Charlotte makes a grand entrance

Theodore Roosevelt once said "Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty."  

Kari and I were scheduled to go in for the C-Section on August 7th (a day before her due date).  Our appointment was for 2pm, which allowed Kari to have a full breakfast and let us get all our things together, including Ryan.  Ryan's knew something was going on this day and requested we dress him in his Spider man costume...who am I to argue.

Spider man is ready!

We drove over to my mother's house and dropped off Ryan.  We then headed over to the hospital and decided to park in the long term parking lot, which allows you to park as long as you want for $4.  The only challenge is that you can enter the parking lot, but can not exit without getting a token in the hospital lobby.  The problem: the lot was full!  This meant that we could not park and we could not EXIT! 

We were not alone, as 2 other cars came in after and proceeded to circle the parking lot.  I saw another car was going to enter the lot and quickly drove over to the entrance and beeped my horn.  I was hoping the car would cause the gate to open and I could quickly drive out.  I would then do the same for the other cars in the lot...I would be a HERO!  That did not happen.  Instead the woman driving the car kept telling me that the exit was on the other side and refused to listen to me and entered the parking lot.  Once she got closer to my car, I told her the lot was full and I was trying to tell her not to enter.  She apologized.  Soon after that, a woman walked into the lot and removed her car and I was able to take her spot.  Another person had already informed security who said they would let the other drivers out.  

Once we were in the hospital, we quickly made our way to Labor and Delivery and registered.  They took Kari into a waiting area for triage.  We spoke with one nurse and another and another, answering what seemed like the same questions.  That said, we were used to that and really did not bother us.  We were excited about our new arrival and anxious to see if it was a boy or a girl.  The nurses shared in our excitement as most deliveries that day were known genders.  Within 30 minutes, we were setup in a labor room which had a bed, two recliners and a tv.  We had a good hour before our scheduled 2pm appointment, but knew we would have to wait as our doctor was "behind schedule".  So we did what anyone would do and watched some quality daytime television like "Botched".  It helped take our eyes off of the clock, but also made us realize that there are some strange people out there.

Yikes!

Soon enough, the DR and OR nurses came in and discussed the next steps.  The moment had then arrived and we were heading over to the OR.  I was able to walk right up to the door, but had to wait while Kari was prepped.  During the preparation Kari was given a Spinal Block, which is an injection into her spine to numb her from the waist down.  This was different from an epidural in that it is a one time shot, not an ongoing feed.  The wait for Kari's prep seemed to take an eternity.  While I was waiting, I started to get really excited about the gender of the baby.  I did not have any intuition about it and could not wait to find out.  The moment had arrived, they called me into the OR.

When I walked into the OR, they had Kari on the operating table with a sheet hanging right around her upper chest, blocking the area were they would perform the incision.  She was doing well and we were both ready to get started.  Soon after they started, Kari started to feel burning and I heard our DR say "you can feel that?"  I was not sure what was going on, but assumed that it was something the DR's would handle.  They continued on and Kari felt more pain and pressure.  The anesthesiologist looked over the curtain at the DR and they exchanged some words.  I could not tell you exactly what they said, but there was a bit of tension in the air and something was not right.  They continued and Kari still felt the pain.  She had to be restrained and ultimately administered propofol (simply put, they were knocking her out).  I really don't know how much time had passed, but it felt like forever.  Kari had her eyes open and was talking, but was far from conscious.  I heard them say that the head was out and then they said "It's a girl".  A girl?  I could not believe it.  Neither could Kari.  She said "I can't believe it".  But what should of been pure joy and excitement were now anxiety and fear for Kari.  One of the other DR's called me over to the table where they had Charlotte and told me to take a picture.  I followed her instructions and took the picture.  They then wrapped her up and took her back to Kari, but she was out cold at this point.  Did she know she had a girl or was that buried in her subconscious?  Charlotte was born on 8/7/2014 at 4:39pm  8lbs 40z and 20.5 inches long.

Charlotte Jean Duffy

Next thing I know, I am following the DR down to the nursery to get Charlotte height and weight.  The nurse measured her and told me I should get my family in the waiting room.  In all honesty, I must say that was the last thing I wanted to do.  I did not want anyone to see Charlotte before Kari, but that was just not a practical thing to do.  I did not know how long Kari would be in the OR or in recovery.  So I went up to the 2nd floor, put on a pink shirt we had purchased and told everyone the good news.  Everyone was happy.  Ryan was there, but he could care less.  Everyone asked how Kari was and I said she was fine.  

We went to the nursery and got our first glance at Charlotte.  The first thing everyone said was "look at that hair".  It was a sight to see.  She had a full head of dark hair.  It was even darker once the nurses cleaned her up and combed it.

Look at my hair

Even Ryan wanted to get in on the action and see his new sister.  He did not fully understand what was going on, but wanted to see what everyone was exited about.

"We should leave her here"

I asked Ryan if we should take her home or leave her here and he advised that we should leave her here!!  We stared at Charlotte for a while, but I was anxious to get everyone out so that I could check on Kari.  Fortunately, Ryan was getting restless and everyone else was tired from waiting hours (some were there since 2pm).  I told everyone that it would be best to come back tomorrow, once we get a room and are settled in.  They agreed and left.  I then went up to the recovery room to visit Kari.

It took almost an hour to get Kari into the recovery room.  She was still heavily medicated and very drowsy.  She had told me that the DR told her she had a girl once she had woken up.  She then asked to see the pictures of Charlotte.  Not the way I wanted her to first see Charlotte.  She had the same reaction about the hair!  It took us a very long time to get a room, but we were able to secure a private room and finally got to meet Charlotte in person.  It was about 11pm when they brought Charlotte in.  We stayed with her for a few minutes, but Kari needed to rest and we sent her back down to the nursery.  Kari was quickly sleeping and I went home to get a good night's rest.  

I believe Mr. Roosevelt is right.

A moment to remember

There are moments in life you will never forget and today I had one of those moments. My young son, Ryan, rolled up a news paper and headed to our library to read about the day's news and continue a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation. He took his time and when he was ready, the magic happened. With a soft plop and a courtesy flush, Ryan went from being a boy to a man and a tear ran down my face. I am proud of you son.

Time flies when you are pregnant

It has been some time since my last post and boy have we been busy.  As you probably already know, Kari is pregnant with child #2, AKA Cliff, and has a due date of 8/8/2014.  Of course she is not too happy with that due date as she will probably go into labor on her birthday!

Ryan on the other hand is not sure what to think of the baby growing in mommy's belly.  Over the past couple of weeks, he has started to refer to her belly as the baby, but I am almost certain he does not fully understand what that means.

Kari and I have also not fully accepted the new baby.  When we were pregnant with Ryan, we had everything planned out, were constantly talking about names and had his room painted.  The second time around, we are not quite there.  We are not 100% sure where the baby will sleep and are no where near a name.  The funny thing is, it does not seem to bother us too much.  I guess it is true what they say about the 2nd child.

How is Puddles doing you ask?  She is fine.  She is certainly getting older, but doing well.  She does enjoy the daily walk with Ryan to the park and still attempts to chase a squirrel every once in a while.

Winter looks like it is finally coming to an end and that means more time outside!!  We already took a bike trip last weekend when we had one day over 50 degrees.  Hoping for more soon.

From Cliff