Coen Video: Take 2 (The Fencer)

Our little man giving us his Fencer impression. I like the long hold and pause. Impressive.

Coen Wears Thigh-Highs (and Dad is Worried)

Coen got a little upset at his Dad today when I made fun of his "girly" thigh-high socks. He quickly raised his fists and gave me the boxer look. Apparently he's not going to take any bullying in his new 'hood. After successfully silencing his old man, he then shouted "Oi! Oi! Oi!" and went into an "in the pit"-esque shuffle. The kid can already dance better than Kayla.

It never fails that just when you think a baby is insanely cute, he pukes. Mind the white goo at the 0:02 remaining mark.

More pictures here.

Icy Austin & Coen's First Road Trip

To anybody that is paying attention (i.e., our parents), I apologize for the recent lack of updates. I spent late week in Kearney, Nebraska, on business. Don't knock it until you've tried it. It felt like a bit of a time warp (a lot of old businesses, like this one), but the Midwestern people are great. Salt of the Earth.

Back home, Kayla had MLK weekend extended by two days thanks to an ice storm in Central Texas. Apparently it does snow in Austin. Who would've thought? Aren't we south of Phoenix and actually in Mexico? Here's Kayla with the proof:

I returned home from Nebraska on Friday (1/19/07), just in time for Coen's first road trip. After nine healthy days at home, it was time for the little man's first Pediatrician visit. He didn't love getting nude for the doctor, but he received a clean bill of health (pending blood tests) and thoroughly enjoyed his new ride:

Friday also brought Coen his first piece of official U.S. mail. The little guy already has a Social Security Number! Now if we can only get Kayla one...

On Saturday morning, Coen was up early and crying for us to get him ready for the University of Texas basketball game up in Philly against Villanova. Unfortunately, things didn't go well for the Longhorns and it left our guy a little disheartened:

Fortunately, Dad was around for a little much-needed comforting:

That's about it for this week so let's just give the grandparents what they really came for, a few more pictures of the little one:

More pictures here and here.

Coen's Homecoming

Well, Coen is safely home and he couldn't look cozier. After a tough day of getting his newborn screening, hearing evaluation, final antibiotics IV, and (yep) circumcision, Coen crashed out for three solid hours upon returning home. I'm sure the blanket, carpet, and fireplace didn't feel too bad.

We look forward to life not necessarily getting easier, but at least being done on our turf. We've lived the past week according to the schedule shown below, sleeping in shifts, and living from one NICU open hour to the next (fyi - 'Herbs' refers to an herbal lactation supplement that Tauni was taking, not to the other medicinal aid that you may be imagining).
It's great to have our little man safe at home. I would write more about it, but honestly I'm dead tired, so I'll save it for another day. Suffice it to say, Coen and I have already taken in a little ESPN (Spurs/Nuggets) and I've explained the locations of Denver and the neighboring San Antonio to him. They say it's good to speak and/or read to your children, so I'll do it. Unfortunately, he really doesn't look that interested. I guess I'll give him tonight off and get back to his education tomorrow.
We would be sorely amiss if we didn't recognize the hand of our Heavenly Father in everything that has transpired in the past week. We have truly tasted of the sacred. In spite of the emotional ride, it's been an amazing week and we are completely grateful for our little Mister Coen. :)

Early Identity Crisis

Granted, this newborn parenting thing is totally new to me, but I just assumed that kids don't go through identity crises until adolescence at the earliest. Apparently I'm dead wrong on this one. Coen is already showing some obvious signs of trying to "find himself".

Exhibit A: Coen as Chinaman. This one manifests primarily during post-feeding burping.
Exhibit B: Coen as Gangsta. I know I am out of touch with the younger generation, but these hand signals mean nothing to me.
Exhibit C: Coen as Letter H. They must be pumping old reruns of The Sesame Street into the NICU. Apparently Coen favors the letter H. Not a bad choice I guess. Or, he may be subliminally telling us, "Hey, if you wanted people to pronounce it 'Cohen', maybe you should have left the 'h' in there!". Not a chance buddy.
Exhibit D: Coen as Hippy. I knew moving to liberal Austin would be dangerous. He's already become yet another of these "Peace Out" locals. Nice peace sign, buddy.

