Something Moore

So Pierce has joined our family for 4 weeks now so I figured it was time to give a little update.  We had Pierce's first doctor appointment a week ago.  When he was born he weighed 7lbs 3oz.  Of course babies lose some weight right after birth so he only weighed 6lbs 13oz when we left the hospital.  Well on Monday last week he weighed 9lbs 6oz.  That's right folks, in two and a half weeks he had gained over 2 lbs.  Then on Thursday we had an appointment with the midwives and he weight 9lbs 15oz!  HOLY COW!!!  I must be feeding this baby pure cream!  In addition to the weight gain he grew an inch!  Way to go Pierce!  After all this is the only time in your life that rapid weight gain and chubby thighs are considered a desireable trait!

With all of this weight gain it's clear that Pierce is a great eater.  I've been very blessed and haven't had any problems nursing.  I know some women really struggle with this, but I've been lucky and have had sufficient milk and a baby who loves to eat!  I fear that when he's about 16 I will need to take on a second job to be able to afford feeding this boy!

Pierce is also a fantastic sleeper.  From the day we brought him home he has been good about sleeping 2-2.5 hours at a stretch at night.  He wakes up, eats, gets a diaper change and falls right back to sleep.  What a blessing!  While Clay and I are still sleep deprived we know that Pierce is really an easy baby and we are blessed that he is such a a good sleeper.

While he is a good sleeper, he is also a NOISY sleeper.  Seriously, this kid makes nonstop noise.  The first night we had him home, Clay and I kept hopping out of bed to go see if he was awake.  But instead it was just the constant moaning and groaning and whining and grunting that Pierce makes.  He also has this funny little squeaky noise that sounds like a puppy's bark.  And he makes these noises CONSTANTLY, even when he's sleeping.  Clay and I are still getting used to the noisiest sleeping buddy on the planet!  I fear he takes after his Geezer and future girlfriends will need to be forewarned that this will develop into a serious snoring problem some day!

Pierce is a cuddler!  This boy is happiest when he's cuddling.  Clay and I are getting him used to sleeping on his own in the cradle in our room, but he is the most content when he's snuggling on someone's shoulder.  But we don't mind.  It's fantastic to have baby cuddles.

That's what we've learned about our baby so far.  He is really thriving and slowly we are finding a bit of a routine.  Hopefully by the time I go back to work most of the kinks will be worked out.

My recovery also continues to go well.  I met with the surgeon this week and am cleared to work out again.  So I'm taking it slow and trying to get back into a bit of a routine.  With the crazy heat here it's been hard to get out and about but we've been taking morning walks before it gets too warm for a baby.

And finally here are a few more pics of Mister Pierce!

I had mentioned in the birth story that our doula, Nikki, had the presence of mind to bring the camera into the delivery room.  I finally took a look at those pictures.  Here I am meeting Pierce for the first time.   Shortly after this moment the anesthesiologist knocked me out for a couple of hours.



When we brought Pierce home Clay couldn't wait to show him the Millennium Falcon!


Here's a look at how much our boy has grown.  This pic was taken the first week we had him  home.

My mom came down to visit Pierce last week.  I'd like to pretend that she came to see Clay and I, but we all know who the main attraction is these days.  It's been hot here.  And by hot I mean 100F or more everyday so we really didn't get out and do a lot.  But we spent time cuddling with Pierce and her visit allowed me to rest and recover some more. 






 Unfortunately Pierce had a tummy ache a couple of evenings.  Mom discovered that laying him over her knee helped get the gas bubbles out and calmed him down.  He was so calm in fact he fell asleep just like this.


From the day Pierce was born we have been told how alert he is.  In fact the doctors and nursers in the hospital were amazed how alert he was even after the traumatic labor and delivery.  Anyhow, we captured a video of the little man looking around and talking with us.  Here's Pierce at 3 weeks.


Overall it was a nice visit.  Pierce already misses his Gramby!

So how did we settle on Pierce Dennis Dwyer?  Well I'm glad you asked!  While Clay and I loved not knowing the gender of Itty Bitty, we still had to come up with potential names.  And of course we had to have a girl name and a boy name.  The girl name came to us rather quickly.  But the boy name took a bit longer.

