So very sad and icky....

I had to come back to work on November 18th. It was extremely hard to leave little man at that day care. Don't get me wrong... they are nice people and they seem to love him and take good care of him. He doesn't cry when I drop him off and actually giggles at me when I put him in his "School Bed". I think I did really good. I only called twice a day for the first 4 days... and THEN...
Baby boy slept from 9:30 to 5:45 on Saturday night.. Good News right!? WRONG He had his first (of many I'm sure) fever. I took him to the doctor on the 24th and he had an upper respiratory infection. They gave him amoxicillan to take. He seemed to be feeling better by Thanksgiving, but then yesterday he had a bout of diarrhea. ICKY! Poor little fellow would think he was passing gas and would poop himself. Doc said that the antibiotics can do that sometimes and told me to quit giving it to him. He had 2 days of doses left he was suppose to take.... isn't there a reason they tell you to make sure and take all of the medicine? I hope he doesn't get sick again because he didn't get enough medicine.... sucks that giving them medicine to cure one thing makes them miserable in another way... Enough about baby boy.

Baby girl is doing great. She is the biggest helper anyone could ask for and she's always worried about her little brother. She and her daddy have been working on her science fair project. She's also been extremely worried about what we are going to get everyone (specifically daddy and bubba) for Christmas. Christmas? Yikes only 22 more days! We have to go do Santa Clause pictures...

As for me... I'm tired, very very tired. Baby boy likes to go to bed about 9:30 or 10:00 and get up from 2:30 - 4:00. Then I have to get up at 5:30 to start getting ready for work. He'll sleep through the night soon, as long as it's not because he's sick I will be very very happy

I better get back to work. HAVE A GREAT DAY!

1 Month Already :-( (a little TMI)

I can't believe baby is a month old already! Seems like just yesterday we were headed to the hospital because my side was hurting. He's doing great as far as weight gain and milestones. He's having some trouble pooping, so Doc has us trying some new formulas. We'll see how that works out. He's also still having trouble distinguishing day from night. We have to get that straitened out before I go back to work in November. We also have to figure out where he's going to stay during the day while we're at work. We thought the neighbor was going to watch him, but I've left two messages to confirm and she hasn't called me back. **sigh**



Stats as of 10/10/2008
Weight: 8 lbs 9 oz
Height: 21 1/2 in.


On another note... I was so excited that we were having a boy. Finally someone to watch the football and basketball games with since Hubby and Darling Daughter couldn't care less about either. Unfortunately, Hubby thinks he has someone to help him work on cars and watch Nascar with. He's already trying to teach him how to use a wrench! I better get to work teaching him the sports stuff!

Darling Daughter is having a great time with Cheerleading this year and she's the best Big Sister ever. She loves holding and feeding the baby. She also doesn't mind helping change his diaper..

That's enough for now. Have a great weekend!

How do I thank thee....

We came home from the hospital on Sunday. Baby did great in the car and Darling Daughter watched him very closely the entire ride. She is a little mother hen and loves holding and feeding him. I haven't let her change a diaper yet. Mainly because he still has the plastibel (sp?) from his circumcision and his umbilical cord hasn't fallen off yet. We went outside Sunday afternoon and there was a huge wooden stork with Baby's Birth statistics stationed in our front yard. It's the coolest thing! I'll post pictures once I get them uploaded. (Thanks Cheri!)

Baby is doing great! He's 9 days old today. He has his 2 week check up the day before his due date. Kind of crazy... He has his days and nights mixed up totally, but we are adjusting.


As for me... Tuesday morning I got up from going to the bathroom and my C-Section Incision started bleeding quite a bit. Baby and I were here by ourselves so I called 911 and the ambulance came to get me. There was a great lady police officer that held baby and gave him a bottle while my Mother in Law made the trip over. I first went to the local emergency room where they got me stabilized and made sure that I had not lost to much blood. They also found me some clothes to wear as I only had on a bra and t-shirt when they loaded me on the gurney. I then had to go to my Ob-Gyn's office where they assured me that the incision coming open is a normal thing. They explained that a lot of fluid sometimes builds up behind it and the incision has to come open in order for the fluid to come out. They said if they were to close it back up I would be at a huge risk for infection so they've ordered bed rest (ugh! again) and DH has to change the dressing on it 2 - 3 times a day. Luckily my MIL had taken off this week to help out and she's been taking care of me, the house and family. She has other obligations today and my Sister is going to come help us. I guess I was just destined for a LONG PAINFUL recovery!

Next week I have to go back to the Doctor on Tuesday for them to make sure the incision is healing and Baby has his appointment on Thursday.

So truly... How do I thank all of the wonderful people in my life that have helped so much through my pregnancy, birth, and now postpartum recovery. I'd name everyone, but then I might miss someone and then I'd feel really terrible...

I hope everyone is having a great day and enjoying this BEAUTIFUL weather!!

sister

Super Star

A Birth Story

The last update you all had received was on Tuesday after my 37w 5d appointment. I was ecstatic because Mr. Baby Boy had decided to turn and we were going to be able to attempt a regular delivery and hopefully forego the c-section. Tuesday night around 10:00 I had this awful pain come up behind my right breast and it radiated into my shoulder and back. I knew it wasn’t contractions, but I had no idea what it was. I tried taking Tylenol and through it up. I took a hot shower. I took Rolaids. I could not get any relief from the pain no matter what I tried and it was becoming so severe that it was making me nauseous and unable to think clearly.

