10 Day Check up

So 10 days have already passed! it's crazy! Val said he looks amazing, and i can't disagree. We talked about how everything is going, and how awesome being parents is. They weighed him to check his progress... baby's can lose up to 10% of their birth weight in the first week of  life and he weighed in at 9lbs 6oz. only 6oz. down from birth. well now he's at a strapping 10lbs. 1/2oz for a total weight gain in 6 days of 10oz! Little Korbin, like his father, seems to have no problem with weight gain.

See the family resemblance?

Cousins, so dang cute!

That 1/4 Mexican is working out well for him

3 days vs. 3 months

Bath time!

Today Korbin had his first bath! He squirmed a little while figuring out what the heck he was sitting in.. but then he was all comfy and cozy, loving his bath. Also in the 'over-acheiving' category his belly button fell off a whole day earlier than they told us! heesmahspecialboy.   hrmmmm

Daddy's Little Rocker

Yes. He is, in fact, in a guitar case.

4-day Checkup

Today we had our home visit with Val. It was great to see her again! Korbin got his little foot poked for some blood test, but thanks to Mama's bountiful feast, and Val's expert touch he made just a little fuss for about all of 3 seconds and was back to just feeding and happy. He lost 6oz. from his birth bringing him to a 'petite' 9lbs. 6oz. Val gave him a good look over and said he was doing great. Everything is ship shape and a-ok!

Welcome To The World Our Son! (his story)

