Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Soggy shoes....

  Happy Hump Day everybody! Today was a wet one. I once again have an inch of standing water in certain spots of my yard. One of those spots just happens to be outside my back door. Every time I had to go out back I got a shoe full of water. I tell you there is nothing worse. Well, except of course wet jeans. Yeah, wet jeans are probably number 1.

  The dogs of course have to go splashing through the water when they go out to potty. They break out in a full run with me standing there yelling "Get out of the water!" Then when we come back inside they track leaves, blades of grass, and dirty water through my house. It is so gross. I sweep up all of the bits and pieces, but I won't mop until Friday. It wouldn't make any sense since they will have to go back out in it tomorrow.

  I ventured out to the store today between storms. Davis drank the last of his juice yesterday, and Krogers had the Minute Maid half gallon juice on sale for a $1.00. It is a good deal, and the juice is good. It's in the dairy section, and comes in a carton. While I was there I ran into a former employee of Jay's. She is actually a family friend. We chatted for a little while. We were "those people" you know the ones who stand in the middle of the aisle? I dislike those people. At least I would move, or ask if I was in the way. After talking for a little while we both had to go, and walked to the check out together. On our way I looked through the sliding glass doors, and saw that the sky had once again opened. I decided to hang out a bit longer. After it slacked down I checked out, and headed to the Red Box kiosk. There it was, The Great and Powerful Oz, I was so excited. I cannot wait to watch it. Davis finally gave in to sleep, but it is late. I might wait, and watch it in the morning. I was so excited when this movie came out. I of course ruined it though, and went on wikipedia to read the spoilers. I'm sure it will still be great.

  Well that's it for tonight. I am pretty tired, and I still need to clean my kitchen. Jay won't be home until next Friday night. Yeah, it seems like forever away.

  Talk to you guys later.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

My NICU Story.......

  As promised a few weeks ago here is my NICU story......

  I didn't wake up from the surgery, and all until about 5:30p in the evening on Tuesday. So, I didn't see Davis for the first time until Tuesday night. They wheeled me in the NICU up to his isolette . The nurse greeted me, and asked if I wanted to hold him. As soon as she touched him he began to cry. She said he preferred to be left alone. I knew that much was true because he was like that in the womb. He was crying when she put him in my arms, and I said " It's alright Davis". He immediately stopped crying, and gazed in my direction. It was like he was thinking "I know you. Where have you been?" I was instantly in love.

  

   The first couple of days went great until that Friday morning when I called to see how his night was. His nurse told me that he had 4 out of the 6cc's of food left over from his last meal. They put a feeding tube in through their noses or mouths down to their stomachs, and feed them through a syringe. Before the next meal they "suction" I guess is how you would say it to see how much of the food digested. That morning he only digested 2 cc's. His breathing had also taken a turn for the worse, and he had to be put on a ventilator. That was a bad day. I spent the whole day crying. 

  That night he was in worse shape. His heart rate was dropping. His oxygen levels, even though he was on a ventilator, were low. He was turning gray. I cannot express in words the feelings, and emotions I felt when I thought my baby was dying.  I had only known him for 5 days, but it was the most wonderful 5 days there ever was. When we left that night we didn't know if he would be there in the morning. I cried all the way home. I called my Dad, and told him what was going on, and he told me to pray. I took a shower, and as I getting out the doctor called. Come to find out Davis' pic-line IV came out, and he wasn't getting any of his medicines, or IV fluids. A pic-line IV is an IV that they put into a major artery, so that they don't have to keep sticking him. The possibility of that happening is so rare that they didn't even think to check for it. They only noticed it because his arm was swollen from the fluid going in his arm, and not the artery. My luck I tell ya. After they put it back in he was fine. He had weened himself off of the ventilator by that Monday.

