London's fatherly instincts

During bathtime, London showed us that he's been paying attention as we've taken care of sister Liberty. He loves to say the word "baby," and during bathtime tonight, showed us that he knows how to handle a little one of his own. I kept trying to get him to do the "top-top, bottom-bottom, middle-middle-middle" burping song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but he only did it to himself briefly.

Watch our son be fatherly! It's hilarious! (Sorry about the green "blinks" -- not sure what caused those...)

London's latest antics

London's doing SO much better these days. His appetite is back with a vengeance, and he is back to his happy, Tasmanian Devil self.

He never ceases to keep us laughing, whether it's the way he says "Hi-eeee!" to everyone who walks by, the way he says "ball" with a Southern accent (it sounds more like "bawl"), or the way he flirts with every lady who walks by (but then says "NO" to the less-attractive ones when they flirt back).

Daddy got to film his first video with both babies last week, but of course London stole the show while Liberty napped. This boy just can't stick to a script! Check out the video below!

22 second cousins (and no first cousins?)

I (Marcus) was thinking about cousins tonight. There is a very real possibility that London and Liberty could grow up without any full first cousins -- a major departure from my and Savannah's experience.

On my mom's side, I have six cousins. On my dad's side, I have three. Savannah has two-dozen!

My older half-sister, Stephanie, has twins -- Kennedy and Foster -- who live in Nashville. They are, for all intents and purposes, my kids' cousins. Although technically, they aren't full first cousins... they are half-first cousins, because Stephanie is my half-sister.

Same is true for my little half-sister, Shannon. If she has children someday, they probably will be quite a bit younger than my two (they BETTER had be... she's only 18!), and they will still be half-first cousins.

Our only hope is for Savannah's full-blooded brother and/or sister to have children, which only time will tell. Otherwise, London and Liberty will have to enjoy the company of their 22 second cousins (the children of our first cousins). Nineteen of those are from Savannah's side, and of those, about a half-dozen of those will be in the age range to play with London and Liberty when we all visit Idaho.

But really, in the end, kids don't care if their cousins are "first", "half-first" or "second" cousins! They just want someone to play with.

Daddy's "sweet" girl

We went to Liberty's two-week appointment today, and, to our pleasant surprise, learned that our little darling not only has gained back her birth weight, but she has exceeded it! Yep, she's packing on the pounds. Woo hoo!

She has a couple periods a day when she's really alert and will look you in the eye, grin and punch the air. She makes the cutest faces and grunt noises.

I (Marcus) apparently don't have a very large vocabulary when it comes to Liberty. The word "sweet" appears in this less-than-two-minute video four times.

Calming (and chowing) down!

Things are settling down around here at the Hathcock cave.

London's appetite slowly is returning. Liberty's is increasing. London's still having some difficulty sharing Mom, but for the most part has returned to his happy-go-lucky self. He has, however, become an anti-homebody, regularly toddling to our front door and banging on it to go for a walk or out on an errand. Outings make him happy.

Illness, praise God, has left us, and now, nearly two weeks after Liberty was born, we're finally able to focus on getting into a rhythm. We asked ourselves tonight, "How much more would we have it together if we would have been home since Feb. 6?" Probably lots more... oh well!

We really have felt supported by our friends and family, who all have lent a hand. On Friday, Savannah's cousin Mary made us a delicious chili dinner with salad and brownies. On Sunday, our good friend Alexis made us a wonderful chicken and noodles dish (I'm not a cook, so I couldn't tell you what it was... but it involved angel hair) a salad, some yummy carrot (cup)cakes and a sweet card. More food's coming our way tomorrow!

Here's some food for thought: a video of little Liberty in her bouncer! She's such a sweetie!

Sick and heart-sick on V-Day

Going to Kaiser Permanente's urgent care seems to be a new Hathcock family Saturday tradition!

London hasn't been too interested in eating anything except his FIRST FOOD (if you know what I mean... OK, if you don't: breast milk) since last Saturday night. He vomited last Sunday morning while staying at Grandma Nomi's, and continued to be sick.

We figured out it was norovirus when the rest of us (except for Liberty, thank God) caught the bug. Although the rest of us seemed to shake it, London never really did, and never got his appetite back.

Wednesday was the last time he threw up ... until today ... Valentine's Day. Taking that, his nonexistent appetite and the fact that some red-tinged liquid (blood?) appeared in his diaper on three occasions led us to the only Kaiser urgent care open on Saturday night: Interstate Ave. -- that's North Portland, folks.

They took some blood and asked questions and really decided that London has two different things going on: He's still recovering from norovirus (or suffering from it), and is psychologically adjusting to Liberty's presence.