So i'm sitting downstairs watching tv on Sunday night on the 13th finishing up my awesome show of who knows whatever i was watching, and my wife is getting ready to go to bed.  She had just been lamenting how the earlier attempt at inducing labor via castor oil was fruitless. So she went up the stairs all forlorn and miserable when at the top of the stairs she says, "oh crap..." Then right back down the stairs. "Okay this is gonna sound really gross babe, but does this smell like pee to you?" she had a funny look on her face, me completely unphased responded, "ya sure" so i did.. i couldn't tell.. it didn't smell like pee which kinda got me excited... could her water have broke? Is it possible we'd be meeting our son soon? The excitement roared through me. Still not sure if her water had broke or she had a all to familiar pregnancy 'accident' i suggested she do some jumping jacks and see if anymore water came out. (side note: when pregnant the baby's head kinda acts like a cork so i figured doing some jumping jacks would dislodge his head and let some water out if it had indeed broken)  "No way!, i'm not doing jumping jacks. What if it is broke and goes all over the carpet?" she inquired. "So go in the Kitchen, i won't watch you i promise.. just do it  it'll be easy to clean up on the linoleum." i replied.. a few seconds passed... I turn my head, and hear the familiar thump thump thu---oh jeez! Success! sure enough broken water! OUR BABY IS ALMOST HERE!!!! This was a major milestone. After watching my poor wife go around the past few weeks miserable and hating life and feeling like this pregnancy will never end a glimmer of hope had just sparked in our lives! So on the phone i go to page the midwives, after their speedy reply phone call I talk to Val, she tells us "GO TO BED NOW!" which was a very good suggestion so we could get as rested up for the time ahead of us. She told us to rest as long as possible and then call her when the contractions get close together. So off to bed we whisk ourselves, I try to get all the last minute preperations while chante got ready for bed... lets see... playlist loaded on iphone... check, bags all ready by the door... check shaved and ready to look as good as a schlub like me can for this birth and the inevitable photos to follow. Then off to bed we go.. trying to fall asleep as fast as possible, and sure enough we did.  I woke up hearing Chante in the bathtub sounding like she was laboring pretty tough, she got outta the tub and came in to wake me up. I was ready when she did.. she said "um, we should probably page Val. So, ZOOM! i whip outta bed at 2:30am like i'm late for work.. i call Val as Chante who's laboring pretty hard in bed now, decides to get back into the tub. After Val talked to a very frantic completely "typical expecting movie father-like" me and then talked to Chante, she told us we should meet at the birth center at 4am. So off to brush the morning breath off of my teeth (cuz the last thing a laboring woman wants is dragon breath saying 'breath baby, breath.. all while she's wishing i would stop breathing) and get everything loaded up in the truck i went, I made the calls that i could think of to make.. then off we zoomed on very icy roads to the birth center. We got about a quarter of a mile down the first road from our house when i asked if she'd like me to start playing the playlist i made for her, and she rather eagerly agreed. Well that lasted all of about 4 minutes, before hands went flying frantically, mid-contraction, towards the general direction of the stereo. I deduced with, quite preceptive logic, that music at this point in time is not high on the priority list of calming techniques. So off we race to the birth center, as i'm timing her contractions on the car stereo clock and trying not to crash us down the frozen tundra that was I-5 i would get gentle reminders, "um babe, you don't need to do 80 to get us there." Oh jeez! I hadn't even realized I was going that fast!  With as many times as i had made this drive, to work, and to the birth center, this was taking FOREVER!!! However, we made it to the birthcenter promptly at 4am. From there it was a whirlwind of getting stuff unloaded and Chante into the tub and making sure everything we needed was unloaded. Then the support group showed up.. thank goodness!  I've always considered myself a pretty level headed person despite harsh situations, but i literaly felt like my head was spinning! From the point Chante got in the tub it was like everything in the world around us completely disappeared and she and i were the only two people on the planet, i didn't really register what was going on around us.  All i could do was make sure i could do everything i possibly could to help my amazing wife get through this ridiculously intense situation.  Shortly after she was in the tub and we had gotten into a rhythm of contractions and calming techniques, Val checked Chante, to find out that she was dialated to 10 and all she had to do now was push the baby out! Holy Cow this flew past me. So i could tell that it was Pushing time by the sounds she was making, they were sounds i had never heard from her and were kind of alarming for me, however since I knew these sounds where leading to our son coming out to meet us it was easier to be happy to hear them instead of having them haunt me! She was the strongest, most beautiful woman i have ever seen throughout this whole process! After pushing in the tub for awhile, they decided to add a little gravity to the process and have chante get on the birthing stool, which seemed to help her out very well.  For awhile, I was sitting behind her and being support, rubbing her back and whispering words of confidence in her ears, until my aunt Kelly snapped me out of my bewilderment and onetrack "support, support, support" mind and told me I should be in front of her to watch my son. so we switched places... it was amazing to watch and see everything that was happening. Then after pushing on the birth stool for awhile, Chante needed to be back in the tub right now, and after moving there that's when it happened. She got in the tub, pushed a few times and out came his head! the relief in her face made me feel so much better, but the little bugger had somehow managed to get his arm up by his head which was why she was working so hard without the results you'd expect to see. So they had to do a little bit of manuvering of him to get him to come out, which really didn't go over well with Chante by the sounds of it. Then 1 more push and blblblblump.. out he came! They instantly put him on Chante's chest and he made a little cry, The amazing speed of which extreme pain and work switched to relief and absolute love was astounding to me, however it was hard to hear for me through the hot stinging in my eyes of pride, tears, and eternal gratitude to my wife for bringing such a beautiful baby boy into the world for us. She was so strong, and so amazing that it still makes that sting come back to my eyes as they "sweat".. I love her so much, and she has made us such an amazing child. This was definitely an experience that i will remember to the Nth degree for the rest of my life. Thanks to everyone who helped so much, Robyn, Kelly, Jodi, Val, and Suzanne. You all have made our lives so much better with your Expertise, Passion for life, Caring, and Love. THANK YOU!!

There is so much more story after the actual birth, but i shall save that for another post!

Welcome To The World Our Son! (her story)

