wheaty-heaty and the FHM (I think I became the Sound-Technician) and once more another contraction hit, and she took back the gas nice a deeply, and once more visited the land of the unconscious (I expect it was a better place than Masterton Hospital at that stage). And just like last time she toppled forward, and I couldn't catch her so I called to the midwife to catch her. Oh hell, did things go into super panic mode. Panic would be the wrong word for the midwife's behavior, they knew what to do etc, but things moved so fast, I got caught in the moment, and this was where I discovered the next worse thing!
I was told to get her on the bed and on her back, Steph was just coming around, and fighting going onto her back as it hurt too much. O2 masks where coming in from the side lines, and she was fading in and out of conscious , I could see her eyes roll in to the back of her head, even now, it brings tears to my eyes!
Be warned the next bit does not represent rational thought, things just changed from Steph just being in pain to midwifes being "very" busy with Steph, pressing the "alarm" button, requesting Simon to be called etc so fast I did not have time to keep composure.
At that point, the thoughts going through my head; well instead of trying to put them nicely I'll just put them down; I thought that this was it, we tried for 5 years to get pregnant, and I was going to lose her during delivery.
Unfortunately, even that wasn't the worst part of the day! Back to story time (and with all story's this one does have a happy ending)
Once Simon came in, Steph during a lucid period requested him to bring on the drugs! He suggested going straight for an epidural, but once more, things progress so fast, you can't really think, so we hesitated, and he then suggested putting in a small amount of Peth into her drip, and monitoring it from there. Then for a few seconds, everyone was out of the room, and Stpeh had another lucid period and we were able to just exchange enough words for us to decide that we should just go straight to the epidural, bollocks to our plan of having it as natural as possible, hopes and dreams are great, but Steph comes before any dream or hope I have, and she couldn't stand the pain, and quite frankly I couldn't stand watching her in pain. At least I didn't have to lie for the few minutes we were waiting for the anesthetist, I could tell her "All the pain will go soon", that felt good, felt honest, which wasn't a feeling I had had for most of the day!
I had to read the epidural consent form out to Steph, in honesty I skipped a few bits because I felt she didn't need to know them, and a few were reworded, and for the really crazy bit, they expected a lady in immense pain to be able to do a signature, I could not sign it for her, and there goes my honest feeling.
Anyway, a few minutes later (about 10), the anesthetist arrived, nice guy, especially since her took all Steph's pain away .. back to the story, they wheeled the trolley in with all the kit on, and there were several drawers. The trolley was labeled "Epidural trolley", and one of the drawers was labeled "Scalpels/blades". Ok now you know I don't do good on blood or Steph's blood, well I don't do great on just the thought either, my world started spinning, head down and a few breaths and I was back, well until I saw the needle anyway, thankfully I didn't faint, I promised to Steph a few things before we went, and that was one of them!
Just to set the record straight, the epidural took a few minutes to do, and Steph felt hardly anything during the procedure, the anesthetist was fantastic.
From there on, things really picked up, Steph was doing well (oh by the way, it's around 1pm), so well in fact, I let Jenny in to give a hug to Steph. After that I thought Steph was going to try and snooze until 3pm, when we were expecting Simon again, so I quickly headed out to the carpark with Steph's parents for a bite to eat and to try and regain some mental composure.
At 3pm, I headed back in to the delivery room, and I had another surprise, the room was full, and the specialist had been called, Simon quickly described what had happened whilst I had been out, Steph was now fully dilated (A promise I had broken, I had promised to be there for her, for all the exams), but Connor had rotated too early (on the way out they rotate after the head is out, he had done that a bit prematurely, and now was not deliverable). The specialist was coming in to decide the next course of action. He was there in a flash, and we discussed the options, they would attempt a vontouse delivery, and if that did not work, they would do a c-section. He outlined the risks with the vontouse, and at this stage, since for the c-section etc I could sign for Steph, I was seriously considering skipping the vontouse, and just requesting a c-section, I didn't want to attempt anything that would endanger Connor, I just don't want to follow that thought.
Anyway, the specialist explained the risks, and then he stated that they would only attempt once or twice, and the risks are actually quite low, so I consented. The important thing is "I consented", why I reiterated this will be apparent soon.
Forms, checks and more checks were being made, lots of doctory talk, things like "I'm elevating this to a code 2, get theater ready",......still upsetting me......continuing....I asked what do I do, I'm feeling even more like a spare wotnot at a wedding than before, one of the midwife's just turned and said "Go with her, hold her hand, put these on" and handed me a full set of theater gowns. I dashed into the loo and got into them, and then followed Steph, the midwife and Simon down to the theater. Thankfully since I've helped Steph once or twice at her work, I understood the big red lines on the floor, and her and I were discussing the relative merits of a red line over a yellow/black line and how they stop bugs and germs, but one of the midwife's told me to don my overshoes whilst up at the ward, and I questioned her (because of her work, I didn't think it was right), and some chirped up "No, only once your down there"
Once we were in the clean side, one of the theater staff came out and told me that I had to wait outside (and pointed to the far wall) and stay there until I was summoned, she promised me that I would not be forgotton (oh I wasn't by the way)
Now, this is easily the worst feeling of the whole day, standing in that corridor, watching people run around getting the theater ready, people were even still arriving (one of the surgeons hadn't arrived by the time everything was in place, and Simon stepped in to fill that role), it seemed like chaos from my point of view, they all knew what had to be done, and all that was going through my head was thoughts like:
- What am I going to go into, what state will she be etc.
- What happens if it all goes pair shaped
- Who would I chose if only 1 could be saved, sounds bad, but honestly that thought went through, tears followed (hm, they are still here!)
- Could be I strong enough for Steph.