  Two days after our big scare my Dad came to visit. He arrived that Sunday morning, and we headed off to the hospital. He was so proud of Davis. We left the hospital, and went grabbed some lunch. Jay and Daddy then went to Wal-Mart, so Daddy could buy the carseat. I stayed home because who really wants to walk around Wal-Mart a week after a c-section? After we left from our second hospital visit we stopped, and grabbed dinner. I had just fixed our plates, and sat down when I heard my Dad yell "Cyndi come get this!" I turned around, and he was thrusting his plate at me. I grabbed it, and then he started feeling he had to vomit. Jay went and grabbed a trash can. He sat there hollering in pain, and I kept asking did I need to call an ambulance, he would say no. He told me he just needed to go lay down, but he couldn't muster the energy to stand up. I let him sit there for 30 mins before I finally got a good look at his face. He had had a stroke. I called an ambulance, and they took him to the hospital. While we were in the back he just kept apologizing for getting sick. I told him it's not like he planned it. When I thought he was going to get some rest I went home to take a quick nap. The hospital called and woke me up. The nurse told me he had had 4 more strokes while I was gone, and I needed to get up there. When I got there he seemed to be feeling better, and we waited for him to be moved upstairs to the ICU. I called my uncle to let him know what was going on. He and my aunt left, and headed this way. I hung out in his room until it was time for my doctor's appointment.

  After my appointment I went home to gather my thoughts. My aunt and uncle arrived, and my uncle went to the hospital while my aunt and I went to the NICU. For the rest of the day I went back, and worth between the NICU, and the ICU. Later that night while I was at the NICU the hospital called, and said my Dad was coding. We rushed there, and thankfully they were able to bring him back.

  The next few weeks my day was as followed: wake up at 3am and pump, wake up at 7am pump and get ready to go to the NICU, 9am come home and pump then go to the ICU, 12pm pump,eat, and go the NICU...you get the drift. I was on auto pilot. Seriously I was so tired I fell asleep with the breast pump on high for 3 hours. Yeah... This was suppose to be the happiest time in my life, but instead I had 2 important guys in critical care. One, Davis, was doing awesome while the other, my dad, was not.

  Davis continued growing and doing great. He ended up being a feed and grow. We didn't have anymore health scares. He was just so tiny. You can not imagine how small a 3lb baby is. I had one, and cannot remember him that small. I still have one of his diapers from when he first got into the NICU, and it is the size of my palm. All the nurses were fabulous. They were so kind, and just.....there isn't a word for them. My friend whose wedding we recently attended was one of Davis' NICU nurses. I hold a special place in my heart for all of them. The experience probably could of been a lot worse if it weren't for them.

  I also made another friend during our time in the NICU. She was a mom of a preemie as well. Funny thing was we were in childbirth classes together. On the last night of the class Jay noticed they hadn't been there, and said "they must of had their baby". I remember telling him that I had hoped not because she was due 2 weeks before me. I ended up giving birth a week later. That Tuesday night when they wheeled me into the NICU I saw a familiar face smiling at me. It was her. She had her little girl 2 weeks before I had Davis. We became good friends, and since we both stayed home the first year we would go walk the mall in the morning time. I think we helped each other make it through that first year. It was nice having someone going through the same thing as you. Her little girl is doing great. She is smart as a whip, and so pretty. She was always smaller than Davis, but did everything first. They are both little miracle babies.

  On Friday March 20th, I signed the papers to take my Dad off of life support. He passed away at 4:30 in the morning on the 21st. That following Saturday Davis came home from the hospital. It's funny how life turns out. I never imagined my dad not being in my son's life. I always pictured him at the holidays, birthday parties, and baseball games. Now that he is not I think that is the hardiest part of it all. I am sad for me, but I am sadder for Davis. My dad was a wonderful man, and I just wished Davis would have had the chance to know him.

  Well that is it. We were just really blessed. We had an excellent team of medical professionals looking after us, and we made some really great friends in the process. If you have any questions just feel free to ask me in the comment section.

  Now if you would excuse me I have a load of clothes that despite all the pep talks, will not fold themselves. 

  Talk to you guys later.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Fun family day....

