Zachary's Birth & First Month
Zachary Hiro Soede, born 28th March 2006 @ 10:40am. Zachary from the Hebrew "Zachariah" (which was David's original choice but after the birth Kay wanted Zachary so Zachary it was!) which means "Remembered by God" - and "Hiro" is Japanese and can mean 10 different things depending on the Kanji characters used - Helped by God / Guide for others / Intelligent / Spacious / Large / lots of water, large & plentiful / composure, time or money to spare / large ocean etc (we'll probably go with one of the first 2 meanings). Weight = 3.55 kgs (7 pounds 13 ounces). Length = 53.5 cm. Firstborn to Kay & David Soede; first grandchild to Glen & John Soede; first grandchild to Midori Hashimoto; first great-grandchild to Katsuko Arai . For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given!! :)
Kay was a champion throughout . . . Kay's waters broke on Monday 27th 2006 @ 7:30am,
we (reluctantly) went into Gosford Hospital to be examined and promptly sent back home. Kay went grocery shopping, dropped Dave surfing and picked him up, cooked dinner and relaxed. Sort of. Went to bed at 10pm and Dave woke at 3am to discover Kay had been recording contractions for 5 hours and was now 2 minutes apart and 1 minute long - time to go to hospital - but she made some sandwiches and reminded Dave of the paperwork he'd hadn't packed in the car yet etc :)
Arrived Gosford Hospital ~4am and got a room, first VE @ 5:30am, 1cm dilated, contractions coming quicker now. Jumped in the shower @ 8:30am and that helped relax Kay and reduce her pain somewhat, but she was keen for some pethadene at next VE which was 9:20am. However 2nd VE revealed 8cm dilation so no pethadene, and they took the laughing gas away as well (she'd only had 3 breaths anyway) as she was into Transition and final stage by 9:40am. An hour of agony for Kay and slower than expected progress, all sorts of positions, finally head crowned properly to reveal compound arm delivery (hand up near shoulder like taking an oath) - no wonder last hour was slow and particularly painful for Kay! However the compound resulted in a lot of tearing with the result that Zachary cannoned out into the midwife's quick hands and was up on the breast in 8 seconds. (I can't believe women have given breech births and lived to tell the tale).
Unfortunately Kay needed a lot of very painful stitches which couldn't be administered for a long time, eventually she went to theatre and got them done under general anasthetic, fortunately Kay got to spend the first 2 hours with Zac before heading into theatre.
I was so proud of Kay to deliver Zac without chemical pain relief or intervention, a very natural birth insofar as the whole thing is natural at all, it was what she wanted and prepared well for but it doesn't always go according to plan, so that was a great result and Kay was very pleased afterwards. What a trooper, can't believe she let me sleep for 5 hours Monday night during her early labour, such a practical and strong woman, she's going to be a great mum :)
Kay was concerned she wouldn't be able to breastfeed but fortunately no-one told her breasts or Zac and he is now attaching well and drinking plenty and plenty often, it varies around a rough 3 hour cycle with 30 minutes to an hour long feed. Our goal is just full feeds for Zac at this stage. Kay had some initial tenderness as Zac was pinching (the nipple), but the speed and force Kay is applying during the half-second mouth-wide-open opportunity for attachment is impressive (reminds me of milking a snake for venom :) and things seem pretty good now. He does tend to fall asleep during the second half so we tickle his feet / head / hands or half pull him away and he is learning to have less pauses.
David gave Zac a bath on the second day which he really enjoyed, modesty and internet weirdos prevent displaying his full glory . . .
And here's Zac with the Aussie grandparents :) Kay's mum and aunt are coming over in May, we look forward to having them, and Dave is particularly looking forward to his new home theatre projector they are couriering for him :) What else does a newborn need? :)
3 week Update
Well Zac came home on the Saturday morning (after Dave had hosted the guys all night playing poker until 4am!) and approved of his estate - the cot, the nursery, the house, the grounds, etc, and promptly fell asleep. Dave often sings him "Rock of Ages":
Zac's been great, following the routine we set for him by sleeping / feeding / waking when we tell him, and travels really well.
He gets 15 to 20 minutes of sun a day both sides, plus some out of the sun tummy time. So we carry on mostly as normal going to church / bible study / meals at friends / watching cricket at friends / poker / Friday Night Footy / driving around Sydney and last weekend we took him sailing on Mum & Dad's cruising catamaran on Lake Macquarie. Here's Uncle Bob and Aunt Kiri with Zac on board :
We placed a stereo on in his room playing (mostly baroque) classical music 24/7 in the hope he gets used to noise, and it seems to have worked, Zac sleeps anywhere and in any noise. Zac usually gets fed around 9 or 10pm, (Kay then goes to bed) wakes for a feed between 2am and 3am and then wakes up about 7:30am, so Kay is getting plenty of sleep as well. He feeds 3 or 4 more times through the day 3 to 4 hours apart (whatever suits our schedule) so is getting his 6 to 7 feeds and big ones - he hit 50 minute feeds during a growth spurt at 2 weeks old, but is back to draining a breast in 15 or 20 minutes again. Here's Kay burping Zac :)
So far it's been pretty easy going, we pray it continues that way, we are working hard at being in charge and having a flexible routine and the other Babywise principles, but you can't guarantee things like health can you! We have had wonderful support from a large group of friends from The Lakes who cooked for us every night for the first 4 weeks, there was usually enough for lunches as well, so all we had to do is prepare breakfast and shop once a week. Kay's friend Yuki (her bridesmaid, currently studying in Sydney with her Canadian husband Adrian working his Canadian job over the internet) has stayed with us for a few days and helped with the household chores which was terrific. Here's Yuki with Zac - that glare is pretty typical! :)
David took 3 weeks off from work and slept in every day for 2 weeks (and watched cricket and enjoyed some terrific surf as well)
and then he got bored so decided to demolish our brick open fireplace and chimney, and Zac slept through the 4 days of sledge-hammering, brick falling and skip-bin brick-rubble dumping like a champion baby :)
Last Updated: 5th November, 2006 01:00