Baby Kieran has arrived!
12/7/07 3:30 PM AKDT
Hello family and friends! I am incredibly happy to announce that our perfect,
beautiful, amazing baby boy has arrived! Kieran Alexander Athey Roush (two middle names,
no hyphens) joined us in the world at 7:25 PM Alaska time on Thursday, December 6th, 2007.
He was a very healthy 7 lbs. and 1 oz. and measured in at 22". It is difficult to find words
to describe how perfect and beautiful he is. I have posted a few pictures of him on the photo
page of Kieran's web site (www.kieranroush.net) so you can see for yourselves! I'll be putting
up a lot more pictures and movie files as soon as we get home and I have a little have more time.
Equal to my amazement at our wonderful baby boy is my love, admiration, and deep respect for
my beautiful wife Jen, who worked through a very difficult labor and showed me an intensity of
focus and determination that I honestly did not know was possible. I can't tell you how
incredible she was. After waiting two weeks beyond Kieran's due date, the time came for Jen's
labor to be induced on Thursday. She had already been having contractions since 10 PM on
Tuesday so sleep and rest were already a thing of the past when she was started on the Pitocin
drip on the morning of the 6th. Her contractions took off in the late morning and she was in
active labor by mid-afternoon. She handled them like a champion marathon runner according to
both our wonderful doula, Katie Garrity, and our doctor. I did my best to help Jen through
each contraction and she told me that our very close eye contact (and a lot of bracing and
physical support) was important to her success in active labor. When it came time to push
Jen went to a higher level of consciousness and pushed with intensity and determination that was
simply astonishing. She was able to maintain that focus for 2 hours and 30 minutes but Kieran's
head did not descend below 0 station +1. At that point our doctor advised that the baby be delivered
by cesarean section. It was clear that Jen had done everything humanly possible to deliver Kieran on
her own and it was time for him to come out.
Things happened swiftly after that. Jen was prepped and ready for surgery in about 30 minutes and
as soon as I joined her in the operating room things got started. I stayed at her head and we kept eye
contact while the doctors did their work. It was only a matter of minutes before I was able to see our
son emerge from the womb. We watched him get cleaned up a bit and then he was placed on Jen's chest for
a minute or two while the doctors worked to close Jen back up. I carried Kieran off to the nursery while
Jen's surgery was finished and she was taken to recovery. I was able to give our son his first bath and get
him swaddled and ready to meet his Mom. After a short while I whisked him off to the recovery room, unwrapped him,
and placed him on his Mom's chest. Jen held him and he immediately latched on and nursed for an hour! It was the
most perfect way from Mother and Baby to meet after an extraordinary birth.
I will save our stories of the first two days with Kieran for my next posting. Right now I've slipped away for
the first time since Wednesday night so I could share this news with the world and send a few pictures to everyone.
I'm due back at the hospital in about 30 minutes! Just so every one will know, we are a very happy family and
everyone is doing great. Jen's bouncing back very well, Kieran is an angel who doesn't complain or fuss (yet!),
and Dad is just soaking up all the love that Mom and Baby are radiating. We'll go home sometime between now and
Monday night. I'll catch up with everyone as soon as I can. We want Kieran's grandparents, great grandparents, aunts
and uncles, cousins, godparents, and friends to know that we're thinking of you all the time and we can't wait for you
to meet him.
Love,
Jamie