-Liz
Two Moms, two boys, too much fun
Friday, February 10, 2012
Jude 1 Week
So we are doing a weekly photo shoot of Jude just like they did on one of my favorite blogs Young House Love. Here are Jude’s 1 week photos.
Isn’t he cute?
-Liz
-Liz
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Home at Last
We got released from NICU earlier today and have spent about 5 glorious hours at home now. Jude is doing great and as long as we triple feed him (breast feed, pump and give him breast milk and then offer formula) everything seems to be fine. We are hoping once S’s milk comes in full force we can stop doing the triple feeds as they take forever and we’d like him to have as little formula as possible but we will see what happens this week and what our pediatrician says. Thanks for all of your comments of support. This has truly been the hardest week of our lives and it can only get better from here!
We will try to post some of the cute 200 pictures I’ve take of him by now tomorrow.
-Liz
We will try to post some of the cute 200 pictures I’ve take of him by now tomorrow.
-Liz
Monday, February 6, 2012
At the NICU
It has been a ROUGH few days for this new little family of 3. On Saturday we got released from the hospital and went home. We thought everything was fine and we were all doing really well. Then on Sunday things went down hill. We realized that it had been about 12 hours since Jude had a poopy diaper and that he had only peed once in his whole short life, on Friday evening and hadn’t since then. We called the after hours pediatrician line and our doctor told us that he might just not be getting enough to eat because S’s milk still hadn’t come in. So she had us after every feeding try to give him about half an ounce of formula to see if that got things started and to call back at 5 if he still hadn’t peed.
The formula helped get him to poo and at 5:00, he did the deed, though it had been at that point almost 24 hours and only the 1 diaper. So we called the Dr. back and she told us to feed him an ounce of formula once he was hungry again and wait an hour and half to see if he would pee and if he didn’t she wanted us to take him to Dell’s Children’s hospitals ER to see if he had any sort of blockage. So by 8:00 he had eaten the formula and still not peed so the ER we went.
At the ER they practically tortured the poor guy. He had blood drawn, his vitals taken, an EKG done on his heart, an ultrasound on his bladder, two antibiotic shots, spinal fluid drawn and an IV put in. The IV was the worst because they figured out he was dehydrated from not getting enough to eat and so it took 3 nurses, the anesthesiologist, and 3 NICU nurses to finally get it put in and of course each person tried twice before the next person stepped in. They finally got the IV in place on his head.
They thought that his heart rate was lower than normal and that between that and dehydration they thought it was possible he had an infection so thus all of the testing being done and being finally after 5 hours in the ER, being admitted to the NICU at Dell. So it was a bad night. I don’t think I need to describe how we felt through all of this because you can imagine how hard it was to see all of this being done to him.
At this point S’s milk has come in and so they are having her nurse him, then pump and then feed him what she pumped with a bottle. So far this is working great and between the breast milk and IV he is back to his normal self. They are keeping him here till noon tomorrow just to make sure his vitals stay normal and all of the cultures come back clean. So they are thinking his heart rate is just naturally low and that everything else was being caused by hunger and dehydration.
We will let you know how things go but they are looking up at this point. Here is the little guy all hooked up to a million machines.
The formula helped get him to poo and at 5:00, he did the deed, though it had been at that point almost 24 hours and only the 1 diaper. So we called the Dr. back and she told us to feed him an ounce of formula once he was hungry again and wait an hour and half to see if he would pee and if he didn’t she wanted us to take him to Dell’s Children’s hospitals ER to see if he had any sort of blockage. So by 8:00 he had eaten the formula and still not peed so the ER we went.
At the ER they practically tortured the poor guy. He had blood drawn, his vitals taken, an EKG done on his heart, an ultrasound on his bladder, two antibiotic shots, spinal fluid drawn and an IV put in. The IV was the worst because they figured out he was dehydrated from not getting enough to eat and so it took 3 nurses, the anesthesiologist, and 3 NICU nurses to finally get it put in and of course each person tried twice before the next person stepped in. They finally got the IV in place on his head.
