I’m sorry that it has been so long since I promised to update this blog – but this little newborn that we have takes up a lot of time, and when he’s sleeping, I/we have been exhausted, and I haven’t been in the frame of mind to be able to write very legibly!!! Obviously, a lot has transpired since my last blog, SO, I will just start from the beginning – this is going to be a long one!!!!!!
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
We had a little “scare” at the doctor’s office today. I went for my normal 36 week check-up, and, as a precautionary measure, the doctor sent me and BJ to the hospital to monitor the baby, my blood pressure, to take blood, and all that kind of fun stuff. I was so swollen from my toes all the way up to my thighs, that it was deemed as “excessive” swelling – not just normal pregnant woman swelling. My knees were 16 ½ inches on the left and 17 ½ on the right – rather large! They took 4 VILES of blood (which felt like 20). I don’t do blood well, but, I must say that the blood-taking experiences at Eastside were not THAT bad! I was admitted at 5 that afternoon. I can’t say that I handled it well – I cried when we left the doctor’s office (hormones of course!). Automatically, I was trying to blame myself – I hadn’t kept my feet up enough, or had done too much that day (that Target run I did on my way to the doctor wasn’t the best of ideas – but “it needed to be done”)… I was upset, but I really did have a peace that everything was just fine and we would be home in a few hours. My main concern was the baby – and it really calmed me when they put the fetal monitor on me and I could hear his heartbeat and him kicking. BJ was a rock. He kept telling me that we were fine, and Sam was just fine – he was continually moving and kicking, having the hic-ups and everything was JUST FINE. I finally asked him, once we were checked in and doing the waiting thing – “Are you nervous at all?” Because he was so calm about everything! He has since admitted that he was really scared and nervous, but knew that for my sake he had to keep it together! He is SO GOOD!!!!!!!
IRONICALLY, Cathy was working that day (she worked 7am – 7pm). She had not worked two weeks prior, and she wasn’t scheduled to work again for another two weeks! She “busted” us just like we busted them with their ultrasound!!! It was REALLY nice to have a friend who had the knowledge to be able to comfort us in what we were seeing – and a distraction to have one of your best friends to chat with. I got to hear how she was feeling with her pregnancy and how things were going with them!
BJ called Mama once we got checked in – actually, Mama called him because she knew we had a doctor’s appointment and we always call and tell her how things went, and it had been too long. Once BJ updated her, she started getting ready and packing her bag to come and take care of me! Daddy was finishing up washing the cars, and she had him hurrying to finish and get his shower so that they could leave ASAP!!!! I firmly believe that he would have had to chase Mama down (if he could catch her) if we had said that we needed them right away! We finally convinced her and Daddy to wait and see what the doctor said – b/c, by the time they could get here, we would be out and ready to eat and/or go to bed! We called and updated them regularly (at least every 30 minutes). Cathy and Jason visited for awhile once Cathy got off, and they brought BJ dinner – so the four hours we were there seemed to go by quickly for us at least.
My blood work came back slightly elevated, but nothing of enough concern to keep me at the hospital, and I was sent home with instructions to keep my feet up as much as possible – and that they only saw signs that Preeclampsia (or Toxemia) was a possibility – not the diagnosis. I was to make an appointment for Friday to have my levels checked again at the doctor’s office on Friday morning.
We left the hospital at 9 or 9:30 (I was starving), so we went home, I ate, and we went to bed. Mama and Daddy had already said they were coming (they had planned on going to Rome on Thursday anyway to take Marney to lunch). BJ put his foot down that I was NOT to go to work on Thursday, and I was really tired, so he got no argument from me – nor did Mama and Daddy about coming to take care of me!
Thursday, March 30, 2006
I stayed home all day with my feet up. Mama and Daddy got here about 10 am or so. I had showered by then – it was grand central station that morning for some reason. I woke up to call into work at 8:15, and, of course, they were concerned and wanted details, so I updated them, then I talked to Mama and Daddy as they were on the way, BJ called to check on me, and Lyndsey called as she was on the way home from work (my poor nurse friends with their 12-hour work days!!!!). God had just laid it on her to call and check on me!!! She’s such a great friend!
