I'm sorry it has taken me soo long to finally post! Preston James is one week old today!!! :) He was born July 22, 2008 at 7:55am weighing 6 lbs 15 ounces and 18 1/2 inches long. I want to share with you the birth story and our hospital stay experience. If you're not into all that just skip the following novel and enjoy the pictures!!! :) We are all at home and doing well! Thank you to everyone for the written messages, phone calls, visits, and prayers and thoughts about us. We are soo blessed! Now here's the story (warning: it is *long*!):
David and I arrived at the hospital at 6:00am on July 22, 2008 to be admitted for the c-section. The nurses took me to L&D Triage and had me change into a hospital gown and sit on the stretcher and wait for the nurses to get everything going. They started my IV and gave me a liter of fluids and a dose of antibiotics. They also put SCDs (sequential compression devices) on my legs. These are those cuff things that pump air in to help circulation and decrease the risk of clots while in surgery. My doctor came by to see me and gave me the run down of everything and gave me a chance to ask any last minute questions. The anesthesiologist came in next and explained to us what to expect and how the spinal worked. David was given scrubs to change into along with a mask and foot covers. Finally, once all the paperwork was done and everyone was ready they wheeled me across the hall to the operating room.
Once in the OR, I moved over from the stretcher to the operating table and the anesthesiologist had me sit up and he administered the spinal. It was way better than I thought it would be! All I felt was a small needle prick and then the site was numb and he administered the meds. I slowly felt the meds take effect and I could feel touch sensation, but the pain was completely blocked. A nurse put in my foley catheter once I was numb. I was given an oxygen mask and my arms were stretched out on either side of me, but not tied down or anything. David was then allowed to enter the OR once the spinal was done. My doctor prepped my abdomen with betadine and a sterile drape was placed over me and pinned right in front of my face. My doctor then asked me if I could feel him touching my stomach. It felt like someone was lightly touching my stomach, but the anesthesiologist said my doc was pinching me *really* hard. So we were ready!
The c-section was going on and everyone kept me updated and calm the entire time. David was sitting by my head and got to see everything. Once my doctor got to Preston I heard him say "Well, God is really watching out for you...He works in mysterious ways..." When I asked why, he said that the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck (loosely) 3 times! He said if we wouldn't have had to do a c-section it would have ended up an emergency c-section or even a tragic cord injury. I just had this feeling of relief wash over me and knew how blessed we are! Anyway, Preston came out at 7:55am and didn't start crying until they suctioned him out, but he was perfectly beautiful and healthy and scored 9/9 on his Apgars. :) When they got him out they showed Preston to me and the first thing I said was, "Oh, he's so little!" I had a tear or two trickle down my face. :) David got to cut the cord and I kept looking behind me to see him. David kept coming back and forth telling me how perfect Preston was and how well he was doing and how well I was doing. As for me, my doctor decided to put in an intrauterine balloon to help keep pressure in my uterus because I had some blood vessels that were oozing a little. I didn't have any more blood loss than a normal c-section despite my low placenta placement. Everything really went as well as it could! When they were closing I did have some bad shoulder pain which I was told was normal and was given some Fentanyl which made me a bit loopy! But it helped. Also, when they were closing around my GI tract I got sick and had to throw up! That was not fun, but it passed quickly once they were done. So finally they were done and they handed me Preston and wheeled me into the recovery room.
In the recovery room I was given a Morphine PCA (where I could press the button for pain meds) and all it really did was make me very loopy and sleepy but it really didn't take the pain away. My doctor was planning to keep the intrauterine balloon in for 24 hours, but it was causing a lot of pain and I wasn't really having much drainage, so he took it out a couple of hours after the c-section in the recovery room. I had many visitors come and go, but honestly I don't remember everything clearly because of the meds! I had blood drawn to check my blood levels (H&H) to make sure I wasn't dropping too low. My levels were good enough to finally get me transferred to a room around 2:00pm. Again, once I got to the room I don't remember everything clearly, but I know I had more visitors and I continued to attempt to breastfeed Preston as they brought him to me. David was just wonderful, taking on his new daddy duties of diaper changing, gushing over his new son, and providing moral support for me.