  We got up bright and early this morning, and headed out the door. Today we finally made good on our talks about going to the zoo. We left the house at about 7:00a.m., and made it to the zoo a little after 9:30a.m. We didn't tell Davis where we were going because we wanted it to be a surprise. He asked several times where we were going, and I finally said "We're going to a broccoli farm. We get to pick our own broccoli, and eat it! Isn't that great?" He agreed half- heartedly. What? Oh, like you don't have a little fun ever once in awhile..... don't judge me.

 When we pulled up at the zoo, and he knew exactly where we were. His little face lit up. He barely sat still long enough to for me to undo his straps on the car seat. The first exhibit we stopped at was the elephants. We made it in time for their baths. I had Jay walk him over though because the smell nearly knocked me down. Davis was down right giddy, and then he was ready to move on to the giraffes. 

  We stopped at other exhibits before making our way to the giraffes. Unfortunately it was HOT today. The majority of the animals were laid out. I can't blame them, I was about to fall out myself. The zoo provided fans with misters through out the park which was fabulous. It was only 10a.m. , and it was close to 90 degrees. My face was beet red, and I was sweating like crazy. Davis' face looked the same as mine. We had to stop, and get some water to cool down. At least some of the exhibits were inside. We at least got a break every now and again.

  After looking at a few animals we made it to the giraffes. He was so excited! They were so close too. That surprised me. They had the option of feeding them, but it was $5 dollars for 3 pieces of lettuce with a 15 min wait. I will own up to the bad parenting move by skipping out on it. Jay was even in on it.It was just too hot. By this point I was just looking for the exit. He was just happy to see them. As a parent there really is nothing better than seeing that look on your child's face.

  Our last stop was the gift shop I was really hoping Davis would get a new stuffy, but he chose some small hard plastic animals. Jay laughed at me because I kept trying to talk him into the stuffies. He told me " it's not what he wants". We payed for it, and dragged ourselves to the hot car. On the way home we stopped at a Mexican restaurant. I believe it is called Iguana Joe's. Seriously the best Mexican food I have ever had. I am still stuffed. Jay was stuffed as well. Like I am hurting stuffed, but still keep thinking about my leftovers in the refrigerator. How sad is that?

  Well that is it for tonight. I am so tired. I am about to slip under the covers, and settled down for the night.

  Talk to you guys later.

  

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Slow day....

 Today was a very relaxing day. I didn't even turn the T.V. on until about 5pm when I was heating up dinner. It was so nice. I read Davis a couple of stories, and we just laid around. He played in his room a good bit today while I caught up on some videos. I wrote my menu plan out for next week, and Davis sat beside me at the kitchen table practicing writing his letters. As I sit here writing this blog the T.V. is off, and Davis is asleep. 

 We broke out his Dr. Seuss Favorites book today. He has really been into Horton Hears a Who lately, so I took the opportunity to read him the story. We also read The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and one more I cannot recall. I had to hurry past The Grinch. Davis is scared of The Grinch, and me being the horrible mother that I am will break out singing You're a Mean One randomly. Not to scare him mind you, but just because that is a song that gets stuck in my head....I started singing it in the tool store not too long ago, and he told me to sing a happy song. Back around Christmas time I thought he was just kidding when he would cover his eyes when it was on...I know, I know...That Christmas favorite will not be shown at my house. Sad because it is one of my favorites.

 I am excited to go shopping in the morning. Bath and Body Works Semi Annual sale starts tomorrow. I need some new candles, and smell goods. As soon as I drop Davis off I am heading that way. I am going hoping they have one particular candle. It is normally a fall scent, but the guy told me they might have it for the sale about a month ago. It is the French Baguette scent, and it honestly smells like fresh baked bread when it is lit. Do not be put off by the smell when it is not. It smells liked buttered popcorn when it is not lit. I LOVE this candle. I mean it could just be the fat girl in me, but I burn it constantly.

 Well that's all for today. I wish I had something exciting to share, but it just wasn't that type of day. I'm okay with that. It means I got to lounge around. Not too shabby if you ask me.

Talk to you guys later.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Hmmm.....

