The Story of Jane's First Days

Dr. Venuto was ahead of schedule so we started earlier than planned, it was time to head off to the OR. Erin and I hugged and prayed together just before she went off to the operating room without me. I sat in the room for 10 minutes reading a book waiting for a nurse to escort me back into the room where Erin was prepped ready for birthing.

I walked into the OR and it was like a party behind the blue curtain that I was only semi invited to. I sat down next to Erin’s head in front of the blue curtain so that we wouldn’t have to bare the sight of the details of the procedure. Her arms were laying flat straight out on either side of her like a good girl so as not to disturb the operation. The anesthesiologist was our narrator to the whole event. I don’t remember his name but he was Asian, funny, and friendly.

So that I wouldn’t get too queasy I held the camera over my head to take the first couple of shots of baby Jane; considering that I wasn’t watching where I was shooting, the images turned out pretty good. Jane was born at 9:46am weighing in at 7 lbs and 14oz, her length was 19½ in. She looked identical to her older brother on his “birth”-day, and sadly like my father.

Jane was tagged and swaddled and handed to me to show to mommy for a couple of minutes, just enough time to capture a picture, taken by the anesthesiologist. Next it was back to the room while Erin was being sewn back together. Erin was not more than ten minutes behind me, but Jane was too impatient to nurse, she had found her thumb to suck moments before mommy was ready. Once Erin was ready, Jane latched on like a pro. No lactation specialist nurse needed for this baby, she knew what was going on.

More babies needed to be born, so an hour after surgery we were moved down one floor to our new, smaller room. Among Jane’s first guests were big brother Matthew with Grandma and Grandpa Hardwick. Matthew loved Jane from the very beginning; he smelled her hair, hugged her, and kissed her. Then he went to tug on every wire, cable, and cord in the room asking, “What is that?” I took him away for about an hour so the grandparents could get more acquainted with their 12^th grandchild. Someone had carved a bunch of letters and painted them all sorts of colors and left them in a park downtown, Matthew thought they were just as much fun as his new baby sister.

Jane passed all her blood tests for diabetes and didn’t give us cause for concern with jaundice because she was such a good eater and pooper at the hospital. In fact, she went through an entire package of diapers in just the two days at the hospital. It is much different changing the diaper of a girl, if she pees in the middle of a change it is very covert, all of a sudden she’s just laying in a puddle and you don’t know why.

Other guests that visited us in the hospital were: Uncle Joe, Aunt Pattie and Uncle Jim, Aunt Mary with cousins Marisa, Chandler, and Mavric, Friends Janelle with daughter Ella, Heather and Kimber with her daughter Reece, and Erin’s former student Katie. Marisa stayed with Erin the second night at the hospital while I got to stay home with Matthew.

Matthew went shopping with mom a couple of days before Jane’s birthday to pick out a special gift. He was apparently picky and directed mommy to go to several different stores before he picked out the perfect one. I figured that Jane needed to get Matthew a gift too. “Jane” got Matthew a wooden train set. When we got home we stayed up until two hours passed his bedtime playing those trains. His cousin William had introduced him to them a week before, and he totally got it.

I feel blessed to have a wife and two great healthy children, and I thank her every day for carrying them into this world.

More pictures can be found by clicking here.

Joshua's 33rd Birthday

So for my 33rd birthday Erin wanted to bake me a special cake. A carrot cake shaped like a pumpkin. We also had bible study that night and it was our turn to provide the snack. Before we headed out the door, Erin was quick to snap this shot. The cake was delicious and everyone enjoyed it.

The group gave me a singing card, which Matthew has been enjoying all week. He has even created some new dance moves. Watch him teach some of those moves to you in the video.

He has a name!

If you were here to visit yesterday, or were lucky enough to get a phone call, you heard about us beta-testing a baby name. Well that name has moved from beta to full-release.

Matthew Graham Hardwick

Among the visitors that came to see new baby Matthew was one of Erin's students from this past school year, Katie. Her mom is one of the nurses on the floor here. Ever since Katie knew Mrs. Hardwick was pregnant, she's made sure the baby knew who she was.

The day was filled with learning how to feed, bathe and change Matthew. As first time parents, Matthew is pretty patient with us. So far he eats like his mom and sleeps like his dad.

I have made a collection of G-rated pictures for you to see the adventure we had. View them by clicking here!

