Bacon's Better with Benjamin

WARNING - Dangerously cute photos follow

Last night at the hospital...

Hello Baby Benjamin Bacon Blog fans worldwide!!! Many have you asked, 'How is Benjamin?!', 'How is Heather?', 'How was your Father's Day, Dave?' The answer to all those questions, is and will always be an emphatic 'fantastic!'

Tonight marks our last night at the hospital... we have been here for 6 nights, slept in 3 different rooms, been cared for by over 20 nurses and doctors, saved 1 uterus, produced 1 baby, and have stored a million blessings for life.

This week has been extraordinarily surreal. This pregancy has put a stamp on our companionship. The intense anticipation that lead us here, the frightening and unexpected turns and events of this birth, the first joy of holding of our son - all of these experiences together are so strikingly memorable that they are strangely distant, one fond dream's memory, but they're certainly very real, and we're heading home with a heck of a happy ending...

Need I say more than to point you to ponder this picture above of the two people sleeping in the room with me now, and who I love so much....

and the baby beat goes on...

WOW, what an amazing response!!! Heather is doing awesome, and Benjamin is just a sparkle puggle! I thought of doing this blog a few weeks back, thinking it would be an effective and fun way to share our baby tale. I thought it a bit the novelty of sorts at first, but what I realized over the past few days was that this blog has been an incredible means of expression, and a sort of therapeutic catalyst that.... alright already let's show some pictures!!!!

Benjamin Ernst Bacon - Heather Super Heroine

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are pleased to introduce Mr. Benjamin Ernst Bacon. Benjamin arrived to the world at 11:51 pm on June 12th, weighing a stout 8 lbs, 9 oz, measuring 22 inches long

While Benjamin is the star, Heather is my ever angel and she is the rock of our family and a true super heroine. Despite being fully dilated, 2 1/2 hours of pushing yieled little progress and so we elected to have a c-section, which was otherwise a success in terms of the delivery, if it wasn't for the massive hemmoraging of her uterus. This was a medical emergency, what they call a 'code white' at Rose, where all emergency staff and resources are made immediately to the code's disposal. I hadn't realized this was even happening, as standard post c-section practice is for the father to take the baby away to the nursery while they stitch up the mother. I was tickling his toes, swaddling his body, and taking photos. Back with Heather, the doctors were fighting severe blood loss (she lost over 3 liters, or 60% of the blood in her body), and were trying desperately to save her uterus - which of course without, we could not have any other children. You can imagine how shocked I was when I was informed of the situation about an hour and a half after the delivery (at that point I knew something was wrong), and they came to get me not so much b/c I had to make a choice, but b/c it was a critical time where they could inform me of the status of the situation where they were waiting to see if a special balloon inserted into her uterus would contain the blood loss enough to save the uterus itself. They hoped this would work, or else they'd need to do a hysterectamy. They were monitoring this, all while controlling Heather's overall blood loss, which was complicated by the intense labor efforts from before, the large doses of Ptocin, and a common infection that is inside the uterus itself.

This was a terribly frightening experience, and while in a stable condition now, I would like you all to continue to think of, pray for, and salute Heather's enormous courage. She is recovering now and is considered stable. We are under special care, and please know that we will have to dilligently consider any visitor time, so please, please be patient and understanding and supportive of us. The implications of this experience were very uncertain. It is hard to write about it, but we decided you should know, and I can't sleep anyway, and fortunately, she is resting again.

We have the best friends and family in the world, and we can't wait to share our beautiful boy with you all! This was true 'labor'... as any labor story is I suppose, and the short of it is that we are going to be a happy family together - we just had to take a really rough road to get there.

100% Dilated!

Amazing... a true blessing - Heather is 100% dilated! She is resting again behind me and I know in her dreams she sends her love and thanks. Open and Down worked! Think Healthy and Happy now, please!

...words from our mothers

Thank you to Kellie and Ellen, our mothers, who along with more private words for us, also wrote us these beautiful words today:

Ellen: Now you really know the meaning of "a labor of love." Birth is a miracle, and I'm thinking of the "opening" of my roses, which are so abundant and beautiful this year.

Kellie: God bless you both for all that you have gone through, especially, Heather, these past few hours. Bringing life on this earth should not be easy because it is a serious responsibility.

...think open, think down, listen to the music

Our collective intentions are working! We have rec'd prayers from across the world -the Maasai in Tanzania, friends across the US, and family from in our hearts.

PLEASE keep thinking about all things that OPEN... Also, please also think about all that is DOWN. Open and Down, all. Open your emails, open your mind, open your hearts, down the hatch, get down on the dance floor, whatever it is, knowing that all of you are thinking those two simple intentions is a tremendous show of support.

Heather is resting again, and I'm playing a mellow mix of songs that she put together on her ipod, called, 'Ben-Mellow'... the other mix is for post delivery celebration, 'Ben-Jammin'...