Mommy Loves Baby

As you can imagine, Tauni has really taken to this Coen kid. It's awesome to watch. He is already blessed to have a mother so concerned about him (and father too!). The only issue is, instead of feeding him, Tauni spends 1/2 her time trying to eat him. Poor little man!
It might just be my own insecurity, but Coen seemed a little ticked at me today after he found out that I ordered him to be circumcised. Whatever. He'll thank me later. :)

Unintentional Photo Shoot

As you can probably imagine, we have taken a million pictures of little Coen. Today I got lucky and happened to snap off a few "photoshoot" looking ones. Enjoy.

Update : Evening, Monday January 8th 2007

I think I can safely say that we are in the clear at this point. In spite of a still gruesome looking IV in the side of his head, Coen is doing extremely well and the doctors are planning on a Wednesday discharge (two days from now). Needless to say, we are thrilled.

The primary focus now is getting Coen to "latch on". As Tauni has said, "Breastfeeding looks a lot easier on TV". Fortunately, Coen is taking to it bit by bit, with us augmenting the rest of his feeding needs with breastmilk through a bottle. I thought it would be a lot stranger to watch my wife transition into a dairy cow, but it's actually very cool. I just hope Coen takes to it 100%.

Tonight is night seven in the hospital with the last three being free thanks to the "nesting" program described earlier. It almost feels like this is where we live now, in an 150 square foot room. Now I'm wondering why we bothered buying a 3000+ square foot Texan house. At least tonight I have the BCS Championship Game to watch in between the "feeding, pumping, resting" cycle. It feels great to finally have a relaxed mind again ready for some sports entertainment. Strangely, I think I'm actually going to miss this hospital...

Paternity Questions Resolved

As we know, women never have to doubt their maternity. On the contrary, sometimes men might question the paternity of a child. Fortunately, in this case, I don't have any paternity questions. However, were there any concerns, I do have some strong empirical evidence that this is the son of Jayd McFerson.

Exhibit 1: Huge feet.
Exhibit 2: No chin.
Exhibit 3: (And this is my favorite one) He sleeps just like his dad! That right hand up like that is patented Jayd McFerson sleeping posture. (You would have to know me to appreciate this).
More pictures from today here.

Update : Afternoon, Sunday January 7th 2007

Thankfully, it's been yet another day of positive news. Coen's infection has cleared, his red blood cell levels are increasing, his white blood cell levels have normalized, and he is regularly peeing and pooing (for lack of better terms). These late morning doctor reports are what we live by.

As a result of this positive news, the blood medication has been stopped and his feeding amount has been increased from 10 ML (2 tablespoons) to 1 ounce. This is wonderful as it is obvious how hungry he is. Although he gets the nutrition he needs from the IV, he craves some bulk in his stomach. He needs the baby equivalent of a nice TK burger (which I miss from Huntington Beach).

After being an awesome and patient cheerleader during the delivery process, Grandma Sherry Schmirler (Tauni's mom) finally got to hold her latest grandchild. Tauni told me later that Coen was looking at her like "Uh, you aren't my mom".

Fatigue Setting In

As of Sunday morning, January 7th 2007, we are now getting very tired. It's been four nights since Coen was born and it's been a very emotional time. The first few days especially have been drenched with many tears and prayers of faith that have fortunately been answered almost before they've even been given. We are so grateful that our Heavenly Father has chosen to spare our little boy.

Tauni is the best mother. Her diligence and love are staggering. I had to force her to miss a feeding last night so she can finally get some sleep. Her body is still recovering from the delivery and her milk production is still coming in, so she needs her rest. She is breast pumping every three hours and also trying to breastfeed Coen. But, it's so tough for her to go very long without seeing her little boy. We will spend some more time today getting sleep now that Coen is more stable and progressing.

I must say that we feel extremely grateful for our hospital (Seton Medical Center, Austin TX). We were formally discharged on Saturday but allowed to stay in our room on a program called "nesting". This service is 100% free. Although nursing and dietary access are stopped, we still have our room, allowing us to stay close to our baby. We will likely go home later today for a couple of hours (which will be tough without our son), but so far we have yet to leave the hospital. The "nesting" setup is day-by-day and completely contingent upon hospital census, but so far it's given us two extra days, which has made all the difference in the world. The blessings continue to flow.

