Sad day :(

Our Zelda dog died sometime in the night last night. She was our first baby and we are gonna miss her a lot! She was soooo good with the boys--it's hard to explain to them that she's gone. We've just told them that she was sick and went to Doggie Heaven. Then Harrison wanted to know why she was sick. We told him that she was old. That seems to be explanation enough for him. She was 10.5 years old--old by Boxer standards.

Shocker!

Just got the hospital bill for Pierson's week long stay--I sure hope the person that Mark talked to at the insurance company was right about what we'd be responsible for--cause $500 sure sounds better than $25,000!!! Yes, I'm choking on that number! I'm calling the hospital Monday morning to see why the bill doesn't show that they billed the insurance and to find out why they charged for a "recovery room" for me--when I never left the room I was in! This is soooo stressful!

Being mommy to 3!

Boy is that scary! I have to say the hardest part has been trying to find time to spend with the older boys so that they don't think I've completely neglected them. That's very hard to do between 2-hour feedings and being dead dog tired! Speaking of feedings--I hear him grunting now! And supper is ready! LOL!

Okay, I'm back. It seems like the older boys are fighting more, and getting into more, and doing stuff they know they aren't supposed to more! Probably doing it just to get attention. I really hate this part of having a baby--I know it won't last forever though. I've just got to find a way to get some quality time in with them! I feel so guilty! And you know what they've been doing that drives me nutty? Repeating themselves! H will tell me the same sentence 10 times! Like I'm deaf or something! ARGH! And I've acknowledged that I heard him! It's not like I ignore him completely! And interrupting--how do I stop that? Anybody with advice whose BTDT?

Pierson got his first tub bath last night. He actually liked it! His skin is still soooo dry--he looks like a little snake shedding it's skin!

I had his pics made today--by Catherine. She did awesome pics of the boys last fall and I couldn't wait to have her do pics of him. I can't wait to see the results--Mark's wallet can! LOL! (Thanks Catherine!)

I was gonna take P to the hospital and have him weighed again today, but I never got a call back. Maybe I'll try tomorrow--maybe they weren't working today. I worry about him losing weight. And I've really gotta wean him from this shield.

Well, we're taking the boys for ice cream--Harrison actually ATE his supper tonight, so that's the reward.

2 hour feedings!

UGH! We met with the lactation consultant yesterday and she told me that I needed to be feeding Pierson every two hours so that he would get enough milk to meet his caloric requirements. I set my alarm last night for every two hours--at the 5-ish feeding, I just laid him beside me in the bed to nurse and I went back to sleep! Have no idea how long he nursed or if he even did. I was sooooo tired! I also took a nap between the 12 noon and 2 pm feeding today. Lord I hope he has gained weight when we go back on Tuesday!

Tomorrow is my 33rd birthday--I should NOT be that old/young! LOL! I feel like I should still be about 20! I'm sooo glad that most people think I'm younger than I am! Mark said he'd take me to Outback for dinner, but I'm not ready to take the little guy out yet. So, we'll postpone that till maybe the weekend.

Another visit to the hospital

But this was a good one today. Well, yesterday after Pierson's appt with our regular doc, he wanted to have his bilirubin checked since he looked a little yellow. This is nothing new to me--did it with both the other boys. But he also wanted me to see the lactation consultant again since Pierson only weighed 4 lbs 12 oz at his office. Well the LC was booked so I went in this morning to meet with her. Oh and they weighed him yesterday on the hospital scales and he weighed 5.03 lbs. (I'm willing to bet the hospital scales are right!) So I go in this morning with a hungry baby and we weigh him before he nursed and after to see how much he was getting from me. He got a little over an ounce from me. Well, the LC figured it up that he needed 13.3 oz of breastmilk a day for him to maintain his weight--so he needs to have more than that to gain. She figured that if he was getting the same amount of milk at each 3 hour feeding, he was coming up short--so her suggestion was to feed him every two hours for now. Exhausting--but worth it if it makes him gain weight and get stronger. The stronger he gets, the more he will be able to nurse and get more from me. She said that he could easily gain a pound in a week if I keep this feeding schedule up. I go back to meet with her again on Tuesday to see how we are progressing. Well, gotta go--20 minutes till feeding time! LOL!

HE'S HERE! Part 2

I'm gonna try to get all this typed!

