Updates on Kiah and Sarah

Hi everyone. Thanks for being patient. We've had a crazy couple days, and I'll go over in part, what's going on now, and a bit of what the delivery was like.

Sarah had some contractions last Wednesday night. We went to the mall, and walked around a little bit, and after we got home, I went to take a nap in case we were going to go into labor that night. I woke up around 10:30 and Sarah was pretty serious about the contractions. I updated the blog, and did a few other things and slept for another hour. She tried to sleep, but didn't, and woke me up at 1:30 with the news that we needed to leave NOW. We did, and we arrived at the hospital around 2:00. We walked to the check in, and at her first checkup, Sarah was 5cm dialated already. She was 10cm by 6am, so 5cm in 4 hours was pretty impressive. The nurses wheeled a baby warmer in, and Sarah started pushing. Her doctor arrived about an hour later and after taking a look at Sarah, let us know that she shouldn't be pushing yet. That there was still some cervix left to dialate, and that we were just bruising the baby. So we did some more contraction handling, and were soon at the pushing stage officially. Now for the uninitiated, dialation of the cervix requires breathing through contractions. You're not pushing, you're simply surviving. Once they let you push, as I understand it, it is alot more gratifying. And shorter. Generally. According to a book we have, the pushing phase of childbirth should last 1 push to 2 hours. Sarah pushed for 3. With no pain medication. No local anisthetic, no epideral. Nothing. She's like a legend now. Doctors were gathering outside the room to see the girl with no pain medication. One of them told me it's one in a hundred, but probably more than a hundred...

Anyway, during the labor, our doctor, a very smart lady, tried to use a vaccuum to help extract the baby while Sarah pushed. But, it was unsuccessful. They only try 3-4 times, because there's just too much risk of hurting the baby. I forgot to mention, that for the doctor to even attempt to use the vaccuum (the modern alternative to forceps) she would have to be able to see Kiah's head. Which we could! Sarah had been pushing so hard, that he was crowning. Almost there. But stuck. It was so hard to see him so close, only to go through contraction after contraction, pushing and pushing, with no forward movement. I asked doctor Schwietzer what she thought, and she said that after a few more pushes, we might have to move to a c-section. She gave Sarah the benefit of the doubt, and waited until even Sarah had given up hope of pushing him out. She said it later, but I'll say it now, the doctor believed that it was the right decision because it was made at a point when Kiah still had a strong heartbeat, and wasn't in too much distress. If we had kept trying, the results could have been very bad.

We moved Sarah to the operating room, while she tried to control her contractions. Go back to breathing... try not to push... It was really hard on her. They had me get into operating clothes, and let me bring my camera. I had to wait outside the room for 10-15 minutes while they prepped her, and got her epideral in place. They called me in, and I sat next to her head while Dr. Schwietzer and another doctor operated. Several nurses, and a pediatrician for Kiah assisted. After a little while of talking to eachother quietly, Sarah heard a squeek over at the pediatrician's table. Then a cry. She said "Is that him?" and I looked to see, and yes it was. They had extracted him a few moments before, and were cleaning him off and giving him oxygen. He was blue, and squished, and looked bruised all over. It turned out that the worst of his bruising was on his face. He had been sunny side up, or facing the wrong way, and would never have come out. We made the right decision and just in time.

The hard part was then going with the baby to the Infant ward where they treat distressed babies, and leaving Sarah behind. But they had to stitch her up and get her to recovery. While I waited with Kiah, they got some saleen going through his system to boost his circulation, and gave him a little oxygen. I took pictures and a video or two, so that Sarah could see him, and when I was comfortable with how he was doing, I went to find her. I found her recovering, and I changed clothes back to my street clothes after showing her the pics and video. She was happy to see him doing well, but wanted to be with him. I ran back and forth between them for awhile, until we all got to be up in the mother/baby ward, where she still is now.

Sarah got to hold the baby for about 20 minutes before I had to take him back to the nursery for them to check his vitals. It was fast though, and I got him back to her in minutes. Her mom arrived soon after that from her flight and shuttle ride from Chicago. That's where most of the pics that you've seen have come from. That period of time.

