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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

He is here!

We welcomed our second little man into our family last Wednesday, January 5th. He was 7 pounds 9 ounces! (I turned 36 weeks pregnant the morning he was born- my preemie was HUGE. I was induced so early because of preeclampsia. Same reason I was induced at 37 weeks with Jayden.
I had a feeling I would go early. As soon as I got pregnant with Alex my blood pressure started to creep up. It actually stabilized during the second trimester, but started to go up again in the third. At about 34 weeks I woke up to get ready for church, but was feeling really sick. I figured it was just late pregnancy blahness. Eventually after feeding Jayden and making it back upstairs I took my blood pressure and saw it was super high. It was in the range that I was supposed to call the hospital- but I figured I could just rest in bed and it would go down. I laid down and kept checking my blood pressure. It wasn't going down. After about a half hour I called the OB on call, and she told me to come into the hospital, and to plan on having a baby. I was freaking out. I didn't want to have him so early. And I was not prepared for the hospital stay. Ryan had to work that day, so we called Ryan's mom to watch Jayden, and they dropped me off at the hospital. I called my mom so she could be there with me. Fortunately after lots of tests they decided it wasn't as bad as they had originally thought. After a few hours my blood pressure started to stabilize. They kept me at the hospital for 24 hours - and suggested I try to stay off my feet as much as possible.

Well the week passed- and I did the best I could to stay off my feet. My blood pressure stayed pretty stable and I tried to prepare the house for a sooner than expected addition. I was doing Non Stress Tests twice a week. On Monday the 3rd I went in, they had to do a half hour ultrasound because they couldnt find a baseline on Alex's heart rate. They have to do this 30 min ultrasound test if I don't pass the Non Stress Test. They look for 3 different things : fetal breathing, reflex movement, and some other type of moment. Anyway- he did everything but the fetal breathing. Babies "practice breathe" in the womb. Alex didn't feel like doing that during the 30 mins ultrasound so they set an appointment for me to come in the next day (Tuesday) for a repeat non stress test.

Monday night I started to feel really sick. Sure enough, my blood pressure was sky rocketing. It was accompanied with a massive headache that I couldn't control with Tylenol. I took a bath to relax, did some relaxation techniques. I knew if I called the Dr they would make me come in that night- and I wanted to spend one more night at home.
Tuesday morning I still had a headache and my BP was still high. My non stress test was at one. I figured once they saw my BP they would admit me to the hospital. So I packed my hospital bag, arranged care for Jayden, and we stopped by Walmart to pick up diapers and a newborn outfit, since I was still only 35 weeks I figured this baby might actually fit into newborn sizes, and since Jayden never did, we don't really have any newborn outfits! I had my last meal at McDonalds :(... And we went to the hospital.
When they saw my blood pressure so high during the non stress test, they called in my doctor. He asked me if I was okay with inducing that day, and said he was diagnosing me with severe preeclampsia. I kind of felt like that was going to be the case, so I said I was okay with it.

I'm kind of the queen of TMI, so you have been warned.. ;)

