Introduction to the world of... Roland Paul Klinge

Hello all... I had a baby last week, what did you do? I would love to share with you on this blog the weekly updates of no longer me but of Rollie. After all, it is all about him forever on.

First up: Birth Story
I went in to my scheduled appointment on November 23rd to check in on our baby and believe it or not, convinced my doctor that I should be induced that night. That isn't the whole story but it is the truth. He was overbooked on Wednesday (the day I was scheduled to give birth) and also was seeing enough progression to not hold off another day. SOOOO... we left the clinic and immediately went to Great Dane Pub for our "Last Supper" before baby. It was surreal to be honest. On the way there, we called all parties involved to tell them the change and then we ate very slowly and peacefully one last time. We then came home and made sure the house was ready for company and that we had all items needed/wanted. It is amazing how a momma-to-be is so prepared with the hospital bag but then adds two more bags seeing that the time has really come!
We were admitted at 9p that night and just hung out/slept until 2:30a. At this time my water broke with a lil pill assistance that induction does to soften the cervix. I thought for real that I had wet the bed X10. It felt like my water broke throughout the entire night until I got some medium contractions. I am not sure still if I have a high pain tolerance or if I just had weak contractions but the time came for Doc to suggest progression and for them to give me potocin to get this baby out within the 24 hours of my water breaking. I was totally against the idea of meds but when Doc told me that progression was needed, I told of baby and not myself. So, at 7a I started with the drug. HELLO CONTRACTIONS!
I was increased amounts throughout the day and the doctors waited for enough progression to see if baby was coming into the world. At 3p, Doc told me I was still at 4cm and determined that baby was stuck in a crevice of my body and my body needed to be relaxed fully for him to get moving again. Solution: Epidural. I got a tad nervous hearing that baby was still not progressing and Doc let me know he wasn't overly concerned but he would recommend an epidural for safety measures. That folks, is all I needed to hear to know that my plan was completely gone for a med free procedure and I was another tally of a brave momma for letting go of my plans and thinking of baby first. That epidural though... the guy really numbed me up. I had completely no feeling in my lower half until 30 minutes after baby was born.
Timeline continues... so at 3p I got the epidural and at 7:30p I started pushing my baby out due to my body relaxing and my cone-headed baby was in go position. I pushed. I pushed some more. I pushed even more. Because I had absolutely no feeling below my sternum, it took me trial and error to find the region of my body (muscle group) to focus on and that being said pushed for 2 hours straight. At this point, I was a mess and Doc was seeing a complication: Baby needed help with the exit door. So... along came the pre-finale: a cute lil 2cm horizontal episiotomy. He needed my consent and I gave it to him. I would have given him all the treasures of this world if he asked for it being that I pushed for 2 hours.
Then folks... Rollie came into this world with one last push. He was plopped onto my chest with all the slime to share. I loved him immediately and then they took him to his warming station due to Rollie feasting on meconium through the drown out process and needed to be suctioned for a lil. He didn't full out cry until an hour of life as he was given his first bath but oh those sweet, fussy noises that he made just melted me. All in all... my baby was born perfect in all areas of the word and I have the rest of his life to forget those 24.5 hours of labor and delivery.

Next up: First Days of Life
I was surprised how fast they ship you out of delivery into a recovery room. It was all but a hour post baby that it took for me to be reacquainted with another hospital bed. Rollie took a lil to follow me but dad stayed by his side the entire time we were in the hospital. It was utterly precious how involved Caleb stayed in the whole process. I am so thankful for the man who is the father to my child. Peeps, he is the real deal.
When Rollie arrived in the room he was zonked out and so was the two of us so we just went to sleep and recovered until morning (beside feedings every three hours of course). When morning arrived the family re-visited to the hospital to hold Rollie and to spend some time that didn't get the night before. When all family came and went, Caleb and I feasted on a gourmet, hospital meal and then watched TV before heading to bed. Rollie passed all of his tests the next morning and even got a circumcision to round out his whole hospital visit.
We were discharged on Thanksgiving morning and I shed a few tears knowing this was it for 24-7 nurse care and now 24-7 mom care had begun. Before leaving the hospital, the lactation consultants made sure that feedings were going fine and they felt they were. More on this in about 6 sentences...
Rollie was a champ in the care seat and when we got home, Thanksgiving preparations were in full swing at our house. Momma Klinge was on turkey duty and we all ate a meal together when we arrived. I could not have asked for a better "Welcome Home" than for family to be gathered for a holiday feast.
Once all parties left to go home, my sis-in-law, Beth, stayed to help with the first nights of being home. I cannot thank her enough still for the help she gave us. She was planning to stay for about 5 days but then Saturday afternoon came. We had a lactation appointment for a follow-up and I was eager to go because Rollie was not able to feed for about a day and I could not figure out what else to do. We arrived at the lady's office and she did her check-ups and then his weight. Rollie was born with 8lbs and 7 oz or baby chub but at the appointment he measured down about a pound. This being said we had to do some blood samples as Rollie was introduced to formula. The poor guy was so hungry but just could not feed off mom due to... Rollie was tongue-tied. Meaning: that stringy thing under your tongue that keeps your tongue from going out of control gave Rollie not opportunity to create a grip on feeding and therefore by the time I got home with him, his tongue ticked him off enough for him to stop trying to feed and just scream at me in frustration.
Back to the appointment: Rollie's blood results came back and we found out that he needed to be admitted to the NICU due to dehydration. Talk about a first-time-mom cry fest. I had a very hard time with myself not providing for him adequately and for my baby needing the NICU. The best part of the 27 hour-time in the NICU was that Rollie created his own sleep/eat schedule that he is rocking to this day. The worst part: he is now my formula-fed baby boy and I am a supplemental-milk mom. Does that affect me some days? Yes, but here is the thing; my baby needs what is best for him, not me. If this is how he needs to be raised to be as healthy and happy that he is then that is exactly how I want it to be.
Since being home for almost a week from the NICU, Rollie is just the best baby. He eats about 4oz at each feeding and we wake him every 3-4 hours to feed him. He is in the 85th percentile so far in all avenues other than weight and is SO close to getting there too. Other than that, he loves time on the couch with dad and he loves to snuggle as he burps on mom's warm chest. We love him oh so much and he could not be any better of a baby to us.

Next week: nursery reveal and Rollie's first trip in the car. See you all real soon, ya hear? Until then... here is a photo purge of my handsome chunk of love. Enjoy!

Sleeping the Day Away

First Bath at Home

Carseat Junkie

Wide-Eyed and Content