Mama and Daddy got here, my feet went up, and didn’t come down (except to go to the bathroom J). Daddy went onto Rome to take Marney to lunch (instructing Mama to not let me do ANYTHING), so Mama and I were here for the day – she did laundry, straightened up the nursery, arranged our medicine cabinet, and got a few more things ready for the baby. I relaxed and talked to her – we never turned on the T.V. or anything! Now, my mind was going 90 miles an hour with stuff I wanted to do – I’m not going to say Mama had it easy keeping me down, but she did it! One time that I got up to go to the bathroom, I noticed that my thighs were incredibly large, so we got the measuring tape out – my right thigh was 27 ½ inches – that’s much larger than my WAIST (when I’m not pregnant!!!!). Back down, feet up!
BJ and Daddy got home about the same time, Mama had cooked Chicken and Dumplings (one of my favorites), we ate and discussed. BJ had a meeting Friday morning that he really didn’t need to miss – and my appointment was only a lab visit – I wasn’t to see the doctor or anything. If he went with me, we would have to get up and be there by 8 am. Well, Mama and Daddy had packed an overnight bag (just in case they needed to take me to the doctor on Friday morning). SO, we decided they would just spend the night so I didn’t have to get up quite so early. This is the first time in the five years we have been married that they have ever spent the night with us!!!! We watched Survivor and went to bed.
Friday, March 31, 2006
I woke up at 2:30 am with “cramps” and thought I needed to go to the bathroom (which I did). Unfortunately, the “cramps” would subside then come back. I knew these were different than the false contractions I had felt over the past few weeks. I also thought my water may have broken, but then decided that it didn’t because it stopped – no continuous trickle (only to find our later that you REALLY DO know when it breaks J). Well, another pain hit, it was close to 3, so I woke BJ up… I went to the bed, put my hand on him and said, “BJ, I think I might be a little in labor.” I guess just like I was a “little” pregnant when I told him!!!! We sat in bed for a little while, BJ timed me, and we both decided this must really be it! BUT – we were both still VERY unsure of ourselves! We decided it would be good to wake Mama and Daddy up too, so BJ went over to their door (had to think of a good way to approach them without Mama throwing him over the rail on her way out the door J) and knocked. He first asked if they were awake (yeah, right – it’s 3:00 in the morning). Then, he asked if he and I could ask them a question. By that time Mama was at the door, and BJ felt it safe enough to tell them that we thought I was in labor. Mama and Daddy came into our room, and we continued to time my contractions. They weren’t TERRIBLE pains, but, I definitely had to quit talking when they came on!
We all jumped into gear (well, they did – I stayed in bed for awhile!). Everyone took showers and got ready. I then got in the shower and put on my makeup too. We sat on the couch downstairs while the coffee was making. The contractions were pretty steady (the doctor had said to go to the hospital when they were 5 minutes apart for an hour). BJ started getting antsy and said – we need to go NOW!!! I kept saying to let the coffee finish so they would have some for the road. We finally got loaded up and on the way to the hospital. Not much traffic at 5:00 in the morning, BUT (there’s always a story, isn’t there???? J) there was a train sitting in the middle of the road at the airport unloading cars… SO, we had to turn around (in the midst of a contraction and on a gravel drop-off road) and go another way to the hospital. The drive to the hospital was uneventful after that – no traffic or close calls or anything!!!
Notice I haven’t mentioned calling the doctor – yeah, I mentioned it to BJ, but we all seemed to forget that very important step!!!!
We got to the hospital at about 5:30 am. Mama went into the Emergency Room to ask if we needed to go in there or at the Women’s Center. She was told to go on down to the Women’s Center. Daddy dropped the three of us off at the front door, and we headed up to the third floor. We told the lady at the desk that I was in labor, she called to the back, then told us to go to Labor and Delivery room #9. We had to ask for directions, then we started the long walk to labor and delivery. Where the heck are the wheel chairs???? We passed the nurse’s station, and told them we were in labor – they said that our room was “right over there” so we made our way in. Two nurses followed us in, gave me a beautiful hospital gown, and told me to change into that. We told her we forgot to call the doctor. That confused her, and she had to ask if we had called the doctor a few times before she finally understood that they needed to call the doctor for us. I realize now that it was shift-change time, so they weren’t going to be our nurses for the duration. Mama helped me change into my glamorous hospital gown, and I laid down. The next shift came in, and they were much nicer and much more helpful! Lindsey and Lynn were GREAT – and so understanding and helpful!