 Jay watched the final episode of Prison Break this morning. YAY!!!! WOOHOO!!!! I felt so free....until he started a new show. Luckily this show only lasted a season, and he will be done with it shortly. We are now trying to find a show to watch together that we will both like. The crazy part is we both started out liking Prison Break. He just went a little over board with watching it. I am thinking Vampire Diaries....

 Today just kinda flew by. Jay goes back to work tomorrow, and I am going to miss him. I always miss him. I am seriously just hoping that whatever is suppose to happen will just happen. Whether it's we stay here (gag me), or we complete the move together as a family. I just miss having him here day to day. 

 We went to J.C. Penny's today. I worked there until Ron Johnson took over. I was apart of the pricing and signing team. Our jobs were phased out when the "new strategy" was put in place. What kind of idiot really thought that he could eliminate coupons and sales, and people would just be like " Thank you Mr. Johnson for showing me the light". Yeah okay.

 Well while we were there I was approached about taking my old job back. I am really considering it. I did like the job, and it would be nice to have a employee discount to use at Sephora again. I'm just saying.... Plus with me possibly having to send Davis to private school for Pre-K  having a job to pay for it would be nice. The only problem is on early work mornings who will take Davis to school? When I had to be at work for 5 am I could count on Jay to bring him to daycare, but with Jay living 2 hours away that is out the window. Also when the house is being shown the dogs HAVE to be removed from the house. They are just the worst, so that would mean evening showings of the house only. What if because of that we miss a potential sale because the buyer could only come during the day? It is a lot to think about. I tried talking to Jay about it, but I got the standard " I don't know we'll talk about it later", but later never comes. So, I am left to figure this out on my own. Wish me luck.....

 I also found out today that a really good friend of mine is moving back to town. She worked with me on the pricing team, and I miss her so much! Her reasons for moving back suck, but I am still glad to have her back. We didn't get to talk as much while she was gone, but hopefully we can make up for lost time.

 Ok guys that's it for tonight. I am going to try and get some sleep, so I can get up earlier in the morning. 

Talk to you guys later.  

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Mini vacation.....

 So my mini vacation is over, and it was also cut short. The boys were suppose to be back this afternoon, but ended up coming home last night. That final night of having the bed to myself, and sleeping in guilt free was out the window. Davis stayed up until 3am, and woke up before 9am. Let's just say he has not been pleasant today. He was the poster child for meltdowns. He threw a fit because he didn't want to go to Wal-Mart, he threw a fit because Daddy was watching Prison Break ( I had to join in on that one), and the final meltdown was after I told him to put his soap down. He took it out of his suitcase, and I told him to put it down. He didn't listen, and took it out of the ziploc bag. I told him to put it down in a stern voice, and this is what I was able to make out " I NEVER GET TO SEE ANYTHING!!!!" I am guessing he is referring to me never letting him play with things he shouldn't. I thought that was good parenting. Apparently I was wrong. He climbed in my lap, and went to sleep.

 Nothing much has been going on these past few days. Davis left Thursday night with Jay, and about 2 hours later a storm came through. The wind picked up, and from what I understand we had streamline winds of about 60mph. I was sweeping the floor when all of a sudden I saw the transformer sparking. The lights went out at about 7:20p and didn't come back on till after midnight. The crazy part was there was only 5 of us without power. My neighbors on both sides, 2 houses across the street, and me. The rest of the street was lit up. I was nervous the Entergy workers were going to pass by because everybody body else had lights on. Luckily I was awake when they passed by because that was just what was going to happen. They stopped to check out the transformer 3 houses down, and the guy was heading back to the van when I called out to him. They fixed it and life was good.

 I got quite a bit of cleaning done while the boys were gone. I cleaned Davis' room. Which he has only been back a day, and you would never be able to tell he walked into a clean room. It was just nice to be able to clean in peace. Without having to say things like no, move, get back, don't touch...