They thought that his heart rate was lower than normal and that between that and dehydration they thought it was possible he had an infection so thus all of the testing being done and being finally after 5 hours in the ER, being admitted to the NICU at Dell. So it was a bad night. I don’t think I need to describe how we felt through all of this because you can imagine how hard it was to see all of this being done to him.
At this point S’s milk has come in and so they are having her nurse him, then pump and then feed him what she pumped with a bottle. So far this is working great and between the breast milk and IV he is back to his normal self. They are keeping him here till noon tomorrow just to make sure his vitals stay normal and all of the cultures come back clean. So they are thinking his heart rate is just naturally low and that everything else was being caused by hunger and dehydration.
We will let you know how things go but they are looking up at this point. Here is the little guy all hooked up to a million machines.
Still cute as a bug and twice as sweet. Little guy luckily has slept through most of this and only gets upset when they take a band aid or sticker off of him
-Liz
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Birth Story Conclusion
When we last updated it was about 4:00 pm and S was dilated to a 7. Her contractions were all over the place no matter how much Pitocin they gave her. They came and checked around 5:30 and she was still at a 7. More contractions, more Pitocin, checked again at 7:00, still at a 7. At that point our doctor discussed doing the C section due to the lack of progress. At this point, despite the epidural, S was exhausted, it had been over 24 hours at that point. She had only slept maybe an hour that night and took an hour and a half nap and hadn’t eaten anything in ages, nor would they let her. Our doctor explained that if we didn’t do the C section soon then she was afraid it would turn into an emergency C section. S was done with labor, done with trying and was glad to see a light at the end of the tunnel. We agreed to go forward with the C section.
Of course, I was somehow able to stay strong and sure in front of S, but in reality I was out of my mind with worry. I went to the lobby and called S’s mom to let her know what was going on and then I called my mom and just broke down. I was so scared that both of my babies wouldn’t make it through this. Rationally I knew that they would be fine and no one was in distress, but in my heart, I was so afraid. It makes me feel teary right now just thinking of those moments. Luckily my mom knows me so well and calmed me down in a matter of minutes so I could go back to the room and be strong for S.
The C section itself was the most intense thing I’ve ever been a part of. They had S pretty drugged up but she wouldn’t let them give her everything that they wanted to because she didn’t want to be dopey or too out of it to be aware. So she did feel quite a bit of what they were doing. I held her hand and tried to distract her. I’ll leave the details of it to her to share (not sure if she will want to or not, but just in case). The doctors had a CD playing and it was really cool because Jude was born during one of our favorite songs, Coldplay’s Viva La Vida.
Everything since then has been great. I couldn’t love him more, and he is so strong and healthy. We are actually about to go home, they are letting us check out early because both S and Jude are doing so great. So we are packing up and this family is going home.
And of course, more baby photos!
Of course, I was somehow able to stay strong and sure in front of S, but in reality I was out of my mind with worry. I went to the lobby and called S’s mom to let her know what was going on and then I called my mom and just broke down. I was so scared that both of my babies wouldn’t make it through this. Rationally I knew that they would be fine and no one was in distress, but in my heart, I was so afraid. It makes me feel teary right now just thinking of those moments. Luckily my mom knows me so well and calmed me down in a matter of minutes so I could go back to the room and be strong for S.
The C section itself was the most intense thing I’ve ever been a part of. They had S pretty drugged up but she wouldn’t let them give her everything that they wanted to because she didn’t want to be dopey or too out of it to be aware. So she did feel quite a bit of what they were doing. I held her hand and tried to distract her. I’ll leave the details of it to her to share (not sure if she will want to or not, but just in case). The doctors had a CD playing and it was really cool because Jude was born during one of our favorite songs, Coldplay’s Viva La Vida.
