What's in a name?

When Aisha and I started thinking about names last winter, we thought it was going to be tough. We each had our “veto” card out and ready. Since we weren’t sure if it was a boy or a girl, we had to be prepared with two names. We threw around a few names, but laughed them off. No way we were going to name a baby boy Mort. And the chance of a girl named Prudence was out of the question.
 
We finally decided to get serious. We threw out a few more before Aisha said, “What about Gunner?”

Hmm. I loved it.

See, it’s not just a catchy name, not just one of those we-have-to-be-different kind of names. The name has some meaning.

When I was born, my dad thought I was a bit of a pistol and since he was a Navy man — having just returned from a tour in Vietnam — he started calling me Gunner. It was a variation of the Navy term gunner’s mate, who was charged with the operation of guided missiles, gun mounts, small arms and the like.

And suddenly, I had a nickname.

My dad called me Gunner for years. Still does, every now and then. What makes the name even more special is the fact that my Uncle Lewis called me Gunner all time. Even called me Gunner the last time I saw before he passed away last November.

Sure, our little Gunner has a unique name. He has a name that not a whole lot of people have heard, but for more than 40 years, it’s a name that has been very familiar to us and very special to our entire family.

No “veto” cards needed. As soon as we said it once, we knew we had a name if we had a son.

Gunner James.

Upcoming 4-Week Milestones

Today is an exciting day. Daddy is going to give Gunner his first bottle because it is almost his 4-week birthday. I'm excited because it means that I won't be the only one who can feed him, and Jim's excited because it will be a great bonding experience just for the guys.

It also means that I am closer to having that ice cold beer that's been waiting for me for more than 9 months!

Also with his 4-week birthday, as long as he is still feeding 8-12 times per day and has the normal amount of wet and dirty diapers, I don't have to wake him up every 3 hours to feed him. Here's hoping he sleeps for longer stretches during the night.

Dr. Nash said that maybe around 4 weeks he will be responsive to our smiles and start to smile back, but it could be as late as 8 weeks. But I think we catch him smiling at us sometimes. It's probably gas, but it's still cute!

Are you smiling? Or just farting?

Show me Blue Steel

Gunner has already had a couple of "photo shoots" in his short (almost) 4-week life. He is a natural.

When we were in the hospital, the hospital photographer took his photo for the Web site. Nan brought a special blue tuxedo for him to wear for his first official picture. It was the same blue tuxedo that Gunner's cousins Cole and Corey wore in their newborn photos.

He's a dapper Dan.

And we soon found out after we brought him home that he likes to give us Blue Steel, and sometimes Magnum. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here you go:

Blue Steel

Magnum

It's from the movie Zoolander. Kind of a stupid movie, but I think it's pretty funny. Ben Stiller is a male model and he names his "looks." Blue Steel and Magnum were a couple of the names of his looks and Gunner does them perfectly!

A Cold Day in August

This morning I went to the dentist. Mom and Bianca kept watch over Gunner. He behaved like a perfect angel, sleeping soundly in his crib the whole time. (Where was this sleeping soundly last night though?!? That's what mommy and daddy want to know!)

It was absolutely gorgeous outside! At 9 a.m. it was 72 degrees. That is a cold day in August here in Kansas. Bianca and I took advantage of the weather and went on another walk with Gunner. We put him in the jogging stroller and he usually drifts off to sleep even though the ride is a little bumpy.

Ready to roll!

 Maybe in the next few weeks I will work up to actually being able to jog with G. Right now though, my body isn't really ready. But in my mind, I am itching to get out there and go on a nice long run with my boy! I got some baby belly to work off.

If you can't tell, he's wearing his favorite Jayhawks onesie.

Tante Bianca Is Here

Gunner finally got to meet his Tante Bianca this week! She was very excited to see her first nephew. She said he is so cute and she loves that new baby smell. She has hardly put him down since she got here, so between her and Oma Dhani being here, I'm getting a nice break!

Oma Dhani and Tante Bianca fight over Gunner.

 

Loving her nephew!

Tante (that is Indonesian for aunt) Bianca is here all the way from San Francisco for a 9-day stretch. Oma Dhani is also here for a week. They have been very helpful, watching Gunner so I can get some sleep during the day, and helping make dinner. But mom is also bad because she wants to eat Chick-Fil-A and BoBo Chinese every day. And I'm sorry Mom, but I just have to say no to that.

Bianca got Jimmy and me 2 months worth of Netflix, since we'll be spending lots of nights at home instead of going out. We haven't gone out lately anyway, but at least now we'll have something else to watch besides Food Network and Cooking Channel on Saturday nights.So thanks to her we won't be bored. Thanks Binky!

With Oma Dhani here, Om "Ramo" (Omar) has also been coming over too. Gunner is getting to spend lots of time with family.

I have been amused by Bianca and Mom's reaction to Baby G. Every time he grunts, farts, spits up or does anything besides sleep, they sort of freak out a little bit. I have to keep telling them that it's all normal. Looks like the new mommy is an old pro now.

One Week Down!