They checked me, and I was already dilated 3-4 cm. I kept asking for my epidural, and it was another hour before the anesthesiologist made his way in. by then, the contractions were much more frequent and MUCH more painful. I was “breathing” through them, and I remember the nurses telling me to slow down so I wouldn’t hyperventilate!!! BJ was watching the contraction monitor, and I started “breathing” one time – he says to me, “Is your contraction starting?” I couldn’t muster a laugh, so all he got was a snide “Ya THINK?” from me! I really meant it in jest, because I think it was rather OBVIOUS that I was contracting!!! Once the anesthesiologist got there, they checked me, and the nurse said I was 8-9 cm (it just took an hour from the 3-4 cm check). She told the anesthesiologist I was 7-8 cm. He started to do the epidural (FINALLY – I was literally thinking that I couldn’t make it through another contraction!) and told me that if I felt a contraction that I COULD NOT move. Great – and, of course, just as he’s inserting the epidural needle and hose, I started a contraction. I was a good girl, though, and didn’t move – the thought of being paralyzed can make you be still through the worst of pains!!!
Mama and BJ were great through all the pain – they put cold rags on my head, talked to me, and comforted me. And once I got the epidural, I was in MUCH better spirits and capable of actually having a conversation with them and the nurses.
Then comes the pushing… I started pushing at 8:30 am – just three hours after arriving at the hospital. Push after push after push after push… and NOTHING!!! They felt the baby’s head, and said that he was face up instead of face down. So, they started me to pushing from side to side. That seemed to help, because the doctor came in a little later and said that he was now face down. Problem was, that he was not fitting or coming through my pelvic bone. At this point, I had been pushing for two hours. They put the mirror down there for me to see what was going on – I would push, see the top if his head, then it would suck right back up once I stopped pushing. I was so discouraged at that point. I would ask BJ and Mama if we were making any headway (no pun intended) – they were so positive, but I know they were just as discouraged. The doctor said that if we had not made any progress (or headway, as I like to put it) by 11:30 am, then we would have to do a C-section. That put us all into high gear. I pushed with more gusto than I knew I even had left in me – I was SO exhausted! At one point, Mama and I made eye-contact during a push, and she said “Push, Tammy, push!” Everyone was yelling “PUSH” through each push, but, for some reason, I looked at her and said, “I AM pushing!!!!!” We laugh about it now – and I know she was just trying to get me to push a little harder, but I guess I felt I had to say something back to that!!! At another point during a push, the stupid blood pressure cuff puffed up and didn’t go back down. I was pushing, and realized that my arm was numb and my hand was blue and my veins were bulging out of my arm. As I was pushing, I ripped the cuff off of my arm. That seemed to happen a few times – I HATED that blood pressure cuff in case you can’t tell!!!!
Finally, we saw the head, and it actually stayed where we could see it! They called Doctor Campbell into assess me, and she stayed because it was her turn to get me to push and catch the baby! It was so crazy to see Sam’s little (well, it seems little now – not so much when it was coming out J) head come out, to give those couple of extra pushes for the rest of the head and his shoulders, and see our little baby enter into the world. They immediately put him on my chest – I was so completely exhausted that I couldn’t even get my hands up to hold him. Doctor Campbell looked at the nurses and asked what the time of birth was… there seemed to be a silence, and I answered “10 till 12” – she looked at me funny, then looked back at the nurses – one of them answered “11:49 am” – had to be difficult!!!! J
It was very emotional – BJ was kissing me, and Mama was kissing me – we were all touching Sam, we were all crying – I couldn’t even get tears out, but it was a WONDERFUL moment. Our little family had grown by one more member! Doctor Campbell asked BJ if he wanted to cut the cord, he went back there and got the scissors, then said that he was shaking and crying too much to be able to cut it (a contact had fallen out in his waive of emotion!)… so, thank goodness, they asked Mama if she wanted to cut it. She was able to cut the cord! That was really cool – if BJ couldn’t, I’m glad that she did!
