Day 1

Allow me to take you through our past 3 days.

Monday at 7:30 we left the house for the hospital.  As you can imagine we were so jazzed up that we didn't get much sleep the night before.  After we checked in and moved into our room, they administered the Pitosin, the drug that causes induction.  At about noon Kristina had the epidural put in and she quickly felt pretty crappy.  She just didn't react very well to any of the drugs they gave her.  After a long nap, the doctor checked her and she was 1 cm dilated.  Kristina was in and out of sleep for the rest of the night, while her mother, my brother and I watched TV, read and drank 96 oz of coffee.   We finally called it a night at about 4:00am.  

Three hours later, everyone was up and the doctor came back to try to break Kristina's water.  She was still only 1 cm dilated and he couldn 't do it.  He came back at 10:15 to try again to break it.  Again he failed.  With great resignation, the doctor decided to send her in for a cesarian section.  It was amazing to see Kristina's attitude change quickly.  She was thrilled to see a light at the end of the long tunnel of pregnancy.  

At 11:20 the nurses wheeled Kristina into the operating room and I scrubbed in.  By 11:55 we had a bouncing baby boy.  Benjamin, his first name, was a name we both initially liked; I  because it starts with a "B" and she because it is bilingual.  Charles, his middle name, is a significant name for both of our families, so that was easily agreed upon.  It is important for us to include his Latino heritage in his name, so we included Ortega as a second middle name.  Of course we end with the powerful Lowdermilk.  

After they took him out, they told me I could take pictures.  While they finished stitching up Kristina, I followed Benjamin to the recovery room where a nurse measured (21 3/4 inches long), weighed (7.6 lbs.) and tested his joints.  I held the new addition while the new mom rested up .  We were a family.

Since then it's been a whirlwind.  Once my adrenaline wore off, I realized how tired I was.  We had some guests last night and Kristina gradually got more energy and spunk.  We all slept well last night, and if we hadn't work Benjamin up to eat, he would have slept through the night.  Today we've had more guests and more food.  The baby has been a treat to watch, despite the fact that he just eats and sleeps.  

A few interesting facts about Benjamin's auspicious birth date:

1. It's also the day Charles Dickins died (good riddance).

2. Secretariat won the Triple Crown.

3. Les Paul, Natalie Portman, Peter the Great, Dick Vitale, Michael J Fox and Johnny Depp all share a birthday with Benjamin Charles Ortega Lowdermilk.

Enjoy the pictures!

39 Weeks

Okay, it's official.  On June 8th--a Monday--at 8:00am, Kristina and I have an appointment to have a baby.  Set your clocks.  Ready your tear ducts.  Practice swaddling the dog.  Nemo's coming.

Of course we'll update the blog once we have the little guy or girl.  

38 Weeks

So we went to the doctor today and he backed down from June 3.  Now he seems pretty sure we'll induce on June 8.  We'll know for sure on June 2.  Kristina is 40cm.  Have a good day!

37 Weeks

A full term woman is 38 cm at 38 weeks.  At 36 weeks, Kristina was 39 cm.  We've got a big baby and the doctor wants to get him or her out.  

36 Weeks

Doctor says you can pencil in a June 3rd date for induction.  Get ready!

35 Weeks

As you've noticed, we've fallen behind in updating our blog.  We're really starting 36 weeks.  We've been pretty busy preparing for two big things.  First, obviously, the baby.  The baby's room is almost totally done.   Pictures hung, crib made up, diapers at the ready.  

But we're also preparing for another big event.  On Wednesday, I'm going into surgery for my jaw. 

Because of the long recovery from the surgery, it's going to be hard to update the blog for the next couple of weeks.  Of course, if we receive any information about when the doctor's might want to induce Kristina, we'll let everyone know.  

In the meantime, enjoy this picture of Kristina from last weekend.

34 Weeks

Lowdermilk's are bigger than Ortega's. Kristina had a doctor's appointment yesterday and the only interesting news is that the doctor believes he might have to induce our little bundle of joy. By his estimation the baby already has the feet of Grandpa Bloom (size 14), the wingspan of Brady (6'6") and, to the chagrin of Kristina, the head size of Casey (38" inches around). Kristina, whose Mexican heritage isn't known for it's gargantuan-ness, just wasn't built for that strong German, Irish, Sweedish and Russian blood. So, Lowdermilk's are bigger than Ortega's.

He suggested that if Nemo continues to grow at this rate, he will set a date for induction in early June--as early as the 1st of June.

Kristina and I are thrilled at this prospect for a few reasons. First, she won't have to be miserably huge in the crazy heat that we've been experiencing out here for too much longer. Also, as soon as they give her the drug to induce, they also give her pain medication, so she could concieveably not even feel contractions. I like the idea of induction because it takes the guess work and surprise out of the whole process. I won't have to break land speed records to get to the hospital. I won't inevateably forget something when we rush off to the hospital. Also our families can be more prepared and ready at the hospital. Most importantly, we can get down to the fun part of pregnancy--a baby.

If the baby has Lowdermilk size, what will Nemo take from the Ortega/LaRue side? Perfect skin? A penache for word play? An olive shaped face? A cantkerous attitude towards people in charge? We'll just have to see. Only 6 weeks left--at most!

We'll update the baby sign language in a couple of days.  Hope all is well.