Jack's arrival
In honor of Jack turning 1 month old on Sunday, I decided to write a post to reflect on his arrival into this world. I think taking the time to reflect and write about this will be good for me and nice to look back on in years to come.
This will be a long post!
I'm going to pick up where my last blog post left out - the Wednesday before Jack's arrival. That morning I had my steroid booster shot along with my flu shot and TDAP vaccine. All of these were important to receive before Jack was born and the steroid shot proved to be a factor in the decision to deliver Jack.
That Thursday (September 28th), Justin and I were feeling especially restless. The closer we got to October 4th, the harder it was to be stuck in the hospital room. That day also marked 8 weeks in the hospital. I remember we were especially "feisty" and joking around with our doctor when she made her rounds that day. I was also really tired. The steroid shot really impacted my blood sugar and all I wanted to do was sleep. I remember telling our nurse Cynde that I was so sleepy I could barely stay awake for my nightly monitoring/blood sugar check. She did them as early as possible and I went to sleep really early.
Friday morning we woke up to go meet with the specialist for our Friday scan. We were especially excited about this scan because we would get a growth estimate. I was hoping for 4.5 pounds (a bit ambitious). We made sure to order breakfast before we went for the scan because the food took forever to come and I was hungry since I went to bed so early.
We got to Dr. Payne and Justin informed him we were there to find out the amniotic fluid, the baby's size and a joke or two (Dr. Payne's specialty). We were in good spirits because we only had 2 scans left and we were less than a week away from meeting Jack!
Dr. Payne started the scan and we could all instantly tell that the amniotic fluid was really low. I asked him where it was and he said that's all there was - my AFI was at a 3 (the lowest it had ever been). He asked if I had my steroid shot and when I told him I had it Wednesday, he said his recommendation was to deliver that day. The final decision would be up to my OB, but he felt delivery was in the best interest for Jack. He checked Jack's growth and said the estimate was 4 pounds 2 ounces - not as big as I was hoping, but he also said sometimes it's hard to get a good estimate when the fluid is so low.
Our nurse Shannon told us we would be heading over to labor & delivery. We would wait for Dr. Marshall to find out if we were delivering or if I would be on continuous monitor all weekend (the 2 options). I had to stop drinking water and couldn't eat anything in case we were delivering so I'd have an empty stomach.
Justin and I remained remarkably calm through all of this. Our hope was to deliver that day. It was a Friday afternoon and our doctor was not on call that weekend. We both preferred a controlled delivery with the doctors we knew well over an emergency procedure over the weekend. We were also getting very excited to meet our little guy.
Dr. Marshall came in shortly after we moved over to labor & delivery and informed us that we would be delivering at 1:30 that afternoon (it was about 9:30am at this time). At this point our parents kicked into gear and cleaned out the room we had been living in for the past 8 weeks and then the wait began!
I was very excited when our OR nurse, Lauren, was one of the nurses we had (& loved) multiple times over the last 2 months. The next few hours were spent meeting with the anesthesiology team, reviewing the procedure, informing friends & family that Jack was coming, and nervously waiting.
The c-section itself went incredibly well. There were a lot of people in the OR between my doctors & nurses, the anesthesiology team & a team from the NICU. The surgery is pretty quick once it begins and words can't describe the relief & emotion that passed over me when they got Jack out and we heard him cry. He had an incredible set of lungs, which was so amazing to hear since he was so little.
I didn't get to see him when they took him out because the NICU team took him right away to start examining. Justin was able to walk over and take some pictures and inform me that he looked perfect. The doctors did an amazing job of talking me through everything and keeping me calm throughout the whole process. Before they took Jack to the NICU they wheeled him by my head so I could see him.
At that point, they finished up the c-section and then I was taken to recovery. Things are a bit of a blur from there, but after a couple of hours our nurse Lauren was able to take me to the NICU to see Jack. I was also able to find out his weight and length - I was amazed that his weight was exactly what Dr. Payne had estimated that morning - 4 pounds 2 ounces.
When I got to meet Jack for the first time, it was a bit overwhelming to see him with all of the wires, IVs, CPAP, etc. but when I reached in and he grabbed my finger it was love. We stayed there with him for a little bit, before they wheeled me over to postpartum.
The next 12 hours of recovery proved to be very difficult for me. Thankfully our overnight nurse, Cathy, was another one of our beloved nurses from antepartum. Initially they thought I would be able to go up to the NICU in a wheelchair by 7 or 8 pm to see Jack. However, I ended up having a lot of bleeding during the night. Eventually, the doctor on call had to order some medication to help the bleeding stop (which thankfully worked). Finally, by around 2 in the morning the bleeding had slowed enough that I was able to move from the bed to a wheelchair to go see Jack.
Looking back on those eventful 24 hours, I am incredibly thankful. I am so thankful for Justin and his unending support and partnership in this journey - even if it meant waking up every 3 hours to wash the pump parts for me while I tried to get my milk to come in or taking videos of Jack for me to watch before I was able to be with him. I am so thankful for our family & friends who were there everyday of those 8 weeks waiting and continued to be rocks of support with Jack's early arrival. I am incredibly thankful for our doctors and nurses at Baylor Grapevine. After 8 weeks, they felt like family and they treated us like family.
I sit here with my beautiful, healthy baby boy and it is hard to believe all we went through to get him here. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine a 10 week hospital journey for bringing him home, but I also can't imagine still waiting to meet him. While I wish I could have given him a full 40 weeks to develop and saved him from the NICU, I also feel like I got 7 bonus weeks of time with him.
