One Month

Happy One Month Birthday Boden!

Visitors Galore

Its been a busy 4 weeks with Boden, and he's had lots of people who want to meet him and spend time with him. Colin flew in for a weekend to spend some time.. and we got a great surprise when Steve's Dad made the trip from Puerto Rico to meet his little grandson. Thanks to everyone also who has helped out these first few weeks with cooking us dinners, dropping off food, and generally just helping out so we can spend time with Boden. Brenda is in town now, and its so nice to have Boden's Auntie motivating us to go for hikes and changing dirty diapers!


Colin holding Boden


Boden after a bath

Best Birthday Gift

Exactly one week after Boden's birthday, was my birthday.

We were lucky enough to have my Mom in town, who graciously offered to babysit while Steve and I went out to dinner at the Boulder Cork (an organic local restaurant).

A glass of wine, a wonderful evening with my Husband, and coming back to the best gift ever. What a wonderful Birthday (except, did I mention the temperatures were FREEZING?! (like -9 below!)

Blue Steel

Baby Boden thinks he's a male model. (I mean, he is really really really ridiculously good looking).

Here is the hospital's picture of him the morning after his birth.

The Birth Story - Part 2

So, we left off when the doctor came again to check my progress at 12:30pm. I was only at 4 cm and 60% effaced so she broke my water. At 1:30 the Doula, Lisa arrived and at 2pm my Mom arrived.

Steve and I were still wandering the halls with Frank (the Pitocin drip/IV machine), and the contractions were getting a bit stronger. Lisa would join us as we walked – and at one point a Mom and new baby were leaving the Labor and Delivery wing to go over to Mom and Baby (recovery), and I lost it. I finally just broke down crying. Not because of the pain (which at the time, I would say really was not bad at all… yet) but because it finally was all real… The lullaby they played – the little family going to the Mom and Baby unit, and the little newborn in her arms. Lisa said that every time you cry or throw up you get a centimeter… so I embraced it!

After about 3pm the contractions started coming on stronger and harder. It was enough that I would have to stop… or breathe – but not very bad yet. I did start to feel a little nauseous at about 4pm and the contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and getting stronger.

At 5pm the Doctor came back to check me. I was only 5 centimeters and 70% effaced and at a -2 station… so progress was being made for only really feeling the contractions for about 2 hours. But the doctor was leaving for the night and said, “We’re going to have to start talking C-Section.” Umm… WHAT? The baby was doing great, as was I, and we had 24 hours after the water broke before we even considered C-Section as long as there was no risk to Boden or myself.

I burst into tears immediately (and Steve too was really upset). Thank god for Lisa, who with the nurse assured us that we did nowhere near need to make a decision that drastic, and that we still had a lot of options to explore. Especially since if Mom and Baby are doing well, you have 24 hours after the water breaks. It had been only 4.5 and, I’d only started really having contractions for a few hours.

At around 7pm the doctor came and checked me again and I was 6 cm dilated and at a -1 station, which meant I was making good progress. Yay! The doctor was leaving for the night but would tell the on call doctor about my progress and make sure she was kept up to date.

This is where everything gets a bit … well, fuzzy. Time was just passing at this point, and the contractions were getting more and more intense and hard to deal with. I would labor in the tub for a while, which was awesome…. Then I would move around and try different positions. Back to the tub… the bathroom felt like a very safe space – but the pain was becoming more and more unmanageable, and the pitocin contractions were closer together and stronger, and just didn’t give me the break that natural contractions give you.

At one point everyone got dinner and it was just Steve and I. A little later Steve ran out and met his Mom for dinner. Take Note husbands: when you can get dinner – get something bland. Steve got a roast beef sandwich with everything on it, including onions, pickles, peppers…

When he walked into the room I immediately started throwing up and made him change and brush his teeth. It was brutal!

Our Nurse Allison became like our doctor for the rest of the night. She would check me, and keep us informed of the progress. I would lose motivation and Lisa and Steve would keep me on track. Reminding me how to breathe and how to relax.

