Otis' Birth Story

Otis' Birth Story

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Six Weeks

Six weeks (and a few days) have come and gone. Though with the other two boys, I felt a definite sadness with the passing of time; this time I do not. It has been a really hard six weeks. I am not going to sugar coat it at all. Otis seems to have a bit of colic and that makes what would already be challenging, just down right hard. There are predictably fussy times (like evenings) and we are beginning to figure out his cues and what works to calm him, but there are also very unpredictably fussy times. He seems to be very easily over-stimulated. Why on earth the universe decided to deliver me a third boy that is easily over-stimulated, I'll never know! The poor guy has little chance for quiet. We try to provide it as best we can, but I am not going "shhh" Sam and Arlo all the time. We compromise and during his fussiest hours (which happen to be before bed times anyway), we try to keep it more mellow. He is an exceptional sleeper at night and that has been a saving grace. Things are certainly getting better. Whether it is because he is getting older, or I figured out the food sensitivities, or we learned some of the triggers and soothers, or the frequent trips to the chiropractor; I don't know, but I have stopped trying to figure him out and am just trying to accept him. I have also stopped comparing him to Arlo as a baby or Sam as a baby. He is Otis as a baby and he is pretty damn cute (even when he cries).

Sam and Arlo are doing wonderfully and taking this all in stride! I am very lucky to have such aware and accepting kids who really love their little brother despite his current disposition. They both try to offer suggestions as to why he might be crying like, "maybe he needs milk", or "maybe he wants to be held", or "maybe he wants to eat some cheese"...most of the time they are great suggestions. Arlo seems to be rebelling a bit lately and I have noticed him acting out for attention. We are trying to nip that in the bud with more direct one-on-one positive attention. Although today was a challenging day and Arlo threw a sippy cup onto Otis' head in the carseat and then a piece of cheese. Whether he was trying to "soothe" Otis with the cheese after the sippy cup hit his head, I'll never know!

The first two pictures below were taken by my friend Shelie, who took the amazing images of me in my last days of Otis' pregnancy. Otis was about a month old in them. Since then he has lost a lot of hair and now smiles! The lower three are more recent images I took. Otis is six weeks old and you can see the hair loss. Sam and Arlo are being the creative little monsters we usually see in the other two. They really have become excellent friends and despite the occasional argument, they play together very well and it is a lot of fun to watch. Sometimes we see super heroes or transformers running around our house and usually they carry some sort of gun they have made from legos, or blocks or something of the sort. Arlo especially likes to make guns out of everything, even the crust on his sandwiches!

All in all we are getting by quite nicely and enjoying most of our waking moments. Spring has certainly sprung around here. We have twelve new baby chicks in our brooding box, little flowers and perrenial herbs and things popping up everywhere and the apple trees are just about to blossom. There is lots happening outside on the homestead...but that is for another post...

A Non-Baby Post

Well, for those of you that read my blog somewhat regularly, I am sure you are getting sick of baby talk...baby this, baby that, isn't my darling chubby baby so cute, blah, blah, blah?
So, in an effort to keep all my readers entertained and to let you all know that even though my 24 hours a day is consumed by baby right now, even down to smelling like baby when baby is sleeping and I have a moment to myself...I am going to post about something non-baby.

I am a frequent reader of Franklin Habit's knitting blog The Panopticon. He's a writer, cartoonist, knitter and photographer in Chicago and I really enjoy his writing style, humor, sensitivity and his fantastic knitting! His most recent post, Strangers on a Train, made my jaw drop. Go ahead, click the link, read the post; I'll wait for you.

Appalling, isn't it? I suppose being a white woman in a more liberal part of the Midwest puts me in a fairly safe place. I am not likely to be in a situation where I will be heckled or singled out. Even breast feeding (oops, that is baby related) in public is accepted here.
Being so safe in my place I forget that there are truly ignorant folks out there. Franklin poses a great question at the end...if two very different people with opposing views can not find the gumption to endure a simple conversation on a train together; "how are opposing politicians and entire countries going to reach accord?"

There really is a world outside of my comfy little home and it isn't always as sweet as my darling little baby (sorry, had to get that in there).

