Grunting

Jimi isn't talking yet, but he seems to be gravitating that way. Whenever he is eating anything from the grains group (his favorite) he opens his eyes wide, then acts like he is going to say something and goes "UNNNGRWAWARRRRGH". I guess in some way, that only mothers can comprehend, it sort of sounds like "drink".

He also grunts for yes. Are you hungry? "UNGH" Do you want to eat? "UNGH" If it's a no, it's two "UNGH UNGH"s. We try to incorporate Baby Signs into our daily vocabulary, but I honestly forget what half of them are. So long as we understand our code, I guess it'll be alright, even if we are mistaken for cave people.

No doesn't always mean no

Jimi has begun doing the funniest thing. He shakes his head no. But, he doesn't mean no. He shakes his head no, then waits for you to shake your head no, then cracks up laughing. Which, makes us laugh, which makes him laugh, which leads to more head shaking.

Mother's Day

Well, it has been quite awhile since I have blogged. Jimi has grown leaps and bounds and it is funny to think back on his first encounter with solids. He is now taking liquids from a sippy cup and refusing to be fed like a baby. He wants big boy food, and he wants to do it himself! He is VERY fast at crawling, and is cruising around, holding himself up on furniture and hopping from spot to spot.

He is the most adorable boy on the face of the earth! Since I'm not working, we hang out all day long together. It's a lot of work, but it is a lot of fun, too. He looks like his daddy, but he's got my outgoing personality, smile and bubbly personality. Oh, and my humility, too. ;)

Mother's Day was simply marvelous. I didn't have to lift a finger, and got to eat my favorite meal for dinner...breakfast. Dapo and Jimi got me a nice, thoughtful gift bag of bath salts, soaps, lotions and etc. A wonderful gift considering I just spent a week sanding, painting and changing the hardware of the master bathroom cabinets. I also painted it a nice ocean color to match the beautiful picture of the most beautiful beach I have ever personally been to. It was from a trip Dapo and I made in June of '07 when I was 8 mos with Jimi. The water felt so wonderful on my back. I bought a pic of the beach as a souvie and have since framed it and put it in the master bath. Being a mother can be taxing, so I wanted a place I could retreat to and go to a happy place. So, after all the work, a trip to Pier One and now my Mother's Day gift, I love my bathroom. I capped the day off with a long jet bath...ahhhh!

Solids

Jimi sits on my lap during meals and shows interest in what we are doing. He even leans forward, or reaches for my fork from time to time. All the while he has been at the table, wondering where his is. His Dr. says no food until 4 mos., so I have been waiting about two weeks to do the infamous first bites.

Well he turned 16 weeks on Friday, and although he won't be "4 mos" until the 13th of Nov., IMO 16 weeks is four, four-week spans, in other words, 4 mos.

So, we outfitted him with my favorite bib of his which reads, "If you think I'm handsome you should see my Daddy!"; put him on Daddy's lap; made a small amount of rice cereal; and began the festivities. If you have a guest pass (you most likely do if you are a friend/family), you can view pix of the occassion on Flickr.

I didn't know what he would make of it, so I only made one small scoop of cereal, and mixed it with his formula. The first bite was more of an introduction. Jimi, this is cereal. Cereal, this is Jimi. THEN what happened surprised us all....Jimi LIKED his new friend, cereal. I knew he was ready, I just didn't realize how ready he was. He looked at us as if to say, "where has this been all of my life?"

His first bites consisted of figuring out how to use his tongue. Once he got that down, how does he open his mouth? By the end of the feeding we were both pros, with my wiping-the-cereal-running-down-the-face-with-the-spoon move well practiced!

He ate the entrire scoop's worth of cereal, and only stopped because there was no more to have. He then topped off his meal with the remainder of his 6 oz of formula and fell FAST asleep.

I was so proud of my baby! Daddy was proud, too. The gift of life continually amazes me, as I never could have anticipated experiencing such joy watching a person eat.

Jimi

Well, it has been more than three months since I last touched the blog. A lot has transpired. I had trouble nursing with breastmilk, I never could make enough. After 6 weeks of pumping, herbal supplementing, water logging, and lactation consulting his pediatrician suggested I give it up. It was an emotional crash, but in the end it was best for all of us. At his last weight check, Oct 1, he weighed 13lbs 7oz. I am sure he is close to 16 lbs by now. I sent my mom a pic of him in the bath last night (water toy appropriately placed). She replied, "no more food till Christmas, he is getting so big!" I know what she means by that. I feel like his most precious moments are sliding away, too. But it is so fun watching him learn and grow. What an amazing gift he is!