Thank all of you for tracking the progress with us. It has been really fun to receive your comments, chats, emails along the way. I know it helped Erin through the labor process every time one of you would give your input, we had quite a few laughs. We didn't expect our labor to go the way it did, but being able to share it with you has encouraged us along. This may be the end of this series, but it isn't the end of Matthew's, Mom's or Dad's story. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks Erin and I can put together our own memoirs to share the experiences we had during this time. God Bless You!

Now back to regular programming

How it happened - continued

In the last two hours of the delivery, Erin, now pleasantly under epidural's spell, started pushing with every contraction. Since we were at the top of the tallest building on a very tall hill, we left the curtains to the oversized, oval shaped windows wide open. At 9:40pm there's still considerable twilight, and the mountains rose majestically above the horizon. With every push, Erin gave her full concentration and effort to make the baby come microscopically closer to the end goal. Our birth team was excellent in giving her encouragement and advice through the process.

Near the end, Erin was screaming with every push, yelling, "Baby, get out!" For half an hour the top of our baby's head was poking out with his black, curly hairs going every which direction. The doctor asked if she wanted an episiotomy, and Erin declined; but there was trouble brewing inside. Erin had a secret tear beginning on the inside and during one of the last pushes she tore in two places around the baby's head. The doctor was quick to perform an episiotomy to avoid future tearing. Upon the next push, our new boy shot out into the world.

Suddenly the room exploded in activity. Baby Hardwick was placed on mommy's chest immediately after the birth, and the two began their bond. The doctor was lightning quick to have me cut the umbilical cord. A moment later the baby's nurse brought him to the crib to check his vitals. Torn between watching the baby and caring for my shuttering wife, our doula took charge and gave me permission to watch over the baby as she took care of Erin.

I carefully watched as my new son changed from purple to "normal" colored skin. His legs were long and skinny, same were his fingers and toes. Covering his shoulders and back is hair like I've never known. I joked that we should name him Esau, but that name didn't make the list.

During all the tests, he was very calm. Only crying slightly until he heard my voice. Even when he does cry, it's not very high pitched.

After our baby's birth, Erin was on her way to the OR to have her tearing sewn up. But first, another woman needed our doctor to have her twins born. At 12:45am Erin was properly drugged up and was taken into the OR to have her more than thirty stitches put in. I stayed back in the, now emptied, room of labor with my new son. I sat in the rocking chair next to the windows staring at the midnight-glow of downtown. I introduced my son to Tacoma, and pointed out where daddy worked. Minutes later I fell asleep, with baby in arms until Erin came back at 3am.

When she returned, the nurses helped us pack our things and moved us down one floor (from 14 to 12) to a smaller postpartum room. Like a zombie I followed their direction, mumbling uncertain comments or questions, into our new living space. The only thing we forgot was the list of potential baby names that I hung in the birthing room. Like a drone, I sent myself on autopilot to retrieve the document.

Today's to-do list: choosing the name

Stay Tuned...

11:21pm - continued

We started pushing at 9:20pm. At 11:21pm I was able to announce to Erin and the rest of the personnel in the room, "It's a BOY!"

7 lbs 6.6oz.
20.5 inches

Baby is healthy. Mommy has a fourth degree tear from the inside and is waiting to go to the Operating Room.

With all the activity around here, this is all I'll post until tomorrow.

Next up...
The first feeding
Baby pictures
Update on mommy
Baby name

Mom's 68th Birthday

It was my mom's 68th birthday yesterday, and we celebrated her special day at my sister Pattie's house. We had barbequed hot dogs and rhubarb pie with ice cream. Pattie's husband Jim (as well as the rest of the family) has built a large backyard railroad which we spent the evening watching G-scale locomotives chug in circles around infinite lengths of track.

It's always fun to see the new additions they add to the layout. An out-of-work clown with hobo friend camping on the edge of the forest, crime scene in motion as a cop stands nearby facing the opposite direction while eating a donut, and a countryside wedding can all be seen upon closer examination of their mini-world. Also included is a re-creation of the house that our family used to live in when Jim was dating Pattie only 25 years ago (pictured below, along with the car Jim drove).

As the sun set on our day, we closed the evening with a bon fire, s'mores, and relaxing in the hot tub. At 10:30pm, before the twilight ended, my tired Dad and Mom left for home. A half hour later I dragged my own sleepy and pregnant wife home for the night.

We love you, Mom. Happy Birthday.