Saturday, July 23, 2016

Teddy 1 month

At one month Teddy is sweet, calm and alert. He is a good sleeper, sleeping in two 5 hour stretches most nights. He has been a good eater from day one and is continuing to nurse well, making my job easier! He tolerates tummy time but it's definitely not his favorite. He never really cries but makes a funny squaking noise to let us know he's awake and wants to be held. He looooves to be swaddled and rocked. He will be passed out in your arms but as soon as you lay him in his crib, his eyes pop WIDE open. He makes the funniest growling sound when he's nursing and really hungry, prompting a very fitting nick name "bear cub". He is liking bath time more and more and makes me want to buy every hooded animal towel in the world.  He is growing out of the sleepy newborn phase and is starting to notice things around him like our faces and picture books we read to him. 
Basically he's the best baby ever ;) 

                                        
Happy 1 month Teddy! Can't imagine life without you!



Wednesday, July 20, 2016

My recovery

As Blake was doing skin to skin with Teddy in the OR, the doctors noticed my creatinine levels were high so I was taken back to labor and delivery rather than the normal recovery room.

Blake and I were busy gushing over Teddy so I didn't really notice or care when a bunch of doctors came in explaining that I needed a magnesium drip to help my blood levels. Honestly I was in such as happy new baby bubble and was on strong pain meds from surgery that I felt great! Teddy was a champ at breastfeeding thank heavens and fed easily right away. 

The doctors explained to Blake and my mom that my blood levels were off and my kidneys weren't working properly. I wasn't producing any urine so they were concerned. I was still so preoccupied with Teddy that I didn't really pay any attention to what they were saying. And I still felt great being on the pain meds so I wasn't too concerned. 

We had a one on one nurse and I was being checked about every hour by different doctors to figure out what was going on. They were perplexed about why my body was reacting this way. Early Thursday morning my OB discovered that I had developed a hematoma (big blood clot) on top of my bladder and uterus. The hematoma was affecting my kidney function and making my blood levels crazy. A few hours later the doctors decided to stop the magnesium drip and gave me a blood transfusion to help with my low hematocrit and hemoglobin from surgery and blood clot. I still wasn't too concerned at this point but turns out a blood transfusion is kind of a big deal! 

By Thursday night I still wasn't able to get up or walk around so I had been in bed and on a liquid diet for almost three days at this point. My digestive system was essentially frozen from not moving or eating and that's when the pain began. The c-section pain meds had also worn off at this point so I was really hurting. I had great nurses and Blake and my mom did their best to take care of me but it was a really rough time from Thursday to Saturday. I had a bunch of IVs and wires hooked up to me so breastfeeding was difficult but Teddy handled it like a champ. He was such a good, calm baby which was a huge blessing at this point. Sadly he failed his blood sugar level test so he had to have his heel pricked every 3 hours from Wednesday to Saturday (when he finally passed). He also had to be supplemented with formula and I was supposed to pump too. Trying to breastfeed every 3 hours then pump all while getting blood work and all sorts of checks done every hour was exhausting. I felt very emotionally overwhelmed so thankfully Blake took great care of Teddy and my mom took great care of me. We were all a good team during a hard couple of days. My mom never left my side in the hospital and slept on the crappy chair couch every night getting no sleep. She didn't leave the hospital for 3 days to shower/change clothes because she was so worried about me. She was such a life saver during my recovery, we owe her big time! Thank you mom! I love you!
We figured out the right pain medication and I was finally able to sit up and walk a few steps on Friday night which helped a lot. Holy cow those first few steps were so difficult. I swore I would never walk normally again! Woooow! We got moved up to the normal recovery floor which was nice. I had my first bite of solid food on Saturday morning and that nasty hospital grilled cheese sandwich tasted sooooo good :)

Thursday to Saturday are somewhat of a blur. I remember peaceful happy moments of snuggling Teddy and knowing that although this was a much different and more difficult recovery than I imagined, he really was worth it all. There were some really great moments sprinkled in through those rough days.


Teddy finally passed his blood sugar level test Saturday morning and I have never been so happy! I also got my catheter out and was able to move around a little bit more. I really started to feel better and felt a little more like myself. Molly, Allie and Ryan came to visit and it was so fun to have some visitors and show off Teddy!

This next part is so sad it's funny. We got a call to our hospital room that someone had hit our car in the hospital parking lot. Blake went down to go check it out and someone had backed into us and completely ripped off our rear bumper! It was crazy! Blake was able to put the bumper in the back seat and drive the car home. He was switching out the car seat to our other car in our apt complex parking lot when he noticed someone had backed into our other car too! Two cars getting hit in two different parking lots on the same day!?!? Are you kidding?  Thankfully no one was hurt and the lady who ripped off our bumper left her info.

We finally got discharged Sunday afternoon to head home. I was little nervous about recovery at home because I wasn't able to move around well yet at all. It took me about 5 minutes to walk up the 4 steps into our apartment. Thankfully Jessie and Steve brought us dinner that night so Teddy could meet his bestie Cohen.
 
My hematoma is slowly reabsorbing and I feel better and better every day. Blake has been able to help with doctor appointments for me and Teddy and has been a life saver. It's been a whirlwind month but little Teddy Bear has been worth it all! He is such a sweet, calm, happy baby. In between recovery, we've also had a lot of fun with family visiting. I feel good now and we are getting into a good routine with lots of snuggles, tummy time, walks, baths, books, singing and thankfully some napping thrown in as well.





Cheers to one month Teddy!