I didn’t need any stitches or anything, so they cleaned me up, and I immediately was telling them to call Daddy and tell him to come back and see Sam. Bo had come and sat with Daddy in the waiting room, but had to leave to make a flight to Arkansas, so I never got to see him that morning! Daddy came in, and it surprised me so much, but he was crying too – he came over to me and kissed me, then went and looked at little Sam. They were working on him and gave him his first bath. Somewhere in there, BJ made a few phone calls – his dad, Bo, and Melissa. Melissa was working at the Bell South Classic over at Sugarloaf – she told her boss that her best friend had a baby and she needed to go. She left immediately and came over – they had just finished Sam’s bath, and we were still in the delivery room. She came in and got to see us all and Sam – our first visitor – Aunt Melissa! She was so sweet – what a wonderful friend she is!!!
Once they gave me some Loritab and Lotramin (thank goodness for pain killers J), I was then moved to Mother-Baby, where we were able to enjoy Sam and family and friends. I was tired, but it was great to watch everyone with our new baby! I was still being monitored with the blood pressure cuff – I HATE that thing! On top of the swelling I had when I came in, my face was bulging from all the pushing – I was NOT a pretty site!!!!
Jason and Cathy stopped by to visit – she’s pregnant and due in October. She held Sam for awhile, and the four of us got to talk and hang out for a good while – they are such great friends – I can’t wait for our little boys to hang out and play together! Dad2 and Inny came by to see their new grandson, and we all had a great visit.
Bo came back to visit with Jessica – his girlfriend. It was so cute to watch Bo hold Sam. He would only move his eyes and nothing else! You could tell that he was proud! Jessica held him, and said that she had felt Sam poo a while back. Bo jumped all over her and asked her (kiddingly but seriously), “Do you sit around in your poop?” He didn’t like his nephew sitting in his poo – wasn’t going to change diapers, but didn’t want him dirty!!!!!
BJ obviously stayed at the hospital with me and Sam. Our first night with our new baby. It wasn’t bad at all. We got up and fed him – BJ helped and changed diapers. We got a fair amount of sleep – we were so exhausted that you couldn’t have stopped us from sleeping if you had wanted to!!!
Saturday, April 1, 2006
BJ’s mom and Wally drove down from Kentucky Friday afternoon, so they got a hotel room when they got in (at about 2 am), then came to the hospital first thing Saturday morning (like 8:30 am). They, of course, thought Sam was adorable, although Linda said that BJ was a much cuter baby! Mama and Daddy called around 9 am and got our breakfast order, then they came back over too. I had wanted a shower – I felt so greasy – and was going to go ahead and shower (with BJ’s help) when his mom and Wally came in, so, needless to say, that got put on the backburner. Pictures were to be taken nonetheless!!!!!
Dr. Johnson came into our room just after Mama and Daddy got there and said they were moving me back to Labor and Delivery (which is the ICU for Mother Baby) in order to put me on an IV of Magnesium for 24 hours. This, she said, was not a “soft call” as the admitting me on Wednesday for observation was – she wanted to have my blood drawn regularly and my blood pressure monitored (YAY! The stupid cuff again!). I officially had Preeclampsia, and, without the magnesium, I ran a higher risk of seizures. I asked if I could shower before we went over there and I got hooked up to an IV – and she said that was fine – but the sooner I got the IV started the better. BJ’s mom and Wally left about 45 minutes later so that Mama could help me with my shower. That was the best shower ever – thank you Kimberly for the lufah and body wash.
So, off we go back to Labor and Delivery – this time they pushed me in my bed down the hall to our new room. When the nurse started the IV, they pushed the first bag in 20 minutes. That’s a HUGE amount of fluid in a short amount of time. It was COLD in my veins, and it felt like my veins were bulging out of my arm– it hurt really bad – ALMOST as bad as the contractions before I got the epidural!!! I got more Loritab and some high power Lotramin – then I had an emotional meltdown. I/We had been through so much, and we were supposed to be healing and feeling better – not worse – and enjoying little Sam!!!! The magnesium made me feel SO out-of-it, and the nurse told me that I would feel like a constant hot flash for 24 hours. Not-so-much for me, but my mouth DID feel really hot. BJ would give me ice water, and I swear it was room temperature!
