Our Son, A Month Early

So there's a lot to update since the last time I actually blogged. I had started on one that was going through all the things I had done over my birthday weekend (Feb 22nd). It was quite a lot. I hadn't even realized how much till Sunday night when my body wasn't happy with me. From not sleeping a whole ton from baby kicks starting Thursday night then going out to eat Friday night out to dinner. Which from here doesn't seem like much...then we hit Saturday, where I got up early (well for a Saturday) and started cleaning, then Mom came over to help me manage Bugs room (it was bad ha) - we got rid of 2 boxes full of stuff. Then we went out for lunch. When we got back I figured I should take a nap before the night, that lasted like maybe an hour, then it was to get ready for my birthday dinner. I think what really set it off was sitting and playing Cards Against Humanity for 5 hours on wooden chairs. Add about 3 hours of sleep to that, breakfast, standing and chatting for 1.5hr. I know looking back "you idiot"... but it all just happened then the rest of Sunday was driving. 

 By Sunday evening I was feeling pretty sick & nauseous/trouble breathing/sharp pain in my shoulder/headache and then about 11 or so I finally puked and made Barry take me to the ER… (after calling the doc and talking to a friend that is a nurse and who just had a baby that dealt with kind of the same thing – she was in labor) They did a few tests, gave me some Maylox to see if it was acid reflex. Didn’t really do much for me but by that time they said if it didn’t they were talking about doing like a CT scan to check for a clot… I just wasn’t up for that. Barry and I were so tired, it was like 2am. They did do an EKG thing and that looked fine, baby’s heart rate was good, my blood pressure and oxygen was good so I’m like I think it was just pressure from the baby. Which the baby was very active, probably from me being so active he was like hey quit that… even though when I was “relaxing” baby was still wiggling a bunch – reasoning of not sleeping much for the last few days. As I was laying there I could feel my chest kind of tense up when a “contraction” would happen so I think baby was just moving so much and since there's no water all of it feels like contractions if he rolls and it all just settled/settling in my chest. It was mainly the shoulder pain and nausea that was buggin me since it wouldn’t go away no matter what I did. The I ate and drank water/sprite for the nausea and barry tried to massage my shoulder like 4 times and that didn’t fix it.

 Everything seemed normal Monday...then Tuesday! I was awaken at 5:30am with cramping, by the time I got up and headed to work it was still going on but all over the place. I tried to keep track of them (yay for apps) and they were very sporadic. So I kept on my day. Made it through work then headed to dance class with Bugs. By the time we got home and I had a chance to lay down they were getting stronger. When I put Bugs to bed they were pretty strong but still sporadic. I figured it was like Sunday again, when you look up all the stuff on when to go to the doctor it says 60sec long, 5 minutes apart. Well mine varied from 30 sec to 1.15 every 7-11min --- come to find later it's not about the time it's about the intensity! whaaaaaaa it should say that online ha. Now if you ask why I didn't know before, I was induced with Bugs and had the epidural pretty soon (back issues and labor don't mix). So I went on with the night...tired to lay down and sleep some, then it happened......Bugs got sick. I jumped up to help her and BAM it all started to roll. Think I had like 3 contractions while standing there with her puking. Took care of her, got her situated and then went in and told Barry, it was time to roll out - good thing we had just finished packing literally that night. Barry jumped in the shower quick, got Bugs ready to go and bags to the door and were on our way. Called Mom told her to get up there. By the time we got up there the contractions were getting pretty fierce. They put me in a starter room to get my vitals and check how far I was... I was 4cm. She said they were going to move us to a labor room and I was like could you have an epidural waiting for me there :) Even though I was doing good they were getting stronger and it was starting to feel like my spine was going to explode out. Which only increased the stronger my contractions went. Barry laughed at me because the last few contractions I was like "oh shit...oh craps..." might have thrown the 'f' out a few times ;) it helped me keep breathing. You can't talk without breathing and I didn't have to remind myself :) Almost made Barry pass out with my hand squeezing ha. - you know how you always see in videos/such the ladies yelling at their guy "I hate you! You did this to me!" Even though I was in pain pretty good, at no time did those thoughts ever cross my mind. I think I even said "I love you". I was just so happy to be there, be meeting our baby.-  

But I got the epidural just in time. They gave me a local also I think which was very helpful, I was ready for a nap after ha. Then the doc came in...checked me and I was 9cm and ready to head to the push room, we were in a different room that was right next to the NICU room. 