We had pretty straight forward criteria for choosing a name.  We wanted a name that was spelled phonetically (even if no one can ever spell it correctly) and it could not be in the Top 100 most popular names.  We didn't want something that was weird or cutsie, but we definitely wanted to make sure our child wasn't one of 10 kids in their first grade class with the same name or derivation of the same name.  Sounds simple enough, right!

Clay and I had both agreed we liked Dennis as a middle name.  Clay's dad's name is Dennis and my paternal grandfather (Papa) is Dennis.  We felt that it would be nice to honor to both of them and a blessing to our son to be named after his grandfather and great grandfather.  Plus we covered both sides of the family in one name.  Convenient!

The first name took a bit longer.  Initially we found the name Desmond.  We really liked Desmond, but Desmond Dennis Dwyer was just awful!  What a mouthful!  Sounds like some used car salesman or something.  So we kept Desmond and we kept Dennis but decided we needed to find either an alternative first or alternative middle name.

Next we thought the name John would be a great middle name.  John is a family name on the Dwyer side.  Clay's paternal grandfather is John Dwyer the 6th.  In fact, had Granny Dwyer not screwed things up Clay would have been John Dwyer the 8th!  Instead when Clay's father was born (the oldest boy) they named him Dennis, thus breaking the cycle.  I am thankful for this because if the name had come all the way to me I don't think I would have the guts to *not* name our son John Dwyer the 9th.  But honestly we're glad it didn't come to that.

While we didn't want John as a first name, it worked great as a middle name.  Desmond John Dwyer wasn't quite a mouthful and we would have been honoring Clay's paternal grandfather who has an amazing story as a WWII vet.  So that was a definite possibility.

However, both Clay and I really really liked Dennis for a middle name.  So we continued the search.  I found a web site that gave name ideas by category (I can't find the site that led to the discovery).  Anyhow, the site had categories such as "Foods" or "African American Leaders" and in each category the site provided 20-30 names as ideas.  The idea of the site was more to get you thinking than actually select a name.

One of the categories was "American Presidents."  Honestly I clicked on the category without thinking.  Mostly I had looked at all the other categories and figured why not.  Searching the list I found President Franklin Pierce.  Other than the fact he was a U.S. President, I really knew nothing about him, but the name Pierce caught my attention and I passed it along to Clay.

We both liked the name and the only affiliations we could make were the U.S. President and Pierce Brosnan (and he played James Bond so that seemed okay).  Since we couldn't find a negative affiliation and the name Pierce otherwise fit out requirements, Pierce went on the list!  And Pierce Dennis Dwyer seemed to have a nice flow.  Plus when we searched for the popularity of Pierce as a first name it is definitely NOT in the Top 100. 

Over the next several months we continued to debate Desmond John or Pierce Dennis.  We never found any other names we liked but we couldn't decide.  Finally we agreed  to wait until we saw the baby.  However it we  had a girl (like Clay predicted) it wouldn't matter.  But since I had 6 different dreams that Itty Bitty was a  boy we figured we should be prepared.

My 6th dream that Itty Bitty was a boy was about 38 weeks.  I dreamt I gave birth to a boy and I named him Pierce.  My dream also somehow reminded me that my maternal grandmother's (Granny Best) maiden name was Pierce.  A fact that I had forgot until then.  When I woke up I told Clay the dream and that I was really leaning towards Pierce.  His only concern was what nickname would the kid have.  But I told him with a one syllable name no one gives you a nickname!

But in the end I didn't know what Clay had decided until the moment Pierce was born.  When the doctors held the baby up for Clay to declare the gender he proudly announced "Honey, it's Pierce!"  We both love the name and have received a lot of compliments!

And of course here are a few more adorable pics of Mr. Pierce!  Clay used his new fancy-smancy lens to take these.  They're really great pics!







And one other point of note.  We never gave anyone an official due date for Pierce.  Not having a due date or a gender was a lot of fun.  We had everyone guessing both gender and birth date which worked out great.  In fact at my office I had a spreadsheet on my door that listed folks' guesses and as days went by we would cross the day off the list.

