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We are excited to announce that our new baby boy was born 2.5 weeks early on June 1 at 2:27pm! He weighed 5.45 lbs and was 48cm long. His name is Jasper Robert.
His early arrival was not his choice - at 37.5 weeks our midwives were concerned to find that my uterus growth had slowed down. They sent us for an ultrasound, where in addition to his small size they found a potential kidney problem and they decided that his birth should be induced that evening (May 31).
I won't go into the details of the labor, except to say that it was NOT fun! We ended up with a "drug-free" natural birth once again but it wasn't by choice this time - I completely intended to try an epidural as I still felt traumatized by the pain of Peyton's birth. But everything just happened too fast.
Since Jasper's birth he has been subjected to so many medical tests, he is one week old today and we have been in to the children's hospital for various things almost every day. However, it seems that in spite of the doctors' most valiant attempts to find something wrong with him, he is completely healthy, thank goodness. However, the docs do think that he has Down Syndrome. At this point that diagnosis is just based on his "look". We are waiting for confirmation via blood tests that may take a few weeks, but a few of the doctors who've seen him think it's pretty definite so we are assuming it is at this point. That has taken some adjustment... but I think we're doing pretty well.
Our litte guy is so adorable and sweet that we can't help but be head-over-heels in love with him. He is feeding well and has already regained his birth weight. So far he is even sleeping well and hardly ever cries - but we're trying not to get too used to that! I'm also happy to report that Peyton is the perfect big sister so far. She is kind and gentle with the baby and has not shown any signs of jealousy. So all in all, things are going very well. Oh - and recovering from birth and starting breastfeeding again have been much easier the second time around... whew!
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Congratulations on the birth of Jasper Robert! Peyton looks so proud to be a big sister :)
We'll keep fingers crossed that he continues to be healthy and happy and growing. If there's a third time, you'll have to make sure you get your drugs then! ;)
I used to work for the Down Syndrome Research Foundation www.dsrf.org and if you are looking for information or support, they are a great resource as is the Canadian Down Syndrome Society www.cdss.ca A site many of our parents found useful was www.downsyndrome.com - it is a collection of links to resource groups, medical information etc.
Congratulations again!