That makes a lot of sense to me (Marcus). London is his normal, happy, energetic, flirty, zany self when it's just you and him. Grandma Nomi came over today and he was animated. He and I went around Sandy on some errands and he was a hoot to everyone he met. When he got home, the difference was like night and day. He was inconsolable.

The nurse practitioner said that during major changes like this, children revert to earlier stages to try to cope. She said that had London been older and was potty trained, he would be back in diapers. It's a process, and not an easy one. Poor little fella.

While we were waiting to leave urgent care in the middle of Portland on Valentine's night (and as I was thinking of the glass of wine I'd have upon getting home), we had what I think was a bit of a breakthru. I held Liberty up close to London, and let them interact.

He was such a gentleman. Of his own accord, he rubbed her belly and head gently, he said a cheery "Hi!" to her, and he blew her kisses. It was really sweet. I think we just need to give him the ability to understand that she doesn't just mean something to us -- she means something to HIM, too.

We're going to arrange a few more of these little play dates ... just as soon as we're sure he's kicked the evil bug.

London and Liberty

We're home again... finally.

I (Marcus) went back to work today for my first half-day, a scenario I will repeat throughout next week to ease the transition back into the "normal" routine.

Our little guy, though, isn't transitioning so well. He's had a few meltdowns since getting home. It's hard for him to see Mom and Dad's attention divided between him and this new, mysterious invader. That's been tough on him, emotionally, and when you throw in his getting over norovirus, it's no wonder he's not eating too well. We're hoping and praying his appetite returns soon.

Liberty's doing quite well. She needs to go poo a little more, but other than that, she's happy and healthy... cooing and alert.

London actually is somewhat fascinated by Liberty when he isn't jealous of her. Check out this video of some of their first moments together. I like it when he squawks at her. The very first time he saw her, he actually made the noise he makes for a monkey, telling us he thought she was a monkey. He loses interest pretty fast, but we know they'll be great friends when they can actually play together.

Watch this!

Norovirus

As if the past week wasn't bad enough... we all have norovirus, except for Liberty. Lots of people getting physically ill. My mom and stepdad got it, too. Pray that little Liberty doesn't get it.

On to the NEXT challenge...

Well, praise the Lord, we were released from Doernbecher Children's Hospital at about dinnertime yesterday, much to our surprise and joy. We're still amazed and grateful at the about-face the new (more level-headed) doctors provided.

We reached my (Marcus') parents house just before 8, watched "The Bachelor" with my parents and gathered everything to leave. Just as I started to put London in his carseat to go home to Sandy, he vomited all over himself.

So, we all came back inside, tried to make the boy drink PediaLite and slept in the downstairs guest room. We were so close...

We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning in Rockwood for Liberty (the "Well Baby" checkup she was supposed to have Sunday), and London will see someone later. It looks like he has a virus, though... not much we can do about that but keep him hydrated and happy.

Liberty's fine, as she always was! You can tell she's happier being in cozier, more comfortable surroundings and is responding by being more alert every day. Her eyes are definitely blue.

We miss home, but are thankful to be amongst grandparents who are supporting us and taking care of our fragile children and their perhaps even more fragile parents.

I'm hoping to get some video up on here once things calm down a bit, but enjoy this pic, taken by our friend Emily McFadden, in the meantime.

Has the tide turned?

Hey there,

Just an update. The changing of the doctors might spell good news for us. Finally there's a resident and an attending who both agree that Liberty isn't showing any signs of problems, and that invasiveness doesn't make sense. Thank God!

Our attending told us we might even be able to go home today, although Savannah and I aren't counting on it. We know they probably will keep us until tomorrow, both to monitor Liberty, and to watch her urine and blood cultures to make sure they don't grow bacteria. So far, so good, though -- nothing to speak of.

On the other hand, we're seeing increasing signs that our monitoring equipment is moody. If Liberty kicks, if I'm patting her on the back, if we let the cords hang, or a host of other "IFs," we're told the readings can be off.

So we're hopeful that our caregivers will take that into account before making any additional judgments. We're confident that we'll be home tomorrow, but we're not counting any chickens just yet.

(Side note: London, whose had a cold for a couple of weeks now -- and passed it on to daddy -- threw up for the first time at Grandma Nomi's house this morning. Lots of snot has drained into his poor tummy. We miss him so much, and feel for him!)

Word is there's going to be snow tonight. We're in the upper hills above Portland, so we're looking forward to a great show out of our hospital room window. Our apartment in Sandy could get up to 6 inches tonight!

With Love,
Marcus, Savannah and Liberty

A difficult couple of days

As the title suggests, it's been a difficult couple of days.