 We are hopefully meeting with a real estate agent tomorrow. We are ready to get the ball rolling again. I am ready to get back to the other side of the state. I am just done with this side. I miss home, and I miss old friends. Although I will be leaving my favorite friend behind. Luckily she goes back home to visit every now and then, so I will see her when she does. 

 That's it for tonight. I am really sleepy. Davis not going to bed until 3a, and then waking up early put a hurting on me. Gone are the days of running on a few hours of sleep. Now if mama doesn't get at least 8 hours there will be some heads rolling.

 Talk to you guys later.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

What's been up?

 Hey guys. Long time no chat. I have been fighting a sinus headache, and it was a mammie jammer. It is Wednesday night, and my hubby is home. He got in last night. I keep thinking today is Friday for some strange reason. I guess his days off being different has thrown me off this week.

 Nothing much has been going on the past few days. I had to venture out of the house yesterday because the dogs were out of food. Plus Davis started his new "school" today, and needed some school supplies. It is a Mother's Day Out program at a local church. They teach preschool there which is a bonus. They sent home a progress report with him today. The teacher said that he did great today. I am glad that he enjoyed it, and transitioned well. 

 While Davis was at school, Jay painted. We are planning on putting the house back on the market within the next few weeks. Let's just say I got a little carried away with my paint colors. He has to paint the accent wall in the dining room, the office, and our bedroom. He started with the dining room today. The wall before the primer went up was a dark teal, and tomorrow it will be a light khaki color. Every time I look over at the white wall I get a little sad. I loved my teal wall, but unfortunately I am guessing it turned some buyers off. Hopefully tomorrow we can paint that wall plus prime the office. I can paint the office while Davis is at his grandmother's. Did I mention that? Davis is going to stay at my mother-in-law's until Sunday. I so needed the break.

 After we ate dinner tonight we decided to take Davis to the spray park. It was almost 6 o'clock in the evening, and I assumed everybody else would be at home eating dinner. I guess all the people that were there assumed that too.... He had a ball. He ran around, and splashed his heart out. It was a good way to insure a good night's sleep. He has been staying up so late recently. I am excited to say it has been followed with us sleeping until 10am. I have been waking up in the best mood. I am a night owl, and no where near an early riser. Davis is shaping up to be the same.

 Well, that's all for tonight. My friend who got married went to Europe for her honeymoon. I told her I just wanted pictures of Italy for my souvenir. She posted a picture of them taking a gondola ride in Venice, so I am pretty excited :)

 Talk to you guys later.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Labor and Delivery part 2....

 First I would like to say Happy Birthday to my husband! The old fart. He had to work today, so no birthday celebrations. We will have to do all that Wednesday and Thursday when he comes home. He is a no fuss kind of guy, so it won't be anything major. He doesn't even like to go out to eat. We will end up just with me cooking dinner, and just relaxing around the house. Well on with the story....

 So, last night I left off with the start of what I thought was a gallbladder attack. Once the pain began I called the nurse, and told her what was going on. She asked how did I know it was a gallbladder attack, and I told her because I had already had one. She then says "well I am going to bring the gas medicine anyways, and we'll wait and see". She brought me the medicine and low and behold jack squat happened. Luckily she was working a short shift, and the next nurse came in. I believe our first introduction was me shoving the right side of my rib cage into the table. You know, trying to put some pressure on it to ease the pain. She was really nice. She rubbed my back, and told me to call if I needed her. 

 By now this had been going on for about 2 hours. I started vomiting. What I saw put me off Subway for a while. I will spare you the details, but let's just say I couldn't even ride by Subway without my stomach doing loops. Another hour passes by and I am still sitting in the same place when she brings in the drink that numbs my throat as I drink it. I am told that if it was my gallbladder it should stop the pain- it didn't. She also told me the doctor asked if I was hurting this bad when he was there. My response was no. He never came up there. I moved on to my next attempt at feeling better which sitting on my knees in front of the rocking chair with the base of the seat shoved into my rib cage. Once again it did not work. I called Jay begging him to come up there with me, but he told me to just try and get some sleep. Before you call him all the names I did he really does feel horrible about that. He is a typical guy. If you cut your finger off just figure out how finish it with 9 fingers instead. 

