3 weeks ago today...the birth of my first child

I went for a checkup at my doctor's office on Thursday Oct 28th. My blood pressure was elevated, I had protein in my urine, and I had gained 10 pounds in 2 weeks in FLUID...which you could tell my looking at my legs. I had cankles and my knees were are big as my thighs. Since I was preeclamptic...doctor's orders were that I go straight to the hospital to be induced. She wanted him born before I got sick. I told her I was going home first for a shower and dinner and to finish packing my bag. She didn't want me to...but I knew what would happen when I was admitted to the hospital- nothing but ice chips.

So I went home and took a shower while Carl went to pick up my last meal of chicken nuggets and fries. We both ate and then packed my car and headed over to the hospital. We were taken to our hospital room sometime between 7 and 8pm. Here is our last photo together before I was bedridden for 3 days:

Thursday night they put me on Cervidil. It is supposed to stay in for 12 hours and then they check to see if it is working. At this point, they also had me hooked to in IV with I don't even remember all that was being pumped in me. I know Magnesium was...we had to keep the room dark and were not supposed to have the TV on. Mag and the other fluids plus the fact that I was already swollen had me puffy and absolutely miserable. And on top of that, someone was pricking my finger every 2 hours or so to check my blood sugar and they would come back with more insulin to shoot up. The next day when they went to check and see if the Cervidil did anything, they discovered that it was not even in all the way. So basically, it was a waste of 12 hours. So then I had to wait a few hours for them to start me on Cytotek. I also had to have a cath at this point because they didn't want to chance the medicine falling out. I was to have a Cytotek every 4 hours...until I had 4...and then see if I was ready. Well, after all the Cytotek, still not dilated and labor not started. So very early Saturday morning I was informed that they would break my water soon. That terrified me. Luckily, my water broke on its own.

They waited several hours to see if I dilated. I was BEGGING for a C-section since mid-Friday because I was miserable. I was bloated so bad it was insane. I was hurting anytime they did anything to me and I just cried all the time because I didn't want anyone else touching me. My hands were so swollen, I couldn't get anywhere close to making a fist, so when Carl would hold my hand, I would have to ask him to squeeze my hand since it was physically impossible for me to squeeze his!

Finally Saturday before noon, they decided I would be having Spencer soon via Cesaerean section. I was not even scared of it because I was so ready for this to be over with! I was relieved that he would be out soon and that hopefully the swelling would go down and people would stop poking and prodding me and everything. They wheeled me back to the operating room and the gorgeous anesthesiologist gave me a spinal and I was numb in no time. The operation felt like it took forever, but my family that was waiting nearby said it was no time. I felt the doctors pushing on my belly, but I never felt the incision, just some pushing and then I heard crying and knew it would be over soon.  I did not have my glasses on, so I couldn't really see much of what was going on in the room, but they got him cleaned up and gave him to Carl. Carl brought Spencer over to me and our nurse friend took a picture of our little family for us. I could not have imagined how much Carl and I would instantly been in love. Carl was sniffling when he brought Spencer over and my heart melted!

Spencer was born Saturday October 30th (my dad's birthday) at 12:09 pm and weighed 7 lbs, 3 oz and was 19.74 inches long.

Here is our first family picture together (with mommy still being operated on and baby still crying):

Since I am diabetic, I already knew that Spencer would more than likely have to go to NICU when he was born. That is exactly what happened. He had low blood sugar at birth, and they took him to NICU (after a small detour so my mom, sister, aunt, and friend) could see him. The main thing that I hated about him being in NICU was that I could not breastfeed him. All I could do was pump in my hospital room and send the milk to him. Carl and I figured that was better than him just getting formula alone. I did not even get out of bed for over 24 hours after my surgery. So Carl and our parents could go visit Spencer, but I could not. NICU printed out 2 pictures of him to send to me...and I cried in my room looking at the pictures.

Not long after the operation, they moved me to a different floor. It was much better here! I did not have to be on an IV anymore and the nurse only came in my room 3 or 4 times a day instead of every 2 hours. I only got my finger pricked once or twice a day and I got Metformin instead of insulin. About 30 hours after my surgery, my nurse decided I needed to go visit my son. She asked everyone to leave the room and she shut the door and she was determined to get me into a wheelchair before she got off her shift. I cried and complained...it HURT! But someone she managed to make me get into that wheelchair and Carl wheeled me down to NICU. I was so weak from the whole hospital ordeal that I was afraid to hold him. Not to mention that I have never really been around babies before. (Now, 3 weeks later I almost feel like a pro).

Here is our first family photo after the operating room:

Our sweet baby boy:

We got to leave the hospital Tuesday Nov 2nd around 9pm. (I had to go back to the hospital Thursday because of blood pressure, but that is a different story). We took him home and let Bear sniff him...we are pretty sure Bear is in love too. He loves to kiss his baby brother and gets worried if he is crying and gets upset with us if he thinks we are not taking care of the situation. We really could not ask for a better dog than Bear. And as of the first 3 weeks with our son, we could not have asked for a better child! He is on a 4-hour schedule and everyone tells us how lucky we are and that he is easy compared to how they had it. Carl was mommy and daddy the first week or 2 since mommy did not feel well at all. He was really a life-saver. Now that my blood pressure is down and I don't hurt anymore, I am trying my best to do a lot more! But I really got in the habit of sleeping all night while Carl would get up for the middle-of-the-night feedings...and I still haven't taken that role over! Oh...and Spencer REFUSES to breastfeed. We think it is because he had a bottle the first several days of his life while in NICU...and he does not want to work to get his food. We tried for a few days, but I gave up because it was too stressful for me...and seemed to be for Spencer too. He would latch, but didn't like the flow, so he would just scream and scream until we gave him a bottle. I really hate that it worked that way, but it is easier since anyone can feed him and it gives me a break. He still gets some breast milk...not as much as we would like, but I guess some is better than none.

Spencer and I both had a good first check-up at the doctor. They said my blood pressure SHOULD be back to normal without medicine by my next appointment. Spencer gained a few ounces and grew a quarter of an inch. He is a happy and healthy baby and we couldn't have asked for a better one.