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Since then, Kiah has been trying to nurse, but hasn't done real well yet. He'll have to get it, and hasn't been peaceful enough to. The first deal was his blood sugar level, so they poked and prodded, and fed him formula. Now he has jaundice, so the poke and prod him and make us feed him formula. We chose a soy formula so that he won't have any bad reactions. Sarah couldn't eat formula as a baby, and we don't want to chance it. The jaundice is pretty bad, so they have him under this crazy blue light. He has to wear these little eye covers, and is away from us all the time. They bring Sarah to him so that she can try and feed him, but he's so comforted by her holding him that he falls asleep instantly when she holds him. He's so stressed and worn. So is she. She misses him, and so do I for that matter, but I've been in the nursery with him alot, making sure that they don't neglect him, or let him scream, or forget to feed him... Every time we just "trust" them, it hasn't worked out, so I ride them like a bull. Every nurse has a different opinion, different info, different levels of interest in our well being. One will say that the baby should never have water, the other will list it has her first suggestion. One will say that she'll wake Sarah up to feed and forget, while another will bust into the room, give Sarah a time limit, and demand she feed him that instant. They're really not bad as a hospital goes, but they try our patience.

At this point, Kiah is still under the lights. Sarah tries to breastfeed every few hours, I feed him soy after she's done. She doesn't want Kiah associating her smell with bottle feeding. It gives us both bonding time, but we miss him. I hope he'll come back to the room with us tomorrow.

Sarah's mom has been awesome. We've gotten to spend some fun time together, and with Sarah. Trying to be supportive.

Well, I am bushed. I'm off to bed. Love you all, hope the update was good. More pics to come!

Hezekiah Immanuel Miller

Hezekiah Immanuel Miller
Born: May 25, 2006 @ 10:53 am
Weight: 8 pounds, 13 ounces
Length: 21 inches
He was delivered emergency c-section after a ton of natural labor.

Here's an early picture of me and the boy after the surgery.

Another early pic.


The new mommy.


Kiah and his giant red hat. He was happier than he looks... really.


Sarah's mom flew out to help out in our early weeks with the baby.


Giving eachother funny looks...



Well. That's it for now. I just wanted to run home for a couple minutes to update you all.
I'll write about the whole labor later.

Distractions, contractions and contraptions.

Well. Here we are. Once again in the middle of the night. Obviously things aren't too crazy, or I'd be in the hospital, not blogging, but if we're reading the signs right, and there are a ton of them, we're heading into labor within the next few hours.

Sarah's contractions are about 10-15 minutes apart. Some less than that, but on an average, 10-15. They've been that way for a few hours. Seemingly getting a bit stronger. She's had every sign in the book, short of her water breaking, so we're pretty excited. I got about 3 hours sleep, and woke up around 10:30. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a few more minutes rest before we need to leave for the hospital. Sarah's been resting as best as possible, and drinking more water than Robin Williams on broadway.

We've been trying to remember everything. Charge the camera battery. Remember the iPod and cds... Pack our toiletries... We have changes of clothes in our bags, and snacks for me.

We ended up in the hospital for a few hours on Tuesday. Sarah went in for her checkup, and the baby's heartbeat was a bit fast, so the doctor sent us over to Memorial to have Sarah monitered for awhile. It gave us a chance to see the facilities a bit better. We've been on two tours, but I got to see the little kitchen area, where I can get water, juice or popsicles for Sarah, and coffee for me. We weren't sure what was going to happen, but we had brought our bags, so just in case they needed to induce her or anything... we were ready. But after two hours, they let us go home, and told Sarah to drink as much water as possible. That his heartbeat was fast, but still acceptable. He's just active they said. Which is funny. He seems like a quiet baby for the most part, with active moments.

He's probably just getting ready.

I got an email from a dear friend, and while I think he was joking, I can see how some people would actually think that the name "Kiah" is somehow tied to a certain Korean car company of a similar name. I then realized that I don't believe I've ever explained the reasons behind the name in the blog, and if there were ever a time, I guess it's now.

