Jacqueline Lee

So if we haven't been in touch and you've been keeping updated on our progress by reading this blog, then you ought to know that by now, something big ought to have happened.  and it did - a month ago!  Jacqueline Lee Grossman was born on November 6, 2007 at 6:44p.  She weighed in at 7lbs 8.3oz, and measure 20 in. long.  Cindy was induced at 8am that morning, but labor didn't really kick in until about 10a.  It was a relatively short labor as they go, and fairly easy (epidural).  Everyone came out healthy and great, and we were ecstatic to have our little Chicklet here in person (except now she also goes by Jackie).

Brief synopsis of everything since the birth:  in an attempt to fully emulate her father, Jackie came out w/ my puffy froggy eyes (as my mother called them when I was born) and then proceeded to come down w/ a lovely case of 'the jaundice'.  thankfully, technology has progressed by leaps and bounds in the nearly 30 years since i was born, and the therapy lights can now be brought to your very own home!  very cool - fiber optics were threaded through a gauze blanket that we wrapped around Jackie, and it was hooked up to a light in an attached casing.  we had her wrapped in that for about 2 days, and she was as good as new (which for her meant setting the clock back 5 days).  poor Jackie had blood tests every day though, so her heels were a bit sore for a few days.

Once we got past that, we had the 1 week, 2 week, and 4 week checkups, and I am completely blown away by how fast babies grow.  Of course, I thought at first that my daughter was extra special - which she is - but this growth is actually quite typical.  She lost a bit of weight in the first week, which is normal, as it took Cindy's milk a few days to come in and start regular and sufficient production.  By week 2, though, Jackie had surpassed her birth weight by a few ounces, and by week 4 had grown to 9lb 4oz - that's nearly 2 lbs in 4 weeks!  Sure, I can pack on 2 lbs in a lot less time than that, but considering that it was about 25% of her entire weight...  Even more amazing to me than the weight gain was actually the growth spurt.  She grew 1.5 inches in 3 weeks!  Crazy.

And who's gotten to see little Chicklet?  First and foremost, Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Lauren (my parents and sister) and Grandmommy and Grandaddy (Cindy's parents) all came in immediately.  Grandmommy and Grandaddy actually came in Tuesday morning when Cindy was induced, and they stayed w/ us through most of the labor - which had been progressing quite slowly.  Cindy was induced at 8am and was only 3cm dilated by 3pm.  We were sure that there was a long night ahead of us, so Linda and Dwight went back to our house to let the dog out and to get some dinner.  By 5:30pm Cindy was 8cm dilated, so I called them up to advise them to make their trip short.  30 min later Cindy was fully dilated and the nurse (Nadia, who was awesome - she was actually a physician in her homeland of Afghanistan but hasn't had the time to take her boards in America) told us it was time to push.  Say what?  We thought the baby was going to be born late at night or early in the morning, but 30 minutes after the pushing started, out popped Chicklet!  I insisted that I was not going to watch the actual birth, but at the last moment my curiosity got the best of me and I'm glad it did - it was so cool!  I cut the cord, and Jackie was placed on Cindy's chest for some immediate bonding.  Cindy was absolutely stunned - it was incredible to watch the two of them.  I then stayed w/ Jackie as she was cleaned up, and then it was back to Mommy.

We stayed in the hospital for 2 days after the birth, and the hospital was great.  St. David's Northwest Medical Center has an amazing birthing center.  We had our own labor/delivery room, which is where we checked in and spent all of our time until after the birth.  Hardwood floors, tv w/ cable, private room and bathroom, and a pullout sofa/bed for me.  After the birth we were switched to an equally comfortable, though smaller, Recovery Room, which is where we stayed until we checked out.  I highly recommend this hospital if anyone is set to deliver in Austin.  Nadia even stopped in to check in on us in the Recovery Room (she was a labor/delivery nurse), which made us like her even more.   We brought the nurses homemade cupcakes to show our gratitude about a week later.

And so now we've just been spending time w/ our rapidly plumpifying butterball of love.  Cindy is on 2 months of maternity leave, and I took 2 weeks off to stay at home.  Getting back into the swing of work was hard, but Jackie's gotten the hang of generally sleeping well, getting up only to eat and poop.  Occasionally she'll have a fussy night (like 3 nights ago when I had a cold and wouldn't take her, and so Cindy didn't get much sleep at all that night), but generally she's pretty good.  As a matter of fact, I wrote most of this during her current nap, which appears to be ending, so this is where the post shall end.