Catching Up (part 1)

Wow, so much has taken place since my last post and I have a feeling this is going to be a long update!! First of all and most importantly, we welcomed our second miracle baby on June 12, 2012; Christian James was born at 5:38am via emergency c-section 7 weeks early! 4lbs 8oz 17in!

Rewind to the week before he was born. I went in for my 32 week growth ultrasound on Wednesday June 6th. Christian was measuring a little small, around the 32nd percentile. They estimated him at 3lbs 15oz. He was definetly breech. The other concern was that my amniotic fluid level was low. The tech measured it about 5 times and consistantly came up with the same measurement. I had a suspicion that this was the case because A) my belly measurements had been measuring a couple weeks behind and B) I could feel the outline of his bodyparts a little too prominetly. The high risk doctor came in to check the scan. He wanted me to take it easy, drink a lot of fluids, and come back in 2 weeks to check the level again.

That weekend, I came close to paging my OB doctor; I was having braxton hicks contractions that were about 7 minutes apart, lasting about 30 seconds, and were not going away with rest and hydration. It was reminding me a lot of how I felt the evening before my water broke with Joseph. I convinced myself I was over-reacting and I decided to wait and see what happened. Eventually, they either subsided beyond notice after going to bed, or the next day I was just too busy to notice. Monday morning, I went to work and received a call from my OB's office. My doctor had reviewed my ultrasound results and didn't want me to wait 2 weeks before being checked again. He wanted me to have an ultrasound that Wednesday and then he wanted to see me in his office Thursday morning. That evening at home, Joseph was taking his first steps!! We caught it on video and went about our normal routines. I was in bed by 9pm.

At 2am, my water broke. I recall being awake a few seconds before it happened and I knew right away what was occuring. With Joseph, I had questioned peeing my pants, but with Christian, there was no denying the destinct rupture and rush of warm fluid. I jumped out of bed faster than the rush and found myself standing in a puddle BUT - the bed was DRY!! *sigh of relief* "Eddie, Eddie!! Wake Up!! My water broke!!" "Are you serious?!" He jumped out of bed and turned on the lights. I had him fetch me a towel, change of clothes, new underwear, and a pad (we learned the first time that towels and wash cloths really aren't THAT absorbant. I made note that the fluid was clear and then paged my doctor. It was waiting for him to call back and watching my husband rush around to pack the hospital bags that it all caught up to me and I realized how early it was (7 weeks early to be exact) and I started to panic. I was afraid for my baby and I started to cry. Looking back, I chuckle at the image of me standing there in a puddle sobbing while my husband was running around trying to throw random clothes in a bag.

The next few hours and days of my life still stir up too many emotions for me to be able to put them into words. In short, we got to the hospital and eventually it was determined that I was already 4cm dilated and the doctor could feel feet. This is a very dangerous situation because there is nothing blocking the cervical opening and then baby's cord could slip out and cut off blood flow to the baby, resulting in death. Emergency c-section it was. I felt so defeated as I signed the consent forms. This was the ABSOLUTE LAST thing I wanted, especially when my doctor explained the type of incision he would need to use: a vertical uterine incision, also known as a classical c-section. My heart broke because I know that a VBAC after this type of incision was out of the question, and my hopes of having a large family were disinigrating before my eyes.

Christian was born at 5:38am. I was able to see him quickly before he was taken to the NICU. I saw him briefly as I was moved from the recovery room to my hospital room and then I wasn't able to see him again until that evening because my recovery was so difficult. I couldn't move my head without extreeme vertigo and vomiting and every time, it felt like my insides were being ripped apart. I would rather go through unmedicated labor a million times than face recovering from another c-section.

*sigh* All of this recall is a bit too overwhelming and I need a break. To be continued...

From April

Life has been pretty busy trying to balance a special child's needs, work, moving, family life, and pregnancy! Joseph had another developmental evaluation earlier this week and some of his motor skills are still delayed. He continues weekly Occupational Therapy and bi-weekly Physical Therapy. He will also need to start Speach Therapy because he is having oral texture processing issues, which isn't a surprise from all the oral trauma he sustained while vented for the first 3 weeks of his life and then force-fed for the following 3.5 weeks. This is causing him to have some eating issues (gagging and vomiting) that, if not addressed now, could become major eating issues in the near future. This, in addition to his food allergies, is making it challenging to feed him. For the most part, he's only eating fruits and veggies and "puffs" (I found an organic brand that is dairy and soy free). I've literally spent 20 minutes in the baby asile reading ingrediants and putting food back on the shelf because it seems like everything contains soy. We're also finding it challenging to transition him to a sippy-cup. He can't seem to figure out how to get the water out intentionally and when he does manage, he chokes on it. I found a sippy cup with a spout that is very similiar to a bottle nipple but he still can't (or won't) figure it out. All we can do is keep trying. From a GI prespective, he has been doing amazing since having the procedures in February. I don't know what that doctor did when she was inside of him but whatever it was, since then, he has been doing perfect! No more diarrhea, blood, or mucous in his stool! He is still having reflux and continues his medication for this.