The Little Men: March 2010

March 18 started out as a regular day. We were down to one week until my scheduled c-section and I was trying to stay busy to help take my mind off everything that would be happening the next week. Ben and I got up that morning and headed to gym class. I felt good and never imagined that Jack would be arriving later that day. While Ben was napping in the afternoon, I started to not feel right. My vision got very blurry and my head seemed to be in a fog. After about 30 minutes of this, I called Drew a little worried. I am known to be a complainer and will often complain about little things. During my pregnancy, anytime I called Drew to complain about something weird I was feeling, he would always ask me if I needed him to come home. I would always tell him no, I'll be fine. This time, I told him he better come home. My main concern was that my blood pressure was rising which would be what was causing the blurry vision (a big sign of pre-eclampsia). While Drew was on his way home, I called labor and delivery to let them know how I was feeling, knowing that they would tell me to come in to be checked out. Drew got home around 3:30 and soon after that, we were on our way to the hospital. Part of me thought that I was fine and would be sent home shortly after I got there. I did take my packed bag just in case though. Once we got to the hospital, I was hooked up to machines and they started monitoring my blood pressure, the baby's heart rate and to see if I was having any contractions. My blood pressure started out on the higher side but still within "normal" ranges. They took it every 15 minutes and each time, it was getting higher and higher. About 2 hours after checking in, I got a call from my doctor (who they had called to let her know what was going on) and she said that while I technically did not have pre-eclampsia yet (no protein in my urine), she did not want to wait until I did get it before delivering. Once I started spilling protein in my urine, she would have to put me on magnesium. I was on magnesium for four days while in the hospital delivering Ben and I definitely wanted to avoid going on it with Jack. I thought she meant that she wanted to deliver in the next day or so but she was thinking in the next few hours. For the record, I did ask her if we could wait until the next morning so that he would be born on the 19th since that is my mom's birthday and I knew how much she wanted him to be born on her birthday (throughout my whole pregnancy, she kept asking me to have him on the 19th). You aren't supposed to eat anything for at least 6 hours before surgery so we had to wait a little longer than a few hours since the nurse had given me crackers while I was waiting. So by 6pm, we knew that Jack would be arriving that night and even though it came as a surprise and we were nervous, both Drew and I remained pretty calm. At this point, Ben was at the hospital with us, with nowhere to go. Luckily, Loree was on her way and Michael was coming to help out also. Ben did not want to sit still and had poor Drew going all over the hospital with him. When the doctor called to tell me we were delivering that night, Drew and Ben were somewhere else and I couldn't get a hold of him. I was laying in the bed thinking oh my goodness, this is really happening and I don't even know where my husband is to tell him what is happening. I spent the next five hours waiting in bed, getting my iv hooked up and signing consent forms. We were waiting for the doctor to get there before I could be prepped for surgery. Around 11pm, I was told that it was time and they had me walk to the operating room which seemed very strange to me. When I got in there, I had to climb up onto this tiny table. Once up there, I got my spinal which was the hardest part for me. It was so cold in there and I was so nervous that I couldn't stop shaking. After ten minutes or so, the spinal was in and I was laid down and strapped to the table. They put up a sheet in front of you so you cannot see what is being done which is a good thing for me. I could tell that all the nurses around me were prepping and getting everything ready for the doctor. The pediatrician arrived so that she would be able to check Jack out right away. Everyone was there except for Drew. They called to have him brought in. I really did not know how Drew was going to respond to all of this. He didn't get to experience it with Ben and I knew it would probably be tough for him to go through it this time. I was wrong. He was so wonderful during this all. He came in and sat right next to my head and grabbed my hand. I felt so comforted knowing that he was there. It probably also helped that the drugs had kicked in by now and I was very relaxed. I then asked if they would tell me when the doctor started cutting and the nurse laughed and said she already started. It was so weird knowing that they were cutting my stomach open and I couldn't feel anything. After about 15 minutes of cutting at 11:43pm, the doctor said get ready for it. She was really tugging at my stomach and it felt like elephants stomping on me. We then heard what sounded like a very angry cry and within seconds, we saw beautiful baby Jack. He was not happy and was screaming but once they cleaned him up and swaddled him, he was calm. Drew got to cut off the rest of his umbilical cord and they then brought him over to me to hold. It was such a surreal but happy moment. Neither Drew nor I got to experience this kind of delivery with Ben. While the doctor started stitching me up, Drew, Jack and the nurse headed to recovery. It took about an hour for me to be stitched up and I then got to join them in recovery. I was started to feel some pain by this time as the spinal was wearing off. I remember feeling very nauseous. It was after 2am by the time we made it back to our room and both Drew and I were exhausted. We had no idea that the night before would be our last night of good sleep for a very long time.

Overall, I would say that everything went very smoothly and besides a painful recovery (which gets a little easier every day), it wasn't too bad. Jack has been a very good baby and pretty much sleeps and eats all day. He is getting better at night and last night, he gave us 3.5 hour stretches which we gladly took. We have been so lucky to have our family who have been extremely supportive. As soon as we found out we were having Jack right away, Loree was on her way to come stay with Ben. She stayed with him the whole time we were at the hospital. Taking care of Ben for 4 days is tiring. Luckily, she had Cary and Michael there to help part of the time. She left last Tuesday and the next day my mom and Tom arrived to help out. My mom took great care of me and was a huge help around the house. Ben is loving all the company we are having and is getting very spoiled. Drew went back to work this week and Loree is back up here to help me out. Next weekend, my dad will be coming up for 5 days and has already said that he is prepared to be worn out by keeping up with Ben all day. Thank you to everyone for all of your help and support. We so very much appreciate it.

Jack and I were discharged on Monday afternoon. What a good feeling. After four nights away from home, I was ready to leave the hospital. I was also ready to come home and see my other baby. Who by the way, looks so much bigger and older now that Jack is here. It was a bit overwhelming coming home. Just walking from the car to inside took a lot out of me. Ben was excited to see his baby brother. Our first night home was pretty rough. I think Drew and I got maybe a total of two hours of sleep. Last night was better and we probably got about 5 hours of sleep which isn't too bad when you have a new baby. Jack sleeps all day and likes to eat a lot during the night. He hardly cries at all. He is a little smaller than we thought so most of his clothes are too big for him. He will soon grow into them though. He has his first doctor's appointment this afternoon. The doctor mostly just wants to check him out and make sure he is gaining weight (he had dropped down to 6 lbs 7 ozs by the time we left the hospital).

As for me, I am slowly recovering. Getting around gets easier every day. Going up and down the stairs is a bit of a challenge though. It is nice to be getting my body back to normal. I do not miss my big belly or any of the things that come along with being pregnant. I am just so happy to have Jack here and every time I look at him, I think about how lucky we are. It was a good pregnancy and delivery and now we have another perfect little boy. Can't ask for more than that.

Here are some pictures from our last day in the hospital...