They started giving me pills to soften my cervix since I wasn't ready at all. They would give me pill every 3 hours and then when I was softened they would start the pitocin, the epidural, the catheter, and break my water.. And that put me on magnesium for my high blood pressure (worse stuff ever.. ugh!) Ryan seemed super nervous because he stayed up till 2 in the morning watching movies and pacing. That made it pretty hard for me to sleep- so I didn't. But at 2 a.m. on Wednesday, they started me on everything. I was dilated to a 3. So I was able to fall asleep with the epidural helping me not feel the uncomfortable hospital bed. And Ryan went to bed too. About 5 a.m. I woke up feeling really strong contractions. I was moaning and crying, and Ryan would not wake up. Yeah, he was like 3 feet away from me. They gave me some more doses of the epidural but it was not cutting it. The anesthesiologist came in to give me a stronger dose. At 6 a.m. the nurse checked me and I was dilated to a 5. I asked her to give me her best guess as to when I had an hour left so I could call my mom, and she could be there with me. I figured I had a while because I was in L&D with Jayden for like 30 hours. I had only been there with Alex for 12. 20 minutes later I felt a warm gushing down there. I asked my nurse if that was normal since they broke my water so long ago. Her face got ghost white.
She asked to check me again and apparently I was at a 10, and ready to go. She told me to cross my legs and not to sneeze. And she laid my bed down so I wouldnt be in a position to push the baby out. She frantically called all the dr's who all exclaimed "Oh shoot!" and "shut up!"
In about 8 minutes everyone was in the room. 3 contractions and 6 pushes later- Alex was born. At 6:48 a.m. He plopped right out but was really quiet. It seemed like an eternity before he started screaming. Music to my ears. It felt like an hour. They cleaned him up, did their tests, and let Ryan hold him. Meanwhile the doctors delivered the after birth. It was a lot better than my pregnancy with Jayden because with Jayden I felt them pushing everything out of my stomach and it hurt like HECK. But since my epidural was in full force with Alex- I felt nothing. What I SAW wasn't too pleasant. But that's okay- at least I couldn't feel it.
I got to nurse Alex then and he nursed like a champ. For like 45 minutes. So I was sure that his blood sugar would be normal. (Babies born to diabetic mommies tend to come out with low blood sugars) But they tested him after he fed and he was super low so they took him down to the NICU to put him on a sugar water IV. They said it was a 48 hour IV and he HAD to stay in the NICU during the entire transfusion. I was devastated. I do NOT like my babies being taken to the NICU.
It was really frustrating not being able to sleep in the same room as my baby. And having to walk down to the NICU every 2-3 hours to feed him. Not something very pleasant considering the damage he did coming out of me. It was frustrating because they told me 48 hours- but they didn't reduce the glucose water when they said they would - even though his blood sugars were stable. Alex wouldn't eat very well because he was on such a high dose of glucose (sugar water). So naturally his calcium levels were a little low. So they told me they had to give him ANOTHER IV with calcium. Which would take another 24 hours. Something that of course would NOT be the case if he was in the regular nursery.
Anyway- he was perfectly fine with blood sugars after they took him off the glucose water. 3 days later (grrr). But he had been diagnosed with jaundice so they had him under bili lights. They told me in rounds that they wanted to keep him in the NICU for 2 more days. I told them we could keep him on lights at home to which they responded it was IMPOSSIBLE to get lights for me on a weekend. WTH!!! I was not going to pay thousands of dollars a DAY so he could lay under some lights. I called my pediatrician and asked them if they could set me up with a bili bed. They said yes, and said it was a load of crap (basically) that you couldn't get lights on the weekend. So after a lot of pushing and shoving- Alex was able to come home with us on a Saturday. Saving us thousands of dollars. Sometimes it just feels like they want my money. Im sure that's not completely the case- but with my past experiences.. getting my kids out of the NICU is nearly impossible. And they always THRIVE when they're home.

So Alex is home. And he IS thriving :) He seems to be just as mellow as Jayden was as a baby. Never cries... and doesn't seem to be phased by anything. I feel very blessed. He was on the bili bed for a few days- but our Dr said we can leave him off since he is eating so well. She said it'll just take care of itself. Hmm- what a change in mentality.
Jayden loves his baby brother. Alex did pass some gas while Jayden was holding him, and it took Jayden THREE days to feel comfortable holding him after that traumatizing experience. But as of yesterday Jayden is holding him again (With help.). It's funny because Jayden will sit there for 15 minutes just holding, kissing and loving his brother. It seems like such a long time for a 2 year old. im sure things will change as soon as Alex wants to play with Jayden's toys. But for now, it's bliss. There hasn't been any jealousy or aggression. In fact Jayden asks me to hold him, or to feed him. or to help Alex whenever he gets fussy. Jayden seems like such a BIG guy now. His diapers seem extra nasty now too. As soon as I get on a sleep schedule Im going to really enforce potty training.

And here are some pictures:

Ready for a long night



Right after he arrived at the NICU



Then they had to take all his clothes off so he could be under the lights



Alex on the bilibed and Jayden being ever supportive. Do you love the contraption Ryan made to keep the light out of Alex's eyes. Love him :)



Our NICU babies :)

6 comments:

Tricia said...

CONGRATULATIONS! I love all the TMI stuff in birthing stories. :) Thanks for sharing. Sounds like these two are going to be best buddies.

Amy said...

He's beautiful! I'm so sorry about all the NICU drama - next baby is ALL yours - drama free! (If I'm the boss anyway....)

I just can't picture anyone Jayden's age sitting still for 15 whole minutes - Adorable.

Kristen said...

Thanks for sharing your birth story. TMI and all. Way to stand up to the hospital people and do what you know is best for your baby! Oh, and I so know what you mean about the big boy diapers! I made Tyson change Miles for a while because I was so grossed out. But, Miles is still in diapers 8 1/2 months later and it's no biggie now. It gets better... though potty trained would be even better!

Andi and Jimmy said...

Agreed, good job on pushing the hospital to get what you want! My little sister was in the NICU for an entire month, it's horrible leaving them and I wasn't even her mom :(. Glad everything turned out good though.

Emily Redd said...

WOW, Tiffany!! Congrats! I am so excited he arrived safely. He looks so darling! The twins are so excited and we look forward to coming to see him soon!!

sharon. said...

I am so jealous you have two little guys now and I have none. Ha ha. Congrats. They are both super adorable!