Phoebe Rose Pearson

    It all started on March 1, 2003.  At roughly 5pm, Jada started some beginning contractions as we dined at the Keg Steakhouse for a steak dinner Jada had been craving.  We didn't figure it was a big deal.  They were far apart and irregular, so it could be days.  That night, however, they continued and kept Jada from sleeping very well.  Jada decided we should at least upgrade to alert level yellow signifying that the baby could, in all reality, come any day now.  So we got some things together.  Snacks, laundry, etc before going to bed for night.  We finally went to bed around 12.30am after getting almost all of the laundry finished.  About an hour later, Jada got up to try to sleep on the couch because she couldn't get comfortable in the bed.  That pretty much woke me up for the night.  I think we both knew that little Phoebe could not be contained.  Around 2am, the real contractions started at a steady 5 minutes apart and each lasting about 1 minute.  At 4 am, Jada made the call to the hospital for advice as well as the baby sitter we had set aside for that weekend's coverage.  The admitting nurse said to try to rest or take a warm bath to see if that calmed the contractions down.  Jada obliged the suggestion, but it didn't help.  At this point, all we wanted to do was make it past 6am, so we could get Ellen up to do a warm hand-off to Laurie (Ellen's sitter for the weekend).  At 5.30am, Jada decided that this baby was coming now, and we needed to go in.  We called the hospital again to tell them that we were coming in about an hour, and we also called Laurie to let her know the same so she could make it over to our house to take over. 

    Fortunately, we had already trained Laurie on Ellen's schedule, and Ellen already knew Laurie, so the separation was very painless.  I explained to her that we were going to the hospital to get her baby sister out of mommy's belly.  To which she replied, "Ellie visit at hopsital" (sic).  We had been preparing her for this for several weeks, and it was a pleasant surprise and confirmation that she had at least a grasp of what was going on.  Laurie arrived.  Ellen immediately pulled her into her morning play time, and by 6.45am, we were on our way to Legacy Meridian Park Hospital.

    After getting checked in, the nurse immediately wheeled an IV pole into the room and tried to convince Jada to take the IV so that when she decided to have the epidural, it would be easier.  Jada told her that it wasn't necessary since she wasn't planning on having the epidural unless absolutely necessary.  After clearing it with the oncall doctor (and having the anesthesiologist stop in for a consult), the pole was removed, and Jada was on her way to becoming a legend.

    How, you may ask?  Well, one of the nurses already knew that Jada was a childbirth teacher, so that information got passed down.  We think they were working on a pool to see how long it was before Jada took the epidural.

    Anyway, they finally checked her dilation at around 8am, and she was already at 5 cm.  The nurse was shocked that Jada had made it all that way without drugs.  But there she was, breathing and focusing her way through each and every contraction.  They even commented how she was very calm as if she had taken the epidural route.  It really seemed like they were expecting to see her crack.  But the more she didn't (8 cm by 10am), the more they started rooting for her.  It was kinda like Rocky IV where Rocky won over the biased Russian crowd (minus the ridiculous speech about peace and the cold war, of course).  By noon, Jada had moved into the transition phase, and there was no turning back.  Her body wanted her to push, and she wanted to push.  The doctor was called in, and things turned up a notch.

    Jada pushed like she had never pushed before.  She felt like giving up at times, but she never quit.  Even though the pain of the baby's head crowning and the doctor's patience to avoid any interventions aside from rupturing the bag of waters manually.  These strategic pauses allowed the baby to come free more easily and avoided the painful episiotomy and excessive tearing that may have been caused by pushing too hard as the baby's head and shoulders passed through the birth canal. 

    In the end, we ended up with a beautiful baby girl, and a birth experience on the opposite end of the spectrum from Ellen's.  For Ellen, the amniotic fluid sack ruptured first before any contractions had even begun.  The intervention pitocin had to be used to kick-start the contractions, but because they were too close together, Jada needed an epidural to allow for dilation to finally occur.  Even then, during the pushing, both an episiotomy and a vacuum were required to pull Ellen free.  With Phoebe, the sack of waters had to be ruptured manually just before pushing began, and no drugs at all were required to produce the baby.  Even the vaginal tearing was extremely minor (2 stitches).

    Once the baby was born, we bestowed upon her the name Phoebe Rose.  Phoebe was her paternal great grandmother's middle name (or first name depending on when she was asked), and Rose for the Rose City (Portland for anyone still confused) where both she and her mother were born.  Her vital stats are as follows:

    Time of birth: 3/2/03, 12:47pm.
    Weight: 7lb 12oz
    Length: 22in
    Head circumference: didn't get written down in a place where we have found it yet.

    Phoebe didn't even have any complications.  We were able to hold her immediately after birth.  I even cut the umbilical cord.  I can't even believe I watched her come out.  I guess a complete lack of sleep can really help your ability to handle things that I normally consider too graphic to even think about.  Then lunch was ordered.  Jada's usual - the ceremonial cheese burger, pie o' the day, cookies, soda, and salad.  A better cheese burger she has not tasted.  She shared a little bit with me, and you know, I did catch a bit of the sweet taste of victory.

    We then embarked on our calling tree to try to give everyone the big news, but all we found were answering machines.  We were eventually able to get a hold of most people to talk to in person.

    At 4pm, Ellen came up with Laurie to visit her new baby sister.  She looked a little concerned at first when I opened the door for her.  But as soon as I told her that Mommy and baby sister were in the room, she ran right in to see Mommy.  Then she wanted to see baby sister.  I lifted her up on the bed so she could see her, and she asked if she could softly touch her.  Ellen did a very good job of being gentle with her touches.  She even gave Phoebe a little kiss on the forehead.  We think Laurie was able to get a picture of it, but we're not sure how it will turn out since it was on the 35mm instead of the digital.  Then we gave Ellen her gift from Phoebe.  Phoebe gave her big sister a box of books with a tape of songs to accompany them.  "Miss Mary Mack", "Skip to my Lou", and "Lady with the Alligator Purse".  Ellen really liked them.  She asked me to read her "Miss Mary Mack" about 5 times.  Ellen walked with me down to the pantry to get Mommy some ice carrying her baby with her the whole time, and she wowed the nurses with her cuteness and ability to speak fairly clear.  Then they brought her down a "I'm a big sister" sticker and a wrist band just like we had.  Then Ellen found the clipboard and pen we use to track Jada's meds and Phoebe's BM's and feedings and she wanted to "write a note".  Then all too soon it was time to leave so El could eat dinner.  She gave Phoebe a farewell kiss on the head, and off she and Laurie went.  It'll be so nice to have all the girls home again tonight.

    As an added bonus from not having the pain medication this time around, Jada has been able to get much more mobile more quickly.  She hasn't felt the same lingering effects as last time, but some of that could also have been from just having the first baby.  But the best part about lack of medication was the extended time we got over night.  After 9pm, no one visited us again until this morning when we woke up.  We didn't sleep all night, but we did get quite a bit more sleep than we had in the past 2 days. 

    Phoebe has been working on feeding off and on.  She's still working on it, but she's getting there.  She's working on getting the meconium out, and she has already had her first pee...all over the bassinet.  Daddy didn't do a very good job of preparing for it, and Phoebe surprised me.  This morning brings hearing tests, a visit from the lactation folks, more general vital sign checks, and a visit from Jada's OB and Phoebe's pediatrician.  Then this afternoon we plan on checking out of our suite here at the hospital and heading home.  I'll be home for 2 weeks trying to work as little as possible.

Journal entry: March 3, 2003