As the contractions became more intense, and there was no rest period between them, we started to weigh our options on pain relief… but I was already at 8cm and just needed a little break, so I got an IV narcotic called Nubain to take the edge off. It didn’t relieve the pain, but gave me the rest I needed to make it all the way to 10cm.

Finally, the nurse checked me and I was at 10cm. Yay! I could do something about the pain and PUSH! The nurse called the on call doctor to come to the hospital, and I started to push the baby out… a mirror was brought it, but it was a little more horrifying than motivating!

Apparently I was a good pusher, because we beat the on-call doctor. After only 20 min, it was clear the baby was coming. There happened to be a midwife at the hospital, (both Lisa and the nurse thought maybe they’d be delivering Boden). The midwife rushed in, and was telling me to “stop! And slow down!” so that she could get her gloves on. 27 minutes of pushing and Boden arrived!

It was thrilling and amazing, and we are so blessed and excited. We are still deciding who he looks like. He has Steve’s coloring but sometimes he looks like I did as a baby, and definitely got my clef chin.

We can’t wait for everyone to meet him.

Boden Matthew Fezler was born at 11:26pm on 1/25/2011. He was 21 inches long and weighed 7lbs 12 oz.

Going home from the hospital

Handsome Boy!

Hotel... I mean Hospital Room

Don't worry, its not the Labor video...

Here are Steve and I walking you through our "night before" induction.

The Birth Story - Part 1

10 Months of Pregnancy!

There is something magical about a newborn that really does cause amnesia when it comes to the pain of labor. Thankfully at the urging of our Doula, Steve created a document while I was in labor with snippets of our experiences. I will do my best to recreate the actual events as they occurred.

Boden Matthew Fezler was due on January 16^th 2011. He was, however, on his own schedule. For 9 days we tried everything to urge him into the world. From pineapple, walking, acupuncture, my membranes were stripped by my doctor, sex, evening primrose oil, and red raspberry tealeaf – nothing we did mattered. And finally, on the day before induction I tried the granddaddy of them all…. Castor Oil.

It succeeded in cleaning out my system, but not motivating labor to start.

So, Monday evening on January 24^th Steve and I checked into the hospital. I was almost 3 centimeters dilated and 40% effaced. We ate delicious snarf’s sandwiches for dinner, watched episodes of House on our computer, and went to bed at 10:30 that evening.

6am on Tuesday, January 25^th Allison our nurse came in and started the Pitocin drip. (Pitocin is the synthetic form of oxytocin; which causes contractions/ labor to start).

We walked the halls with my IV machine, whom we lovingly named Frank (because Steve couldn’t think of the name of the machine). We watched more episodes of House, and even became overly optimistic about the whole process.

Me: “This isn’t so bad”

Steve: “ Maybe we’ll be able to order Chinese food for dinner after the delivery.”

The doctor came again at about 12:30 in the afternoon to check my progress. I was only at 4 cm and 60% effaced so she broke my water. Gush! Hopefully this will speed things up.

Now, for those of you who may not be aware, Steve and I were really hoping to have a natural birth. We even hired a Doula to help us with labor. A Doula is basically an advocate, to help coach you and your partner towards the best birth experience you can have. Our Doula Lisa, was amazing, and I know that she was instrumental in helping give us not only the experience we wanted, but possibly even avoid unnecessary medical interventions like a c-section or epidural. I cannot speak enough about how great Lisa was. She helped Steve to be the most amazing coach in the world, gave him breaks when he needed them, and kept our wishes about our birth at the forefront of our minds even as the pain of contractions threatened to wipe them away.

As we were being induced I was hopeful that we weren’t silly for having hired a Doula. To be honest, she was one of the best things we did. And though Pitocin causes stronger, longer and harder contractions. She helped us get as close to a “natural” delivery as possible. And on top of that, she took the most amazing photos the moment Boden was born.

Lisa and my Mom showed up shortly after my water being broken. For several hours labor continued and my contractions slowly but steadily became more intense.

To be continued…