Will's birth and first night!

Here's a short video I made of Will's birth and first night. Enjoy!

Will meets his cousins!

This past week my brother Mike and his family came to visit us in Columbus. We spent a fun three days together, which included grilling out, playing some Mario Kart on the Wii, chasing Maeby around the yard, taking a trip to the Columbus Zoo, and much more. This was Will's first time to meet his cousins Annika, Abby, and Jacob. And I didn't even realize it at first, but Will's birth finally makes Mike and Lisa an aunt and uncle! As you can see above, the girls were fawning all over him (I'm sure this will be par for the course for his life).

Here's Will being held by his oldest cousin, Annika.

And hanging with his Aunt Lisa, cousin Abby, and his male cousin, Jacob. I can't wait to see these two at family gatherings in the future.

I can smile!

Everyone told us that we would be blown away the first time Will smiled, and we thought we were prepared... but they were right. Nothing can prepare you for the first time your baby cracks a little smile at you. You feel like a million bucks.

Will showed us some of his first smiles while his Grandma and Grandpa Meyer were visiting earlier last week. As predicted, once he smiled, everyone in the room tried again and again to do exactly what they were doing the moment he first smiled. He did have a few more for us, and he's continuing to practice a couple times a day.

And the piece de resistance... Will giving his daddy a big ole smile today. Look for it right around :50. Like I said... you feel like a million bucks!

Will's first professional photoshoot

Over the past few days, Will has embarked on a promising career as cute baby model. Any day now the offers will come pouring in, and then his parents can retire.


But seriously... these pictures are from this past weekend. Beth took these in front of our house. We managed to catch our little boy sleeping, and thus extremely cute. During the first take, he was hungry and therefore scooting around quite a bit. Every time we tucked his legs under, he would kick them out again!

More pictures and videos of William!

Here's Will doing what he does best: sleeping and being cute (although pooping and eating are definitely up there, too)!

Here's a quick video of Will telling us he's hungry. He's trying to latch on anywhere he can!

And Will being held by his Aunt Marcia. He has the hiccups.

Three days and no pictures?!

I'm falling behind here! I can't believe I haven't posted more pictures in the past three days! Shame on me!

Here's Will enjoying a little bit of tummy time. Not sure what he thought of it, but he was kicking and squirming. He has long arms and legs (gee, wonder where he got those?), and they are strong! Changing a diaper is always fun, as the real trick is keeping those flailing legs out of the way.

Will has been adjusting pretty well to life at home. He's still more than a bit confused at the difference between night and day. Some nights are better than others, but his parents know that this is all part of it. He also has a voracious appetite! I'm frankly impressed at his scarfing skills (I can't wait to see how many hot dogs he can eat in one sitting... Coney Island, here we come!). He's at the feeding so frequently that Beth has begun to refer to herself as a "buffet."

Will and his daddy. I love how zonked out Will looks here.

Enjoying a nap. His shirt reads "If you think I'm cute, you should see my uncle." It was given to him by his Uncle Greg.

Will heads home!

Beth and Will came home from the hospital yesterday! We had a wonderful nurse in the morning (one of many wonderful nurses we met) who really made things happen, and got Will cleared by the pediatrician and Beth cleared by her OB doctor, so we were able to pack up and leave the hospital around 11 a.m. Before we left, the nurse got us all together (with Will in his going-home outfit) and snapped a couple pictures.

Here's Will riding in his car seat.

And Will meeting his pooch Maeby. They regarded each other with varying levels of interest. Maeby clearly senses what's happening, and has spent much of the time eying Will or burying her head in someone's lap to get attention. As I write this, she's tucked under the dining room table eying everyone in the living room. But just this afternoon she and Will came nose-to-nose, and Will started following all of her movements around the room! I can't wait to see how they get along... I keep imagining a future children's book titled "The Adventures of Maeby and Will."

This morning we gave Will his first bath at home. He wasn't a big fan. Generally, we've found that he likes being clothed and wrapped up; a majority of diaper changes are accompanied by a symphony of wailing. But once you wrap him up, he's content!

And last but not least, you can also see a picture of Will meeting his Aunt Katie last night on her blog. For the sake of repetition, I won't repost it here, but make sure you check it out!

Man Showers!

Okay, so this isn't Will-related, but I guess there are things happening in world outside, aren't there?

A few weeks ago Beth and I posted on our blog about her baby shower and my simultaneous Wii Party. About a week and a half ago I got an e-mail from a woman who is a freelance writer, living in Columbus, who writes for the Associated Press. She said she was writing a story about man showers, and asked if I could chat with her for a few minutes. I did a couple days later, and last week her article went out and was picked up by Canadian Press, the Boston Herald, MSNBC, and several other publications. She apparently interviewed a handful of folks.

Click here for the article on MSNBC. My quotes appear about halfway into the article.

Where's our little boy?

Where's that little boy? Where'd he go?

More pictures of Will and friends!

I'm sitting here in essentially the lobby of the Labor & Delivery area. This is the best place to get a wireless connection, so I'm uploading pictures and video while Beth feeds Will upstairs. Thinking back to our time since we came to the hospital, I keep trying to piece together which day was which, and who visited when. We've had another few rounds of visitors, including the grandparents, aunts and uncles, the Geese, and some other friends. Everyone has been so kind and generous, and it's been a lot of fun to see everyone meet and interact with Will.


First, a couple pictures of Will with his mother.


More time with Grandpa Meyer.


Three generations of men from the Meyer/Dekker family.


Meeting the Geese...





And last but not least, a family shot.

The latest news is that we're headed home sometime tomorrow (Sunday), as early as possible. The staff at the hospital has been so helpful and welcoming, but we're looking forward to putting Will in his own nursery, and sleeping in our own beds. I'll update with news of Will's arrival home tomorrow.