We spent all of 18 hours as a family of four at home in Sandy. We got home Friday afternoon, had an incredible evening together, and a decent night. London slept through the night and we were able to give Liberty plenty of attention.

Things changed Saturday morning when Savannah saw a bit of blue around Liberty's lips while our daughter made a gulping sort of gesture. Savannah was concerned (and I've been told that's bad news, too), so we called urgent care, who told us to come right in.

So we quickly found ourselves back at Sunnyside. A doctor examined Liberty and checked her blood saturation, which registered at acceptable levels. But the prospect of blue lips was disturbing enough to the doctor to have Liberty be under observation for 24 hours. But since Kaiser doesn't have that sort of pediatric specialist, we were sent to Doernbecher Children's Hospital.

The original plan was to hook Liberty up to monitoring equipment, see if any clues emerged, and go home Sunday afternoon. During the night, though, Liberty's blood/oxygen saturation levels hit 81 percent (90 percent is the lowest acceptable rate). That, combined with Savannah's initial report, concerned the attending doctor.

Here's where I have a problem. Liberty's fine. She's generally happy. She eats well. She poops well. Pees well. Does everything well. She probably breathes a little slower than the average baby, but her blood saturation is pretty much ALWAYS close to 100 percent.

Another problem: The monitoring equipment is extremely sensitive and has been shown on multiple occasions to be incorrect. For example, it will say that her breathing is at very dangerous levels, but her saturation will be fantastic and her heart rate unchanged. The nurses have agreed that it's all in the positioning.

So, the following treatment plan was based on the uncertain report of my wife, and the uncertain reporting of the machine:

They thought that Liberty's case was worth checking for infections in the urine, blood and spinal fluid. That required a urinalysis (complete with catheter), drawing blood for the fifth time in four days and a spinal tap. That's right, spinal tap. No, not the band. They also wanted us to pump her full of two very powerful antibiotics JUST IN CASE she had an infection.

We understood the "better safe than sorry" philosophy, but a spinal tap? Antibiotics? For a girl who is 99% asymptomatic? Sorry, that just didn't jibe. We told them NO WAY on those counts, but instead to take the blood, take the urine, and see what it shows. Check the white blood cell count. See if there's anything to pay attention to.

Guess what? Big surprise -- nothing so far with the blood and urine! Great results! Who could have seen that coming? (Me. Yes, definitely me.)

Long story short: Liberty's fine. Her blood culture will be under observation for two days to see if any infection manifests, but we're confident it won't.

What I'm afraid of is that during this, some sort of manufactured problem will arise. For example, treatments that are not necessary creating a chain reaction that actually CREATES a medical problem for Liberty. I'm worried that all they need is an excuse -- a faulty monitor reading, perhaps -- to either keep us longer or suggest ridiculous things like a spinal tap.

It's been hard on us. We know she's OK, and this is a really crappy way to begin her life. We miss London, who has been staying at my mom's this whole time. We miss our home. We mourn the fact I go back to work at the end of the week, having no time to bond as a family, as we'd originally hoped.

Please pray for us. Pray that the doctors would have wisdom and would be gun-shy (not trigger-happy) when it comes to diagnoses and treatment. Pray that we would have peace. Pray that London would be OK. Pray that Liberty would not DEVELOP a problem from all of this.

We strongly believe that we'll be home Tuesday, though. Thanks for listening.

-Marcus, Savannah and Liberty
OHSU Doernbecher Hospital, 9-North, Rm. 27 (Yes, we'll accept visitors!)

Liberty's first moments

Here's a video I took of the first few moments of Liberty's life. She's such a sweetie... and although I say that she looks like her brother in the video, upon further review I'll say she RESEMBLES her brother... she definitely has more of Savannah in her than London does!

Enjoy the video!

The Liberty story

OK, here's how it went down:

As you read earlier, we had a scare Friday before last: contractions that got our attention, but went away once Savannah got ill. So when I (Marcus) woke up Wednesday morning, Feb. 4, I wasn't sure what to think when my wife told me she was having some contractions.

The contractions were about 11 minutes apart for about an hour, and then they just stopped. So, disappointed, I went to work at about 8:20. But just as I was pulling up to East Hill, I got a call from Savannah, telling me that the contractions were back, and that they hurt A LOT worse. I told her to keep an eye on them, and to let me know if things looked like they were getting worse.

I got one task done at work before I got a call from Savannah, frantic and in pain. I knew it was time to go home fairly soon. So I went to our HR department, filled out my family leave request, and rushed back to my office to send off an e-mail to tie up loose ends. Before I could jet off, my office was filled with two-dozen or so prayer warriors -- staff from the church -- who anointed me, prayed for healing (I have a cold) and asked God's protection over Savannah and the baby. It was moving to have so many people covering us in prayer.