At 6:15 Wednesday, September 10, 2008 I gave in and called the On-Call Doctor for advice. He recommended I meet him at Labor and Delivery (L&D) to be checked. Jon was already at work and had to come back to Rowlett and pick me up. While waiting on him, I packed the hospital bag, fed the dogs and cried I was in so much pain. Finally, he gets there to pick me up and we head to the hospital. Of course, its 7:30 on a weekday morning and traffic is bumper to bumper. We get checked in and put in an L&D Observation room and await the Doctor. Doc comes in and explains that the pain I’m having sound as if it’s related to my gallbladder or liver. He ordered some lab work be done and sends me for a level 2 sonogram. No pain meds until we figure out what the issue is…

They come in and take me upstairs to have the sonogram done. First they check on Baby Boy. He is doing great! Heart and lungs appear to be functioning. He’s still head down, but he’s not engaged (ready to come down the birth canal). The sonogram also estimates that Mr. Baby Boy weighs about 8lb 15oz (10 oz more than yesterday!) Also, it does not appear that I have any type of gall stones and my gall bladder does not appear to be inflamed. The Sonogram Doctor (Patton?) comes in to explain his thoughts on the results. He first explains that since my Gall Bladder looks fine that the only other explanation for the pain I’m having is that my liver is preparing to get very sick or fail. This is caused by the hypertension I have experienced the last month. The only “cure” at this point is to get Baby Boy delivered. The Doctor then goes into a discussion around delivering Baby Boy. He points out that 1) Baby Boy is a BIG baby, 2) Baby Boy is not engaged in the birth canal, 3) Inducing labor will probably not work, it will just put my body through 12 – 14 hours of hell to end up with a c-section anyway. 4) Baby may not fit through the birth canal. He’s talked through his recommendations with Dr. Griffith (my Ob-gyn) and they are in agreement that a c-section would be the best way to get Baby Boy here. He sends me back to L&D to await Dr. Griffith so we can make the final decision.

Back in L&D, Dr. Griffith comes in and we collectively decide that a C-Section is best and we will do it in 4 short hours at 4:00. I finally get some stadol to ease the pain in my side and shoulder and begin to drift in and out to sleep. About 3:30 the anesthesiologist comes in to start my epidural. The process goes fairly quickly and in a matter of minutes I am completely numb. They then try to lower the bed and get me back into a resting position. Unfortunately, the bed has decided it no longer wants to work at the hospital but it would rather be a see-saw at the local playground. Only the foot of the bed will move at this point and that’s where I’m sitting as numb as can be! So picture a hugely pregnant woman, numb from the waist down, sitting on the down side of the see-saw and a panicked anesthesiologist and 3 nurses trying to figure out how in the heck they are going to keep me from falling and get me back up into a bed and ready for surgery… The staff at my hospital is very innovative and cleverly figures out that a lot of people lifting and a working bed is the best way to save the day.

At 4:16pm they wheel me into the Operating Room (OR). The room is not what I had imagined. It’s very white and cold. They put up the sheets all around me so that I can’t see the incisions they are making. They turn on a country music radio station and get to work. At 4:38pm Wednesday, September 10, 2008 we welcomed Baby Boy Chandler to this world weighing 7lb 7.8oz. He was 19 ¼ inches long. (Not such a BIG baby after all!) I didn’t get to hold the baby right away, but Jon did and he brought him over to me so I could see him and the nurse snapped a couple of pictures. They all went off to the Nursery while Doc finished sewing me back up and I headed for recovery. I finally made it up to my post partum room about 6:00. They finished up Baby Boy’s admissions and brought him to the room around 8:30. Big Sister had to leave about 8:15 to go home and get ready for school on Thursday. She was NOT happy that she didn’t get to hold her brother! She will get to hold him on Friday afternoon and there is a picture of her that she made him at Sibling Class in his hospital crib, so he always has her nearby.

Sorry this was so long! Baby Boy is precious and I love him dearly.

Toby is here!!!

7 pounds 8 oz

19 1/4 inches

4:39 pm sept 10th

37w 5d - Plans have changed a little!

So I went in today for my final OB visit before my scheduled C-Section on Friday afternoon. To everyone's surprise Baby Boy decided to turn in the last week or so. I really think it was yesterday as he was a lot more active than usual. He is currently weighing about 8lbs 5oz, is still practicing his breathing and his HR was 142.

Doc says due to baby's size, my history the past month with high blood pressure, seeing floaters, protein in my urine and almost passing out, that we still need to go ahead and get baby delivered.

He gave me the option of inducing or continuing with the scheduled C-Section. He did give me the disclaimer that my Bishop's Score (http://209.151.26.25/bishop.htm) does not really put me in a favorable position for an induction and that I may end up with the C-Section anyway.

I chose to try the induction first... I REALLY don't want a C-section if I can avoid it. So.... instead of going to the hospital on Friday afternoon at 2:30 for a 4:30 c-section, I will be going to the hospital Thursday night at 10:00pm. Around midnight they will place the Cytotec to start to ripen my cervix. Then about 7:30 or 8:00 Friday morning they will start the Pitocin.

Here's hoping for a regular delivery on Friday, September 12th and THANK YOU Baby Boy for turning around for Mommy!!!!