Week 39.5 News..The End of The Beginning

Well…Tuesday, June 24, 2008, Logan Alan Muisus was born. The story that led to his birth that day went something like this….Shannon and I had the weekly doctor’s Appt set up that day at 11:45am. Around 11:20 am, Shannon lost her Mucus Plug….so going to the doctor that day brought something else to look forward to. After the doctor’s office, we both went back to work. Shannon had contractions multiple times since the doctor’s office and they began to be repetitive. Around 5:30 pm, Shannon got home from work, still contracting, every 5-6 minutes to be exact. We were not sure yet to call the doctor. Shannon’s doctor told her weeks back that we should time the contractions. If the contractions are 5 minutes apart for at least an hour-hour and a half. Well it just so happens that Shannon’s doctor was on call that evening…so her getting back to us right away wasn’t her priority at that moment. So finally, I just said “Let’s just go!” We were almost out the door, and the phone rang. It was the Doctor. Shannon spoke to her quickly as the doctor instructed us to get in the car and high tail to RGH.
We arrived at RGH around 7 pm. I now stopped documenting the contractions, because they take it from here. Shannon’s contractions were fluctuating from 3 to 4 to 5 minutes apart. She was in a lot of pain…. I was giving her as much support as I could…almost too much as she yelled at me once because I messed up her breathing pattern. I know now for next time…I hope. Shannon was dialated 3 centimeters when we arrived at Triage. Triage is where we were for a good hour. The nurses instructed us to get up and walk the halls for another hour. Stopping at every corner of the hospital halls, we took it easy and made our way back to the Triage area. Shannon was checked again for dialation. 5 centimeters this time…as the nurses said, “Alright, let’s get you to a room.” My eyes lit up as she said that, b/c we weren’t leaving now as Shannon and I, but as a family now. Shannon was now just waiting for the newbane, a pain killer that makes you feel like you had a few drinks. At that time she also wanted an epidural. 45 minutes later we get to the birthing suite, where we will be to the end of the hospital stay. Once there, the nurses checked her dialation again, 9 Centimeters…WOW, we went from 5 centimeters to 9 centimeters in less than an hour. Shannon was screaming for her epidural, and everyone in the room knew it was too late for one except Shannon. So we all played it off. At this time it was 9:30 pm. 10 centimeters was among us, and the water hasn’t broke yet. From there, everything happened so fast… pushing lasted about an hour. In that hour, Shannon’s mom showed up and my parents, and my brother. My side of the family stayed in the doorway as Shannon’s mom was in the room with us. In the room was Shannon’s mom, Myself, Doc, a Midwife, and a nurse. At 11:23 pm on June 24th, 2008; Logan Alan Muisus was born. A beautiful looking baby boy. Shannon did so wonderful as did everyone else. I will never forget that moment when the doctor assisted on pulling him out and turned him towards Shannon and I , then he peed. He peed all over the place. I got to cut the umbilical cord, and after that, Logan was brought to the other side of the room where the curtain divided it. Shannon was getting sowed up on one side, and Logan was getting cleaned up on the other side.

Week 39.45 News

Well, we had the most action yet...staring 20 minutes before the weekly doctor's appointment today, Shannon lost "the plug" right before the doctor's appointment at 11:45am. So we knew something was going to happen soon. The doctor said that she's dialated 2 centimeters. So the doctor had us go into another room for a fetal monitor. Shannon had to lie down and strap this heart monitor across her belly. This was to basically monitor Mini's heart rate, movement, and contractions. Shannon had to press a button everytime he moved. Contractions started to brew. After spending about 1 hour at he doctor's office, we went to lunch. This is where the contractions began again. Every 10 minutes for an hour passed by....now we're down to every 9 minutes.

It's 4:06 pm now on Tuesday....more to come.

But we sense it's right around the corner.

Week 39.4 News

Less than 4 days to go until the due date...No changes.

Week 39.2 News

Today is Monday, June 23rd. We have less than 5 days until the due date. Shannon woke up this morning with a lower backache. Sleep is getting very uncomfortable for her still. We have the weekly doctor's appointment tomorrow.

Week 39 News

Today is Shannon's 29th Birthday. I got her a housekeeping service as a present when she's home with Mini. That'll definatly come in handy when she won't have to worry about the house being a mess. We went on a 2 hour walk today...just over 5 miles of walking the new lakeside trail along Lakeshore Blvd. We had some action! Shannon was feeling alot of pressure and pain in her pelvic region. If mini hadn't dropped yet, I beleive he did now.


And the waiting game marches on...

Week 38.8 News

Here we are...just over the 8 day mark. We're narrowing down the daytime babysitter who will watch Mini...starting September/October. We have a Top 10 list of names that we won't be releasing until the day he's born. "Jared Jr.", "Gary" or "Julius" did not make the cut. Middle names we have narrowed down to two: Alan, after my middle name, or Andrew, in memory of my close friend.