Apparently we aren't the only tired ones around here, as shown in the picture below. Here is Coen with a big yawn as he is held by his Aunt Kristi, her first chance to hold him after waiting very patiently:

Jayd's First Feeding

After patiently waiting for many long hours and allowing Tauni some time to bond with Coen and get him familiar with her, I was finally able to hold my little man for his 8 PM feeding, Friday January 6th 2007, just hours before he completed his third day of life.

I will admit that I was very nervous to hold him because of the IV in his scalp and the many monitors connected to his body. Fortunately, my nerves were quickly put to ease once I was able to hold my son (that feels so weird to say, 'my son'). Coen is still on limited food, so the actual feeding only took about 15 seconds. This kid just sucks down the small amounts of food that he is allowed. What's amazing is that when the food is gone, instead of crying out of hunger, he watches as Tauni or the nurse take the bottle away. It's as if he is thinking "hey, what's up? that was just the appetizer, right?". He then waits for the bottle to come back, before realizing that he is out of luck, fussing for a bit, then cranking on his soother. After he eats, he is typically very alert for about 20 minutes until he drifts off to sleep. Now that he can be wrapped up, he loves being a little burrito and being pressed up close to his mom or dad's body. He is such a good baby.

This picture shows how awesome to was to hold him as he just looked up at his daddy before falling asleep:
I took care of the 2 AM feeding last night as well so Tauni could get some sleep. I was able to hold him for about 90 minutes until watching him sleep nearly put me to sleep as well. This little kid is awesome. He's our miracle baby.

Mother's Milk

It's been a great day for Coen and his parents. After finally being able to hold her baby today, Tauni's colostrum production (I know, it makes her sound like such a factory) has gone from an average of 1-2 ML every three hours to now 5 ML. Is there a correlation? C'mon. Of course there is. Keep on coming milk...

Update : Afternoon, Saturday January 6th 2007

As mentioned before, Tauni is still waiting for her milk to fully come in, so we've been feeding Coen the colostrum. However, this is not enough bulk for him and we just started augmenting this with a little formula. So, this afternoon, Tauni was able to bottle feed Coen for the first time. Afterwards, she (as would be expected) mauled him with a million kisses, which she has been dying to do. We pray that in the coming days her milk will come in and the formula can be discontinued.

Dad is primarily focused on the quality of Coen's many farts, which the nurses have commented are loud (for an infant) and incredibly stinky. He must get that from Tauni's side of the family, as Dad would never be caught dead exhibiting such behavior.

Now that he is getting more dietary substance (Coen was not fed for the first 60 hours to not overstress his organs), he will hopefully pass some of the maconium that must still be inside him. This will be yet another huge milestone for him.

Just as I was warned, newborn parenting is all about getting excited over pees and poops.

Update : Morning, Saturday January 6th 2007

After our third short nap of the night, Tauni and I woke up this morning, hopeful as always, trying to keep our expectations in check. Since we are still in the hospital, we are able to see Coen every three hours and had seen him throughout the night. He was looking great and very cozy, as evidenced in the picture below. Mister Moose was standing guard yet again and overseeing little Coen's progress.

In the morning, we were excited to speak with the Neonatologist on staff and learn of Coen's daily progress report. Little did we know that this would honestly be the best morning of either of our lives.

The weekend doctor checked Coen out while we waited. After a thorough check of his charts, bloodwork, appearance, and more, the doctor gave him a glowing review. Here is the update:
1 - As mentioned before, at birth Coen had a small tear in his left lung. The fear was that the lung would release air into the chest cavity causing air pockets. Visually there have been no signs of this actually occuring. Today, morning X-Rays reported that this tear had self-healed. This is known to happen in small infants and we were thrilled to hear that his lung had been healed. At this point, there are no known respiratory issues or concerns.
2 - Coen's hematocrit (red blood cell) scores have been going down since birth. Yesterday, he was started on a medication to stimulate red blood cell growth in the bone marrow. If this did not work, he would need a blood transfusion. This is a lengthy process, but per this morning's report, his hematocrit scores have bounced back. They are still lower than desired, but they are moving in a positive direction.
3 - Coen has been urinating out roughly the same level of fluids that he has been taking in, which is awesome.
4 - Coen was finally cleared for feedings and will be able to receive Tauni's milk as it comes in. Fortunately, and as is normal, Tauni has been producing some colostrum, which we religiously take up and feed to Coen every three hours after Tauni breast pumps.
5 - Finally, Coen has had an umbilical IV coming into the vein in his umbilical cord area and running straight to his heart. This is a very invasive IV, but it allows the doctors/nurses constant IV access to his bloodstream in the case of any emergency. Because of this IV connection, Tauni has been unable to hold Coen except for a few seconds after his birth and before he was taken to the NICU. This morning the doctor ordered the removal of this IV and permitted Tauni to hold her baby for the first time. We waited patiently as he wrote the order for the IV removal and as the nurse removed the actual IV. Unfortunately, because of this, he has had an IV line placed in his scalp (outside the skull), but we were advised that this was a much safer procedure and actually very common.