 Next I moved on to the shower. I was not a huge germaphobe  before this, but if I was not in so much pain there is no way I would have done what I did. I got on my knees, and placed my face on the bench. Yep, the bench that God knows how many bags of water have ruptured on, and I put my face on it. I was desperate, and it worked! Finally some relief.The water beating down on my back was so soothing. I would fall asleep like then wake up because my leg was over the drain, and I was flooding the floor. The nurse came and checked on me, but by this point I was out of it. Once my exhaustion set in I went and laid in the bed. I literally passed out from the pain, and being so tired. The nurse checked on me 2 more times before the end of her shift, and told me she hoped I felt better. At about 7am a resident came in. She told me that they were going to draw some blood, send me for an ultrasound on my gall bladder, and not to eat anything. They drew the blood, and the ultrasound tech said she didn't see any gallstones. At 8am the CNA brought my breakfast. I told her they said I couldn't eat anything, and she went go check. She comes back in, and says that they told her it was alright that I could eat. I am still hurting so bad that eating was the last thing I wanted to do. I took a sip of orange juice, and went back to sleep.

 A little after nine a new doctor comes in. This is what I remember of that conversation...."Hey babe, look I just got off the phone with LSU..." I fell asleep "they said your liver...." fell asleep again "we are going to go ahead and do a C-section". I just looked at him and asked " when are you doing the c-section?" He told me now. He came over to my bedside and smiled down at me like you would a sick child. I could just imagine what I must have looked like. I asked if I had time for Jay to get there, and he asked how far away he was. I told him 15 mins, and he said he better hurry. I called his cell, and he didn't answer. I called the kitchen, and the chef answered. I said " Hey Chef Andy, this is Cyndi, Chef Jared's fiance. Can you tell him that they are about to do a c-section, and for him to get his ass to the hospital right now?" He says yes and we get off the phone. Jay arrives as the nurses are prepping me.

 I at this point am just in a daze. Everybody is rushing around me, having me sign papers, and assuring me that I am going to be alright. Jay is surprised to find that the c-section is about to happen. He didn't understand until he got there that this was serious. The nurses try setting up another IV, but fail to do so. They tell me I am going to have to wait on the anesthesiologist...... DUN DUN DUN!!!!! As soon as he walked up to my bedside, and introduced himself I informed him that I had been scared of him my whole pregnancy. he laughed and told me he had never heard that one before. Usually everybody was happy to see him. 

 They wheel me to the OR, and the anesthesiologist puts in my epidural. I was shocked at how easy it was. They lay me back, and wait for the epidural to kick in. Then the surgery begins. Jay watches the whole thing. I still laugh at the fact that he was rubbing my head while he was watching, and after a few minutes the rubbing would slow down to almost a stop, and then start back up so fast he almost started a fire on my face. It's like he would get so into the surgery, and then remember it was me. He will still sometimes say "Phssh, I've seen your uterus". A few minutes into the surgery the doctor asks the nurses for a banjo pick. Nobody moves. He asks again. Then you hear " I need a banjo pick! B-A-N, GOSH DARN IT (but he actually said it the other way) YOU ARE SUPPOSE TO HAVE THIS S*IT READY!" Me being the inappropriate person that I am thought this was hilarious. In fact he is now my regular doctor because of that. 

 Next thing I hear is "It's a boy!", and Davis' cry. If you have not had the pleasure of hearing a preemie cry- they sound like baby kittens. It was the most precious sound ever.I remember Jay saying "He's so small".  They walked him around so I could see him, and then whisked him off to the NICU. The same nurse practitioner that told me what to expect was in the OR. She told me he was breathing on his own. I forgot to mention that I was given 2 shots that I believe were to speed up Davis' lung development. All in all he was perfect. 