All right, the first week is in the bag! Gunner is doing beautifully well during feeding times. We now have that under control. We are waking him up at least every 3 hours to feed, and sometimes he lets us know before that when he's hungry.

Chillin with daddy.

Sleeping has been pretty inconsistent. He has done some bed hopping lately. One night he does great in his bassinet, one night it's the pack n' play, the next night its the crib. We're just going to have to keep at it until he settles into a routine.

We were thrown a curve ball this week though (literally). Jimmy took a softball to the face on Friday. It busted his lip up pretty badly, and he had to get 13 stitches inside and outside his lip. Ouch! I was pretty worried when I got the call from Ericka. But there was nothing I could do. I was pretty upset when he came home that night. He looked like he was in so much pain. Now I had 2 of my babies to take care of.

After a couple of days, Jimmy healed up really nice and was able to help out again with Gunner at night.

Gunner also had his follow-up appointment with Dr. Nash. He was back up to his birth weight, so it was a good sign that he was eating well. We set our 2-week appointment and then we were off. He did really well at the doctors office. We'll see what happens at next week's appointment.

Some of G's Many Visitors

Gunner has had many visitors so far. Nan and Pa come by at least once a week to see him. Nan needs her Gunner fix! And Jimmy and I appreciate them bringing us dinner a few times too.

Opa Curt came to visit Gunner right around his 1-week birthday. Om Omar (or Om Ramo, which rolls off the tongue better) has been working hard on finishing our basement, so he has been spending time with me and Gunner during the last few days. The basement looks awesome too! Thanks to Omar. He did such a great job. Now we have a place to put most of the stuff that used to be in Gunner's room.

Aunt Nanny also came and stayed the night with us to meet Gunner. She helped us out a lot by bringing us lunch and dinner. Thanks JP! We miss you!

Here are some pictures of some of Gunner's many visitors. He is a popular guy and has such a wonderful family who loves him very much! Get ready for a bunch of pictures of people holding him ...

Anna

Katie

Don

Omar

Allison

Pa

Oma

Nan

Uncle Bill

Cat

Aunt Ericka

Erin

Amanda

Great Grandma Margaret

Emerson

Nancy

Gunner's Homecoming

We came home from the hospital Aug. 2. It was your typical Kansas August day -- hot and muggy. Gunner did great during his first car ride.

Bringing home tiny baby G.

Our biggest challenges so far have been feeding time (trying to get a good latch-on is harder than I thought!) and changing time. The first time Baby G pooped while the diaper was off caught us a little bit off guard. Ditto with the first time the little guy peed with his diaper off. Poor guy got pee on his face and on daddy's shirt. Maybe we should invest in one of those little peeny covers I've heard about.

The first night sleep was a little rough. We put Gunner in the bassinet by the bed. I was pretty jumpy all night, checking to see that he was ok with every noise he made. Our swaddling skills were not the best either, so he kept squirming out of his blanket, but we all made it through the night ok.

Gunner's Birth Story

So you want to know how our little Gunner came into this world?

It was Friday, July 30 -- I felt what I figured were more Braxton-Hicks contractions. I had been feeling them all through my pregnancy. But these were a little different, because I sort of felt some cramps too. I began to wonder if this was the real thing or not.

That night, Jimmy and I tried to time the contractions but they were so erratic. We went to bed around midnight with the notion that if I was in labor we’d know in a matter of hours.

And wouldn’t you know it, around 3 a.m. I woke up with definite contractions. People had told me, when it’s a real contraction, you’ll know it. I was 100% positive – this was the real thing. I woke Jimmy up to start timing. And we called the number we were supposed to call. While we were waiting for the on-call doctor to call us back, my water broke! Wow, it was like a dam breaking.

The contractions were starting to get pretty intense. By the time we got to the hospital I was worried that the baby was coming soon and I wouldn’t have time for the epidural. I felt like the contractions were right on top of each other. In reality, they were about 2-3 minutes apart.

Waiting in triage, pre-epidural. Not happy.

When the nurse was checking me in, she said I was already dilated to 4 cm. She asked if I wanted my epidural soon, and I said "Yes!" By this time the contractions were getting more painful. I was starting to wonder how worse it could get. I could barely breathe. I thought I could tolerate a pretty fair amount of pain, but this was almost unbearable.

They said I could have the epidural when my lab results came back and after some of the IV fluids got into my system. I thought, my God, that is going to take forever! But I was surprised when the anesthesiologist came in around 5 a.m.

I couldn’t feel any part of the epidural. The pain of the contractions was all I could feel. Once he was done, the pain started to fade. After about 10 minutes, it was gone all together. I also could not feel my legs anymore.

I was hooked up to monitors that showed my contractions, and we could hear the baby’s heart beat. Jimmy would look at the monitor and ask, “Did you feel that?” and I would say “No.” It was amazing. I cannot fathom how anyone goes the natural childbirth route. I had dilated to 6 cm by the time I got the epidural. I wonder how much worse the pain would have been without the epidural.

Post epidural, enjoying some ice.