As you can imagine, Tauni could not have been happier to finally hold her little man. Even with what seemed like a million wires attached to his body, Tauni was able to finally cuddle Coen and hold him against her body, skin-on-skin, to stimulate the mother/infant bonding (trust me, Tauni is already bound to this child).

Tauni was then able to attempt breastfeeding for the first time. Again, being away from her baby, her milk has not yet fully come in, but she has been producing 1-2 ML of colostrum every three hours. In an attempt to increase this amount, she has been looking at pictures and watching short videos of little Coen every time she breast pumps.

Fortunately, Coen has a very strong sucking reflex that is often very audible. Regardless, and as expected, he did not take to the breast immediately. With the assistance of a nipple shield and by putting some of the colostrum on the nipple shield (and with help from the Lactation Consultant), Tauni was able to get Coen to latch a few times. As always, he took all of the colostrum (admittedly a small amount) and was supplemented with a little formula (sprinkled on the nipple shield). Considering that he has not had access to his mom's breast now for some 60 hours since his birth, we are thrilled that Coen did as well as he did.

After feeding Coen, Tauni was then able to sit and hold him for about fifteen minutes until his scalp IV had to be put in. This was like heaven to Tauni. Dad sat back patiently and was happy enough to see the mother/infant bonding.

In summary, we did not expect that Tauni would be able to hold Coen for at least 3-5 more days. Things are progressing much sooner than ever imagined and again we give thanks to our Heavenly Father for bringing our little man along. Thank you to everyone for your prayers.

Coen & The Moose : Part 2

As a follow up to the last post about Coen and his Moose buddy, I have taken a picture of a polaroid that the nurse took of him. When she was telling us the story of Coen & the Moose, she handed us two polaroids, saying "It was so cute, I had to take a picture". We feel so grateful as these are the only real pictures (besides hundreds of digitals) that we have of him in our recovery room at the hospital. The picture quality isn't great, but it's a cute shot, so I figured that I would post it.

Here's Coen checking out his daddy:
And hanging out with his Auntie (technically, cousin) Kayla:
And with his Auntie (again, technically, cousin) Kalsea:
It's 11:19 PM CST (1/5/07) right now and we are encouraged by his status, but we know that he has great milestones ahead of him (feeding & passing, among other things), so we keep praying and praying that he will pass through this trial unscathed. He has a long way to go, but he's headed in the right direction.

Coen's First Buddy : The Moose

It looks like Coen has made his first buddy. Around 4:45 PM today (01/05/07) we went up to the NICU to see our man and the nurse mentioned that he had barely fallen asleep. She mentioned that he had been awake for 30 minutes checking out his Moose stuffed animal. She said that his eyes just kept staring at the Moose and checking him out. Seeing as he is 1/2 Canadian thanks to his mom (but fortunately a full USA citizen with no immigration issues!), it makes sense that he would love the Moose. More pictures here.

Per the nurse, Coen continues to progress. They've given him some antibiotics to combat an infection they detected in his last bloodwork. The nurse said he appears to be feeling much better as a result of these antibiotics. He's doing better. Baby steps...

Update : 4:22 PM CST, 05-Jan-2007

Coen is slowly progressing but is still very sick. He had an MRI scan last night and everything has tested normal (except that his jaw is a little small -- thank his father). There are no further immediate concerns about any damage to his brain due to delivery trauma. Of course, as with all babies, we will not know for sure until he hits his baby milestones and progresses over the next year. We're hopeful that his brain has survived the journey. Of course, his head is still very sensitive and he is receiving a small dose of pain medication for the headaches. Regardless of this, he is still extremely alert and reactive. His eyes track very well and his body shows all normal behavioral signs. He likes to look at his mom and suck vigorgously on this soother (Canadian for pacifier).