Then, like a bat out of hell, I made the trip from Gresham to Sandy in a personal-best 9 minutes.

When I got home, Savannah was in the downstairs bathroom, working through a contraction as London was playing in the living room, oblivious. I grabbed the three things I needed -- this laptop, our phone charger and some cough drops -- and tossed London in the car.

The tough part was getting Savannah out of the apartment. She was clearly in pain, and was working through some difficult contractions.

"Savannah," I said, "We have to leave, honey." She responded by telling me to knock it off (I chuckled... she slugged me... I chuckled again) and that she was in too much pain to move. I realized that if we didn't get out of there soon, we weren't going to get out of there at all. Things had progressed extremely quickly. I finally was able to escort her out the door and into the car.

The car ride from Sandy to Clackamas must have been excruciating for Savannah. Her contractions went from 5 minutes apart to 3 minutes apart, and I realized that Liberty was a LOT closer than I had thought. I drove up to 80 mph on Highways 26 and 212, trying to weave through some sluggish mid-morning traffic.

I noticed Savannah had entered the climactic Transition Phase when she was sort of in her own little world and didn't respond well to my voice or touch. She basically was like a turtle in her shell. When that happened -- somewhere in Happy Valley -- I realized we had to MOVE.

I blew a red light -- almost two -- and I zoomed down Sunnyside as Savannah said, "HURRY!" By the way she was holding her pelvis I could tell she wanted to PUSH!

We got to the hospital -- finally -- and I was at a loss for what to do. My initial instinct was to leave London in the car, while it was running, as I escorted my bride to the nurses... but Savannah told me to grab the boy. I turned off the car, plucked London out, and stayed with Savannah until a team of like a half-dozen people descended on her.

Then I met up with Savannah's mom, Sheila, to pass off London and grab our labor and postpartum stuff that was packed in the car. I knew I had to hurry because I was afraid Savannah would have the baby without me!

With serious adrenaline, I somehow grabbed a trunkload of stuff and hoofed it to the labor and delivery room... and seconds after I set everything down, the pushing started. PUSHING? She walked in at a 9.5 dilation! I could not believe how quickly everything went!

Just THIRTY MINUTES after getting checked in, Liberty Haven was born at 11:06 a.m. She was born face-up (which resulted in a couple nose scratches) and with no complications. Her skin color was rated a 10 (the best!) and breathing and everything has been flawless! She needs a little nudging to eat thus far, but is handling it like a champ!

[[Interesting facts: Grandpa Steve showed up about an hour after Liberty was born, because he heard Savannah was in labor and wanted to see how things were going... little did he know, Liberty was born! Also, our nurse, Sarah, told us that had her son been a girl, her name would have been Liberty. Her son's name? London!]]

Liberty is such a doll. She has a cute cry, curious soulful eyes, a fuzzy head, ruby lips and a relaxed disposition. We couldn't be happier! She got her first shot, her first bath, first spa treatment (hair-washing, which she loved!) and has been so graceful.

She truly represents her name: A gal who makes us feel such freedom and rest. Praise Jesus for a truly perfect day.

I asked Savannah, "So, if you had to choose a labor like London's or Liberty's, which would you choose?" Without question, she said, "Like Liberty."

Check out the photos in our last post, or visit my (Marcus's) page on Facebook.

Introducing -- LIBERTY HAVEN!

She's here! Well, as we're resting and trying to even catch our breath, we thought we'd share some photos of our delightful new daugther, Liberty Haven Hathcock.

She was born 7 lbs., 4 oz. at 11:06 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4, and wow -- what a story! We'll have to tell you more later, but for now, enjoy the newest little light in our world. Praise God that all is well and that mom and baby are great!

Baby time?

It's 9:30 a.m. PST Wednesday, Feb. 4. Savannah's having some gnarly contractions that are becoming more regular.

We're outta here.

Could this be it?

Spontaneous labor or Feb. 15th?

Doc says that is the question for Liberty.

She'll either be born spontaneously when Savannah goes into labor, or they'll induce her at 41 weeks gestation. Now, 41 weeks actually is Feb. 14, but Savannah doesn't want our little girl to compete with some other festivities that happen that day... so induction day is set for Feb. 15.

Savannah is progressing well body-wise, and it's still very possible that Liberty could come before the Feb. 7 due date. But this little darlin' of ours seems to be quite comfy in her bodily hot-tub.

There's some information out there about second pregnancies, but it's pretty difficult to find some definite information about whether second babies come early or late.

We'll see!