- Will I faint and cause other problems (I've fainted in theater before, OK it was a vet theater but the smell and heat of them I do not like)
After an eternity the lady with the colorful headdress, that's all I can really remember, called me in and sat me beside Steph, I recognized a few faces, the anesthetist who came in for the epidural was there, Simon was present and so was the specialist, and one of the midwifes. They sat me down at her right arm, and all I could do is hold her hand, once more how pathetic is that, there is my wife, having all sorts done, going through so much pain, and all I could do is hold her hand.
Wow, an earthquake (1:25am Monday), back to the story, almost done.
The specialist started with vontouse do-hickame, and from the comments I heard the rotation was successful, but they could not extract him with the vontouse alone, so they used the forceps (http://www.fmed.uba.ar/museos/risolia/forceps.jpg) and with Steph pushing in time with the contractions and them pulling Connor was delivered at 4:01pm, the lady in the colorful headdress was right with Steph giving her words of encouragement, and instructions.
Simon called me to have a peak just as the head was coming out, now since this was just normal (well normal, but not common) blood etc, I can handle that no worries, and quite frankly the head looked like a giant poo. As they extracted the body they pulled the cord etc out, and I heard several exclamations on the thickness of the cord, apparently it was huge, then they discovered a true knot in it, possibly it was because the cord was so thick this story has a happy ending, no more need to be said!
There was also a loop, but Connor was taken over to the table in the corner, and his APGAR done (scored 9/10), and a quick clean up, and then I was called over to look, and Simon shook my hand, at this point I cut the cord, give me a sheep, and my hand is steady, and I can cut things easily, a simple thing like the cord, my hand was all over the place, and it took two cuts.
Then they wrapped him up and gave him back to Steph and I, Steph was still on the bed being put back together (stitches). Unfortunately Steph had some slight shakes from the stress before the epidural, and the epidural just amplified these so much she had problems concentrating on anything else really.
The epidural was removed whilst in theater, and I was given back Connor and taken into the recovery room where I waited for Steph. A few minutes later, she was wheeled in, and they started monitoring her, which was made more difficult by the shakes, but 10 or so minutes passed, and the midwife had Connor on Steph, flesh to flesh, and a little while later where taken back to the ward to recovery.
Phew, I am so glad reliving that is over, it's nothing like the day, but still I think the main bits are there, and now onto the happy ending (or is it our beginning).
Fastforward till next morning (let Steph get over the epidural wearing off)
This morning I took Steph her first "Mothersday Card", she is very perky, and feeling happy (although a bit sore), Connor is doing well, and Dad is thrilled to bits.
Connor has only had a few feeds, but we're getting there and had a couple of soiled nappies, the joy just begins!
A few stats about the little guy:
7lbs 14oz (3.75 Kg)
18" long (50cm)
Born at 16:01 on Saturday 12th May, after ~22 hours of labor, by a vontouse & forceps delivery with an epidural.
Not sure if any of the staff will ever see this, but if they do, I would like to extend them a great big thankyou. The staff of the Masterton Hospital Maternity ward, and the theater crew of that day did a wonderful job, and Simon was great. I will always remember their efforts.
Now, here's the bits every has been waiting for, the photos, and 'cause I always have problems I've put all the captions here!
- Guess who!
- Connor Luke Huck, 12-05-2007. The first male Huck since me and my cousin Gavin some 30 years ago.
Also the first Huck to be born in New Zealand. - One happy Steph.
- A very scruffy, but immensely proud father,very proud of the mammoth effort Steph put in to get here, and just proud to be a dad!
Bed time I think, since it's 2am...but some video before I go...
Saturday, May 12, 2007
All done!
Full story etc to come later, but to keep everyone in the loop, the 2 important facts, Steph is healthly and happy, and Connor is healthy too, and of course some pictures.
One happy but tired dad!
One happy but tired dad!
Connor 4 hours old
One happy camper, several hours before everything kicked off!
Friday, May 11, 2007
A Contraction
Nothing to be excited over, but Steph had another contraction like thing this morning at 8am....Fingers crossed
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Another weekend
A late post for last weekend, and not because I've been busy with baby. There has been no real movement at all, so we're still just sitting tight and waiting.
As for the weekend, not a lot happened, we did a bit of work on the tractor and tried rotavating some of the paddock that we want to resow, and I did some woodwork but other than that, not a great deal. I suppose I should enjoy these quiet weekends whilst I still can.
So much for having broadband and blogging frequency increasing.
Oh, by sure to check here for photos as I'll put them up as soon as I've got back from hospital.
Till later.
As for the weekend, not a lot happened, we did a bit of work on the tractor and tried rotavating some of the paddock that we want to resow, and I did some woodwork but other than that, not a great deal. I suppose I should enjoy these quiet weekends whilst I still can.
So much for having broadband and blogging frequency increasing.
Oh, by sure to check here for photos as I'll put them up as soon as I've got back from hospital.
Till later.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Lets Twist
Well, this weekend was a wet one, and not because Steph's water broke, we're still waiting! It was wet because it rained, whilst the ground was softish, I decided to get the rotavator out and start breaking up the paddock we're going to resow, but after two loops of the paddock I managed to split on side of the shaft, and completely twist the other part about 120 degrees around!
Other than that, the weekend was quite quiet.
Today is our 8th wedding anniversary, so this evening Steph and I are going out for dinner, oh and today I got a big antenna, so hopefully we'll be able to get wifi over to our neighbours place.
Hm, that's all a bit random....
More later maybe.
Other than that, the weekend was quite quiet.
Today is our 8th wedding anniversary, so this evening Steph and I are going out for dinner, oh and today I got a big antenna, so hopefully we'll be able to get wifi over to our neighbours place.
Hm, that's all a bit random....
More later maybe.
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