We are currently praying that his body will start to produce more red blood cells. He's receiving some medication to help jumpstart this process and we hope his own body will take over soon. The doctor is not terribly concerned at this point and mentioned only a 10% chance of a blood transfusion. If the blood type matches, I may be able to give him blood, depending on the necessary lead-time.

He has an IV running into the vein exposed by his umbilical cord. This IV runs straight to his heart. The doctor is fearful that a small infection has developed around this area (he bleeds a little when he cries), so Coen has been started on a week-long antibiotic to fight this infection. The poor guy's body is just still so weak from the delivery trauma that he is needing some assistance to stave off some things.

He is now almost 42 hours old and is looking so much better than he was when he made his entry into this world. We feel confident (and our doctors reassure us) that he will be a normal little boy, he just needs some assistance pushing through this first phase. He may have to be in the NICU another 7-14 days. We don't know. Discharge planning is not our top concern at this point. We just want to get him healthy.

Fortunately, although Tauni is technically discharging from the hospital tomorrow (Saturday, 1/6/07), we are able to stay in our same room, just without any nursing or dietary attention for her ("nesting"). This is such a blessing. This is an incredible offering at this hospital (as is the free high-speed wireless connection, thank you Austin!) and we are lucky that the hospital census is currently a little low.

We do not know what our full plan is yet, but we will definitely be here for another couple of days. It's great to be close to Coen. Seeing him keeps our batteries charged. Our life is a slight variation of the typical newborn parents routine -- we sleep a little, Tauni breast pumps, we take the colostrum up to Coen and hang out with him for awhile (until the NICU boots us for change of shift or any other number of reasons) and then we repeat the same process. Fortunately, I'm a sleeper and my perfection of the Thomas Edison cat-nap (and ability to sleep anywhere) have come in extremely handy (as have the hooded sweatshirt and red snow sleigh flannel pajama bottoms I got for Christmas). Tauni is finally starting to get a little more sleep and is feeling better. She has stayed in very high spirits and loves her little man. Again, being able to see him every few hours keeps her recharged, even though she is unable to hold him at this point. She is able to touch him and talk to him. It is obvious that he recognizes her voice. It's such a good thing that she always spoke with him while he was in the belly. They've always been tight like that. I think Coen is going to be a mama's boy.

On a different note, I just want to say how grateful I am for the incredible health insurance that we have to take all of the potential financial stress out of this situation. More importantly, I'm so grateful for the medical know-how and technology that we have access to nowadays. After witnessing what I witnessed through Tauni's long hours of labor, there is no doubt in my mind that had this happened 100 years ago, I would have lost not only my child, but also my wife. I am grateful to a loving Heavenly Father for preserving Tauni & Coen until this day so that they have the support they need. They are going to be a great team. I love them more than I can say.

Baby Coen Parks McFerson (The backstory)

NOTE: This is Jayd, Coen's father. I will be using this space to document my own thoughts/experiences and to easily relay information to family members. It's tough to keep everybody informed, so it's time to leverage the web. If there is anything too personal, detailed, or discouraging in here, I apologize. It's very difficult for my wife (Tauni) and I to go through this personally and also keep everybody informed. This just seems like the easiest way to go. Also, this becomes a natural journal for Coen to have in later years.

Obviously there is no time for pretty formatting right now, so I apologize for that.

Find the link to pictures on the right side-bar.

Please keep praying for our little boy and all the sick kids in NICU.

_________________________________

EMAIL SENT TO FAMILY, MORNING Thursday, January 04, 2007

Family,

Hello everybody. First off, thank you very much for your calls and especially your prayers yesterday. We really appreciate it.

Baby Coen is now almost 12 hours old. Here is the report:

Name: Coen Parks McFerson (Coen is pronounced like "Cohen").
Birth Time: 10:29 PM, Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007
Birth Weight: 7 pounds 8.3 ounces
Length: Not sure yet, but the guess was about 20" (He looks long to me)
Shoe size: His feet are nearly as large as his dad's (size 13).

Tauni is doing great. She had some very tough labor, lasting nearly 12 hours (active labor). The nurses were preparing the room for the c-section when Coen finally came to town. It was as if no progress had been made for hours and then he finally just came. The end was really quick. Every push/contraction felt like the last 10 seconds of a big sports game. We were supporting and encouraging Tauni as much as we could. Tauni's strength of will was amazing.

