Welcoming Little Sommerfeldt

Presenting:

Jack Ryan Sommerfeldt

January 29, 2014

Jen & Jack two nights before delivery

Contractions started Tuesday the 28th, but weren't painful or productive until about 10:30 p.m. We checked into the hospital at 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday the 29th - six hours before I was scheduled to be induced. I got an epidural, which felt heavenly, and they added a little pitocin and broke my water in the early morning to help get things going.

Post-epidural happiness. We even got some sleep. 

Around 9:00 a.m. I was dilated to a 9 and my epidural was failing. This started six hours of seeing the anesthesiologist almost as often as the nurses - I got re-dosed more times than I counted, and still could feel tons of pressure. About 11:45 we started pushing, but shortly realized that Jack was transverse (sideways) and we had to wait for an obstetrician to arrive with forceps to try and turn him. He didn't get there until about 2:30 and was straightforward about the fact that if turning him didn't work, we were looking at a c-section. However, we were able to finally push him out, and he arrived at 3:01 p.m. with quite a "cone head" to show for his 4 hours in the birth canal. Overall, active labor was about 16 1/2 hours long, with 11 hours of pre-labor contractions preceding it. 

Welcome Jack! We love having you in our family :)

Happy Due Date!

1/22/2014

Dear Baby Sommerfeldt,

Happy Due Date! I have my doubts as to whether this will be your birthday or not, but I guess we'll see if you decide to surprise me. Thanks for letting me sleep better last night, thanks for not kicking me in the ribs, and thanks for always being head-down at your appointments and being all obedient and cooperative like that. We have a lovely room all set up with warm curtains and blankets and a nice crib, and we're all set to stay up all hours of the night with you (although if you want to give us a happy surprise and NOT make us do that for very long, that would be an appropriate thank-you-for-bringing-me-into-the-world gift). So you are welcome to join us any time you would like....hint...hint....like, sooner rather than later... We love you so much and can't wait to meet you!

Self-Appointed Due Date

I feel like this is something that should be documented... Long ago, back when we found out we were expecting Little Sommerfeldt to join our family, we decided that the perfect scenario would be for me to go into labor on Friday, January 17 sometime, and have Little Sommerfeldt join us sometime later that night or on Saturday the 18th. The reason for this? The long weekend. Ryan gets Monday off school. It would just be so convenient... So for the whole nine months, we've been encouraging him (loudly, so he can hear through my skin) to stick to the schedule.

So guess what - today is Friday the 17th! The epic day has arrived! The house is clean, the freezer is full, the clothes and bedding are washed, the curtains are hung, the six week menu plan is completed... and I have not had one single contraction :) No worries - if he doesn't arrive this weekend, it's obviously not the end of the world - but I just know that he'll just think it's so funny to arrive right at the end of the long weekend or something. Silly baby. We can't wait to meet you - whenever that may be!