Cole Robert Lance arrived Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 9:38 PM. He was delivered via C-section after 25 hours of labor (I never progressed beyond 2cm). Joey was able to be in the operating room, and he was the first to hold him. We spent Monday night (the 19th) through Friday afternoon at the hospital. This is a picture of Cole at 1 week old.
Wednesday night we were told that Cole had to go to the NICU because he had pneumothorax which is basically a condition where there is a pocket of air in a part of the lungs where there shouldn't be air. Joey and I were very upset seeing our little baby hooked up to all those monitors, but we were very lucky because he only had to be there for one night. He was breathing normally by the next morning; the pneumothorax was minor and cleared up on its own. The next day, Thursday, was a little rough for us all. Cole came back a bit stressed out; he was no longer breast feeding as he had been the day before. So, Joey and I decided not to have visitors Thursday. We felt a strong need to reconnect with him. A really sweet lactation consultant came to our room and helped us all get back on track.
This whole experience has been amazing. Joey and I feel so fortunate to be surrounded by such loving people. We're quickly learning just how much we need the help, love, and guidance of our family and friends. Looking back on these past few weeks I don't know what I would have done without the support we have received from so many loved ones.
It's hard to believe that Cole is already over a month old. You can really see how much he's grown here compared to his 1 week picture with the monkey. I hope to keep taking his picture with this monkey each month so I can see how big he's getting. The monkey is kind of special because it's the first toy Joey and I ever bought for him; Joey picked it out. I added some more pictures to our family online album (the link is on the right).