Since we now know Pierce's birthday (6/27) we can also reveal the "official" due date.  According to the calculator the due date was June 17.  This year that would have been Father's Day.  Also it's interesting that my midwives told me the average delivery date for a first baby is 41 weeks and 3 days.  Wouldn't ya know... Pierce made his debut at 41 weeks and 3 days!  See, I told you due dates were totally arbitrary :)!

And if you're curious what Clay and I guessed.  Clay guess June 18.  I guessed June 20th because I thought maybe God would send us something happy on the anniversary of Grandma Sue's passing.  While we didn't quite hit the anniversary we did receive something very joyful this June!

Okay... actually this isn't a very "itty bitty" story.  In fact this is going to be a LONG post.  And I am going to try and not be graphic or gross, but we are talking about birth here folks so if you're squeemish, consider yourself warned!

Honestly it's hard to know where to start.  Parts of this still bring me to tears and it's hard to talk about.  But I feel that telling my story will help me sort through my emotions and heal. 

As you know, last week I was 41 weeks pregnant and had 2 false starts with labor that I wrote about here and here.  So last Monday (6/25) I started to work from home because NO ONE at my office wanted to practice delivering a baby.  Imagine that!  I also had my 41 week ultrasound scheduled for that afternoon.  So Clay came home and picked me up for lunch (Iguana Grill - YUM!) and we went to the ultrasound. 

Prior to the ultrasound I had discussed the idea of using acupuncture to induce labor with my midwife Yvonne.  (BTW I used Community Midwife Services and they have several midwives.  Yvonne happened to be the midwife on call for me so it's easier if I just use names instead of "midwife".) 

Prior to deciding to visit the acupuncturist Yvonne wanted to know what my ultrasound said to ensure there weren't any last minute complications.  At 41 weeks an ultrasound is scored on a scale out of 8 for several factors.  Any score above a 6 is considered "healthy" and I scored a perfect 8/8.  So Yvonne made an appointment for me with the acupuncturist and off we went. 

I could write a whole post about the acupuncture experience.  I had never tried acupuncture before but I found it really interesting.  The acupuncturist was hilarious because when I told him I was 41 weeks and that we wanted to induce he was absolutely positive his treatment would work.  So sure in fact he told Clay not to go anywhere because he was going to have to rush me to the delivery room. 

That afternoon I also had an appointment with my chiropractor and he too worked on the induction pressure points.  So after all that Clay and I went home and had a light supper.  At this point I didn't feel like anything really "worked" so I took a hot bath and laid down to sleep around 10pm.  At 10:30pm I woke up to my water breaking and strong contractions. 

Here's where labor started... Monday 6/25 at 10:30 pm.  At this point I have 24 hours to labor at home.  My midwives' protocol only allow for 24 hours of home labor once the water has broken due to increase risk of infection. 

Clay called Yvonne and within an hour Yvonne, Susan (another midwife) and Taryn (a doula) show up at the house.  They check my labor for progress and I'm 1 cm dialated and 90% effaced.  This is a bit frustrating because that's exactly where I was last Tuesday.  But everyone is confident that now that my water has broken I will begin to dialate. 

The next 24 hours pass at the house with me in constant active labor.  The midwives were wonderful making snacks, doing loads of laundry and allowing Clay to get rest while they would take turns sitting with me through the contractions.  By Tuesday morning (6/26) my labor had not progressed any further and Yvonne recommended another round of acupuncture to encourage dilation since we were "on the clock" at this point.  So Clay took me back to the acupuncturist who was pleased my water had broke and we had round 2 of therapy.  And we went back to the house to labor some more.

At this point I had asked Clay not to contact any friends or family.  After the last 2 false starts I didn't want people constantly wanting a progress update.  I really needed Clay focused on me and not answering texts, email or calls.  Also, I fully expected I would start pushing at any moment and then we would be able to contact everyone with the good news the baby had arrived and skip the drama in the middle.  Finally at 8pm or so on Tuesday I let Clay call my mom and a couple others to give them a status update since we had been radio silence for almost 24 hours.