Jimi started growing like a weed on formula, and went from 4 oz bottles at a time to 6 oz bottles now. During growth spurts I have seen him take as much as 8 oz. He is 16 weeks, and I am ready to start feeding him solids. I really want to wait until 4 mos, as doctors recommend any sooner could create a food allergy. He sits on my lap with us at meals and does very well at holding up his head. He leans in towards the food, and motions his hands at my fork, as if to say, "give me some, Mom". All signs point to solids!

Being a mom is the most awesome, joyous occurance. It continues to amaze me projectile diarreah, vomit, fountains of urine, drool, mucous and the likes are not repulsive to me...when they're Jimi's (not accepting new applicants). A mother's love goes further than acceptance of all things bodily fluids...there's such compassion for the little cries that would otherwise irritate an outsider. There's a drive to teach them to be more and do more than you ever knew. And, there is a monster called protection that if anyone EVER thought of hurting him would be unleashed.

I had an epiphany one day as I was holding my son, "Mom," I said, "is this how much you love me?" "Yes, it is" she replied. I was overwhelmed. I knew she loved me, but now I understood how much. I realize that she deserved much better Mother's Day gifts through the years!

Here comes the son

At long last, my baby boy has arrived! Olujimi Ayomide Toluwani Eso was born at 4:00 pm on Friday, July 13, 2007. He was a big (!) boy weighing in at 9 lbs 4 oz. He is 20 inches long.

We decided to have Dr. Rushing induce me on Friday morning, since my mom would not be able to make it sooner than her scheduled ticket of July 20th. Why wait any longer than necessary? And, I have a friend with a birthday on the 15th and another friend w/an anniversary on the 15th, so I wanted him to have his own day, even if it was Friday the 13th. Although, that superstition is lost on me because of my faith in Jesus Christ. Anyhow, the day went as such:

We woke up on time, but I was moving really slow. I don't know if I was dragging my feet intentionally or what. I asked Dapo to stop at McDonalds, because I knew once I got to the hospital I would not be allowed to eat until the baby was born. They tell you not to eat before you come in (because of the Caesaren risk) but I was not going to be hungry AND in labor. We arrived about 7:15 am and checked in. It wasn't long before Belinda, the Pastor's assistant, came in. She had told me she would be there at some point during the day, but I didn't realize she was in it for the long haul. I was taken to my room, given a gown, and put in bed. They started the IV drip, and fluids. The nurse asked if I wanted an epidural, and I said no. She then asked am I totally against it or just not wanting it now. I said I was "pretty much totally against it". Which, in retrospect, wasn't very definite. Wendy (the RN) hooked up the baby heart monitor and contraction monitor to my belly and left the room. Dapo had gone to get our belongings and Belinda and so I was alone in the room. So, I watched the screen, and it looked as though I was having contractions, but I didn't think they had administered Pitocin yet. When Wendy came back in the room I asked if she had started the Pitocin yet and she said, no, that is you, honey, not me. I said that maybe I would not need the drip after all and she said that I was still getting the drip, because the contractions I was having were way too weak. But, I was thrilled to have "started contracting" on my own.

It was about an hour before the Pitocin started producing painful contractions. I had read a book entitled Supernatural Childbirth, and had hoped for a painless childbirth. When the contractions came they caught me by surprise and I was hardly able to breathe through them. I really had not gone into it prepared for a natural childbirth. By hour four, I was asking for something to take the edge off. As it turns out, there is no "edge" to labor, and after about an hour of demmoral (sp?) I asked for an epidural. Dapo was supportive of anything that would distance me from the excruciating pain I was feeling. Really, all the demmoral did was make me sleep off. I woke myself up several times snoring, and saying things from the odd dreams I was having. For instance, the night before Dapo and I had got the family chicken meal from Publix (a supermarket in the South). They have two types of potato salad in the deli to go with the meal. One is Southern and one is the New York style. Dapo once bought the NY and I have since asked him to get the Southern style. One dream I woke up saying "and I want the NEW YORK potato salad" to which Dapo, not realizing my dream-like state, replied, "but, you like the Southern potato salad". That woke me up. I also dreamt about men in coats bringing me Oreo cookies. I should note these dreams took place around the noon lunch hour.

I don't remember much once I was given the demmoral, something I would change if I could go back in time. I would basically sleep until a contraction, and then say "ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow" through the contraction. I had no plan, no breathing, etc. I kept telling the nurse I had to go to the bathroom, which she kept telling me that those feelings were not going to go away until after I had delivered the baby. She said it was the baby making his way down, and putting pressure on that part of my body. I really only remember complaining all afternoon about needing to go to the bathroom. Finally the anesthesiologist arrived, and gave me the epidural. I remember leaning forward...all dopey like. I remember having a contraction or two while he was working on me. And, then he said I'd feel a shooting pain down my leg, which I did, but did not care about. With the epidural, I had to get a catherter because I would not be able to have the sensation of when to urinate. At this point I had an IV in my arm, a blood pressure taker on the other arm, an epi in my back and a catheter in my front.

