EARLY ARRIVAL!

Top picture: Hours old, Middle picture: 5 days old, Bottom picture: 9 days old

Hello to all!

We'd like to introduce you to the newest member of the family - Henry Theodore Winder Sutter. Born on March 27th, 2008, at 7:46pm. He was nearly four weeks early (three weeks and five days) but still weighed in at 6 pounds 1 ounce and 19 1/2 inches long.

My water broke at home at about 9 am on the 27th. After a quick stop at the doctor's office, we were admitted to the hospital and began to wait... I thought it would most likely be a long labour since my mother loves to relive how long her labour was with me... but with the help of Pitocin, I was fully dilated and pushing by 7 pm. We had to use Pitocin because even though the water had broken, Henry was still way up high in the birth canal and not descending. The Pitocin really kicked in and by about 5 pm I didn't want anyone to touch me, talk to me, or even look at me. Luckily, this part of the labour only lasted a couple hours and, also luckily, since I had gone into labour in the morning, I was well rested and ready to go.

Despite being so early and having a few breathing problems, Henry did excellent at the hospital. We checked out Saturday morning but had to be readmitted on Tuesday because he was extremely jaundiced. (Bilirubin level of 27 - which is VERY high.) Once in the hospital, they found that he had also lost a lot of weight - down to 5 pounds, 5 ounces - and was having a difficult time maintaining his body temperature. So into an isolation incubator under heat and blue lights he went. He spent nearly 48 hours there (with us by his side) and was discharged on Thursday afternoon.

Since then, he has been doing incredibly well and is almost back up to his birth weight. Since he is a premie, he sleeps all but about 30 minutes a day. It is very difficult to get him to wake up - even to eat! I know one day we'll look back on this time period and think we were crazy for wanting him to wake up...but right now we really look forward to those rare open eye moments.

The stress of being back in the hospital as well as that of simply having a newborn has left us quite exhausted. Thankfully, mom has taken an (extended) leave from her school and has been here for the past 2 weeks. She is cooking and cleaning and even staying up over night with Henry when he's fussy. It is going to be a real change when she leaves!! Many apologies to those of you who have called and left messages - we are not ignoring you...we are simply too tired to talk! Given his weight issues, we are on a very strict two hour schedule meaning that by the time feeding and changing is done I have about one hour of time before we start the routine all over again...around the clock. One hour to sleep, to eat, to shower, to clean, etc., etc! But I promise I will catch up on returning calls at some point!

Thank you for all the well wishes and support.