All is well, we can breathe easy again......

Ok so we finally made it home. Jen and Mathilde are both doing very well.

Jen's parents came over to meet their Granddaughter. It was awesome to see them meet her for the first time. Mathilde has this charm that really seems to stick.

My mom is on her way too. I will be happy to see her hold my baby. Here are a bunch of pics that will entertain until I find time to post again. I will try to keep the blog going with updates and what not.

I will not post nearly as often, there was a lot going on that required constant updates.

My wife and my baby are completely healthy. I am so incredibly lucky to have this gift.

Thanks for all the well wishes and for paying attention to the blog. I knew you all were rooting for us.

Mathilde Annabelle Kirk

Our daughter was born on Tuesday January 27, 2009 @ 8:17AM.
The baby is completely healthy, and Jen is doing just fine.
I cut the cord. That's right. I rocked it.
Words cannot describe what we are feeling right now so I am going to stop typing.
Here are some pics and videos:

Almost here

Jen is pushing now. I saw the head. The baby has dark hair. This is amazing.

The moose is soon to be loose.

Jen is back on the pitocin, only to speed things up. She is 9 inches dilated and +1, this means that the baby is very low in the pelvis. She is not experiencing any pain, the only drawback to that is that her legs are dead weight.
I will have pics of our daughter as soon as she is born.
We are excited to say the least.
All for now....

Time to let nature take its course.

Since Jen is completely effaced and 5 centimeters dilated there is no need to use pitocin for the remainder of her labor. They stopped the pitocin for the epidural and want to let the baby come out naturally.
I have no idea if the above statement makes sense. Jen and I are going to get some sleep. I imagine our moose will be born sometime in the early morning. I am going to say 7AM.
Will I be correct? We shall see.....

Making Progress

Just so everyone knows, the time stamp on these blog entries are approximately 2 hours behind Chicago time. Now on to the post....

Jen is holding up very well. She is now @ five centimeters and one hundred percent effaced. For awhile we were thinking that her cervix was made of concrete because it simply would not budge. She is completely numb, I have to move her legs for her. The epidural is certainly doing its job.
I am tired at this point so forgive me if my blog entries from here on out contain random thoughts, poor grammar, etc.
I know I have said it before but Jen is amazing. I have no idea how she is dealing with all this. I think she has slept about 3 hours since we arrived here.
More to come later.....

One quick word about the staff here:
Everyone here is very attentive and thorough. The nurses we have really seem to care, and they quite literally don't miss a (heart) beat.

Ok this is enough!!!

She gave it one hell of a go......
And I am thoroughly impressed. Jen is so completely tough, but even she could not hold up to the power of 10ML per hour pitocin. After having 4 contractions back to back and almost passing out, she agreed to the epidural. I for one am relieved to see her get it. Things should be a bit more manageable from here on out. I am shocked that it took 3 hours for her to finally agree to it.
I will post again once the epi is administered.

The dam...

.....has burst. Jen's water just broke while receiving 6ML of pitocin per hour. Other than a bit of a shock and surprise, Jen and the baby are doing just fine.
Oh, and to make things so much better:
I look up at the TV and see the movie RoadHouse is playing. Nothing like a Patrick Swayze movie to keep us focused.
Things are getting surreal.

Quick update.

The cervidil did not work as well as we had hoped. The good news is that there was a response to the drug, just not as much of one as we wanted.
As of 7pm Jen was placed on pitocin, 2ML per hour. She is not having any noticeable reaction so far. The plan is to increase the rate of flow every half hour until delivery.
To pass the time Jen and I are watching CaddyShack. I forgot how funny Bill Murray was in this movie.
More info to come......

Let's get this moose on the loose......