So my mom and Jimmy’s parents arrived around 7 or 8 a.m. and it was just a matter of time. When I got to 10 cm, I would start pushing. Things seemed to be going really fast. When they checked me again around 10 a.m., I was already at 8 cm. I thought, “This baby will be here by lunch!” Yeah, I wish!

I tried to get some rest. I fell asleep a couple of times. I couldn’t eat anything though. I was so hungry and tired. I didn’t know that I would need all my strength and energy in the next few hours. I was starting to wish I had eaten a big breakfast before we left the house.

Waiting, waiting.

When I got to 10 cm, Dr. Nash said it was time to start pushing. It was just about noon. Everyone left the room except for Jimmy, Dr. Nash and the nurse. They held my legs and told me to hold my breath and push for 10 seconds, then take a breath and push again for 10 seconds, then take a breath and push AGAIN for 10 seconds. This was how it was going to go.

Every time I had a contraction, it was time to push. It varied, but it was every couple of minutes or so. At first I thought, “This isn’t so bad.” They told me I was doing a good job at pushing, and to keep going. After a while I started to get tired. I kept looking at the clock. An hour had gone by.

With every push I expected to hear, “There it is! Here comes the head! Almost out!” just like in the movies. But the only thing I heard was, “That’s it keep pushing, push, push, push, push, push.” And then the 3 rounds of pushing would be over until the next contraction came a few minutes later. Slowly, we made progress.

I started to feel like I was running intervals on the treadmill. The nurse would say “Ok, here we go,” and I would think to myself “No, not again!” I was so tired and had no energy. I felt so weak like I couldn’t push anymore. But every time I mustered some strength and pushed.

The thing that surprised me the most was how physically hard it was. I was pulling really hard on these handles to help me bear down, and I was getting out of breath. My arms started to shake after an hour and a half. My hands felt like they couldn’t grip anything. I kept looking at the clock. Now 2 hours had gone by.

Dr. Nash said that the baby had not come far enough down to where we could use the vacuum assist. She also said that after 3 hours, we would have to start talking about C-sections.

I didn’t want a C-section. But I was trying as hard as I could, and I didn’t know what else to do. I could barely hold on to anything. I was so tired, I was falling asleep between pushes. I needed some energy, some food, a gel pack or something! I never even felt this weak or tired when I was running a half marathon!

And poor Jimmy! I was the one in labor, but he had also been up just as long, and he was also having a hard time staying awake and helping hold my leg up. But gave me encouraging smiles and words. He fed me ice, wiped at my sweaty face and held the oxygen mask for me.

It was 2:30 p.m. and I had been pushing for 2 and a half hours. By this time, I was out of breath, sweating, almost as if I HAD been running a marathon.

Dr. Nash had consulted with a surgeon about the vacuum assist. She wanted his opinion if the baby had come far enough. He came in with a bunch of nurses, and it was all sort of a blur. He looked at the printouts that were coming out of the monitors. They spoke briefly, then Dr. Nash said, “Ok, we’re going to the vacuum.”

I started to feel a little bit relieved, but knew I still had some pushing to do. She explained I would have to push while they pulled with the vacuum

I wanted the baby to come out already! The room was now filled with 7 or 8 nurses and the 2 doctors. I thought it was take a long time, but things moved really quickly.

I couldn’t see what was happening. They had the vacuum all ready and told me to push like I had been. I pushed, pushed, pushed. They said, “Keep going, keep going!” These were the words I had been waiting on. “Yes, keep going, here it comes, keep pushing.” It was working! I pushed as hard as I could.

All of a sudden, I felt like I was deflating! They were pulling the baby out. I could only feel relief, both emotionally and physically. With all the drama of how it was born, I almost didn’t hear “It’s a boy!” At that point, I had almost all but forgotten about that little detail. Oh yeah, it’s a boy! I remember seeing Jimmy cut the cord.

When the nurses asked what his name was, we told them the name we had decided on if it was a boy: Gunner James.

All I could say was “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” I don’t know if I was thanking God, or the doctor or both. I guess I was saying it to everyone in the room.

Nurses tending to our pale little guy.

The baby was making some noises, but not crying. They told us that he had a temperature and a high heart rate due to the stress of the birth. Probably from being stuck behind my pelvic bone for nearly 3 hours! They were going to have to take him to the progressive care unit.

They let us hold him for a few minutes before they took him. He was so little and pale. I couldn’t believe I was looking into the face of our son. I could not believe he was ours. I had wondered for 9 months what our baby would look like. He blew away all my expectations.

Looking into his eyes for the first time.

Happy family, together at last!

Then I started to worry. Was he ok? When could I see him again? Was it serious? They assured me it was just a precaution. They told us we could visit Gunner in the progressive care unit.

When we saw him, again I was blown away. I couldn’t believe that face was our baby. I just kept looking at him, all hooked up to monitors and under a heat lamp, and thinking, wow, that’s our son!

Progressive care, under a heat lamp.

By that time, we had moved to our recovery room. We waited another half an hour, and then the nurses brought him in our room. He was all clear. Heart rate and temp were back to normal.

Finally, our family got to meet the little one they had been waiting all day to see. It had been a long, long day, so after a short visit, everyone left mommy, daddy and baby to survive their first night together.