As the 24 hour mark approached Yvonne checked my progress again and informed me that I had dialated to 4 cm and tried to encourage me that the "hardest part" was nearly over.  In the meantime she contacted Dr. Ryan's office and gave them a status update.  Through this whole process the midwives monitored my vital signs and the baby's vital signs and neither of us had any indication of distress.  Since my 24 hour mark fell so late at night and all the signs were good, Dr. Ryan and Yvonne agreed that I could labor at home until 5am but at that point if there was no baby I needed to go to the hospital. 

The fear of going to the hospital was very motivational.  I had planned and worked so hard to avoid a hospital birth that I decided then and there I would push myself to do whatever it took to labor at home.  However, hours later I still hadn't dialated any further.  In fact Clay later told me that they had lied to me saying I was 4cm dialated when in fact I was only 3cm just to keep my spirits up. 

When Clay started packing us up to go to the hospital I remember a total sense of devastation.  I cried knowing that I had lost one thing I really wanted:  a home birth.  Yvonne was of the opinion that something was preventing me from dilating and she felt just a quick dose of pitocin would likely kick my body into high gear.  Throughout the day and night she had spent hours trying to figure out why my body wasn't progressing and how to help me and we had run out of options and time.  While I knew that going that the hospital was the smart decision it broke my heart to have to go. 

On the way to the hospital we called my mom to tell her what was going on and a good friend of mine to take care of the house.  Since none of this was expected we hadn't made any preparations to care for the animals or the house. 

When we arrive at the hospital around 5am on Wednesday 6/27 I had been in active labor since my water broke for 31 hours at the house.  Yvonne and Susan had stayed throughout the time and Taryn had to go attend another birth.  When we left the house Yvonne accompanied us to the hospital and Susan went home.  Yvonne then called in Nikki as the next doula so that I had a fresh person there to help out. 

Clay and I could write a whole book on how wonderful the midwives were to have at the hospital.  They knew our wishes and knew the hospital staff so they helped check us in and get us settled but also worked to communicate our wants and needs with the hospital staff which freed up Clay to attend to my needs and me to focus on the labor.  It was a HUGE blessing.  The only unfortunate part was the maternity ward was totally booked so we were put into an out patient room about the size of a small bedroom but we were top priority to get an actual room when one freed up.

At about 6am they started me on pitocin.  I did not want the epidural even though I had heard pitocin was incredibly painful but I had made it this far and I was determined not to let another thing slip out of my control.  While I had heard pitocin was painful there was no way to prepare for the pain I experienced.  I had never imagined labor as "painful" just hard work, and until this point I felt I had been correct.  Nothing at the house "hurt".  I would get uncomfortable but I was always able to use my hypnobirthing and relax into the contraction.  With the pitocin every contraction was beyond painful. 

I continued to labor like that for 2 hours and finally I couldn't take the pain any longer.  The staff checked my progress and I had only dilated from 3cm to 6cm.   Knowing I would have to labor for a while longer I begged for the epidural and had them turn off the pitocin until I could have the epidural.  Around 9am I received my epidural and was able to be comfortable through the ongoing contractions. This is also when Yvonne went home leaving Clay and I with Nikki.  After hours of her services she was dead on her feet and needed some rest.

At noon I was checked again and had FINALLY dilated to a full 10cm and was ready to push this kid out of me!!!  I was thrilled!!  I started pushing and pushed for about an hour but Itty Bitty wasn't moving down the birth canal.  Keeping in mind my last real meal had been Monday at lunch and that I had begun vomiting with my more intense contractions around 8pm on Tuesday I had nothing left in my system.  So the doctor decided to give me some sugar water IV and a few more hours rest. 

Around 4pm the PA came in and asked if I was ready to push again.  With Nikki, Clay and the PA I spent about an hour in pushing labor.  However, again there wasn't any progress.  So around 5pm Dr. Willis was called in to evaluate.  She had me try a few things and still no progress.  Around 5:30pm the senior doctor, Dr. Ryan was called in to evaluate the situation.  If it hadn't been so serious there would have seemed funny that there were about a dozen medical staff in a room the size of a hall closet trying to deliver my baby!