The doctors have been kind. They took Jen off of the monitors for a few hours so she could shower and regroup. She is in a much better mood since she got out of that bed. We will find out in about forty five minutes the effects of the cervidil. We are hoping that the cervix is dilated to at least 2". Jen's bucket is hard as a rock so I am thinking that the cervidil is making progress. She is also starting to have noticable contractions. Regardless of the results the docs are going to begin the pitocin drip. This is where the real fun begins. Once the pitocin goes in, it can take anywhere from five hours to more than twenty four to deliver the moose.
I know that this will be a very painful experience for Jennifer. For some reason I am not worried. She has a calm about her that makes me believe in her. She is the kind of person that sets her mind on something and there is nothing that will keep her from meeting her goal.
She's a tough chick.
So earlier I went out and got a HUGE lunch for her because I know it will be some time before she gets to eat again. I ordered her two bowls of veggie chili along with a basket of fries. I had a blackened cajun burger that made my breath like fire. Jen looked at me like I was insane when I came back with the bounty. We now have plenty of food reserves. I am relaxed in knowing that Jen has a proper carb load in her. She's going to need it.
Ok this is enough for now. I am rambling on, I think this is a sign of delerium.

P.S. Jen just made some comment about taking our dog Mona sledding. I didn't think the drugs she is on would include hallucinations as a side effect.
It's going to be an interesting evening......

Here are some pics so you can get a feel for our environment. Jen does not want to be photographed.

Wireless monitors please.

Twelve hours. The cervidil did nothing. We just started round 2. This time we only have to wait six hours to check on the results. Oh joy.
Jen is bound to the bed because of the wired baby monitor that the docs are forcing her to wear. The nurses are looking all over for the wireless monitors so Jen can get out of bed.
She's tough as nails. We almost decided on going home so she can get some sleep but we don't want to have to go through all this again in a week so we are going to stick it out.
At least they are letting her eat until the labor-inducing drugs are administered. Now if only we can get this room quiet enough for her to sleep....
Ok that's all for now. I am going to the gift shop soon to look for playing cards or other forms of entertainment.

The clock is ticking.

We are now sitting in the delivery room. Jen received the dose of cervidil, after 12 hours have passed the doctors will check to see if another 12 hour dose is needed.
Now all we can do is wait.
Jen is connected to all kinds of monitors that confine her to her bed. Believe me when I say she is not happy about this. The docs want her to stay in bed for potentially three days. I wish them luck with that.
Jen is knitting me a pair of socks. I am a lucky man.
Nothing else going on at the moment. I will update when something significant happens.
Until then....

On our way.

To start, simply because its hilarious, a picture of Lenny, our cat, with his head stuffed in the toilet. I have to keep a sense of humor right now.

We are gathering everything (will we remember it all?) to go to our long hospital stay. We are going to the Maple Tree Inn for dinner in Blue Island. They have the best fried pickles and a fine selection of beers on tap.
I called the hospital to ask about internet in the delivery rooms. The response I received was "it works sometimes". Not very re-assuring.
One way or another I will keep this blog up to date.
I am off to the shower.
More to come soon...
Here is a wide angle pic of the moose's room:

Our Moose likes Ska-Pop..

So one morning Jen was on her way to one of many doctors appointments to check on the status of our moose.

She had the radio on and this song came on the radio:

The moose started going nuts in Jen's belly. Apparently she digs Vampire Weekend.
Also,
Jen and I are sitting here in the living room, both nervous, so we start to blurt things out.
This was the result. One of the worst songs of the 90's.

Damn you anxiety!! Nothing good can ever come from you....

The calm before the storm...

Ok so I am setting up this blog to keep in touch with everyone. I plan on writing a play by play of what is going on with the birth of our little girl. Jen and I are in good spirits regardless of the circumstances.
We have to go into the hospital tomorrow (Sunday) @ 8pm. Jen's blood pressure has been high, so the doctors want to induce labor.
I will post again once we arrive. The first set of drugs take 12 hours to kick in, so I imagine I will have plenty of time to keep everyone updated.
Actually, I will just be sitting in the room bored.
With that said, feel free to fire up AIM and chat with me. my handle is "berserk303". Fitting for a situation like this.....
I will pop back in when we arrive at the hospital.....
D & J

Here is a pic of what we are up against......This is going to be a battle...