Our first days at home with Griffin passed pretty smoothly. Normally a new baby is a big disruption to the routine, but thanks to COVID, we pretty much have no routine right now. With no school, church, errands or activities, I've never had to feed him on the go, stock a diaper bag, or lug around a car seat. Plus Dave is working remotely, so I had back up at home if I needed help with the other kids.
It hasn't all been easy though. Griffin LOVES to eat and wants to be fed every two hours, including during the night. He also prefers to be held and snuggled, to sitting in the bouncer or swing, so I spent a lot of time loving on this guy. Knowing that he is our last, however, has made me appreciate all those late nights and slow feedings that I found so hard when Sophie was born. I know how fast they change and grow now!
Here are some photos from his first days at home:
First night at home and filling out the 3 month jammies just fine!
Newborn check up with the pediatrician. He was just a little jaundiced, but otherwise healthy with no concerns.
Hanging out with mom and dad at 3 days old
5 days old - having his hair combed by some T-Rex claws
Snuggles with mom
Little smiles at 1 week old
8 days old - Sleeping away the day
11 days old - look at those squishy cheeks!
Very alert after having his hair washed in the sink - it took forever for his cord to fall off
Two weeks old
Always making the cheerio face
Two week check up!
He had a huge blowout all over me and the floor while the nurse was listening to his heart
At 2 weeks he made it back to birth weight and then some! I am very grateful that although my babies are chunky, they have all had tiny heads :)
With us being home all the time right now you'd think it would have been easy to find a moment to write out Griffin's birth story, but FOUR kids have been keeping me busy! Someone is always needing something so blogging time has been scarce these past few weeks. Now that we are starting to settle in more, here it is, the final episode of Howe babies:
I was scheduled to be induced 6 days early on March 31st, but started having contractions in the middle of the night the day before. They were regular enough that I texted Dave's mom at 5 am to tell her we needed her to come a little earlier than planned, but not enough to go to the hospital. They were steady throughout the day, but always 10-15 minutes apart. I went about trying to get as much done as possible, wondering when it would be "go time." Dave's mom arrived that afternoon, we had a nice family dinner together, and then went to bed - still no baby.
The contractions continued throughout the night, enough to keep me awake, but still not enough to call my doctor. I was discouraged, but glad to know I would be induced the next morning either way - the end was in sight! After 30 hours of contractions, but no baby in the night, Dave and I left the house around 6:30 for the hospital.
The hospital's front doors are locked right now due to COVID, and everyone has to report to the Emergency Room for treatment. There you are assessed and if you pass, a security guard will escort you to your final destination, which for us was Labor and Delivery - hooray! After we checked in, the nurse told me I was already at a 5, so even though I was there for a scheduled induction, I would have delivered that day anyway. I was glad to hear I was that far along already and all those hours of contractions hadn't been for nothing. This baby was meant to have a March birthday!
Even though I was technically in "active labor," the nurse still started Pictocin to help things along since my contractions weren't regular. I was able to watch TV for a few hours until my doctor arrived a couple hours later to break my water. Four kids and I never had my water break on it's own, so no "oh my gosh!" moment, but also no clean up :) Then shortly after anesthesiology stopped in to start the epidural.
Just like my epidural with the other boys, the medication only affected the left side at first, which led to multiple doses to get me comfortable. This time, however, the extra medication left me numb to the point where I had ZERO feeling whatsoever. It was like the lower half of my body didn't belong to me. When it came time to push, I tried my best but I literally could feel nothing and had to rely on the doctor to tell me if whatever I was doing was effective or not. She kept telling me his head was visible, but I couldn't push strong enough to get him out. After several contraction cycles with not much progress, I could tell the doctor was starting to get worried, so I tried even harder and thankfully he made his way into the world just before noon at 11:47 am.
Safe in my arms at last! It's always so amazing to finally meet the little person you've been carrying and wondering about for 9 months.
Baby boy was a chunker just like his brothers, although just a bit smaller weighing in at 8 lbs 12 oz. He came a little early though, where the other boys were late so I bet he would have rivaled them if he had cooked a week longer.
He was very quiet, but alert after birth. We never really heard him cry during our two day hospital stay.
Since we hadn't decided on a name yet, we called him "Baby" or "Grumpy Toad"
Not the sweetest nickname, but he did make some real grumpy faces at us on that first day
I only had one small tear that was quick to repair and felt really good after delivery. Even though it was my longest labor, it ended up being my easiest recovery.
He had dark hair like his siblings, although it wasn't as thick as Sophie or Davey's
Look how healthy and pink he was!
After bath his little hairs fluffed up nicely
Chilling on the bed with daddy
He was a really easy baby - no crying and lots of sleeping. We never had to send him to the nursery to try and get some rest.
BSA has really good food and I was actually looking forward to our stay because of it! On the morning before you check out they set up a special table and bring you a fancy breakfast. I had french toast and bacon and Dave got an omelet.
They also have the most amazing chocolate cake! I ordered a slice with every meal because it's that delicious. Our nurse told us that she actually orders the hospital dining cake for her kids' birthdays because it's so good.
We didn't officially pick a name until April 2 when the birth certificate lady came in waiving her papers and told us we couldn't be discharged until they were completed. Possible options were Oliver, Samuel, Edison and Jonah, but we didn't both love any of them. Then "Griffin" came on the scene as a late entry, and so two days after he was born, our baby was finally named!
Ready to head home and meet his siblings!
At home the kids instantly mobbed us and couldn't wait for their turn to hold the baby. He was kissed, petted, and passed around until he decided he'd had enough and it was time to eat.
Grandma has been the only person outside our immediate family to meet and hold him so far
First photo as a family of SIX
And farewell to grandma - we were so glad she could come and hold down the fort for a couple days while we were at the hospital. We couldn't have done it without her!!
After three easy deliveries, I always wondered if #4 would through us a curve ball. Instead the world changed things up with the COVID pandemic. Here are a few things that we had to do differently this time around:
- My mom was supposed to fly down to help with the kids, but her travel plans were cancelled a couple weeks before my due date. SO SAD. Luckily Grandma Howe was able to take some time off work to come visit from Dallas to help us out!
- No visitors were allowed so the kids, grandma or friends were not able to come see us in the hospital after he was born.
- Dave was permitted to be present for the birth, but was told that if he left afterward he would not be allowed re-entry. For previous births, he would pop down to the food court, get take out, or go home for periods in between to grab food, check on the other kids, get clothes, and get work done. This time he had to stay for the duration.
- We were not allowed outside our room so it was a pretty low key 48 hours for us just hanging out in one spot. Since the hospital was basically empty though, our dining orders came very quickly!
- The hospital was not performing any elective procedures at the time. We were not planning on having a tubal or hysterectomy, but if I had it would have been cancelled. Luckily we were able to still have Griffin circumcised.
We welcomed little Griffin to our family on the very last day of March, just in time to be part of the family birthday club. He arrived safely after 30+ hours of labor and we are so happy to have him here! He is a chubster with dark hair and eyes, just like his siblings - I think it's safe to say we only make one model of baby :) More pictures and his story will follow soon.
It took us a full two days to choose a name for this boy. In the end we settled on "Griffin," which has no special meaning or family connection, but it was something we could agree on! His middle name is "West" which is a family name from the Parkinson (my mom's) line.
His siblings were not able to come to see him in the hospital because of Covid-19, but we took some pictures at home on our bed a couple weeks after he was born. Our family is now complete!