The nurses weren’t allowing too many visitors, but BJ’s mom and Wally came back (they had driven so far that there was no way we were telling them not to come back!!!), Bruce and Rhonda Hardy stopped by for awhile, Juliet and Martha from the bank, and Bo came back too. Brian and Mindy Gunter came by just after I had had a large group in the room, so BJ had to go and talk to them, and they didn’t get to come in. Numerous people called to say they were coming by – but BJ just explained what was going on and asked them to come visit once we were home. That really sucked to have to ask people to leave and/or not come! I love having my friends and family around me – especially at times like that – it was really hard!
I wasn’t allowed to breastfeed Sam while on the IV, so I had to pump – which was AWEFUL too, and someone else fed Sam formula – usually BJ or Mama! So, I was glad that she and Daddy and BJ all got a chance to feed him too, but the pumping was not fun. First of all, all I had was colostrum, which is really thick milk and therefore hard to get any out; and second, I was so out of it that I just wanted to sleep or sit in bed and not move. I/We did it, though!
That night was terrible. Not at all because of Sam – he was an angel again, but BJ would have to feed him, change him, then pump me. I had to have help to do everything – I wasn’t steady on my feet, and I was hooked up to a million things so the nurses would have to come unhook me and help me to the bathroom. One time, we had gone through the feed, change, pump stuff, then all you-know-what broke loose. The IV bag alarm started going off because it needed changing. My blood pressure cuff had yet another issue, and that alarm started going off – THEN the low battery alarm on the IV machine started going off. They were NOT silent alarms – they were ear-piercing!!!!!!! Sam started crying – he’s not deaf – my ears were ringing and I was on my last nerve. We rang the nurses a few times – it was shift change time, and no one wanted to deal with it. Someone came in and turned one alarm DOWN – not off – are you KIDDING????? Another nurse came it, and I told her that I had to go to the bathroom. She helped me stand up out of bed, then looked at me and said that she wasn’t my nurse and she would send someone else to help… I felt like yelling! I couldn’t believe it! BJ was in the midst of calming Sam, so he really didn’t realize what was going on. I, yet again, ripped off the blood pressure cuff and started toward the bathroom. BJ looked up and said something to me about waiting for a nurse, and I said – “I’ve GOT TO GO, and they’re obviously too busy to help me!!!!” I was so upset! We made it through all that – the next shift came in and fixed all the alarms and got us situated again… whew – it was a rough night!!!!
I must give props to all the nurses, though – they were all AWESOME except for that experience!!!!!!
Sunday, April 2, 2006
BJ’s mom and Wally came back at 8:30 on Sunday morning – we had only gotten to sleep MAYBE an hour or two since our “issues” so, needless to say, we were extremely worn out! Mama called, and BJ asked them to hurry on up, because we had had a rough night. They were there by 9 or so. Thank goodness – I just needed my mommy and daddy!!!!! BJ’s mom and Wally didn’t stay long – they had to drive back to Kentucky that afternoon.
My 24 hours of IV’s were over just after noon – thank goodness! They kept the stupid blood pressure cuff on me, though! The doctor came in and said that my blood work looked a lot better, and they just wanted to monitor my blood pressure for a little longer. They then moved me back to Mother Baby to wait for my blood pressure to get better. I had one last reading at 6 pm, and it was good, so they released me and Sam from the hospital. We were out of there by 7 pm.
Daddy drove us home in the Escalade. I cried – after all we had been through, we were finally headed home! I rode in the front, and Mama and BJ rode in the back with Sam. It was a weird feeling – it felt like everyone was trying to run over us and hit us!!!!! Here we are headed gine - the striped shirt in front of Sam is me!
When we got home, Stormie was NOT interested in me or Sam. Rocky, however, was extremely interested!!! Someone put Stormie in my lap so I could pet her and love on her. She got better, but was still stand-offish!
Whoa… now we are home, and we have a newborn with us… what do we do now???