Tauni's spirits are very high, but her body is tired. She looks great and will recover fine. It will obviously just take a little time. She's a very happy new mom now and sleeping soundly after witnessing the progress of her baby this morning.

Coen had a very tough entry into this world. At delivery, he didn't quite take the first few strong breaths that you want your baby to take. The APGAR (sp?) scores were lower than desired and he was rushed off to the NICU. Just before he left, Tauni was able to hold her baby for a few moments.

As of last night, Tauni was exhausted and we were a little discouraged.

About two hours after his birth, I was able to give Coen a quick blessing in which I felt impressed that he would be alright. Before this, the Neo-Natalogist MD had told us that he was already "100% better" than when he had spoken with us earlier (it's incredibly hard to see an extra doctor walk into your delivery room 30 minutes after they've whisked your baby away).

As of this morning, Coen is doing so much better. He is off oxygen and breathing regularly on his own. He has a small IV running into his umbilical cord area to provide him some nutrition as they do not want to feed him yet. They want to keep as much load as possible off his young body so that his heart and lungs can be the focus. As such, they will not feed him much for the first few days. After that time, they want to witness his taking and passing food before he can go home. Realistically, he will probably be in the NICU for a week at minimum.

The doctors reassure us that there are no abnormal signs in his appearance, bloodwork, or behavior. His chin is resessed a little more than average, but the Neo-Natalogist is saying that his chin/jaw will bounce book (in months, perhaps a few years). He obviously gets that trait from his dad. He also has some conehead from the rough ride out. That will self-correct as the blood settles and his head shapes.

Hopefully this doesn't sound downbeat or discouraging. He has a few bumps from the ride, but the truth is that he's improving at a great pace right now and we can't wait to have him healthy enough to take him home. He has a very cute little face. He definitely didn't inherit Dad's nose.

We love you all and really appreciate your prayers. Please keep them coming. We know they work.

We love our baby.

Jayd

________________________________

For the curious, Coen is a first name that I found on an internet baby name list one night shortly after we'd moved to Austin. We were cooped up in a hotel passing the time by trying to come up with a baby name. This name was found just a few days after we learned of his gender.

I primarily liked Coen because of the sound of the name. To be honest, I just thought it sounded cool. Kayla quickly said "yeah, like Cohen from the OC". Although Seth Cohen was not the inspiration, it's fine by me. Tauni quickly embraced the name and has never looked back. Seeing him now, the name just fits.

The actual spelling of Coen is German and means "brave". I feel like he's already living up to his name after that long ride last night and he's gonna have to be a trooper for the next little while.

Parks is the last name of an ancestor on Tauni's side who was an early settler in Canada. His story reminds me of somebody like George DuWatt (sp?) from our side.

McFerson is from my last name. Just in case you were wondering.

___________________________________________

EMAIL SENT TO TAUNI’S FAMILY, AFTERNOON, THURSDAY JANUARY 4^TH, 2007

Family,

For those of you that have not heard, Tauni and Jayd's baby boy Coen Parks McFerson was born last night (January 3rd, 2007) at 10:29 PM in the Seton Medical Center in Austin Texas.

Backstory: Coen was originally due on Christmas Day 2006. By the day of this actual birth, he was 9 days past due. Unfortunately, Tauni had not significantly dilated/effaced leading up to this birth. As such, and because the baby appeared to be getting too big, the doctor decided to induce Tauni to get the baby out.

On Tuesday night (1/2/07), Tauni and Jayd checked into the hospital and Tauni was given an IV drip to soften the cervix and hopefully dilate it in preparation for delivery. As of Wednesday morning (1/3/07), things had progressed, but not signicantly. At 7:15 AM, further drugs were given to slowly induce labor (contractions). As of 9 AM, small contractions began (Tauni has experienced a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions through her pregnancy) which escalated until about 11 AM, when Tauni went into "active labor".

For 4 1/2 hours, Tauni had escalating and painful contractions that really took it out of her. She was incredibly strong and yet worn down from the contractions. At 3:30 PM, she received a half-dose of an epidural to ease some of the pain. This gave her a nice window of relaxation. Tauni then shut the epidural off for about two hours to receive some feeling back in her legs and prepare for the final push of labor. A small dose was then readministered to take the edge off. However, Tauni was still able to feel her legs and the pain of the contractions, which enabled her to push through them.