The first night passed with a lot of fuzziness and finally the morning came. On Wednesday morning the nurse was able to take out the foley catheter, took off the SCDs, discontinued the Morphine PCA, and started me on Lortab. Once the Lortab kicked in, I finally had more relief from the pain! I was able to get up and start moving slowly, and it wasn't too terrible. My doctor said if things continued to go well that I could probably go home Thursday. The day went on and the lactation nurse really helped me get the hang of breastfeeding. Preston continued to do great! I even got my IV taken out. It was a pretty good day 2. That evening, right before shift change, I was able to take a shower and walk around the room a bit. I just sat back in bed and the new shift came on the take my blood pressure and it was elevated a bit. I just regarded it to all the activity and the fact that it was time for more pain medicine. They continued to check my blood pressure and as the evening went on, it didn't really go back down. So, they called the on call doctor and got orders to draw labs and get a UA from me via straight cath (which was *not* fun, by the way!). The lab results came back and turns out my platelets dropped way low from where they were the day before and I also had slightly elevated liver enzymes. My blood pressure continued to stay up a bit throughout the night. Repeat labs were done in the morning and my levels all improved a little bit. My doctor came to see me and said I had a mild case of HELLP syndrome. Another blessing in disguise is if I would have waited another week to have Preston, I could have gotten very sick as HELLP syndrome can be life threatening when severe. Needless to say I wasn't going home that day.
So the rest of the day Thursday I was put on restrictions for bathroom privileges only. They also had to start a new IV in case they needed to give blood products or fluids. :( As for Preston, he continued to do great nursing and being the best baby ever. :) Thursday night David's mom came to stay with us in the hospital to help since I could only get out of bed to go to the bathroom and David had to work 7a-7p Friday. He needed good sleep. The night went on and my blood pressure continued to be a bit elevated, but not too terrible.
Friday came and more morning labs were done which continued to show improvement. My doctor saw me and said he wanted to do one more set of labs Saturday morning, and if all was well, we would be going home Saturday! The day went by well. I was able to get up and start walking again and got to shower and everything. David's mom was just wonderful and I was soo glad to have her there! I had many visitors from the unit I work on (I delivered at the hospital I work at) and it was nice to see them. :) I made sure to get some rest inbetween a little bit of activity. Things went well. David's mom stayed with us again on Friday night at the hospital because David was so exhausted and had to work again Saturday night 7p-7a. We had a good night overall, but Preston did start to look little jaundiced.
Saturday morning the on call doctors came by to see me and Preston and said we could go home! Yay!!! :) Preston's bilirubin levels were a little elevated, but not too bad. The pediatrician wanted us to come back Sunday morning to check his levels and progress again. Preston's lowest weight he got to was 6 lbs 6 ounces, but was up to 6 lbs 7 ounces by Saturday morning. We supplemented Preston with tiny bits of formula after nursing via syringe because my milk hadn't come in. It started coming in Saturday morning though. We got everything together, I had my staples removed, and received discharge instructions by about 12:30pm. We finally got home at 1:00pm and were greeted by lots of family members to welcome us home! Family stayed for only a little bit, and then they went home so we could rest. My mom stayed with us and is here to help and visit for a week! I'm soo glad! It's awesome to have mothers who love us and help us soo much. We are really blessed. If you've made it this far, congrats! :) I have more to post later, but I wanted to finally write the birth story. Enjoy the pictures! :)
David and I arrived at the hospital at 6:00am on July 22, 2008 to be admitted for the c-section. The nurses took me to L&D Triage and had me change into a hospital gown and sit on the stretcher and wait for the nurses to get everything going. They started my IV and gave me a liter of fluids and a dose of antibiotics. They also put SCDs (sequential compression devices) on my legs. These are those cuff things that pump air in to help circulation and decrease the risk of clots while in surgery. My doctor came by to see me and gave me the run down of everything and gave me a chance to ask any last minute questions. The anesthesiologist came in next and explained to us what to expect and how the spinal worked. David was given scrubs to change into along with a mask and foot covers. Finally, once all the paperwork was done and everyone was ready they wheeled me across the hall to the operating room.
