As you all know I am the proud father of little Jonathan Evan Tucker. 7 lbs 13 oz. 19 inches long. Doing just great! Mommy is healing well and fast. She is already walking around by herself. Sometimes her mom and I have to tell her to take it easy.
Well the first night was a little rough. Leave it to me to get sick the day my son was born. So I took Ni-quil and was gone for four hours. My sweet wife and her mother were up just about all night trying to sooth him. They gave him a pacifier (even though I said no until the milk comes in) to quiet him down. It worked for a while and then it was like he forgot how to suck on mommy's breast. His cries woke me up at 4 and I took him to give mommy a break. I can tell this kid is not going to be easy for the first month or two.
I didn't tell earlier about Maren's labor. The kid was scaring us for a while. The first time Maren was able to push, Evans heart rate dropped down to about 65 and didn't come back up very quickly (it's normally at 120, and they don't like to see it down below 90 without coming back up quickly). So the removed the stomach heart monitor and put in one of those wires that attaches to the kids head. A few minutes later Maren pushed again and Evan did the same thing so they let her rest. Tried again and he did it again. Well the nurse was not liking it at all (frankly neither was I) so she call the doctor and then came back and said that they were going to give her a half and hour break to relax. (The doctor had to go to another hospital for a c- section. Basically the nurse came back and said there is a possibility for Maren to have c-section but she wanted to wait for the doctor to get back. When the doctor got back Maren started to push and funny thing the heart rate was fine. So after a good hour of pushing the kid came out (with the help of the Doctor's Vacuum). Maren had an episiotomy (the cut to help her out however you spell it) but she still tore to a 3. I guess the kid was just to big!
The biggest surprise we had all night was when the doctor was about to hand him over to Maren for the first time he said it was small, but he has a cleft lip. I knew what a cleft was and I would have to say that while I was extremely shocked when I first saw it, but I knew it was not that bad because it looked like it was only in the lip. It was something that I was not expecting, My son's is a very mild case, but if you don't know what it is then here is the short. While in the womb, in the early stages of development, the mouth comes together. Sometime some children do not come together properly or even at all. In severe cases the cleft extends from the lip to the palate (the part of your mouth that gets irritated when you eat captain crunch) and does not separate between the mouth and nasal passage. Needing several surgeries to correct to even allow the child to eat.
Our pediatrician said it is a very mild case for Evan. His cleft does not extend into his mouth or gums from what we can see. Still they want us to go in a few month to Primary Childrens in SLC to have a specialist look at it.
Surgeries can be done as early has 3 months, but I think we are going to wait until he is being weaned off the breast and onto a bottle. It just depends on what the specialist says.
Of this matter two things come to mind. Is any child born perfect? Maybe a few out there are so blessed. My child was not and that is okay. Second, is not why me?, but instead what is the Lord teaching me right now? He let it happen for a reason, now I just need to look for his guidance and teaching so that I will act the way He would want me to act.
Still I think it is good not feel so serious about his condition. More burps and farts will come but as I was looking my son last night as he was sleeping a thought came to mind, "it looks like my son has 3 lips." And I love him for it! I am really am okay with my sons imperfections. Still I will do what I can for him, because I love him.
Duane