As of about 7:30 PM, she was finally fully dilated and ready to push. Soon into this process, it was realized that baby Coen was facing upward (OP), as opposed to a baby traditionally facing down for descent. This caused a huge increase in pain for Tauni and made the situation much more difficult. Jayd and Sherry (Tauni's mom) did what they could to encourage Tauni, but this was obviously on her. Sherry helped to keep Tauni going when she saw the crown of Coen's head and we wheeled a mirror around for Tauni to see it as well. With each contraction/push, we were all helping to prop her up and maximize her energy for the push.

Around 10:00 PM, the doctor and nurse were starting to give up hope on Coen coming around the pelvic bone. All fetal monitors were very positive so we were encouraged to keep going, they were just worried about tiring the baby out. Unknown to us, a room was prepared for a C-section, just in case.

Very little progress was being made and unfortunately little Coen was not coming around the pelvic bone. Then, miraculously to us, he came. The doctor was called in quickly and within minutes Coen was out. He had turned his body, thus allowing himself to make the final push. He was quickly put on Tauni's chest but then whisked away. Unfortunately, Coen experienced a lot of stress through this process and was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) immediately following birth.

Coen had a very tough entry into this world. At delivery, he didn't quite take the first few strong breaths that you want your baby to take and he was worn out and stressed by the long process.

Tauni had some very tough labor (12 hours worth) but she is now doing great. Her spirits are very high, but her body is tired. She looks great and will recover fine. It will obviously just take a little time. She's a very happy new mom now. Although she is understandly frustrated about not being able to have and cuddle her baby boy at this time, she is still able to visit him regularly. All through the pregnancy, she spoke with Coen as he lived in her belly. Tauni was very diligent about this and it is now paying off. He responds so quickly to her voice and looking up at her with a sense of knowing his mom. It's amazing how he recognizes his mother's voice and loves her touch.

As of last night, Tauni was exhausted and we were a little discouraged.

About two hours after his birth, I was able to give Coen a quick blessing in which I felt impressed that he would be alright. Before this, the Neo-Natalogist MD had told us that he was already "100% better" than when he had spoken with us earlier (it's incredibly hard to see an extra doctor walk into your delivery room 30 minutes after they've whisked your baby away).

As of this morning, Coen is doing so much better. He is off oxygen and breathing regularly on his own. He has a small IV running into his umbilical cord area to provide him some nutrition, as they do not want to feed him yet. They want to keep as much load as possible off his young body so that his heart and lungs can be the focus. As such, they will not feed him much for the first few days. After that time, they want to witness his taking and passing food before he can go home. Realistically, he will probably be in the NICU for a week at minimum.

The doctors reassure us that there are no abnormal signs in his appearance, bloodwork, or behavior. His chin is resessed a little more than average, but the Neo-Natalogist is saying that his chin/jaw will bounce book (in months, perhaps a few years). He obviously gets that trait from his dad. He also has some conehead from the rough ride out. That will self-correct as the blood settles and his head shapes.

Hopefully this doesn't sound downbeat or discouraging. He has a few bumps from the ride, but the truth is that he's improving at a great pace right now and we can't wait to have him healthy enough to take him home. He has a very cute little face. He definitely didn't inherit Dad's nose.

We love you all and really appreciate your prayers. Please keep them coming. We know they work. Coen has already improved so significantly over the past almost 24 hours and we just want to see this progress continue.

We love our baby.

Jayd
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Pictures: http://www.twotonsoflove.com/pics/babycoen/

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EMAIL SENT AFTERNOON, Thursday, January 04, 2007

5:30 PM --

We just came back from seeing Coen and he was very alert. He had his eyes about 1/2 peeled for 30+ minutes, just staring at his mom. Tauni has been so good about talking to him and comforting him. It's amazing to see how he responds to her. You can tell that Coen recognizes Tauni's voice and loves her touch.

The doctors are running a precautionary MRI tonight per the request of the pediatric neurologist. I pushed the doctor (same guy from last night, slightly Jewish looking man) and he told me that "Things could be a lot worse (with his head) and we would still expect a positive outcome. There is nothing in his behavior today that indicates any reason for concern. We just want to be sure." I'm thrilled that they will be doing an MRI but we may not know the results for 24+ hours. If everything turns out normal, it will be great to have that peace of mind.

Fortunately, I've also reconfirmed that our insurance is covering everything, so that is always great to know.

From the front lines... Coen just keeps getting better. :)