Everything since then has been great. I couldn’t love him more, and he is so strong and healthy. We are actually about to go home, they are letting us check out early because both S and Jude are doing so great. So we are packing up and this family is going home.
And of course, more baby photos!
Jude and his Uncle Brandon
Jude and Aunt Sandy
Jude and Uncle Duck
Jude and Aunt Lulu
Jude!
Love, Liz
Friday, February 3, 2012
Jude’s arrival
Jude is finally here. 27 hours of labor led to a C section. Jude was born on 2/2/12 at 8:08 pm. He is a big boy, 8 lbs 14 oz and 22 inches. We are just out of our minds in joy at our son’s arrival. More to come later, but here are some pictures. Thank you for all of your well wishes and sorry if our radio silence drove any of you insane!
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Labor Update
It’s been almost 24 hours now and it has been intense. Jude still isn’t here with us but we are confidant that he will be by the end of the day. Yesterday we checked and got admitted. Answered tons of questions and got hooked up to a fetal heart monitor and a contraction monitor. S got administered Cervidil around 6:45. She had been having contractions on and off all day and after the Cervidil kicked in they started coming harder. We tried really hard to sleep but it really just wasn’t happening. It was a long night and by about 2am the contractions were probably about 2-3 minutes apart and pretty intense.
Things continued like that for quite a while. The Cervidil came out on its own around 5am and we had to wait an hour before they could start the Pitocin. Poor S was in a lot of pain and labored on the birthing ball, in the bed, and standing but nothing could make her comfortable. By time they started the Pitocin around 6:30 she was dilated to a 2, so we were seeing some progress. Our doctor came in around 7:30 and tired to break her water but discovered that it had already broken, but we arn’t sure when that happened.
Around 9am one of the other doctors on call came in and put in an internal monitor for contractions because the external one wasn’t registering them regularly. It was rough getting that in place and it really hurt poor S a lot to get it done. I have to say, S has been amazingly strong through all of this. She has been in more pain that I have ever seen anyone be in and she has done it with an amazing grace and dignity.
She progressed slowly and by 1pm was at a 5. By 1:30 the pain was too much for her and she was so so so tired and decided to get an Epidural. That was such a relief and once it kicked in we both took a much much needed nap. I had no idea how exhausted we both were until I sat down for just a minute and immediately nodded off.
After some sleep they checked her again and now she is at a 7. Contractions are very strong at this point but the time between isn’t staying steady. They go from right on top of each other to 2-3 minutes apart. We are watching the Ellen show on TV and waiting for them to come adjust the Epidural a bit stronger. Hopefully this baby will be here in the next few hours.
Thank you for all of your love and support. Each comment really means the world to us and is truly helping us get through this. We feel so blessed to be part of such an amazing community and to have so many wonderful friends, both in real life and through this blog.
Can’t wait to give the final update!
Love,
Liz
Things continued like that for quite a while. The Cervidil came out on its own around 5am and we had to wait an hour before they could start the Pitocin. Poor S was in a lot of pain and labored on the birthing ball, in the bed, and standing but nothing could make her comfortable. By time they started the Pitocin around 6:30 she was dilated to a 2, so we were seeing some progress. Our doctor came in around 7:30 and tired to break her water but discovered that it had already broken, but we arn’t sure when that happened.
Around 9am one of the other doctors on call came in and put in an internal monitor for contractions because the external one wasn’t registering them regularly. It was rough getting that in place and it really hurt poor S a lot to get it done. I have to say, S has been amazingly strong through all of this. She has been in more pain that I have ever seen anyone be in and she has done it with an amazing grace and dignity.
She progressed slowly and by 1pm was at a 5. By 1:30 the pain was too much for her and she was so so so tired and decided to get an Epidural. That was such a relief and once it kicked in we both took a much much needed nap. I had no idea how exhausted we both were until I sat down for just a minute and immediately nodded off.