Once in the OR, I moved over from the stretcher to the operating table and the anesthesiologist had me sit up and he administered the spinal. It was way better than I thought it would be! All I felt was a small needle prick and then the site was numb and he administered the meds. I slowly felt the meds take effect and I could feel touch sensation, but the pain was completely blocked. A nurse put in my foley catheter once I was numb. I was given an oxygen mask and my arms were stretched out on either side of me, but not tied down or anything. David was then allowed to enter the OR once the spinal was done. My doctor prepped my abdomen with betadine and a sterile drape was placed over me and pinned right in front of my face. My doctor then asked me if I could feel him touching my stomach. It felt like someone was lightly touching my stomach, but the anesthesiologist said my doc was pinching me *really* hard. So we were ready!
The c-section was going on and everyone kept me updated and calm the entire time. David was sitting by my head and got to see everything. Once my doctor got to Preston I heard him say "Well, God is really watching out for you...He works in mysterious ways..." When I asked why, he said that the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck (loosely) 3 times! He said if we wouldn't have had to do a c-section it would have ended up an emergency c-section or even a tragic cord injury. I just had this feeling of relief wash over me and knew how blessed we are! Anyway, Preston came out at 7:55am and didn't start crying until they suctioned him out, but he was perfectly beautiful and healthy and scored 9/9 on his Apgars. :) When they got him out they showed Preston to me and the first thing I said was, "Oh, he's so little!" I had a tear or two trickle down my face. :) David got to cut the cord and I kept looking behind me to see him. David kept coming back and forth telling me how perfect Preston was and how well he was doing and how well I was doing. As for me, my doctor decided to put in an intrauterine balloon to help keep pressure in my uterus because I had some blood vessels that were oozing a little. I didn't have any more blood loss than a normal c-section despite my low placenta placement. Everything really went as well as it could! When they were closing I did have some bad shoulder pain which I was told was normal and was given some Fentanyl which made me a bit loopy! But it helped. Also, when they were closing around my GI tract I got sick and had to throw up! That was not fun, but it passed quickly once they were done. So finally they were done and they handed me Preston and wheeled me into the recovery room.
In the recovery room I was given a Morphine PCA (where I could press the button for pain meds) and all it really did was make me very loopy and sleepy but it really didn't take the pain away. My doctor was planning to keep the intrauterine balloon in for 24 hours, but it was causing a lot of pain and I wasn't really having much drainage, so he took it out a couple of hours after the c-section in the recovery room. I had many visitors come and go, but honestly I don't remember everything clearly because of the meds! I had blood drawn to check my blood levels (H&H) to make sure I wasn't dropping too low. My levels were good enough to finally get me transferred to a room around 2:00pm. Again, once I got to the room I don't remember everything clearly, but I know I had more visitors and I continued to attempt to breastfeed Preston as they brought him to me. David was just wonderful, taking on his new daddy duties of diaper changing, gushing over his new son, and providing moral support for me.
The first night passed with a lot of fuzziness and finally the morning came. On Wednesday morning the nurse was able to take out the foley catheter, took off the SCDs, discontinued the Morphine PCA, and started me on Lortab. Once the Lortab kicked in, I finally had more relief from the pain! I was able to get up and start moving slowly, and it wasn't too terrible. My doctor said if things continued to go well that I could probably go home Thursday. The day went on and the lactation nurse really helped me get the hang of breastfeeding. Preston continued to do great! I even got my IV taken out. It was a pretty good day 2. That evening, right before shift change, I was able to take a shower and walk around the room a bit. I just sat back in bed and the new shift came on the take my blood pressure and it was elevated a bit. I just regarded it to all the activity and the fact that it was time for more pain medicine. They continued to check my blood pressure and as the evening went on, it didn't really go back down. So, they called the on call doctor and got orders to draw labs and get a UA from me via straight cath (which was *not* fun, by the way!). The lab results came back and turns out my platelets dropped way low from where they were the day before and I also had slightly elevated liver enzymes. My blood pressure continued to stay up a bit throughout the night. Repeat labs were done in the morning and my levels all improved a little bit. My doctor came to see me and said I had a mild case of HELLP syndrome. Another blessing in disguise is if I would have waited another week to have Preston, I could have gotten very sick as HELLP syndrome can be life threatening when severe. Needless to say I wasn't going home that day.
