Dad passed away tonight shortly after I posted the previous note. He left us around 6:57pm CST. He went peacefully, which is how he specified he would like to go. Things are pretty down in the household tonight. This is a very new feeling and experience for us all. Mom is doing as well as she can. She has expressed many times how extremely happy she is that everyone made it back home for Dad – Emily, the baby Sean, and I made it from Cincinnati; Sean flew in from Seattle. Megan was here from across the river and Uncle Robby made the trek up from North Carolina. Uncle Robby was a great help with everything. He has worked with Hospice before and knew what to expect and let us know ahead of time. It was nice hearing things from a loved one instead of a nurse (although the nurses di do a great job). Mom expressed a number of times how happy she was that Emily and I made it up with little Sean. When she spoke to dad a few days ago, Dad said the only thing he never got to do was hold his grandson. We made sure that happened for a long while today. Sean laid in Grandpop’s arms very peacefully and even slept for a while.
The next few days certainly won’t be easy for any of us. There are a lot of steps to take care of and many feelings going around. We are all happy that dad has made the next step. He went very peacefully. We are surely going to miss him more than anyone knows. Colonel Lawrence Cahill Jr. will be missed be many people – Air Force, American Red Cross, Friends, Family,. We love you Dad! Keep watching over little Sean!
Share on Facebook
Click here for the album from today (we’ll add more when Philip comes to visit tonight). Lots of cute ones! Sean had his first feeding last night and took to it like a champ, but was more finicky today so we had to feed him some formula. He’s been sleeping ever since. Emily got to change a poopy diaper today, and this morning he peed on the doctor. Emily plans on posting tonight on her labor and delivery so stay tuned!
Share on Facebook
11:56pm
Sean Andrew Cahill was born at 6:27pm. He weighs 7 pounds, 2.8oz and is 21 inches long. We are exhausted, as is Sean. He just got done with his first meal, thanks to Emily’s mobile lunch carts 😉 He really latched onto feeding. Very few problems so far! I got the “honor” of cleaning the first diaper. Sean gave me the honor of filling the diaper two more times while I was trying to change the initial gift.
I think I may try to hit the hay for a while. I suspect we will be up a couple times tonight.
We have a big window in our room so I should be able to get some nice natural light shots.
Share on Facebook
4:45pm
Nurse just came in and put emily in an upright position to help her “labor-down”. did a check and she is now at 9cm!!! Shouldn’t be too much longer :)Â Mom is still in great spirits and saving her strength for the pushin.
Share on Facebook
http://paulandemily.com/gallery/Hospital-Stay
This is the start to the photos from today. Not much up there.
Unca Sean also created an online video using the CarDomain Video service (easier to use than my download link). Clicky clicky
Share on Facebook
3:05pm
I took a video of the heart monitor that baby Sean is attached to. Basically there is a tube that connects to his scalp to monitor his heart rate. Emily is now 100% efaced.
http://paulandemily.com/videos/SeanAndrewHeartMonitor.wmv
right click, save as or save link as or save target as.. and save it to your PC. Its around 9MB
Emily didn’t want to be on video just yet. We should have some photos of mom-to-be up soon.
Share on Facebook
2:21pm
Emily is currently resting. She is dilated further – although I can’t recall if the nurse said 6 or 7cm. Think it was 6. I will have a little something for the website in the next 20 or 30 minutes.
Share on Facebook
11:45am
So I wussed out. The doc came in to administer the epidural and I took that as my moment to run and hide. (I have a needle phobia…yeah I’m a wus).  Plus I wanted to get lunch because I knew that we still have four or five hours to go and I certainly wouldn’t want to get food once little Sean is here. Emily is quite content now with her numb lower half. We are watching the baby monitor on the console next to the bed and it spikes for a contraction…but she feels nothing. She ate a third of a red Ice Pop and is going to try to take a nap. I’ll probably catch up on some reading. Got the next Harlan Coben book to keep me entertained as well as some TV shows I didn’t get to see on the tube.
Share on Facebook
10:30am
Emily is doing well still. Contractions are 1.5 – 2 minutes apart and pretty hefty. She’s bearing with them though and putting off the epidural. Water broke around 8 or 9 am (i think?) and that sped things up. She’s “relaxed” on an exercise ball for a while because the contractions seemed worse when she was laying down.
She’s pretty hungry right now and was relieved to find out she could eat 30 minutes after Sean joins us – as long as she keeps her juice down after the birth. I suggested that I could pick up some Jeff Ruby’s for her…but the nurse said we should stick to something easy like a sandwhich…shows you what I know 🙂
More later!
update: epidural is coming. we are now 5cm. 10:45am
Share on Facebook
6:00am
Emily and I made it to the hospital at exactly 5am. She was admitted and we are currently residing in our temporary quarters until Sean joins us later today. Mom is doing well and we cna hear Sean’s heartbeat on the baby monitor next to Emily’s bed. The rooms here are very nice – comfy recliner for dad, plenty of pillows for mom. We have a nice large window that overlooks Cincinnati. The nursing staff is also very nice. Emily was relieved to find out she will be able to walk around and won’t be confined to her bed all day. I’ll post more later as things progress!
Share on Facebook