The decision was made around 6pm to try and use the vacuum to extract Itty Bitty.  They could tell the head was off-center in the pelvis and the goal was to use the vacuum to center the head so I could push the baby out.  Dr. Ryan was excellent and told me that if this was going to work it would work in 2 contractions.  But that was all he was willing to try it.  So they hooked me up and after 2 contractions there was no progress. 

Suddenly the room was whipped into a fury of activity.  I remember laying on the bed not knowing what was going on and Nikki calmly explaining to me that we were out of options and that the only thing to do at this point was an emergency c-section.  All I could do was cry.  I began shaking uncontrollably as the staff rushed around to prep me, Clay and Nikki for surgery. 

I remember being wheeled down the hall as the staff is quickly explaining what to expect.  The whole thing  was a blur to me.  I remember telling several people I wanted to breast feed as soon as possible knowing that a c-section can lead to complications with breast feeding.  Once in the surgery room I remember looking for Clay as they hooked me up and making someone promise not to start until he got to my side. 

I remember my body shaking uncontrollably.  I shook partially from being cold.  Partially from fear.  Partially from a hormonal release that often accompanies women at delivery.  I shook so violently they had to strap me down to the surgical table and cover me in warm blankets.  Finally Clay was by my side and they began the surgery.  Since we didn't know the gender we still requested Clay have the opportunity to announce the gender. 

At 7:14pm on Wednesday June 27 the doctor lifted the baby over the curtain and Clay announced "Honey its Pierce!"  We both cried.

The medical staff took Pierce across the room to evaluate him.  I remember crying for my baby.  I remember Pierce's little cries as the doctors evaluated him.  Nikki took the camera and took pics of Pierce being cleaned up and brought them to me so I could see him.  I wanted to hold him so badly. 

At this point my body started to break down.  I began shaking so violently they couldn't keep me on the surgery table.  They finally brought Pierce over to me so I could see his beautiful face and that's the last thing I remember.  The doctors had to knock me out so they could finish the surgery.  I woke up 2 hours later in a recovery room.

While I was unconscious Nikki ensured that Pierce was placed on my chest and tried to encourage breastfeeding.  Clay was able to call family and let them know about our new addition.  When I woke up I remember looking around at an unfamiliar room and searching for Pierce only to find him sound asleep on my chest.  He was perfectly healthy and happy just to be near his mama. 

In the end it turns out a c-section was my only option for delivery.  As you may remember my ultrasounds found a fibroid tumor in my uterus.   The tumor was found at my first ultrasound at 18 weeks and it was determined to be small enough and in a location that would not interfere with fetal development or a vaginal delivery.  My second ultrasound at 28 weeks confirmed that the tumor had not grown (in fact they thought it shrunk) and was not a problem.  Finally, at the ultrasound on Monday the tech couldn't see the tumor due to the size of the baby but from what she could see there wasn't a problem.

Once Pierce was delivered the surgical staff found the tumor to be larger than the ultrasound had indicated and to be located much lower.  In fact it was the tumor that was pushing Pierce off center so that he couldn't be delivered vaginally.  Essentially I could have pushed for the rest of my life and never delivered vaginally.  A c-section was my only option.  In spite of the best efforts nothing had indicated this problem and we consider ourselves blessed to have been surrounded by a wonderful medical team and support staff who were able to react to the situation and ensure a safe and healthy delivery for both of us.

If you're wondering if I still have the tumor... yes I do.  When the problem was recognized we asked if they were going to remove it (since we were already having surgery) but the doctor was fearful that removing the tumor would cause me to bleed out since my body had already undergone so much and sustained so much damage.  So I still have the tumor.  If in the future it begins to give me problems I will have another surgery.  But for now it stays.

A couple of other interesting observations.  Since Clay and I didn't know the gender and we had such an odyssey of labor, the hospital staff really seemed to gravitate towards our story.  And even though my c-section took place right around shift change nearly all of the staff that we had met over the course of the day hung around just to find out if we had a boy or a girl. 

Also I highly recommend any expecting family to consider adding a doula or midwife to their birth plan even if you plan to deliver at a hospital.  I'll post more on this later but Clay and I saw the benefits of having our own advocate in a very overwhelming situation.

So without further ado... here are a few pics of our baby!