This post is very overdue but life has been a little crazy! I promise I started this post ages ago but every time I sit down someone starts to cry or needs something to eat/drink or wants to sit on my lap and "help" and so on, you get the picture. Anyway, here it is and it is a little long but I haven't written this in my journal yet so this is going to have to count as my journal entry too! :o)
So on Monday the 14th of December I had taken a nap (I don't get the huge burst of energy that people talk about) and woke up at 5pm, my kids were starving and I had no dinner ready or even thought of. So I called Nate and he told me he would take care of dinner and he whipped up his specialty and ordered pizza. So while he and Brayden were picking it up Matthew and I were going to make a salad. I was starting to get out the veggies when I felt the baby move and then really needed to use the bathroom(it is rough having a large head flattening your bladder). So I was on my way upstairs when I felt myself wetting my pants but it wasn't a huge gush like my water was breaking so I was just embarrassed. So I went to use the restroom anyway and changed(it is very glamorous to be pregnant). I was in the bathroom and would stand up and then have to sit back down. It was a very odd feeling of zero control. Matthew finally came upstairs and said, "Mom, why are you still in the potty we are supposed to be making a salad!" I finally was able to go and call the hospital to see if my water had broke. I had always heard people say that it was a huge gush of water, so I really didn't think that my water had broke. So the nurse said the only way to be sure was to come in and they do a little test. I still wasn't completely convinced and really didn't want to get sent home from the hospital. I knew if that happened I would be really depressed even more so than just the depressed I felt for being 5 days over. But Nate told me we were going. So we packed up and dropped off the kids. We got to the hospital around 8pm or so. Took the little test and there was no doubt my water broke. So we got checked in and the nurse asked if I wanted an epidural. I was still completely undecided at this point of what I was going to do. The nurse looked at me like I was crazy when I told her I was thinking about going natural. Honestly I was really scared childbirth hurts more than words can describe. Nate pulled me aside and told me I didn't need to be a hero and I should go for the drugs. So I decided to try it out again and hope that it went better. So while we waited for the anesthesiologist, I got my IV and antibiotics (I have the strep B virus). I got lightheaded and sweaty while she was putting that in, what can I say I really hate needles. So the anesthesiologist got in my room about 9:30 or so. By this time I was in complete panic. I know not to look at the needle but from what I hear it is a rather large one. He was very nice and got things in place and then gave me a test shot of drugs to make sure everything was in right. Well, he hit a vein and it makes you feel lightheaded and lots of ringing in your ears. Also I am sure that it didn't help that I hadn't eaten any dinner, in my experience it isn't good to go into labor on a full stomach. So the combination of everything I really thought I was going to pass out. Luckily the nurse shoved an alcohol wipe in my face and that actually helped a lot. Anyway, he tried 3 times to reposition the needle and every time hit a vein. It really wasn't fun. Then I really started to panic and had to put on the oxygen mask. Finally he said that he need to start over. At least I was numb but I could feel him digging around in my back. I was really close to telling him to just leave and that I would rather just take the contractions. But the 4 time he got it in just right and it was heaven. Couldn't feel a thing for about 45 minutes or so. I didn't realize that I had a button that would give me a shot of more meds when I needed it so it really started to hurt around midnight. I finally called the nurse. She came in and checked me and said, "oh you are at a 10 and ready to push! Let me call your doctor." (the nurse had checked me right before 11 and I was at a 4, so I was really surprised when she said I was ready to push) But she wouldn't let me have any more medicine because she said I needed to feel the contractions. By now it really hurt and I was beginning to think that my epidural was a waste of time. So I still pushed my button and the anesthesiologist pushed it once for me too but it still hurt. My doctor got there about 15 minutes after she called him, he lives really close to the hospital, thank goodness. I only pushed about 3 times and out he came at 12:50am. He defiantly has the loudest set of lungs out of the 3 boys. I have never heard a baby scream so loud! He weighed in at 7 pounds 15 ounces. And she measured him at 18 1/2 inches but I know that he was longer than that when we went back to the doctor a week later he was almost 21 inches. Sorry but there is no way that he grew that much in a week. I felt great after it was all over. I hardly tore and the epidural wore right off and I got up and was walking in no time at all.
Our first picture! I know I look gross but give me a break it was just after 1 in the morning and I just had a baby.
Then on Tuesday night at about 9pm the nurse came in to tell me that Preston's white blood cell count had jumped way up, which can be an indicator of him developing an infection. Since I have the Strep B virus they didn't waste any time getting him on antibiotics. The nurse first told me that he should only be on it for about 24 hours and then he would probably be released from the hospital. She made it sound like it wasn't a big deal. But then we talked the nurse practitioner, who was the head guy over the NICU that night and he told us that it would be at least 5-7 days depending on how he responded to the antibiotics. I am sure he was trying to reassure us that it was a good thing that they got him on antibiotics right away but he wasn't shy in telling us that if the baby did get the infection it could be fatal. Oh course I was still emotional and hormonal and was bawling. We were able to go in and see him after he got his IV. It is rough seeing your little baby hooked up the 4 different monitors and an IV in his tiny hand. After the first 24 hours his blood cell count came down and continued to do so. I think that he was back to normal after 3 days but the hospital wouldn't release him until at least 5 days of antibiotics. I had to be discharged on Thursday the 18th. Then Preston was discharged on Monday the 22nd. So I only had a couple of days of going up to the hospital to nurse. It was tiring and I felt really bad for the ladies who had preemies and were going back and forth for weeks.
The hospital dressed him up in this little stocking, it was cute :)
My mom was able to fly in on Friday night the 19th to help out. She was a huge help. Before that the boys were being passed around among people in our ward which was a huge help as well. Anyway, my mom, Matthew and Brayden made this sign for Preston!
And now there are 5!
The boys sure love their new baby brother! Brayden tried to give Preston his blanket. Which was surprising as his blanket is his most prized possession and not many people are allowed to touch it!
This is the first time we have ever gotten a picture of me, Nate and the baby. For some reason with the other boys we forgot to take this picture!
3 boys! Heaven help me :)
Anytime the baby cries Brayden comes running and holds out his arms and says, "I take him mom" Such a helper!
Matthew loves to hold him when he isn't crying. In fact he often reminds us that he doesn't hold crying babies!
My dad and my sister came up to visit for a few days too. It was nice to have everyone here and a little extra help!