After awhile on the epidural, the demmorol started to wear off, and I felt much better. I was progressing rather slowly, though, with only going from a 5 to an 8 in four hours. Because the baby was off to the side and not aligned straight, the contractions were not "being effective enough" and they decided to do an internal monitoring to check those. I was not looking forward to another cord hanging from my body, but thought the contractions were too painful to be not doing their job. Since I mentioned I was still feeling the contractions, and was incessant about my need to push and go to the bathroom, they had the anesthesiologist come back to give me another something else. I felt the cold water sensation go down my back, and then I really started to feel much better. I did ask him how come I couldn't go to the bathroom, and he said because I don't have any legs (which was true, they were a bit numb). Besides, he said, I might have the baby in the toilet. I retorted, well isn't having the baby the goal here?? Nonetheless, I did not feel like going to the bathroom for the first time all day. I bet the nurse felt better, too, not having to hear about it. Aftger that, I had a slight fever and also had had high blood pressure all morning (if you backtrack in my blogs, you will see I had a health blood pressure throughout pregnancy. When I checked in this morning, I had 156/92. Yowsa.) I asked for a wet washcloth to try to bring my fever down.

About 45 minutes after that happened, I thought the medicine had worn off because the nurse had come in to increase my pitocin dosage, and I told her are you sure I can't go to the bathroom? She reiterated for the umpteenth time that I was going to feel that pressure until after birth. I said, I really want to push, are sure I can't? She said, well, maybe you've progressed, let me check you. This was about a quarter after 3. She did, and I remember hearing her say "oh, yeah, you're ready". The next thing I know the bed is folding down, stirrups are being raised up, the Doctor is being called, the Batmobile turns up. She told me what I was going to do and how I was going to do it. The contractions never did get very close together, and I had to wait for each contraction before I could push again. She wanted three pushes for a ten count on each contraction. So, the first set was more like a practice set. It wasn't until the third set I really reached deep and found the strength to push hard. I probably pushed about 5 or 6 times of 3 each. I pushed for forty minutes. Dr. Rushing did arrive (like a mighty rushing wind) for the last two contractions. I heard Dapo say I can see his hair. Then, I can see his head, then the head is out. Although, he did not need to tell me the head was out, I was rather aware of that one. I could not get him out on the second to the last push, I was really starting to get tired. But Dapo's play by play was keeping me encouraged. Dr. Rushing helped massage the area where the baby's head was stretching. By then the people who weigh the baby and do the tests had joined us, and they were really getting excited everytime I pushed. So, I just kept trying to push with all my might. They set a towel on my abdomen, and I know from watching the videos this means I am really close to holding him. The last push on my contraction he came out. Dr. Rushing handed him to me right away. I was so happy to see him!!

He was SO cute! I noticed right away that he had Dapo's nose, and Dapo's eyes, and Dapo's lips, and Dapo's forehead, and he started to cry. It was the cutest little baby cry I'd ever heard. Dapo and I kissed and Dapo was just so happy, and so proud. I helped dry him off, and they took him and weighed him and etc. Dapo took pictures. They brought him back all bundled up. Meanwhile, they are stitching me up and getting the placenta delivered. I remember saying, I thought I was done with pain. But it wasn't very terrible, and certainly was pale in comparison.

What a precious gift from God. It has gotten late and so I will have to conclude for the night and try to jot more memories of labor and the hospital stay another time.

Oh, I thought he was joking!

Today we saw Dr. Rushing again. I had only gained one pound, my uterus was 38 cm, and my blood pressure was 118/76. The baby's heartbeat was at 154. I am now dilated to 5 cm, and 50% effaced. Dr. Rushing said that I seemed like I was ready to have this baby. I said, yes, I am. So he says can you hold on until Friday? I said sure, I can. Or Sunday, he says, those are the days I'm on call. Either one, it's up to you. I thought he meant because he wants to deliver the baby. So I'm laughing, haha, I can pick the day the baby comes you're funny, Dr. Rushing! Then on the way out a lady I've never met before says I think I need to talk to you. Oh really? How so? I ask. Are you Kari? I said yes, and she replies I need to schedule your induction. Oh!!! He was SERIOUS?! WOW. Dr. Rushing is such a jokester that I thought he was kidding. Ok, I say, can I have a minute to think about it? She gave me her card and said to call her back once I decide. So, either way, we will have a baby by the end of the week. I had a feeling I would get to the Dr. today and he would tell me to go present to the hospital. Well, it panned out, although not to the exact way I thought. Also, Dapo and I have both been feeling as though we would not be at church next Sunday (the 15th). So, it seems as though our inclinations were accurate. We are agreeing, however, that my body will go into labor on its own, without need for the induction.