So the rest of the day Thursday I was put on restrictions for bathroom privileges only. They also had to start a new IV in case they needed to give blood products or fluids. :( As for Preston, he continued to do great nursing and being the best baby ever. :) Thursday night David's mom came to stay with us in the hospital to help since I could only get out of bed to go to the bathroom and David had to work 7a-7p Friday. He needed good sleep. The night went on and my blood pressure continued to be a bit elevated, but not too terrible.
Friday came and more morning labs were done which continued to show improvement. My doctor saw me and said he wanted to do one more set of labs Saturday morning, and if all was well, we would be going home Saturday! The day went by well. I was able to get up and start walking again and got to shower and everything. David's mom was just wonderful and I was soo glad to have her there! I had many visitors from the unit I work on (I delivered at the hospital I work at) and it was nice to see them. :) I made sure to get some rest inbetween a little bit of activity. Things went well. David's mom stayed with us again on Friday night at the hospital because David was so exhausted and had to work again Saturday night 7p-7a. We had a good night overall, but Preston did start to look little jaundiced.
Saturday morning the on call doctors came by to see me and Preston and said we could go home! Yay!!! :) Preston's bilirubin levels were a little elevated, but not too bad. The pediatrician wanted us to come back Sunday morning to check his levels and progress again. Preston's lowest weight he got to was 6 lbs 6 ounces, but was up to 6 lbs 7 ounces by Saturday morning. We supplemented Preston with tiny bits of formula after nursing via syringe because my milk hadn't come in. It started coming in Saturday morning though. We got everything together, I had my staples removed, and received discharge instructions by about 12:30pm. We finally got home at 1:00pm and were greeted by lots of family members to welcome us home! Family stayed for only a little bit, and then they went home so we could rest. My mom stayed with us and is here to help and visit for a week! I'm soo glad! It's awesome to have mothers who love us and help us soo much. We are really blessed. If you've made it this far, congrats! :) I have more to post later, but I wanted to finally write the birth story. Enjoy the pictures! :)
10 comments:
I think he looks like a good mix of both of yall...CONGRATS!!!
He is just precious! It looks like he's gonna have that bright blonde hair like you did when you were little. Enjoy your time with Preston and all those little moments you'll never forget. I'm glad it all went well. You're gonna be a great Momminninni! :D *hugs*
It sounds like you two had a hard week, but I am glad to hear all is well. Preston is so cute and after seeing all his pictures, I can't wait for my little boy to be here. Good Luck with everything, and keep the pictures coming.
Congratulations Penni!! Preston is adorable :)All the pictures are great and his blonde hair is too cute!
Y'all take care and enjoy this time... I'm still sitting here waiting for Landon's arrival! ;)
I have been waiting for pictures. Wahoo! He is adorable!! I love his full head of beautiful hair. Do you just love staring at him? So much fun! Well, congratulations! You did well!
I am so happy that Preston is here. He is so cute and precious. It sounds like you were "meant" to have a c-section. Everything happens for a reason. I am sorry it wasn't absolutely perfect for you but I am even happier that you and Preston are okay. I have been thinking about you so much this past week. I hope I can get up to Dallas and come see ya'll soon. Let me know if you need anything.
Congrats Penni! He is super cute! I enjoyed your story too. I am glad that God was watching out for you and Preston and you were able to avoid any major complications. Post more pics soon!
YEAH! He is here. Congratulations. He is adorable!
I am terrified of ever having a c-section and especially after reading your birth story! But alas, it sounds like you did awesome and that someone was looking out for you and Preston! Congrats, he is very cute!
I am SO glad you are all doing well. You really are truly blessed! Oh my gosh Preston is such a beautiful baby!! Congratulations!! We are so happy for ya'll! I love the pictures! What an angel!!
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