The wait is over... Collier is here!

Two weeks ago, on Thursday the 21st, Jamie, Noah and I ate lunch at Dish, then Noah and I went home so he could nap. Meanwhile, I laid down for a little while and dozed off for maybe 30 minutes. Once he woke up, we met my mom at the mall. I left the house without really looking in the mirror or "freshing up" since I'd only laid down for a little bit. Once we got to the mall, I went to the restroom and realized I looked pretty puffy in the face (I had not really had much swelling up until this point). I mentioned to mom how rough I looked and she commented that I was alot more swollen than I had been the night before, when my whole family had carved pumpkins together at my parent's house. She suggested that we go to a pharmacy and check my blood pressure. We left immediately and went to the nearest pharmacy where we discovered my blood pressure was elevated. I called my doctor's office to see what they thought and they told me to immediately go to the hospital to be monitored. Mom took Noah and Jamie and I headed to Helen Keller, where they admitted me. After about 2 hours, it came down to normal so Dr. Keith discharged me but wanted me to come in to his office the following morning for a re-check. I had a small feeling that if my bp was back up, I would be having a baby that following day. Friday morning, Jamie took Noah to school and I went to my appointment. On the way there, I stopped at CVS to see what my blood pressure was and it was even higher than the previous day so I was prepared that I would probably be having Collier that day. At the doctor's office it was even higher, 154/94 and I had traces of protein in my urine. They had me lie on my left side then they rechecked it; it came down some, but not much. Dr. Keith checked me and I was having mild contractions and dilated to 2 cm. He told me that he felt like I was in the beginning stages of preeclampsia and he didn't want to let it go over the weekend. I was far enough along in the pregnancy (38 weeks, 3 days) that he felt like Collier would be fine and if we waited, there was a chance I could get really sick, really quick. He told me to go to Helen Keller Hospital immediately and the C-section would be scheduled for later that afternoon. YIKES! I was prepared for this but nervous doesn't even describe the feeling! Noah was delivered at 38 weeks 1 day so I was so afraid that Collier's lungs wouldn't be ready, just as Noah's hadn't been. I asked him what he thought regarding Collier's lung development and he said that majority of the time, if there is some sort of problem, (such as preeclampsia, etc) the baby's development speeds up in preparation for delivery. I trusted Dr. Keith and he reassured me that he felt everything would be okay.

Since I was already in Sheffield at his office (which adjoins to Helen Keller Hospital) it didn't make sense for me to go home to finish packing my stuff. I called Jamie and gave him a list of the remaining items I needed added to my bag, along with all of Collier's things. I got to the hospital around noon and they got the ball rolling quickly. My mom was already there waiting for me in the room and shortly after that, Jamie, Noah and my dad arrived. The nurse attempted to get my IV started, but after blowing TWO veins, they had someone else do it,thank goodness, because the IV's HURT. Finally, the other nurse got my IV in. Because I had eaten breakfast and had something to drink right before my doctor's appointment, they had to hold off on the C-section until 3:30 - 4ish. We had a crew of people waiting in the room with us, which helped to keep me from being nervous and was a good distraction. Finally about 3:30, Dr. Keith came in my room and said we were about to get started. Shortly after that, the nurses came and got me and off we went to the OR.

First of all, let me say this was a completely different experience than my first C-section because that time, I had already been given pain meds and an epidural before they took me to the OR, so needless to say, I was loopy. This time, I walked myself into the OR and was completely aware as they gave me the spinal. My nerves had the best of me because I was shaking uncontrollably! Because of my scoliosis, they had a difficult time getting the spinal to take and at one point told me that he might have to put me under completely because I still had feeling in my lower half. Finally, I went numb and it was the WEIRDEST feeling because my legs were so HEAVY... at one point, I even had a heavy feeling in my chest making it hard to breathe, which made me a little panicky. While this was going on, Jamie had to wait in another room. After 30 minutes of prepping, Jamie was allowing in the OR and the c-section began. I kept closing my eyes and just praying for my baby to be okay. Finally at 4:16pm on Friday 10/22/10, I heard the most precious sounds, our baby's first cry! I immediately began asking if he was okay and thankfully, I was told he was perfect and healthy. Knowing what I did with Noah, I asked the pediatrician what his APGARS were and they were 9 / 9... as good as they could be which was music to my ears! :) My eyes immediately filled with tears and I just thanked the Lord over and over. Jamie told me that he looked JUST like Noah did as a newborn, which he did and still does. He weighed 8lbs 8oz and was 20 3/4" long. The nurse brought him over for me to see him before they went off to the nursery. Jamie went with Collier while Dr. Keith stitched me back up. Around 5:00pm, I was moved into Recovery where I spent the next hour and then at 6pm, I was moved into my room and told that Collier had already been bathed and was ready to come into the room with us.

All of our family joined us to meet our sweet baby boy. Noah, however, was exhausted from the long day and having had no nap, he wasn't the happiest camper. He also did not like his momma being in the hospital bed. My parents hung around for a little while but took him home so he could go to sleep and we spent the evening loving on our little guy.

Jamie stayed with me in the hospital and by the following morning (Saturday) I was up and slowly moving around. It was so much easier of a recovery than my previous c-section. That evening, we decided it would be best for Jamie to go spend some time with Noah and watch football with him at my parents house. My mom, aunt, and sister came and hung out with me, watching football in my hospital room, until Jamie returned that evening after Noah went to bed. Late that night, while I was asleep, my IV was knocked lose and came out of the vein, but was still under the skin, pumping pain medicine into my arm. I woke up with this huge swollen and sore spot on my arm. The nurse removed my IV and started yet another one in the other arm (that makes the 4th place where they tried IV's.) My arm is STILL bruised from where the IV came lose. The rest of my stay was thankfully, uneventful. We were discharged late Monday afternoon and couldn't be happier to get both of our boys home!

Life with 2 kids has been interesting (and tiring) but I've also had Jamie's help these past 2 weeks. He goes back to work Monday and I'm DREADING it. The hardest part has been that Collier wants to nurse every 2 hours so I'm not getting much sleep at night and I feel like ALL I do is feed him and change him and turn around and do it all over again. However, I couldn't be happier or more in love with both of my boys. It took Noah the first week to adjust to sharing our attention but he's doing much better. At first, he would cry every time Collier cried but now it doesn't seem to phase him. One of the hardest things has been that I've been unable to pick Noah up. Jamie has been such a HUGE help and we've really made a good team. We've even successfully ventured out of the house several times. As much as I wish Jamie had more time off, I'm also curious to see how it goes with just me and the boys as we settle into our routine. Jamie has been taking Noah to and from his therapy each day, however, we are taking next week off to ease me into things. The thought of trying to get both boys dressed, feed and out the door all by 9AM stresses me out just a bit. Hopefully, this next week will go smoothly and we'll get into a routine easily. I'm also hoping and PRAYING that Collier will start going a little longer between his feedings ...I'll keep ya'll posted!