It's a Boy!

WE HAVE AN OUTSIDE BABY BOY!!

I was soooo wrong - totally thought Baby was a girl!!! We are doing really well; Patrick and I are soooo in love with Finley.

After my doctor's appointment on Wednesday, things progressed in the evening. After a few calls to Labor & Delivery I went in. We checked-in at 11:30 p.m. and I was dilated to 5-6 cm. We were keepers! The contractions were uncomfortable, but never exteremely painful. For fear of missing the window of opportunity; my epidural was started around 1:30 a.m. - best thing ever! Now they just need to invent one with a little anti-anxiety medicine - perfect! I was scared out of my mind!

Around 6:30 a.m. I'd only progressed to 7 cm - obviously things were slowing down. I was catheterized and things stopped! At 7:15 Dr. Rogers decided to break my water to get things contracting again - it worked. At 9:00ish I was fully dilated, 100% effaced and ready to push (so the nurse told me). I was again scared of what was to come....

At 9:20 a.m. the nurse was teaching me how/when to push, we were going to "practice" a few. After two practice pushes she decided we didn't have time to practice, we did a few real pushes. Dr. Burgess came to check-in and stayed because she could see Baby's head. At 9:25 Doctor B told me I'd have a baby by 10:00...I could do that! Fear left me...I pushed about 10 sets....and Finley was here!

My first comment?
Are you sure it's a boy? I swear I was having a girl!

My 2nd comment?
That wasn't so bad, I could totally do it again...in like two years!

Finley came out strong, there were two special care nurses on-hand; he cried right away, had good color, etc. I even got to touch his slimey body before they took him for vitals.

I think I will be discharged tomorrow (Saturday), if things continue as are, Finley SHOULD HOPEFULLY come home with me....KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED, I want to take him with me! Preemies need to do a few things to be discharged....eat, keep weight up, regulate their body tempreature, and keep their blood sugar levels up. So far so good!

Nursing has sort of started, he latched on better than expected for a preemie. He is supplemented with formula for his blood sugar levels. One breast feeding attempt failed in the middle of the night, we think he was sleeping too hard.

The nurses said he's a favorite in the nursery and everyone loves him. They love all of his hair, it's blondish and long. He was a good boy overnight, he slept in the nursery so he could be closely observed and mom could sleep - 30 minutes in the previous 36 hours wasn't enough.

This morning he was seen by a pediatrician, and I was seen by Dr. Ezenagu. Finley's blood sugar was a little low when he woke up, so he will be circumsized tomorrow. The pediatrician anticipates some jaundice, very normal for many babies and especially preemies. The pedicatrician said he doesn't see many other symptoms of such an early bird.

Here are some pictures from yesterday (7/3/08), we will continue to update and share pictures as our Baby Blog now becomes our Finley Blog!

Surprise - its a boy!

Auntie Heidi and her newest nephew.

Proud Grandpa!

Grandma and her boys!

Daddy giving Finley his first bottle.

Daddy giving Finley his first bath.

Grandma Kathleen & Grandpa Pat

Our Baby Finley!

Finley Patrick Market Sullivan
(Finley has two middle names and Sullivan is his surname)