After some sleep they checked her again and now she is at a 7. Contractions are very strong at this point but the time between isn’t staying steady. They go from right on top of each other to 2-3 minutes apart. We are watching the Ellen show on TV and waiting for them to come adjust the Epidural a bit stronger. Hopefully this baby will be here in the next few hours.
Thank you for all of your love and support. Each comment really means the world to us and is truly helping us get through this. We feel so blessed to be part of such an amazing community and to have so many wonderful friends, both in real life and through this blog.
Can’t wait to give the final update!
Love,
Liz
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Today is the day
We check in at 5pm today to start inducing to hopefully get Jude here. We are both excited and nervous. I think that pregnancy makes you SO VERY ready to not be pregnant at the end that it is a little less scary to think that I am about to go into labor. I am way over being pregnant. I want our little award for all this, our baby boy in our arms.
Liz and I thought maybe we would not be able to sleep last night. I did get up a few times because there was some bleeding, but overall, we slept like we usually do: like the dead. I am hoping that the bleeding was the “bloody show” and that it means the cervix is open some. Yesterday when I had an exam, he was still high and the cervix was still completely closed. The Dr. informed us this might not work. We were like, “exscuse me?!!?” We have big plans of coming home with our little boy, but she explained that if all of this after 12 hrs does not open the cervix, there is not much they can do other than a C section, so they would just send us home and I would come back early next week. Oh my gosh, if this does not work and I come home pregnant tomorrow, I am not going to be a happy lady!!! Here is hoping it does. It usually does, so it probably will.
My Dr, now that we are inducing, is talking about doing all the things I don’t want her to. She said she will usually break the bag if it is not progressing fast enough and has a vacuum if he is not dropping properly. I was very unhappy to hear both those things, but Liz reassured me that we can refuse anything she wants to do. That made me feel a little better. I am just hoping that these things don’t happen because they don’t need to because with a little coaxing, Jude and I can do it on our own.
I am not as nervous as I thought I would be, but maybe I will be at the last minute. I am just so ready to have him and not be preggie, that I am pretty excited about that prospect of having him in the next few days. I just hope I am strong enough to let him come naturally after being induced so that the painkillers don’t make it even slower than it probably will be. Honestly, I just want him here and to be safe and sound, so we will see what the future holds. Hopefully next time I write, there will be pictures of our beautiful squished face man:)
-S
Liz and I thought maybe we would not be able to sleep last night. I did get up a few times because there was some bleeding, but overall, we slept like we usually do: like the dead. I am hoping that the bleeding was the “bloody show” and that it means the cervix is open some. Yesterday when I had an exam, he was still high and the cervix was still completely closed. The Dr. informed us this might not work. We were like, “exscuse me?!!?” We have big plans of coming home with our little boy, but she explained that if all of this after 12 hrs does not open the cervix, there is not much they can do other than a C section, so they would just send us home and I would come back early next week. Oh my gosh, if this does not work and I come home pregnant tomorrow, I am not going to be a happy lady!!! Here is hoping it does. It usually does, so it probably will.
My Dr, now that we are inducing, is talking about doing all the things I don’t want her to. She said she will usually break the bag if it is not progressing fast enough and has a vacuum if he is not dropping properly. I was very unhappy to hear both those things, but Liz reassured me that we can refuse anything she wants to do. That made me feel a little better. I am just hoping that these things don’t happen because they don’t need to because with a little coaxing, Jude and I can do it on our own.
I am not as nervous as I thought I would be, but maybe I will be at the last minute. I am just so ready to have him and not be preggie, that I am pretty excited about that prospect of having him in the next few days. I just hope I am strong enough to let him come naturally after being induced so that the painkillers don’t make it even slower than it probably will be. Honestly, I just want him here and to be safe and sound, so we will see what the future holds. Hopefully next time I write, there will be pictures of our beautiful squished face man:)
-S
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