Baby Jay!!

Hi Everyone, Sorry I've been absent from the blogging scene this summer, I was just miserable pregnant and then overwelmed with new baby, but I think I'm back in business now.

So to catch anyone interested up:

Short Version:

4th baby

Jay Collins Oakman

(yes we meant to spell Collins w/ an "s")

August 19th 2:23 pm

10 lbs 5 oz

20 inches long

Long Verson:

I went to see the doctor on Monday the 17th (a week after my due date) and we decided that it was time to induce. So, we started calling labor and delivery the next morning at 5am to see if they had room for me. Of course they didn't so we had to keep calling back every two hours to see if we could come in yet. Finally at about 12:00 they called and said that we could come in after lunch. Since we were already eating lunch out with the kids I immediately scarfed down half my lunch, told they kids that had about thirty seconds to eat, because I was DONE being pregnant and I did NOT want them to give my spot away! So, we dropped the kids off at home with my sister Sarah and off to the hospital we went.

It took a while to get in and settled so they didn't start the induction until about 3:00 in the afternoon. They usually start you off on a low dose of petocin and then up the dose every half hour. But somewhere after the first few doses they got really busy and kept missing the half hour mark, so then they would up it by more. We were anxious to get going because my sister was flying back to Utah the next morning at 11:00. And so we really wanted the baby to be born before then. One so Sarah could see him, but also so that Mark could drive Sarah to the airport and take over watching the other kidos. Because of that I put off getting an epidural, because I didn't want to slow things down. As the afternoon evening progressed, the contractions started to get stronger, but nothing very exciting. By this time we had come up with a plan B for the kids. Sarah stayed with them overnight, and our friend Liz drove up from Hollister in the morning to watch them while Mark drove Sarah to the airport, and then Liz took them to Hollister for the night (THANKS!!! You were a life-saver). Once we got that all figured out I felt better about getting that epidural!!

That Epidural: I have had epidurals with all of my deliveries so this would be my fourth (so I know what they should feel like). When they were finally able to come in and do it (they had an emergency c-section across the hall so that pre-empted me). The anesthesiologist came in and did mine. But it hurt, and it only numbed part of my right leg and one spot on the side of my belly. Everytime I told them it didn't feel right, they would have me roll to the other side, and wait a while, or they would increase the medicine in the epidural which only numbed the two spots that were already numb even more. They kept saying they would be back in five minutes to check on me, and then no one would come for an hour or two. Mark had to leave during all this to get Sarah to the airport so I was alone. In retrospect I just needed to be more assertive and insist that they get someone else to re-insert the epidural since this one was obviously a partial block, but I just wasnt' able to. To top everything off, the monitor on my belly that was supposed to monitor my contractsions kept coming off, so they finally gave up trying to re-adjust it. By the time the shift changed, I was just beside myself, they had upped the petocin again so I has having hard contractions with about fifteen seconds in between each one, the epidural wasn't working, and I was not having fun! I finally insisted that I wanted to see the doctor in charge of the shift, and they sent in the new anesthesiologist, He came in and took one look at me and said "We can fix this" Which is exactly what I needed to hear (didn't care if he was lying just wanted to hear it). He re-did my epidural, the new nurse came in and she just sat with me for about twenty minutes to make sure that everything went okay, and that the monitor was picking up all the contractions, and within about three minutes of the new epidural, I wasn't feeling the contractions at all.

Once the new epidural was in things went much more smoothly. Little Jay was born, just before 2:30 that afternoon. The delivery went realy well. He was 10 lbs 5 oz which supprised all of us! (my other kidos were all over 8 lbs but we weren't expecting him to be so big!!) He was 20 inches long. We stayed in the hospital until the next afternoon. (I can't sleep in hospitals and would much rather be in my own bed).

Recovery was good, I was up and about the next day and back to almost normal in about a week.

It's been two weeks now, and I won't be running a marathon anytime soon, but everyhing is pretty much back to normal.

Jay is doing great, he just went in for his two week check up. He isn't quite back up to his birth weight, but he's only off by a few onces and they aren't worried about it. He's doing everything he's supposed to be doing at two weeks old, which is great!!

Thanks for all the support and love!!!