After I gave birth and the nurses were doing all the checks and stuff, they noticed that his blood sugar was low. With the OneTouch it was in the 30's so they sent blood to the lab and it came back 21! It needed to stay above 40. So they let me nurse him and it was still low so they took him to the nursery to put an IV in to give him some sugar water. This was around 5-5:30. Well, around 7:30-ish, we decided to go see him--I walk around the corner and he's got a CPAP on! I was a little freaked! So the nurse who had been working with him before the shift change was still there and she told us that she had noticed him getting a little pale and she checked his Oxygen levels and they were low. So she was just letting the O2 blow in his face but his levels weren't improving, so the doc said to try the CPAP. They then ordered chest x-rays and blood cultures to see if he had any infection. The doc then came over and told us that the x-ray looked like he might have pneumonia! But they would wait on preliminary blood work to see--in the mean time, they went ahead and started him on antibiotics. They also ordered an ultrasound of his heart to rule out any problems there that might would make him have breathing problems. We went back to the room and then returned to the nursery around 10-10:30 when the doc said they wanted to intubate him to help him thru the night and they would be able to administer surfactant to help open up his lungs. Oh, and the heart u/s was normal--WHEW! The doc asked me a lot of questions about weather or not all my cultures done prior to delivery had been negative, and they had been. Then he said he really didn't think he had pneumonia because my water hadn't been broken for an extended period of time, I showed no signs of any type infection, and my cultures had been negative. He was now leaning more toward the lungs just not being developed quite enough. So we agreed to have him intubated and we also agreed to let them try to put in lines to the umbilical artery and vein--they got one, couldn't get the other--but this way they could draw blood without sticking him everytime time--and by this time he'd already been treated like a little pin cushion! Poor baby! So with the vent, the IV in his arm, heart monitors, pulse-oximeter--he looked like a very sick baby. VERY SCARY!

12 hours later, he was off the vent and was extubated. One line down! And they finally let me start nursing him again. But he was taking an hour to eat! We tried with a Supplemental Nursing System and he still was taking forever. We put a feeding tube back down his nose so we knew he wasn't starving and I could still work on nursing him. Then one of the nurses suggested we try using the SNS on our finger and finger feed him (they knew I didn't want to give him a bottle if I could help it.) So, he seemed to do better, but was still slow. So the nurse said that at one of the feedings that night, she would use the SNS with him and let me sleep! So, that night as she was feeding him, she noticed he had a strong suck reflex but something was wrong because it was taking him so long. So she called the lactation consultant who examined his mouth--he was tongue-tied! He couldn't stick his tongue out enough to get it around the nipple of my breast or a bottle!

I can't remember what lines came out next--I do know that they had to relocate his IV because it was leaking. They tried to find veins in his arms to use to no avail--as a last resort they had to put it in his head! The IV finally came out when we could prove he was gaining weight on milk--not on sugar water! After the feeding tube came out, I HAD to prove to them that I could get him to take a bottle before they would let us leave--so I lost that battle. It upset me very much--especially since I felt like my milk supply was diminishing and I NEEDED him to nurse!

Oh, the best news was that the blood cultures all came back negative for infection--so NO pneumonia. Just respiratory distress syndrome as they say--he just needed a little help from the surfactant and vent.

I think that's about it--if I remember more, I'll edit this.

I need to go now--little one has a doc appt this morning--Pray he's gained weight and not LOST it!

He's HERE!!! Part 1

This story is long so I think I'll break it down into two parts!

Went to the doc on Thursday morning for my regular appt. When the doc measured me, he said I was measuring small--that it could be either that the baby had dropped some more or low amniotic fluid--I was 4 cm dialated. So he ordered an ultrasound to check. Well, the ultrasound not only revealed low amniotic fluid, but also a small baby--meaning he wasn't getting the nourishment he needed from the placenta. I couldn't believe the u/s tech when she told me he would only be around 5 lbs! So, I saw the doc again after the u/s and he said he thought it would be best for me to go ahead and go to the hospital to be induced--after all, my cervix was favorable. I had joked about them just sending me to the hospital this day--couldn't believe they really were!

