Jacob, on the eve of your 3rd birthday, I feel as
though it is (finally!) time to document the story of your birth. Although
there may be some details that I have forgotten over the past three years, the
beginning and the end remain the same: We loved you from the moment we knew we were
expecting you and when you arrived; our love for you grew and grew!
On Monday October 5th, my doctor suggested I go on
modified bed rest because of some high blood pressure and swelling in my feet,
which meant for me – no more work. I was still able to take Cooper for short,
easy walks, do laundry, cook dinner, etc. but I was encouraged to take it slow
and listen to my body. I was confident that you were safe and healthy, and
excited to have a month “off” before your arrival. On Sat. October 10th
I was nervous that my blood pressure would be high and I would not know it, so
once I awoke (10am’ish) I drove to Stop and Shop to take my blood pressure. I
don’t know exactly what it was, but it was high. I called grandpa who said to
call my Dr. I called and they said to come in right away. I went in with an
empty stomach and confidence that I would be home by dinner (I left Cooper home
because the week before, October 6th, I went in with some headaches
and brought Cooper with me. They almost admitted me, but after realizing that I
was only 36 weeks, they said to go home and stay in bed as much as possible). I
called daddy who was working a major tournament and we kept in touch throughout
the day.
The nurses had me hooked up on a fetal monitor and watched your movement
and heartbeat. I had to drink some water because I was a little dehydrated.
They kept on monitoring me and the more I watched their body language, the more
nervous I was (not really nervous, just starting to wonder what was up). They
called down to radiation and scheduled me to get a full anatomy check where
they look at every inch of you in utero. I still had not had anything to eat,
but I was more concerned about you so I did not really feel hungry, and I
always thought that I would be leaving “in just a little bit” so I figured that
I would eat at home. At some point in the late afternoon/early evening daddy
came and the nurses continued to monitor me/you. Around 6pm, I realized that I
should order some dinner and the nurses brought me a menu. No sooner had the
nurses placed my dinner request was Dr. Yates in the room saying that they
noticed that with every contraction (so little that I could not even feel them)
your heart rate was slowing. They were going to induce me and I should not eat
anything in case they needed to schedule me for a C-section. With the Pitocin
(medicine to induce labor) they noticed that your heart rate was slowing even
more. So they stopped that and scheduled a C-section for 8am the next morning.
Dr. Yates didn’t want me to go into full labor and then have an emergency in
the middle of the night. So – they called it quits (stopped the Pitocin). Daddy
went home to pack some stuff for me and stay with Cooper and I tried to get
some sleep.
The next morning daddy arrived at 7am and I got prepped for
surgery. Surgery was at 8am. I got wheeled in and daddy waited until I was
prepped and ready to go. The spinal tap made me really sick to my stomach (I
was so hungry and I could feel my stomach growling even though I was numb from
the waist down) and I threw-up a few times. The Doctors gave me some
anti-nausea medicine and I was good to go. You were born at 8:26am and were
perfect! 5lbs 3 oz and 18 in. Daddy went with you to the nursery while I got
sewed up and wheeled back into my room. It took forever for me to see you
because you were having some issues (low blood sugar and slight jaundice). But,
when I finally saw you I fell in love again. You were absolutely perfect! You
had to stay attached to some sugar water to help with your blood sugar and
under the bili light so that your jaundice would go away. Because of these two
things you stayed in the nursery for the majority if time, but when you needed
to eat, you were brought to me and I could walk across the hall to the nursery
whenever I wanted to. I would like to say that you spent your first nights
sleeping next to me in your little crib, and that I held you for every minute
of the day during those first few days, but I was unable to – you needed your
bili light to make you healthy so it was important for you to stay in the
nursery. You looked so cute in there – with your little sunglasses on. You were
a little glow worm. Three days passed and while your blood sugar improved, your
platelet count was decreasing. On Wed, October 14th our
nurses/doctors decided it best to send you down to Baystate, which is part #2
of your birth story.
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