I sat next to her for almost an hour while she was in and out, listening softly to our favorites, 'Into The Mystic', bring us Van Morrison brought us to tears singing, '...and together we'll float into the mystic, c'mon Girl', and Government Mule's, 'Soulshine', which is 'our song' from our wedding, Seager's 'You'll Accomp'ny Me', Marley's 'Redemption Song' and others. 'Behind Blue Eyes' came on and I had this intense wave hearing Daltry sing, 'No one knows what it's like, to feel those feelings... Like I do"... and it's coming all back to me while Heather sleeps behind me and here we are waiting still for our baby...

We are close but we are still far; our sad is so beautiful and glad, and we're so alone together but we know how much you all care and your intentions are with us, they are so rich and strong and I can say that we have the best family and friends in the world. we have the best family and friends in the world.

Don't go to bed without thinking about those you love most; do go to bed thinking about that which is open and things needing to go down, and listen the words of the songs that make you cry and

...an approved photo

This was taken during our walk around the nurse's station at about 1:45 this afternoon. This picture has been approved by the mother-to-be...

... a tough stretch, and some friendly doctors

Heather is sleeping behind me, the lights are out, and a tough stretch of contractions is behind us. There is no way we could have prepared ourselves for this amazing experience, and it seems as though we still have some ways to go before delivery.

I obviously can't describe just how painful some of these contractions were for her, but I also don't want to worry you either. Before putting in the epidural and since the last update, we took a short walk around the nurse's station, watched a little television, laughed and cried, and shared a popsicle. It was nice for her to get on her feet and stroll out of the room for a bit; not only was she smiling and being herself, but walking also helps position the baby. Contractions intensified though, and we came back to the room. We have now been here for 20 hours.

Heather is doing great, she is sound asleep now, especially after receiving the epidural. Before she fell asleep, we had an intimate moment talking about how it was actually positive for her to feel the intensity of those contractions, but that she was glad the pain had subsided. Heather puts a 'shout out' to any of you have had natural child birth, her respect for you is at a whole new level!

Thank you to these two wonderful ladies, nurse Shirley (on the left) and our wonderful OB, Chris (on the right). They have provided us great support and attention!

Tough stretch is now behind us... please continue your prayers and loving support for us, we still have a long road ahead!

Breaking News: Her Water Broke!

Reporting live from Rose Hospital, this is David Bacon from channel Happy, and it is 12:10 pm on and a glorious day in Denver, Colorado. I'm happy to report that spirits are high here in Room 9, and that our featured future-mother, Heather Bacon, is doing well. Heather's water broke at approximately 10:20 this morning and her contractions are becoming stronger. In response to one contraction, Heather said, 'Wow, that was strong'.

Reporting to you as the lucky husband and father to be, saying stay tuned for more updates, and extending an endless thank you to you all for your loving support and prayers...

Contractions, Dilations, and Collective Intentions

Good morning, all! We are now in the 'early' stages of labor and Heather is beginning to feel stronger and more regular contractions. She is finally beginning to dilate... this is tremendous news!

We have been focusing on things that 'open'... windows, our eyes, our hearts, refrigerator doors, wide open spaces, flowers in bloom, garage doors, and we ask you that you all put your collective and heartfelt intentions on things that also 'open', because we need her to continue to dilate!

Stay tuned! much love -

Night, Night... zzzz

For those of you following, we can sense your support. Seems a bit silly that we 'blog' this momumental event, but we love to journalize our thoughts and our experiences, and we thought this would be a fun way for family and friends to follow, so why not?...

We checked in to Rose Hospital at 7:30 this evening after an anxious day. On the way here, and having heard from so many of you that Heather should eat a big meal before checking in, we went to Smashburger for Heather's favorite burger in town. We slathered our sizzling patties in smash sauce and sipped our shakes; giggling and gazing, pausing and hurrying. Here we were having this perfectly normal dinner, but this wasn't dinner and a movie - this was dinner and a baby.

Comfortably checked into our room in Labor and Delivery, Heather and the baby have been getting monitored and advised by various nurses and I'm happy to report that my wife and soon-son are doing great! Heather's blood pressure is good, the baby's heartbeat is strong (avg. 130 or so), his head is down and he's in good position.

As much as we have planned for this baby, we couldn't have possibly planned for the breathless moments of certainty that today's anxious clarity brought us both. Tomorrow's uncertainty is the thrill that knows we must rest. Night, night all... wishing you all a blessed night...

until tomorrow... Love, Dave and Heather

Bags are packed,

Our bags our packed and the dogs are fed. The car is running with tires, brand new tread. Got cameras, got chargers, and everything we'll need. We're calm, we think, just breathe, breathe, breathe. These doctor's are the best, they're on top of their game. We're sweaty, sort of ready, its healthy we aim.

We're eager and we're scared, and we're not quite sure what to do. We just can't wait to meet him, just to say 'hi', just to say, 'boo'. 'Welcome to the world young man,' we'll say, and coddle his beautiful skin. What he'll learn from us, will pale from what we'll learn from him.

To all who read, and all who care - please pray for Heather, please pray for newborn, Ben.

Love, the Bacons

Baby Belly.....

Lilli & Grizzly

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