So I arrive at the hospital at 11 am--at 11:44, the doc on call broke my water. I wanted to avoid pitocin if I could so I requested we try that first--that was the doc's idea too. I immediately started having contractions--the first one was a doozy and lasted 2 minutes! Then I'd have a bunch of little ones and then another big one. Didn't know how long I'd be able to handle it without pain meds! This labor definitely was different than the painless one I had with Nevan! The nurse noticed that his heartrate would drop during those strong contractions so she was in the room watching the monitor to make sure he recovered in a reasonable amount of time. Then it happened--I had a bad one and he wasn't recovering--3 or 4 other nurses come running in along with the doctor--they were rolling me from side to side and pushing really hard on my stomach to try to find his heart beat. They put an oxygen mask on me. The pushing on my stomach during a contraction was unbearable! After what seemed like an eternity, they found his heartrate and it was back in a normal range. I was whimping out because I was scared and was getting ready to ask for some pain meds when the doc asked me if I was feeling any pressure--I told her no--as I'm saying no, she checks me--I'm 9.5 centimeters! So, when I hear that, I remember saying, "It's too late for drugs now!" The doc agreed--LOL! At the end of the next hard contraction, I started feeling the urge to push. She tells me not to and gets her stuff on. With the next contraction, I'm pushing and out he comes in about 3-4 pushes! Little booger had his cord around his neck! No wonder his heartrate dropped! He arrived at 2:39--1 hour 56 minutes after my water was broken! His apgar scores were 8 at 1 minute and 9 at 5 minutes.

Our pastor was there when I had the contrax that sent all the nurses running so of course he left the room, but stayed outside in the hallway. Thursday was Maundy Thursday and of course there were services that night. But after all was over and we asked him back in the room, he told us that while standing in the hall, he was given a totally different sermon to preach that night. See, on the TV in the room beside me, they were watching the funeral service for one of two police officers who were killed in the line of duty the previous weekend. He said, as he heard the bagpipes playing for the man who lost his life, he could hear new life in my room. The perfect sermon for an Easter service. I haven't listened to the DVD of the sermon yet, but I'm sure I will cry!

Well, this concludes part 1. I'm gonna have to sit down and see if I can remember what all happened next!

Oh, and the boys absolutely love him! Nevan is fascinated with Pierson's hands! And they both want to hold him and be right up near him. Although, they've both been sick I try to keep them away as much as possible, but they don't understand. (Harrison went to the doc yesterday with a very bad ear infection!) I've got some really cute pics from yesterday when we got home, I'll get them off the camera afterwhile and post a few.

ETA his stats! He was 5 lbs 2 oz and 20 inches long. He was born April 5th at 2:39 pm. And he looks JUST like Nevan! It's like I gave birth to a twin two years later! Very scary!! LOL!

Thought it was labor...

but I was fooled! LOL! I was soooo hoping the full moon last night would send me to the hospital--it gave me some real contractions, but not true labor. I would have a couple like 10-12 minutes apart and then they would go to 20-30 minutes apart. Then after I went to bed, I think I had about 1 an hour--I was waking up every hour because I kept laying on my arms and my hands would go to sleep!

Nevan is really whiny today--don't know if it's after effects from yesterday or what, but he's wanted to be held since he got up this morning. I can't get anything done! And my laundry pile is rivaling the heights of Mt Everest! (no sense having that many clothes to wash!) Besides, if I can do some heavy house cleaning today, maybe my contractions will come back!

Oh, I forgot to mention that 3 days ago, Nevan wore big boy undies from 10 am until 7 pm with NO accidents! I might get the boy potty trained yet!

Nevan's tubes

Everything went well. We had to be there at 7 am (UGH!) And of course, my well laid plans to keep him up a little later last night so that he could eat and drink late didn't work! He was asleep at 8 pm! And he woke at 2 am BEGGING for a drink--he was up for an hour and a half! I didn't go back to sleep until after 4 am and the alarm was set for 15 til 6! They didn't take him back for the actual surgery until about 10 after 8. While they had him, I walked back to the other end of the hospital to move my car closer to the day surgery and call Mark--literally 8 minutes after they took him, they were paging me to come back to talk to the doc!!! 15 minutes after that they paged again for me to come be with N. He was crying, of course, but I think it was really because he wanted the pulse-oximeter off his finger! He whined until we could take it off--which was about 30 minutes later--then he wanted to get down and play! He's sitting in my lap now--asleep. Doc said he drained fluid out of each ear but that everything went just as it should. I'm just glad it's over! I came home and took a 2 hour nap!

Today's a full moon--ya think I've got a chance to have this baby today???? Probably not!