Coming up very soon (like in a few minutes): a couple videos of Will's first night!

A freshly-born Will!

I took this video just a few seconds after Will was born. Once Dr. Ruedrich took him out, they showed him to us briefly (I have a short video snippet of that that I'll share later), then brought him to the pediatric folks who cleaned him off and checked him out. I followed them over to the warmer and listened to our little guy start bawling. At the very end of the video, you'll see they're handing me scissors to trim his umbilical cord.

Video of Will on his first night!

Here's a quick video of Beth and Will the night he was born. You can see those dark eyes of his, which are pretty blue for now. He's also got a nicely-arranged cap of dark hair. This is back in the actual hospital room, and he was getting relaxed and looking around at his mama.

Here he is!

Welcome to the world, William Isaac Dekker!

Will joined us at 7:48 p..m last night, July 3, 2008. He weighed in at 9 lbs. 13 oz., and stretched 20.5 inches.

Beth and I went in to the hospital for a scheduled C-section around 2:30 p.m. The C-section was scheduled for 4:30, but we ended up getting bumped back a couple hours because of an emergency C-section and some bloodwork that got lost in the ether. Our amazing nurse Judy prepped both of us for the surgery - she was truly an answer to prayer: kind, straightforward, willing to answer all our questions, and she walked us through everything.

Just after 7 p.m. they wheeled Beth into the OR, where they gave her an epidural and basically got her all set up. At the last minute, they brought me in so I could sit by Beth's head, and within ten minutes, we heard his little cry. I followed him over to the baby warmer, where I got to trim some of the umbilical cord. After they cleaned him off and checked him, they gave him back to me so I could sit next to Beth and she could see him.

Will had a loving crowd of friends and family waiting to greet him. We're so fortunate to have a group of friends and family supporting. Thanks to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers!

Beth and I snapped this quick family photo before just before we left for the hospital. Maeby was being particularly obedient, perhaps because she knew things were about to change forever.

Here's Beth before the C-section, getting all hooked up and ready to go.

Our little man with his mother.

Will with his newly-minted Grandma and Grandpa Meyer.

Will with his Grandma and Grandpa Dekker. He's #4 for them!

With his Aunt Abbey...

...and his Uncle Chip.

Getting his first diaper change from his dad!

We'll post more pictures and video up when we get a chance. Beth and Will will be at the OSU Medical Center until at least Sunday, if not Monday. If you'd like to visit, please call Nick's cell beforehand to make sure it's a good time.

Can't wait for you all to meet him!

Baby D-Day!

After a less-than-active non-stress test this morning, a spiked blood pressure reading from Beth, and the confirmation that our boy is most likely part giant (10lbs.), we have made the decision on our doctor's advice to schedule a c-section today and get our son out of there!

The doctor is afraid that, because all readings are showing a large baby, Beth will labor for much longer than normal and he will most likely not fit. (Even though late-term ultrasound is VERY unreliable, he did quite a few measurements and most were reading that he has gained a POUND in two days, so no matter how you spin it, he's a moose...) And, at that point, there is risk of shoulder dystocia, fetal and maternal distress, and an eventual c-section anyway. Although it's not how we imagined it happening, we are thanking God that He has given us a peace of mind and excitement over meeting our son, and that there are medical miracles in place that can head problems off before they have a chance to start.

It's scheduled at 4:30 PM today, July 3rd, 2008, and we'll be giving birth at Doan Hall at the Ohio State Medical Center. We'll try to post more information up here when we get a chance.

Counting down the hours now until we get to meet our little boy!

Love you all,
Nick & Beth

DUE!

Nope, no baby yet!

My doctor's appointment this morning confirmed what we'd been fearing: I am not at all dilated, effaced, softened, and Baby D is a BIG BOY that hasn't dropped like he needs to. Right now, the doctor has estimated him at 9 lb. 5 oz.! He is comfortable, healthy, and very happy to stay right where he is. (He did mention that Baby D is probably closer to 8.5 lbs right now, based on his experiences with late ultrasound-sizing.)

The doctor went through the same "big baby" spiel that he did last week (and when I say 'the same' I mean, the EXACT same), which basically means that I could choose to have a c-section right now, he could induce right now, or we could do nothing...and NOTHING is exactly what we're going to do. The worry with a big baby is that he won't fit, but countless studies have shown that inducing big babies early actually results in MORE rather than less c-sections. Hence, the doing nothing right now.

A wonderful fact that has been going through my head on repeat is that a woman who is 4 cm. dilated and effaced can go WEEKS and still not see her baby. At the same time, a woman can go from not effaced and 0 cm. dilated to having a baby in her arms in 12 hours. So, we're back to the waiting and guessing game when it comes to normal obstetrics!

The doctor has scheduled to induce me on Wednesday, July 9th if I haven't gone into labor before then. So please pray REALLY hard this week that I go into labor because we want to avoid induction and a c-section as much as possible. That said, we know everything will be fine, no matter how we encourage and welcome Baby D into this world.

So, what are we doing now? Well, "Waiting for Godot" comes to mind (except for the fact that Baby D isn't a veiled metaphor for God). Nick is working from home on his online course at OSU, so it's WONDERFUL to have him here. I can't do much (read, write, quilt, bead, etc...) because of my hands, so I'm melting my brain watching TV...which is ROUGH in the summer! :) My Mom and Dad and sister Katie came up for a surprise visit yesterday, which has been great! The anticipation and excitement is fun, and it's great to be reassured of my normalcy in this pregnancy by people who know what they're talking about!

And, like my Dad says, there is no such thing as Chronic Pregnancy.