Uma's first weekend

Uma's first weekend, originally uploaded by behrig14.

Cord Blood Banking

I don’t think I mentioned this before in any other post. Tina and I decided to bank Uma’s cord blood. We didn’t do that for Rohan because at the time it seemed more experimental than it does now. These stem cells from these cord blood banks have actually been used several times in the last year to save lives. This time around, we looked at it as an insurance policy and one we would forever regret if we actually needed to use it but didn’t decide to because of a few bucks. Protecting our babies is worth it. It was certainly not cheap, costing $2150 in total for the first year and will cost $125/yr after that. We used Cord Blood Registry (CBR), which is the older and more established of the two main cord blood banks. If you haven’t checked this out before and someone in your life is expecting a baby, it’s worth considering. If you want to buy something practical for your friends, family, or children, this is a fantastic and caring gift idea.

 

We got Uma’s report back today and she has 612 million cord blood cells (stem cells) in the bank. That is double the average, so we have to say many thanks to our doctor (James Knoer) for being so diligent about collecting it. I watched him do it after Uma was born and he literally “milked” the cord blood out of the umbilical cord. I never thought I would find that process so interesting, but I did. How cool! The cord blood itself is stored at a secure facility in Tucson. In the event we ever needed it, it would be sent out on the next flight from Tucson and couriered directly to where it needed to be. Currently, stem cells are being used to treat about 70 diseases (leukemia, other cancers, and blood disorders) and we believe that number is going to increase dramatically over the coming years. This may one day save a family member’s life, not just Uma’s.

 

Back to work - for Brian

Today I came off my weeklong paternity leave. It actually went pretty well considering how tiring the weekend was. We also took Uma to the doctor today for a checkup and I am pleased to report she has cleared her birth weight and is now 6lb 13oz!

 

Hoping for a good night’s sleep…

Uma - Day 4

Yesterday was the turning point for Uma to go from a sleepy head all day and night to the day-night reversal that is common among newborns. We need to get her some daylight today because she seems content to be awake all night until 5am and then finally go to sleep. At that point, she settles in for a nice relaxing day of feeding and sleeping before going into her awake time at night. I remember this with Rohan, but I think it was one of those less than favorable memories that I chose to suppress in favor of the cuter, happier memories.

We're taking Uma in to the doctor today to get her bilirubin levels checked. She is moderately jaundiced. Hopefully it will clear shortly. With Rohan, we had to go daily for a week, so I hope we don't have to do that with her as well, and of course I also hope she's OK!

Origina of Uma's Name

Both Uma's first and middle name have many meanings, and Tina and I chose them because to us her names mean:

Uma - Light
Bela - The sea shore

Together, her name means light of the sea shore

Welcome Uma Bela Ehrig

Uma was born at 7:05pm EDT on 6/2/08 at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta. She weighed 6 lb 11.8 oz and measured 20 inches in length.

Tina did a great job with the delivery and is recovering nicely now. We will stay in the hospital through Wednesday.

More to come soon

Slowly but surely progressing

Tina is having regular contractions and all of that good stuff, but it's going slower than we had hoped and as of 1pm she's still just 4cm dilated. After that I found the snack bar and bought a pound of gummy bears and swalled them whole. Washed it down with a nice caffeine free DC.

We are expecting the doctor to come back somewhere in the neighborhood of 3pm to check her again. Judging by her pattern of contractions now vs 1pm, she must be making progress.

Water is broke (manually)

Dr. Knoer came in and broke her water around 9:50am. It's now 10:42am and she's feeling relaxed and closing her eyes. I turned on some Norah Jones for her and turned down the lights. The contractions are coming regularly and she's getting 10 miliunits/minute of Pitocin.



We also took the opportunity to sign up for Cord Blood Registry, the cord blood banking site. Hopefully we'll never have to use it, but it's an insurance policy we feel is worth it.



This hospital visit is so different from Rohan's birth. Getting induced is a strange experience, although honestly more comfortable (at least for me). Last time there was so much anticipation, a bit of fear, and in general everything was unknown. This time it's kind of like a scheduled plan, and step by step they increase the Pitocin and guide her along. It's kind of like its scripted.

Epidural is in

9:15am epidural went in. She got a bit dizzy but is doing OK. Dr. Knoer is about to come back and break her water.

Started Pitocin

8:00am started Tina on Pitocin, which forces her uterus to start contracting. They start out with small doses and gradually pick it up. Shortly our OB/GYN Dr. Knoer will come and check Tina's dilation and then we'll start her on an epidural.

Arrived at the hospital

7:17am checked in. Labor and Delivery Room 14 at Piedmont Hospital. Getting hooked onto monitors now.