This will be a long post!
I'm going to pick up where my last blog post left out - the Wednesday before Jack's arrival. That morning I had my steroid booster shot along with my flu shot and TDAP vaccine. All of these were important to receive before Jack was born and the steroid shot proved to be a factor in the decision to deliver Jack.
That Thursday (September 28th), Justin and I were feeling especially restless. The closer we got to October 4th, the harder it was to be stuck in the hospital room. That day also marked 8 weeks in the hospital. I remember we were especially "feisty" and joking around with our doctor when she made her rounds that day. I was also really tired. The steroid shot really impacted my blood sugar and all I wanted to do was sleep. I remember telling our nurse Cynde that I was so sleepy I could barely stay awake for my nightly monitoring/blood sugar check. She did them as early as possible and I went to sleep really early.
Friday morning we woke up to go meet with the specialist for our Friday scan. We were especially excited about this scan because we would get a growth estimate. I was hoping for 4.5 pounds (a bit ambitious). We made sure to order breakfast before we went for the scan because the food took forever to come and I was hungry since I went to bed so early.
We got to Dr. Payne and Justin informed him we were there to find out the amniotic fluid, the baby's size and a joke or two (Dr. Payne's specialty). We were in good spirits because we only had 2 scans left and we were less than a week away from meeting Jack!
Dr. Payne started the scan and we could all instantly tell that the amniotic fluid was really low. I asked him where it was and he said that's all there was - my AFI was at a 3 (the lowest it had ever been). He asked if I had my steroid shot and when I told him I had it Wednesday, he said his recommendation was to deliver that day. The final decision would be up to my OB, but he felt delivery was in the best interest for Jack. He checked Jack's growth and said the estimate was 4 pounds 2 ounces - not as big as I was hoping, but he also said sometimes it's hard to get a good estimate when the fluid is so low.
Our nurse Shannon told us we would be heading over to labor & delivery. We would wait for Dr. Marshall to find out if we were delivering or if I would be on continuous monitor all weekend (the 2 options). I had to stop drinking water and couldn't eat anything in case we were delivering so I'd have an empty stomach.
Justin and I remained remarkably calm through all of this. Our hope was to deliver that day. It was a Friday afternoon and our doctor was not on call that weekend. We both preferred a controlled delivery with the doctors we knew well over an emergency procedure over the weekend. We were also getting very excited to meet our little guy.
Dr. Marshall came in shortly after we moved over to labor & delivery and informed us that we would be delivering at 1:30 that afternoon (it was about 9:30am at this time). At this point our parents kicked into gear and cleaned out the room we had been living in for the past 8 weeks and then the wait began!
I was very excited when our OR nurse, Lauren, was one of the nurses we had (& loved) multiple times over the last 2 months. The next few hours were spent meeting with the anesthesiology team, reviewing the procedure, informing friends & family that Jack was coming, and nervously waiting.
The c-section itself went incredibly well. There were a lot of people in the OR between my doctors & nurses, the anesthesiology team & a team from the NICU. The surgery is pretty quick once it begins and words can't describe the relief & emotion that passed over me when they got Jack out and we heard him cry. He had an incredible set of lungs, which was so amazing to hear since he was so little.
I didn't get to see him when they took him out because the NICU team took him right away to start examining. Justin was able to walk over and take some pictures and inform me that he looked perfect. The doctors did an amazing job of talking me through everything and keeping me calm throughout the whole process. Before they took Jack to the NICU they wheeled him by my head so I could see him.
At that point, they finished up the c-section and then I was taken to recovery. Things are a bit of a blur from there, but after a couple of hours our nurse Lauren was able to take me to the NICU to see Jack. I was also able to find out his weight and length - I was amazed that his weight was exactly what Dr. Payne had estimated that morning - 4 pounds 2 ounces.
When I got to meet Jack for the first time, it was a bit overwhelming to see him with all of the wires, IVs, CPAP, etc. but when I reached in and he grabbed my finger it was love. We stayed there with him for a little bit, before they wheeled me over to postpartum.
The next 12 hours of recovery proved to be very difficult for me. Thankfully our overnight nurse, Cathy, was another one of our beloved nurses from antepartum. Initially they thought I would be able to go up to the NICU in a wheelchair by 7 or 8 pm to see Jack. However, I ended up having a lot of bleeding during the night. Eventually, the doctor on call had to order some medication to help the bleeding stop (which thankfully worked). Finally, by around 2 in the morning the bleeding had slowed enough that I was able to move from the bed to a wheelchair to go see Jack.
Looking back on those eventful 24 hours, I am incredibly thankful. I am so thankful for Justin and his unending support and partnership in this journey - even if it meant waking up every 3 hours to wash the pump parts for me while I tried to get my milk to come in or taking videos of Jack for me to watch before I was able to be with him. I am so thankful for our family & friends who were there everyday of those 8 weeks waiting and continued to be rocks of support with Jack's early arrival. I am incredibly thankful for our doctors and nurses at Baylor Grapevine. After 8 weeks, they felt like family and they treated us like family.
I sit here with my beautiful, healthy baby boy and it is hard to believe all we went through to get him here. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine a 10 week hospital journey for bringing him home, but I also can't imagine still waiting to meet him. While I wish I could have given him a full 40 weeks to develop and saved him from the NICU, I also feel like I got 7 bonus weeks of time with him.
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