Three Weeks Today

 

Tradition

When Arlo was a baby my father-in-law, Jim, found a photograph I had taken of Sam when he was about a week old (you can see it in Sam's hand). He suggested we take a photo of Sam holding his one week photo and Arlo at one week, together (see image at bottom).
Naturally, as a week drew near, Matt and I wanted to follow tradition and here you have it.

My three sons at one week of age,
2 years and 3 months of age and
4 years and 11 months of age.

Sam at 2 years and 7 months of age and Arlo at around one week.

One Week Later

The first few days after Otis was born things were a little crazy around here. On Sunday we had a handful of visitors, mainly Jane and Dave and their daughter Molly. Dave is on crutches due to a broken ankle and he crawled up the stairs to see me and meet Otis! Needless to say, once he was up he was going to hang out for a while! I was still on "baby-high" and hung out in bed while he and Matt played chess; we ordered Indian food for dinner and all ate in the bedroom. It was very nice.
But Otis was having some very rapid breathing and strange tremors in his hands and legs. The midwives were concerned and thought it might be due to low blood sugar. They told us that babies over 11 pounds often have these issues before the mother's milk comes in. I have two breastfeeding friends and they brought milk to the house. We made a breast milk cocktail of the two mothers' milks and gave it to Otis. It seemed to help, but the 4 oz. we had wasn't enough to sustain him and we had a very rough Sunday night of 5 hours of off and on screaming.
By Monday morning his breathing had not improved and we were getting worried. Our midwives suggested we take him to our pediatrician, whom happens to be the husband of another one of our midwives. He is very supportive of home birth (obviously, if he's married to a midwife) and we trusted that he wouldn't just shuttle us off to the hospital. He felt that a chest x-ray would be good to make sure everything in Otis' lungs was clear. He also ordered a chest x-ray for me because my bronchitis was still hanging around! we made our way to the hospital for the x-rays, which went very smooth and Otis did really well in the car seat.
The x-rays came back clear for Otis and showed no signs of pneumonia for me, so we were glad to have that put behind us.
Tuesday was a turning point for us all. My milk came in and Otis was happy! So happy! He is a great nurser and seems to be giving us 3 hour stretches at night. Aside from a little gas from time to time, he is pretty much the perfect little baby.
In all of our runnings around on Monday, one of my stitches from the birth came out and I have been ordered to stay in bed a little longer than normal. The bronchitis wasn't clearing up with the first round of meds so now I am on Prednisone....but after 5 really good days of rest; very little walking, lots of sleep and water; I am beginning to feel really good. This next week will be very good for us all. Otis and I are getting downstairs some, eating with the family, socializing and it all feels like we're settling in to our family of five.

One week old




Matt's mom, Pat, is here helping...and boy is she a great big help!! She is really keeping the house running, with help from Matt (and Sam and Arlo). But she is amazing. It isn't easy to take over someone else's household and make it work, but she sure knows how to do it....and can the woman cook!!!! I am being fed like every new nursing mother should be! She'll be here until the 30th. Matt's dad, Jim, will join us on Thursday. They have plans to take Sam to see The Lion King broadway show that is here in Lansing for a bit next weekend! Sam is thrilled and I am thrilled that he gets to go.
The boys are adjusting well. It has been a good slow introduction for them. Now that I am a little more active and around them more with Otis, they'll get to help and interact a bit more. Arlo seems to be having a little more trouble with the adjustment (he's been acting out a little, but he's also sowing his 2 year old oats). Sam has been wonderful! He helps and wants to hold Otis. They have both been surprisingly patient as well.
I am still working on a birth story. It is harder to write than I though it would be. Time will help and in the next few days I think it will be done. I'll post with pictures then.

Spring Brings New Life

Otis James Haviland was born at home, as planned, at 10:36 this morning, weighing in at 11 lbs 14 oz., 22 in long...we are both just fine after 7 hours of laboring.
Not an easy labor, by any means, but an excellent reminder of how capable our bodies are when left to do things naturally.

We are all so excited to finally have him here. Sam and Arlo did great. Sam was a big part of the labor, holding my hand through contractions, watching Otis come out and cutting the cord!

Otis is nursing like a champ...a lot!
A more detailed birth story to follow.