On Sunday night I was having contractions starting around 9 that were every 15 mintues apart. I have been having those quite regular and didnt think anything of it. (on my appt the previous wednesday i was checked and was at a good 5 almost 6....and so distraught i had to go home....STILL PREGNANT) I decided I was going to try to go to bed and around 11:30 I walked upstairs and when I reached the top stair I felt a gush of water....My first thought was "oh great....i just peed my pants" but then I noticed both legs of my pjs were soaked. I went back downstairs and told Erik. Iasked him to smell my pants to see if it was pee..he did and couldnt really tell...what a  good hubby tee hee He said to go into the kitchen and do a jumping jack to see if more came out...amd sure enough it did! He then paged the midwives. Val called him back and told us to  get some rest and when contractions are 5 minutes apart to call her back.  I woke up at 2:30 am with very strong contractions. I got into my bath which felt great and sat in there til about 3am. I woke erik up to call Val back and she said to meet her at the Birth Center at 4. We were getting ready and they started  coming stronger and faster so I told Erik we needed to leave now!  On the way there the contractions really kicked in and were coming closer together like 3 and  minutes apart. When we arrived to the BC I got straight into the tub to find relief. I was only in there about 30 minutes when I found myself pushing alittle with every contraction.  I was having a hard time with the pressure but thnak goodnes I had the best support team out there..Auntie Robyn needs to be a doula for sure! I was checked and told "You are fully dialted! Lets push this baby out!" I instantly was VERY excited and with the next contraction gave all my effort with a first real push. I was having a difficult time pushing effectively in the tub so I was put on the birth stool to have gravity help. And it did. (Thanks Kelly for lettting me push all my weight on you) Once I figured out how to push I could feel him moving down closer...and oh my. Once the baby was at the crowning stage I wanted to get back in the tub and deliver in there. Once I got back in the tub I pushed with all my might...and out came his head!! It was instant relief and I got a little break for a minute. With my next push  it felt like he was stuck and he wasnt going anywhere. They discovered he had his hand up by his head so it made it alittle more difficult to move him out...Needless to say, this became my newest motivation to push like a maniac. I was told that I pushed amazingly for a first-timer, but, in all honesty, I really didn’t feel like I was accomplishing anything. I kept wondering why--if I was really doing such a great job pushing, then why was he not out?! Regardless, I kept going. It seemed like I was there for seven hours, just pushing. I was getting exhausted. Then about 3 pushes later..HE WAS OUT!!!!! He was plopped right up on me and was the most beautiful baby I have ever laid eyes upon. It is truly amazing that he came out of me; I still just can’t wrap my head around it. Our beautiful baby boy is finally here, and he is worth every second of discomfort these past nine months, not to mention every minute of my labor! I am amazed--at myself for doing it, at him for being here with us, at this whole experience. Korbin is here at last!  Thank you for everyone that was there to help out! Couldnt have done it with out everyone!

Count down To Dec. 11th

So Today Chanté had to go it alone :(   I was stuck in Seattle doing a video shoot that ran overtime. It sucked for me to have to miss an appointment and probably even more for Chanté. She met with Val, one of the 3 awesome midwives we meet with, and had a good talk, she measured Chanté, and she was 42cm the typical 'over amount' of 2 cm more than the weeks. Normally, when not carrying a Mangold child, mothers will measure the same amount of centimeters as the weeks they are pregnant, but Korbin, being the over acheiver i know he is going to be ;), has consistently measured 2 cm larger.Val and Chante and Suzanne (the midwife trainee that we've come to adore very much) had a good little chat. They talked about taking Castor Oil to get this kid out, they talked about mismannered people who always have the gumption to tell a woman this pregnant.. "WOW, YOU'RE HUGE! You must be ready to pop ANY second", because nothing will make a pregnant woman late in her pregnancy want to claw someones eyes out more. It's not enough to be miserable and uncomfortable, but to have random strangers point it out, even mothers, whom you would expect to remember this part of pregnancy can offer quite the insensitive quip, but i digress. The rest of the appointment went well. We finally figured out who our pediatrician will be, they estimated Korbin to weigh about 8lbs right now, and they said they hope to see us before the next appointment.. SO DO WE!! However after all is said and done, we can't wait to finally meet this boy and bring him into this world to dote and love upon. so here's to delivering VERY close to if not ON our due date of Dec. 11th!  however since we're past the single digits in december.. i think a birthdate of the 12th would be greatly appreciated by some...

That's it for now folks.. keep the good vibes coming and we will have good news for you soon! He just needs to come out already so we can start posting all his ridiculously cute pics!

He's just being stubborn at this point.

 

So Chante is 100% effaced and dialated to just about 5cm. After our midwife appointment yesterday they told us that as soon as the contractions start coming at a regular rate this stubborn baby boy is gonna just pop right out! I'm so excited to see him! This whole experience has been wonderful, even if i have stupid dreams and keep my wife up all night (Sorry Baby). She's been a Trooper and is gritting her teeth and bearing it. Despite the reminders that this is all my fault. haha. Well More to come and hopefully the next post will be a baby announcement!