Some laughs and a little pushing and our precious baby boy was born. They took him to the next room to get started... Barry and Ang went with him, Mom and I soon to follow when they cleaned up. By the time they wheeled me in he was all hooked up to the machines, they were doing their tests and had him with a breathing tube. 

We had our decision to make - keep trying or take our time with him while we have it. We decided it was as it was and we wanted Bugs and our family to be able to see and enjoy his presence before he passed. We were lucky to have 6hrs of time with him and enjoyed every second. We have been overwhelmed by the amount of support not only from family/friends but many others. We will never be able to thank everyone enough.

Better Days Ahead

Monday was a very long day...and night. When Barry got home we drove to the ER. Mom and Dave nicely met us there to watch Bugs, just in case we needed her close. We really had no idea what was going on or what was happening. All I knew was that my legs were in major pain. When we got down there they checked me in, made me pee in a cup, and hooked me up to the baby monitor. Hung out in the maternity area for a while until they came back and said they had no answers to what was going on…which looking back now was dumb they didn’t even do an ultrasound or anything. They packed me up and sent me back down to the ER section. Went through the process again. The doctor came in, did some checking of my reflexes and feeling in my legs then sent for a blood draw to make sure all that was good….couldn’t have been better. So once again I left the doctor with no answers…mystery case central right here. Well never the less I was “ok”…the baby was fine…guess that’s all you could really ask for. Answers are for losers ha. Anyways though the ride home was torture, we made it and I went straight to bed. I stayed home one more day in hopes that it was going to go away… This was a very good idea since the next day was worse than the first. It was horrible, but not just in my legs but it moved to my belly also. Though the pain was bad I believe baby was just having a growth spirt  My belly grew an inch since the last time I measured. I am still experiencing stomach/leg pain but having the thought its baby growing makes it all worth it. And as long as little jammer is moving around in my belly I will be happy. Wednesday I made it through work…well I guess that’s what you can call it. I got my work done and didn’t cry in pain so we’ll take it. I was completely exhausted after though. My body was compensating so much hiding the pain that it wore me out. By the time I got home I had a little energy to make something to eat then needed a nap! Luckily Bugs had Kicks so I had some time. Now being Thursday it was time to get back to my to-do list. Though work was still a little rough, probably will be for a bit, I made it through with enough energy to still be awaKE as I write this now in the evening, progress oh yeah! Had on my list to contact Mayo, even though I’m only 31 weeks tomorrow, we figured I should probably get my call in soon since they book up. Even better they called me . Well they called about my email in request for information for amnioinfusion, even better. Sounds like the doc thinks it’s a good idea/worth a shot. So got two birds with one stone, so they say. Now hopefully they can get all of my appointments in one shot. Though Monday things seemed very dark and I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it through. I was in a dark place, worried about everything that was going on. I was very sad and worried and just not myself. Though I don’t regret our decision, I was questioning why things were happening. It wasn’t bad enough we were given this news of a high chance of losing our child…but now I was being overwhelmed with immense pain that still has yet to let up and probably will stay with me till the end. It’s just not something I was fully anticipating…with Bugs everything was pretty easy going. There isn’t much I remember of it being troublesome. I was that pregnant lady you were mad to look at because she just went on with her days as nothing was different. There wasn’t this thing growing in her belly, it was just easy. Now a days I walk around like a broken doll it feels like. But the news today from the nurse and getting thing in the works somehow changed that dark questioning around. Nothing has changed for our answers to come but seeing the end coming into view added a little different perspective. Lightened things up a little bit. I even more take joy in the excessive movement going on in my belly .