Friday, June 17, 2011
The Meeting of the Brothers
There were some very tender moments yesterday when Grandma brought Everett to the hospital to meet Paxton. Everett immediately gave him kisses and enjoyed putting his face directly in front of Paxton's to stare for a little while. He offered his blankie and some toys he had with him. He was simply fascinated with Paxton and enjoys looking at and checking on him. Today we came home from the hospital, and upon waking from his nap he immediately asked about the baby. Here are some sweet pictures I will treasure forever.
Paxton's Birth Story
Paxton's entrance into this world was both long and short. Let me explain.
On Thursday one week before his due date I started to have contractions that felt to me and my memory of Everett's labor to be the real thing. I called my parents in the middle of the night, and they made the 4 hour trek to Austin anticipating a birth! However, that did not happen. I continued to have contractions on and off over that week that felt like they would amount to something. We were sent home from the hospital on Friday after contractions did not persist.
Wednesday, the day before his due date, we had a doctor appointment. He "stripped my membranes"(google it if you're so inclined) in an effort to get labor started. Because of my previous c-section, I had a deadline of one week past the due date before I would have to deliver Paxton by c-section, and induction was not an option. Boy did it work! I had very strong contractions later that afternoon. They were persistent, and we went in to the hospital at about 9pm. They watched me for an hour, and the contractions though strong were not changing my cervix. I was offered "therapeutic sleep", which was IM Morphine and Ambien. I really didn't want to be in a coma when delivering my baby and am not in favor of being drugged, so I refused. Since I refused, they felt they could not do anything for me at the time and sent me home. I wanted to seriously hurt someone. We drove home and contractions became extremely painful. It didn't take long before we were on our way back to the hospital with severe pain and nausea - likely in transition. I got to the hospital with my cervix at 5cm (I was 1.5 cm when sent home an hour earlier), and progressed to 10cm after another hour or so. It was the most intense pain I have ever experienced. I sounded like a primal beast. I felt very fortunate to have a doctor that allowed an epidural to be placed at such a late point in the game. They worked as quickly as they could, but I was already 10cm at this point, and my body was pushing despite my intense efforts not to. Having the epidural during pushing allowed for a much more pleasant experience complete with joking and conversation. Most importantly it allowed for a slightly slower process which reduced tearing significantly, though most would say 30 minutes of pushing is not slow at all.
So there you have it. Paxton was born on his due date like his brother Everett as well as myself (a hilariously perfect fit to my personality). June 16, 2011. He was 7 lb 12 oz, 20.5 inches long, and cute as a button. What surprised me most was his dark hair and so far dark eyes.
To compare this to our previous experience, you can read Everett's birth story.
On Thursday one week before his due date I started to have contractions that felt to me and my memory of Everett's labor to be the real thing. I called my parents in the middle of the night, and they made the 4 hour trek to Austin anticipating a birth! However, that did not happen. I continued to have contractions on and off over that week that felt like they would amount to something. We were sent home from the hospital on Friday after contractions did not persist.
Wednesday, the day before his due date, we had a doctor appointment. He "stripped my membranes"(google it if you're so inclined) in an effort to get labor started. Because of my previous c-section, I had a deadline of one week past the due date before I would have to deliver Paxton by c-section, and induction was not an option. Boy did it work! I had very strong contractions later that afternoon. They were persistent, and we went in to the hospital at about 9pm. They watched me for an hour, and the contractions though strong were not changing my cervix. I was offered "therapeutic sleep", which was IM Morphine and Ambien. I really didn't want to be in a coma when delivering my baby and am not in favor of being drugged, so I refused. Since I refused, they felt they could not do anything for me at the time and sent me home. I wanted to seriously hurt someone. We drove home and contractions became extremely painful. It didn't take long before we were on our way back to the hospital with severe pain and nausea - likely in transition. I got to the hospital with my cervix at 5cm (I was 1.5 cm when sent home an hour earlier), and progressed to 10cm after another hour or so. It was the most intense pain I have ever experienced. I sounded like a primal beast. I felt very fortunate to have a doctor that allowed an epidural to be placed at such a late point in the game. They worked as quickly as they could, but I was already 10cm at this point, and my body was pushing despite my intense efforts not to. Having the epidural during pushing allowed for a much more pleasant experience complete with joking and conversation. Most importantly it allowed for a slightly slower process which reduced tearing significantly, though most would say 30 minutes of pushing is not slow at all.
So there you have it. Paxton was born on his due date like his brother Everett as well as myself (a hilariously perfect fit to my personality). June 16, 2011. He was 7 lb 12 oz, 20.5 inches long, and cute as a button. What surprised me most was his dark hair and so far dark eyes.
To compare this to our previous experience, you can read Everett's birth story.
What's In a Name?
Choosing a name for a child proves to be quite a difficult process! For us at least. We chose the name Paxton Anderson Keahey for a few reasons. Pax is Latin for peace, which we just love; however, we didn't want to give what feels like a nickname as the full name. We both fell in love with the name Paxton, which would literally mean "peaceful town". Hopefully he will make a peaceful town out of wherever he is in life.
Both Everett and Paxton share the middle name Anderson, which is my maiden name. I really love this tradition, common in Spanish speaking countries. Eric carries his mother's maiden name, Horton, as his middle name. Since marriage, my own maiden name is my middle name as well.
If anything, we needed a Peaceful Town to balance out our Wild Boar (Everett). hah!!! We obviously chose Everett's name for our love of the name rather than its meaning. :)
Both Everett and Paxton share the middle name Anderson, which is my maiden name. I really love this tradition, common in Spanish speaking countries. Eric carries his mother's maiden name, Horton, as his middle name. Since marriage, my own maiden name is my middle name as well.
If anything, we needed a Peaceful Town to balance out our Wild Boar (Everett). hah!!! We obviously chose Everett's name for our love of the name rather than its meaning. :)
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Waiting!
I have some higher than normal traffic on this site lately. I have a feeling some might be checking to see if we have any news. So I thought I'd just put a quick note to say - not yet. I've had a few fake-outs now...so real seeming that my parents drove down in the middle of the night. (sigh) I feel bad about that. But at least there is some extra Everett/Grandparent time, which is always good for all parties. Due date is Thursday, and the dr won't let us go more than a week past that with my history of c-section. So here we'll be...waiting! Come on baby!
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