If indeed we are having a boy, and not just an incredibly devious girl with athletic sonogram abilities, we are naming our baby Hezekiah Immanuel. We'll call him Kiah for short, but the name Hezekiah is one that I've grown up loving, and that Sarah has fallen for as well.

Hezekiah was the name of a king of Judah in the old testament. His father was an evil man, but despite that fact, when Hezekiah took over at the age of 25, he didn't waste a day turning the country around. Within 3 weeks he had instigated a complete turnaround. He brought the people back to God. Back to where they should be. Under his kingship, the nation of Israel withstood some of it's heaviest attacks and continued to prosper. In his entire reign, he only made one serious mistake, the consequences of which, he'd never even see. When we think of the things we want for our son, we think of leadership. Wisdom. A heart for the needs of others. And the name Hezekiah is a fitting one for someone with those qualities. Kiah seems like the best shortening of the name, and is kind of fun to say.

Immanuel means "God with us." If there's been one all encompassing statement that's surrounded us this year, it's that God has not, and will not forsake us. No matter the circumstances of life. We've been so encouraged by all He's seen us through. Plus, a short name after Hezekiah would sound stupid. "Hi, I'm Hezekiah Joe!" Sounds like a forty niner or something... "Hi, I'm stinky Pete!"

Well, I'll keep you updated. Hopefully we'll have a picture post soon that won't consist of internet humor, but will instead having a healthy baby boy. Not to mention, that if we have him today, my brother Ezra will be insanely happy. I mean, insanely happy. He turns 11 today, and has been pushing us to have the baby on his birthday since he found out the due date.

P.S. Sarah and I went to the mall yesterday and saw baseball caps on sale. 2 for $14... so Sarah got her Cubbies hat, and I got a Sox hat. So now we can represent! Nice. Jim, don't give her too hard a time. Her grandmother was a fan, and Sarah's love of her grandma clouded her judgement growing up. We can't all be St. Louis fans...

Middle of the night.

It's the middle of the night. Or the beginning, depending on one's perspective. Either way. It's 12:30 am.

I went to bed at 7:30, having been up since 3 as usual. I wanted to try to get a full 8 hours, but when I woke up to get a drink about 11:30, Sarah was in bed too, and still awake.

I asked her how she was doing, and she has been having contractions. Not steady yet, but we're getting there. I'm so excited right now, I just can't sleep. I should be trying... if today is the day, we've got alot ahead of us, and being rested will help a ton. I got up and finished a mix cd for Sarah during labor. (They let you bring your own cds...) I will go to work at 4 if nothing is steady, but I'll be ready to run home if she needs me.

In other exciting news... I GOT THE JOB! Pretty awesome. They made me an offer yesterday, which I accepted. I start on the 30th. So just a few more days of being a valet. I'm very excited. All these changes at once... feels, well... feels like normal. I won't be starting in the restaurant like I first believed, instead, I will be starting in the front office/desk area. My least favourite area, but who knows? I may end up loving it. I can't wait to wear a suit to work.

Well, I'm gonna go try sleeping. Before I go, here's the playlist to the cd I made Sarah for labor. If you want a peaceful, but inspiring mix... look no further. I'm real happy with it.

Labor Day (ha ha) mix

1. The Golden Age, by Beck
2. Switching Off, by Elbow
3. Bob Dylan's 49th Beard, by Wilco
4. Gravity, by Vienna Teng
5. The Princess Bride, by Willy DeVille & Mark Knopfler
6. Baby Mine (Dumbo cover), by Allison Kraus
7. Tomorrow, Tomorrow, by Elliot Smith
8. Boadicea, by Enya
9. Bothered, by Over the Rhine
10. Time After Time, by Cindi Lauper
11. Halo Friendly, by Damien Jurado
12. I Didn't Know About You, by Karrin Allyson
13. Miles, by Over the Rhine
14. Lullaby, by Pedro the Lion
15. Rest Easy, by Audio Adrenaline
16. Fade Into You, by Mazzy Star
17. Sleeping In, by the Postal Service
18. Let Down, by Radiohead
19. Tell Me How, by Rosie Thomas