 They closed me up, and took me back to the room. I had to throw up on the way back, and the anesthesiologist told me to go ahead. I lifted my head, and cupped my hand on my boob, and proceeded to throw up. It was just orange juice. He laughed because I was so neat about it. I just remember thinking I didn't want to make any extra work for somebody. I get back to the room where my mother-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law were waiting.My mother-in-law always says she was good luck because she was in town when he was born, and when he was released from the hospital. I tell her she can claim when he was released, but seeing how he was 2 months early I wouldn't brag about that.

 They changed my gown, and I passed out again. I woke up in the middle of the night with the nurse telling me to press the button for morphine, and then I went back to sleep until Tuesday evening around 5:30. I was out of it. I think it was about 2 years later I found that my friend who sat with me stopped by the hospital the day Davis was born. I was like "you did?", and she said "yeah you talked to me". When she said it I vaguely remembered her standing beside my bed. 

 That is the bulk of it. I left out a bunch of stuff, but then there would have been "Labor and Delivery part 5", and who needs that? Wednesday when Tammy came to check on me I told her I had the worst gallbladder attack ever, and that is when she told me I didn't have a gallbladder attack that is was HELLP Syndrome. The doctor that didn't come back to check on me that night came in doing rounds, and couldn't even look me in the eye. I guess he felt bad for not coming back, and checking on me in person. If you are wondering why I had so many different doctors it's because when I got pregnant with Davis I didn't have insurance, and had to use medicaid. Not my finest moment, but that is what it is there for. So, the clinic I went to had several different doctors that attended to the patients.

 To all of you who made it to this point, thanks for sticking around. Sorry that it was so long, but it was a crazy experience. Tomorrow I will talk about our NICU experience, and something that happened during Davis' NICU stay that shook my world.

 Talk to you guys later.

  

 

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Labor and Delivery.....

 Hey guys! It was a slow day here. We didn't go anywhere, or do anything. In fact we didn't even change out of our pajamas. It was quite nice. Davis' allergies flared up at I don't even know what time this morning, so he was pretty miserable. I gave him some allergy medicine when he officially woke up, but it hasn't done much in the way of making him feel any better. Since it was such a slow day with nothing to report I figured I would blog about my labor and delivery. I might have to break this into two parts. Let's get started....

 The whole ordeal started with a regular ol' doctor's visit. It was just a regular day.I was 31 weeks pregnant, and I felt great. There was no indication of the crap storm that was about to kick off. So, I get called to the back, and the nurse checks my blood pressure. She makes a face, and says that she must have messed up, and proceeds to check it again. Once again she makes a face except this time she tells me that she isn't even playing with me, and for me to follow her to the back. She tells the nurse practitioner, Tammy, that she is having a problem getting a proper reading on my blood pressure. She tells her that she keeps getting 155/105, and that Tammy needs to come take a look. Tammy comes in and presses on my ankles, ask me if I had been seeing gold flecks in my vision, and takes my blood pressure. After she takes my blood pressure she tells the nurse "You were wrong". A brief wave of "whew" passes over the nurse's face, and then Tammy tells her "It's 160/115".  The nurse's jaw drops, and Tammy proceeds to tell me to get my butt to the hospital. I was told not to stop for anything- not even a phone call. As she is rushing me out she lets me know she is calling ahead to let them know I am on my way. 

 I leave for the hospital ignoring her orders because I did make a stop. I stopped at work to let them know I wouldn't be there that night because I was being put in the hospital. It was on my way to the hospital.... I make it to the hospital they check me in, send me to have an ultrasound done, and start an IV. At this point I still feel great. They had me hooked up to a machine that would take my blood pressure once an hour, and every hour after it took my blood pressure it would beep. By the time everything quieted down it was around 7pm. Jay came to visit, and left to go tend the dogs. He slept at home since he was still having to work, and there is no such thing as a peaceful sleep at a hospital. Unless of course it is drug induced. I eventually fall asleep only to be awoken to nurses standing on either said of my bed saying my name. They tell me that my blood pressure had shot way up, and they were going to wrap the rails of my bed just in case I had a seizure, so that I wouldn't hurt myself. The resident started me on magnesium, and so began the wild ride.

