Griffin Bryan Rutz

Griffin Bryan Rutz arrived Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 9:45 pm. The day was full of excitement. That afternoon we experienced a 5.9 earthquake. I was at work and was trying to figure out if I was having a contraction or if my office building really was shaking. My building was evacuated to check for structural damage so I went home, grabbed Izzy, went and picked up Charlie from my mother-in-law and we all went for a walk. On our walk, Izzy was stung in the butt (and by butt I mean poop hole) by a wasp. Adam had to meet us at the park because Izzy would not walk. He took her to the vet and $120 later and a cortisone shot she was fine. All of this happened as I started having contractions.

We started timing contractions about 6pm and by 8:45 we were ready to leave for the birthing center (my in-laws had already come to pick up Charlie). It is a 30 minute drive to the birthing center and I seriously thought I was going to have the baby in the car. I stopped counting after 6 contractions but I probably had at least 10 contractions in this 30 minute time frame. I really had to concentrate on not pushing. Adam and I didn't say much to each other during this time but I do remember saying, "No more babies" and his response was, "Yes, ma'am." I also told him to drive faster :)

We arrived at the birthing center at 9:15 and I was fully dilated. They told me not to push until the nurse arrived. I think the nurse arrive 5-10 minutes later and Griffin was born at 9:45. We are just now getting over how quickly he was born. When he was born he was 20 inches long and weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz.

Overall, things are going well although he is jaundice and we had to take him to the doctor yesterday and today to have his bilirubin checked. We have another appointment tomorrow because it did increase from yesterday to today. But he also gained 4 ounces since Friday (currently at 7 lbs. 8 oz) so hopefully things are improving.

We weathered hurricane Irene just fine. Our power stayed on but there are a lot of people without power in our area. Tomorrow was supposed to be the first day of school for kids in our area but it has been cancelled. Needless to say this past week has been very exciting for us. I am hoping for a more boring week this week :)

Here are some pics of the little man:

Not too bad of a picture considering it was 3 in the morning!

Just being cute!

Adam, Charlie and Finn