As far as everything else goes....The waiting game continues.....

Week 38.4 News

Another Trip to the Doctor's Office. Nothing has really changed. This was the third different doctor at her off that we've seen in 3 weeks. Her primary doctor is on vacation. Well, the doctor said Shannon can start contractions any day now. Shannon is still experiencing alot of cramping in this week. Mini is moving more frequently now, as well as the Braxton-Hicks contractions.

The waiting game continues...........

Week 38 News

Flag Day and Father's Day started the beginning of week 38 off. Mini has been giving Shannon some cramping and uncomfortable pains in the pelvic region. More movement out of mini is proving that he's just around the corner. He's gotta be thinking, 'I'm almost here Everyone, just a few more days."

We do hope soon.....These are the longest last few weeks we've ever experienced.

Week 37.4 News

Nothing much has changed...just anxiously awaiting the arrival. Whenever I speak to Shannon on the phone, I ask her how she's feeling....followed by "Do you feel any contractions?" She's gotta get sick of me asking her...but that's all part of the game. She picked up some Raspberry Leaf Tea at Wegmans yesterday. Yet another "natural" way to induce labor, I don't think it will be effective. Like Rocky Balboa said, "I gotta go out the way I gotta go out." Mini will be ready when he's ready.

This is by far has to be the hardest part of the pregnancy, the waiting game. Those last few weeks I'm by Shannon's side 93% of the time..I'll get her what she needs, if she tells me to do this, do that...I will, If she tells me to shut up, I will. It's about her and Mini.

Everyone close to us: family, co-workers, friends are all waiting for the wonderful news...so the suspense is built up around us.....

Then there's the suspense in waiting for the phone call from shannon when I'm not with her...."My water broke" or "I'm having contractions" "or even "Ooohhh"

Week 37 News

The Start of Week 37 was a hot one. Temperatures climbed to mid 90's. Shannon's feet were killing her...swelling slightly. We went walking around the block a few times throughout the weekend. It seems that Mini has dropped down a little bit more. He's been keeping Shannon in check by punching and kicking at her sides.

Week 36.9 News

We got The car seat installed yeasterday up at the St. Paul Firehouse. I'm glad we didn't attempt to try it on our own b/c there were some things we could've overlooked.

Week 36.6 News

Well...we had the ultrasound, it went great. Good news on mini's position...he's head down. He weighs about 7lbs-3 oz. right now. The technician said he's in the 85th percentile, which means he's gonna be a big baby....below is a picture.

Week 36.5 News

Last night, Shannon and I and 10 other soon-to-be-parents went on a scheduled tour of Rochester General Hospital's Birthing Units. We got to see first hand the birthing rooms. We also were given our free parking pass for outside the Discharge Entrance....It's nice to have one I Guess, but to me, that's the last thing we'll be worried about when I'm bringing Shannon in the day of....

We finished packing the survival bag and put it into her car..."just in case"

Yesterday's Doctor's apptointment went fine. Doc said that mini may be breeched (which means that he is feet down) It's not definate though, so we have yet another ultrasound scheduled for thursday, June 5th, at 10:30 am...This ultrasound is strickly for checking the position Mini is in. If mini is breeched, and Doc can't turn him, it may be a C-Section birth then.....If Doc can turn Him, natural birth will be given.

I'm bringing a dvd to just in case they can record more movement for us.

Week 36.3

We finished packing our survival kit for the hospital stay. Essentials include blowpops, hair ties (not for me), tooth brussh and tooth paste, shampoo, cahnge of clothes, magazines, Ipod, and some other things that willbe helpful in making our stay a little more comfortable. Tonight at 7:00 pm, we have our Hospital Tour where we will receive our Hospital Parking Pass the day we are admitted.

Mini had the Hiccups last night, it was wierd to feel them....It was like he kept punching at Shannon's tummy....but with a steady repitition.

Week 36.1

26 Days...

Today we went for 4 walks..about .8 miles each. We're going to put these other labor igniting theories into action today. Shannon and I are going to feast on spicey food at Monte Albans. We're going into this theory knowing the consequences, but I guess love hurts...and we're anxious. We picked up some pineapple slices at Wegmans this morning for an after dinner snack.

This morning we tried to get a pedicure appointment...all were booked.

Maybe Shannon and I are getting too ahead of ourselves, but we're having fun doing it. In the long run, we know that Mini wil come when he's ready.

Week 36 News

Saturday marks 27 days left. We had our last Lamaze class...the instructor just covered the basics again and left teh second half of class open for discussion.

Shannon and I began to walk more times each day. Walking is one of the things you can do to hurry the labor on. We are anxious for this little guy to come out. A few other things that are said to speed up the labor process are: pineapples, spicey foods, pedicures, yoga, and sitting on a bouncy ball. Shannon's been having some cramping in the pelvic area....and the Braxton Hicks Contractions are still in full gear.