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Teddy pictures

My good friend Jessie took these incredible photos of Teddy when he was just one week old. He has already changed from that fresh newborn look. Time slow down!!!
A million thanks Jessie- we treasure these pictures!

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Teddy's Birth Story

Where to begin with such a monumental day?!

It was looking more and more likely that little Teddy Bear was going to come late (and be very big!) so we rebooked my mom's flights to come out a couple of days later and stay a few more days too. Man did that turn out to be a life saver!

My mom flew in the night of Teddy's due date, June 17. We hit up Pupatella and Dairy Godmother and talked nonstop about this little guy's eminent arrival. I had a midwife appointment earlier that day and had set an induction date for Tuesday June 21 at 8 am. But I was (overly) optimistic I would go into labor on my own that weekend *eyeroll*

We spent the weekend eating my mom's delicious food and relaxing. We celebrated our 4 year anniversary on Sunday June 19 and I went to church very large and in charge. Seeing as it was Father's Day, I really really hoped to go into labor that day and officially make Blake a dad. No such luck. So mom and I spent one great last day of freedom on Monday getting manicures and pedicures with an epic Target run thrown in for good measure. Monday night we had the Leavitts and Molly over to watch the Bachelorette. It didn't seem real that we would have a baby the next time we saw them!

Tuesday morning we all woke up bright and early. I had the same feeling you get right before a big exam- lots of nerves and butterflies. Blake and my mom were really reassuring and positive.

We got through all the paperwork and were admitted into Labor and Delivery at Alexandria Inova Hospital. We had an awesome nurse Anne who got things rolling. I was still only dilated to a 1 so I was given cervadil. We knew it would be at least 12 hours until anything happened so we just hung out and relaxed in our room during a big summer storm. I walked around the halls a little and slept on and off throughout the day. I had contractions the whole time, some 30-60 seconds apart. Around 6:00 pm I was given nubain for the pain. It felt awesome and put me right to sleep :) Apparently I talked a little in my sleep and told Blake, "I think Target should sponsor us."
Blake headed home to sleep for a few hours since we knew nothing would happen for a while....still! A new midwife came on shift, Elise, and a new nurse, Dani. I loved both of them and really wanted to have the baby during their shifts. I finally got an epidural around 11pm after about 10 hours of contractions. As soon as I laid back down after getting the shot, I threw up all over my mom. Like allllll over. It was so bad and I felt terrible. But my mom didn't even bat an eye and just changed into some clean scrubs. #saintstatus

I slept until 1:00 am and then Elise broke my water and cranked up the pitocin to a 12 to really get things going. I was finally dilated to a 4 by 5:00 am I was thrilled. But sadly at 10:30 am I was still only at a 4 so they turned off the pitocin to see what my body would do on its own. I also got turbutaline and oxygen. We tried to do some internal monitoring to see how strong my contractions were but it made the baby's heart rate go up so they immediately took the monitor out. The new midwife Shannon turned the pitocin back on. At this point I had been in labor for 24 hours, had worked with 3 different midwifes and nurses, and was just READY to have this baby!  Shannon told me that when they checked me later in the afternoon I needed to be dilated past a 4 or else we would need to consider a C-section. I was really disappointed to hear this but tried to stay hopeful that I would dilate more in the next few hours. Blake and my mom were great cheerleaders and stayed really positive the whole time, even when I got discouraged and tired.

When Shannon came to check me at 3 pm, I was unfortunately still only dilated to a 4 and was starting to get swollen which is a bad sign. When I checked into the hospital Tuesday morning, my blood pressure was a little high and I was pretty swollen so the midwives worried that I had developed preeclampsia during the last few days of pregnancy and labor.

Shannon told me we had no other choice but to do a c-section. My body had been in labor for almost 30 hours and this baby was simply too big to fit. My body was starting to shut down and couldn't deliver this baby on its own. At first I was really sad and scared about a C-section but Blake reassured me that everything would be okay and we just wanted our baby here safe and sound no matter the method. In a rush, they prepped me for the C-section. Blake changed into a hospital gown to do skin to skin and we left my mom in the recovery room. They wheeled me down the hall to surgery and I couldn't believe the moment was actually here!

The C-section went great and thankfully I didn't feel any pain. Blake held my hand the whole time while we anxiously waited to see our baby. Finally the doctor brought around this big, beautiful, alert baby boy with a head full of dark hair! Blake and I watched in awe as he got whisked to the warmer to be suctioned and cleaned up. HE WAS HERE! It was such a surreal beautiful moment. We both got emotional and Blake just kept brushing my hair telling me, "you did it!", "he's here!" "he's perfect", "I'm so proud of you!" Teddy was born at 4:10 pm, weighing 9 lb 2 oz and 22 inches long. He was perfect.



Blake got to do skin to skin in the operating room for a few minutes and it was really special to watch him hold our baby for the first time. As we prepared to wheel back to the recovery room, they offered to let me hold him, but I was still shaky from the medicine so they placed Teddy in between my legs and took us back down the hall.

My mom held him right away and we all just gushed over him for the next few hours. He was so alert right from the beginning. I was so happy that he had a head full of dark hair, it was just adorable. We took pictures and called/texted family and friends to share the news. We were thrilled that our Teddy bear was here!

It's hard to describe the feeling of seeing and holding your child for the first time. After dreaming about, worrying over, praying for and loving your baby for 9 months to finally see him in person was simply incredible. Truly the best day ever!


Next up, recovery! That was a doozy... 


 
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