So as I said in my previous posts I thought this baby would be here sooner then his due date and I was right! He was born at 38 weeks and 1 day.
I had been having contractions for a couple weeks and they kept getting harder and harder to deal with. I ended up in Labor and Delivery when I was about 36 weeks from contractions. I was monitored for a while then given a morphine shot and something else to slow my contractions.(Can't remember what it's called?) I was 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. I will never get a morphine shot again unless absolutely necessary. I was completely out of it for at least 24 hours, and here I am 3 weeks later and the whole side of my thigh HURTS and is partially numb(Wow, that was a lot of and's). Anyways, a few days had passed and I went in to the Dr's at 37w 6d and was dilated 3cm and about 60% effaced. She stripped my membranes and said if the baby doesn't come by March 11th then she would induce me on March 12th which was a week away. I was a little disappointed that I had to wait another week when I was miserable from contractions, not to mention my sciatic nerve pain which made it almost impossible to walk.
I had contractions that night but then they stopped. They started up again the next night around midnight and by 7am I hadn't slept AT ALL and decided to go to the hospital. I was still at 3cm and 60% effaced. After a couple hours of waiting to see if my Dr would send me home or what, the nurse came in with my IV and said we are going to have a baby today!
The on call Dr. came in and broke my water. By then I was 4cm. I asked for my epidural right away cause I figure why not? Well while I was getting the epidural Jesse made the mistake of watching...he walked away from me looking confused then the nurse told him to sit, good thing he did cause all of the sudden his face turned white and he was gone. He was only passed out for about 7 seconds but it scared the crap out of me! After a few crackers and juice he was fine.
They started a little pitocin and before I could really rest it was 4pm and time to push. I pushed for about 30 minutes and everything was looking good. His head came out and he had the cord around his neck which was not a huge deal but then he wasn't coming out anymore! His shoulders were so wide that he got stuck.(When Jesse was born he got stuck at the shoulders as well) I quickly had an episiotomy(boo!) and Tristan was born!
Tristan was a little stunned after he was born and they were concerned that he wasn't crying, even though my babies NEVER cry when they are born. He snapped out of it pretty quick and looked like a healthy 8 pound baby boy. He is my biggest baby and he was born two weeks early! I nursed him right away and he nursed like a pro. One thing I noticed was that he was sweating. I have never seen a baby sweat like that. The nurse said it was probably cause he was getting too warm from snuggling with me. So I didn't think too much about it.
That night was the usual after baby stuff. Waiting for my legs to work again and having to call the nurse to help me to the bathroom(hate that). The next day I was SO TIRED. Never have I been that tired in my life. My Dr came to check on me and she said I have low red blood cells from bleeding so much which is why I was so tired. Apparently it takes a while to recover from that so I have to take a pill everyday to help fix it.
The nurses said Tristans blood sugar level was a little low and that they are keeping an eye on it. After he was born it was in the 50's(it's supposed to be 60+). By morning it was in the 40's so they fed him formula to try to get it back up. I had him in my room and he was still sweaty, but again, I didn't think too much of it. By noon his blood sugar was so low it wouldn't even register. They took him to the NICU and hooked up an IV immediately.
Apparently low blood sugar is a common thing? I had no idea. The NICU Dr. said Tristan would be in there for at least 2 days...I was leaving the hospital on Saturday and if Tristan has to stay for 2 days then that means I wouldn't be able to bring him home with me :(.
So I was a little upset about the whole thing but thought I know it could be a lot worse and I am lucky that aside from his blood sugar levels he was a very healthy baby. That night my sister Kristin who was watching my other kids said that Parker puked! Ok, maybe he ate too much or something, but then he puked again and AGAIN. I felt so bad that Kristin was dealing with a puking kid that wasn't her own, so we decided Jesse better go take care of him.
By the next day, Parker, Lacee, my Mom, my sister Katie and her son Liam all had the stomach flu. Definitely not the best time to be dealing with puking kids. Knowing Jesse would have to drive me to the hospital every few hours so I can nurse Tristan, I would have to get someone to spend the night. Who on earth could I ask to come stay with my puking kids?! Finally after a lot of stress trying to figure out what to do, my 16 year old sister finally agreed to come help.
It was definitely a new experience having to go to the hospital multiple times during the night to feed Tristan. He was on a strict 3 hour feeding schedule and after a few feedings I realized there is no way I could be there every three hours. So I started going in every 6 hours and would pump in between so he could have breast milk while I wasn't there and I would be able to rest. I honestly felt like the nurses were judging me for not being there every feeding but nothing I could do about it. Lets just say there was a lot of crying going on those few days.
After the first night of going to the hospital and coming home to puking kids, things seemed to get a little easier. Until Jesse, who cleaned up all the puke and took care of the kids so I wouldn't get sick, got the flu too. So here I was with all three older kids puking, Jesse sick in bed, Tristan in the NICU, and me recovering from giving birth. Again, a lot of crying.
At the hospital, Tristans IV accidentally came out of his hand and immediately his blood sugar dropped. So we knew he wasn't coming home soon. They put the IV in his head so it wouldn't come out again poor baby.
My little brother Scot came over and watched my kids for the next few days while Tristan was in the hospital. He is really a great helper and I am glad he came. I could not have done it without him! Those days were pretty much a routine of hospital, puke, hospital, puke. Then we received the good news that Tristan was good to go home!! He came home on Tuesday so 4 days in the NICU. That was the longest 4 days of my life.
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| Ready to go home! |
My older kids were finally starting to feel better! Or so I thought...Lacee woke up Wednesday with a FEVER! Like seriously? Are my kids out licking door knobs?!? So right now my older kids have coughs and runny noses. The baby and I have been in my room the whole week and the older kids have not even held him yet :(.
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| Happy to be home. |
This has been a rough week, but I KNOW it could of been a lot worse.
A HUGE thank you to my visiting teachers who brought meals AND cleaned my house from top to bottom! I don't think my house has ever been that clean and it was a huge help. Another thank you to my sisters for taking care of my kids while I was in the hospital. I am blessed to have all these people in my life willing to help me if needed.