 Have any of you ever been on magnesium? That is some miserable stuff. It makes you so sleepy. My best friend whom I have known since middle school came and sat with me while I was in the hospital. It was funny because we would be having a conversation, and I would just fall asleep in the middle of it. I would wake up later on asking "Did I fall asleep?" She would laugh, and tell me yep. She would just sit there while I slept reading a book. I tell you what I will love her forever for sitting with me like that. She would get there bright and early, and leave like 7 hours later. She is my touchstone.

 While I was on the magnesium I was also on bed rest. Yay.... Catheters are the devil. I was so scared to move because bumping it was the worst. Here is a fun little fact about me, I am terrified of needles. Funny I say that since I have a tattoo, and have had a couple of piercings. I am though. The whole pregnancy I kept thinking I was going to have a natural childbirth because there was no way on God's green Earth they were stabbing me in the back with that huge needle. I say this because while I was on the magnesium they had to monitor the levels of it in my system. Which meant they had to draw blood every 30 mins to an hour. Finally one of the phlebotomist asked had I been having it drawn from my arm, or just having my finger pricked? I looked at her, and said "I have a choice? Finger prick please". They had pricked my fingers so many times they stopped producing blood. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

 The IV's were insane. My veins are so terrible that you had to be a seasoned pro I guess to stick me. My veins were mangled by time I left the hospital, and I am not even kidding. They were having to put the iv's in the weirdest angles. I can't remember all of them, but I remember the one that kept me from bending my wrist. Oh, and the fluid retention....I was so swollen. Jay had many a laugh at my expense. He said I had Fred Flintstone feet. They were huge! I remember looking at my feet once all the fluid was gone thinking " my feet are so dainty". They're really not. I have wide fat feet, but after all that fluid they looked like size 6's. My hands were humongous as well. I do have little hands, so to see them look like they did was crazy. They were so full of fluid I could barely make a fist.

 I spent all day Friday and Saturday on magnesium. By Sunday my blood pressure had come down enough that they were able to take me off of it. They also unhooked me from the iv fluids.The catheter came out as well, and I was allowed to get up, and move around. I was informed though that I would be in the hospital until I delivered. My due date was two months away. I didn't care though I was just so happy the catheter was out. At some point that day they scheduled for a neonatal nurse practitioner to come talk with me in the event that I had a preemie. I had a list of questions to ask, and she answered every one of them. She really and truly put me at ease. While we were talking the machine took my blood pressure, and it started beeping like normal, and I noticed she was looking at it kinda funny. The nurse came in and told her "Laura, we didn't say come in here, and scare her". That's when I realized the beeping was letting them know when my blood pressure was high. 

 That evening my in laws came to visit from across the state. I had begged Jay to go, and get me a Subway sandwich because at this point I was starving. He left to go get it, and they came to put the bands around my stomach to monitor Davis. This was at 6:30p, and they told me not to eat until they gave me the go 'head. Jay comes back, and places this delicious sandwich in front of me smelling all good, but I can't eat it. I sent him to the nurse's station after about an hour and a half to see if maybe they forgot about me. Nope, they said I still had to wait. Finally after almost 3 hours of looking at this sandwich I send him back out there, and they told him I could go ahead and eat. They were having problems locating Davis on the monitor, and the doctor on call was going to come do an ultrasound later. I tore into that sandwich. Jay and my in laws left for the evening, and I was left to wait for the doctor. As I am waiting I start to get a pain under my right rib. The doctor comes and does the ultrasound Davis is fine just being a pain in the butt. I call the doctor down to me, and ask quietly for gas medicine.I am an EXTREMELY modest person. I leave the room to blow my nose. He says sure and leaves. About 10 mins later the pain hits me like a ton of bricks, and I think "oh,no...gallbladder attack".

 That's where I am going to leave off. There is still plenty more to tell. I will get into that tomorrow. I need to go to Sam's tomorrow for a rotisserie chicken. If you have never had one then get one! Seriously you need this in your life. 

 Talk to you guys later.