Buddy's Birth: The NICU-Part 2

So Saturday and most of Sunday Hubby & I went back and forth from my room to the NICU, though I did go home for a couple hours on Sunday for lunch and to see Princess. Here is a FB post Hubby did about my visit home:  [My wife] was able to go home today for a little bit. Before, she got their, [her] sister K had been struggling with [Princess] to change her diaper. As soon as [My wife] walked in and before K had finished changing the diaper, [Princess] looked up as said, "Diaper change, I tried to stop her ..." Princess had been having a rough day and giving her Aunt & Granny a hard time. We think that she must have thought that if she didn’t let them change her than Mommy would have to come home. J Princess asked me if Daddy was at the store I told her that he was at the hospital with Buddy, she said that was okay. We played and had lunch then I put her down for her nap and got some things together to take back to the hospital. Princess was much better the rest of the day and the next.

That afternoon Buddy’s IV was leaking so they removed it, deciding that he could receive his final rounds of antibiotics by injection. That morning his levels were down to a 3 something, so they were planning to discontinue the antibiotics the next morning. Since he didn’t need the IV anymore we were able to take him back to my room along with a monitor for a while. That was such a relief we were both so happy to have him with us in relative privacy. He continued to do well, though when I was ready for bed I had to take him back to the NICU so they could continue monitoring him and finish up his tests. Around midnight the nurse brought him back to me so I could feed him. When he was done I called her to get him. She did, but brought him back about 10 minutes later saying he was hungry again. This cycle was repeated with her never keeping him more than a few minutes and every time he would just nurse for a few minutes, I’d get him to sleep, she’d take him and he’d wake up so she would return him. She wouldn’t believe me that he wasn’t really hungry. She said that he kept sticking out his tongue looking for food. I tried to tell her that that was just his way of figuring out his world, but she was so used to NICU babies that were small and underweight and pushing them to nurse at every little sign that she wouldn’t listen. I was really frustrated and tired and “telling her off” in my head (while nursing), having decided to tell her to just do her job, give him his bath and keep him content for a few hours so that I could sleep a little, when she returned to check on him and tell me that she thought she should do his weight check and bath etc. She said that she thought he was just being woken up by the hall lights and he was probably fine. DUH!!!! That’s only what I had been saying for hours…it was now 4:30 am. As she was about to leave she was paged that I needed to move to the other end of the hall so that my room could be used for someone else. So she took Buddy back to the NICU while I packed up my stuff. Someone else came with a cart to help me move everything in one trip. After getting settled in the new room it was after 5:30. Before going to sleep I texted Hubby to let him know where I was. Sleep was wonderful. J

Shortly before Hubby arrived with breakfast, I checked on Buddy in the NICU. There had been a shift change and the new nurse told me that he had been sleeping since right after his bath!! He was still sleeping when Hubby went to see him, but just after 9 they brought him to us so he could eat.

Things moved quickly then, as DR. W came to do his final check while he was nursing. After she left the nurse came back to schedule his discharge. She asked when we wanted to leave and we said “how about now?” She went to get the paperwork done and scissors to cut his bands. We left the hospital a little before 11, along with Hubby’s dad who had walked over and arrived about 10 minutes before we were ready to leave.

Princess was excited to see us and thought that Buddy should be taken out of his car seat immediately. J

Buddy's Birth: The NICU-Part 1

The next morning Hubby brought Princess, his parents, my mom & my sister to the hospital to see Buddy. Princess was smiling and excited to see me until she spotted the baby in my arms, then she didn’t want anything to do with me for most of the rest of the visit! She also wasn’t happy about Daddy holding that baby; she wanted to be in Daddy’s arms. He was able to hold them both for a few minutes which helped and then she ate some cereal that I had but hadn’t eaten which helped her warm back up to me. J Hubby took everyone back to the house and didn’t return until early evening. I think he ended up going into work for a little while. Anyway, that afternoon Buddy was circumcised and when they returned him to my room they said that his breathing had been a bit fast so we should watch that. The pediatrician Dr. W (on-call, not Ours) also said that Buddy had a clunk in his hip which was common with transverse lie and that if it was still there the next day Buddy would have to have an ultrasound on his hip.

After supper, Dad & my other sister came to visit for a little while before going to the house and getting Mom & R. Shortly after Hubby left to be with Princess, Buddy started breathing fast again, but it didn’t last long. A little after midnight, he woke, ate and slept for a few minutes. I thought he was breathing a bit fast. A few minutes later the nurse came to get him for his weight check and to do a couple pre-release tests (as we were to be discharged in the morning). The nurse called the on-call Ped’s Dr. N who said to hook him up to a monitor for a bit and get some blood work. They took him down to the NICU and I went to sleep. Just before 2am I woke up as the nurse came back in. She said that his breathing was still very fast and that Dr. N had ordered more tests. She told me to wait about 30 minutes and then come on down.

That was a long 30 minutes though I tried to occupy myself with having a snack and listening to the music play list I had used during labor. I headed down to NICU and was told that there had been an emergency c-section, so he hadn’t had all his tests yet, but I could stay and stroke his hand. Later, as they were drawing more blood, Dr. N came in and showed me the initial test results. The x-ray showed his lungs were clear so Buddy didn’t have pneumonia, but his blood work showed that there was a possible infection. His white cell count was normal as was everything but his CRT (I think that was the one) which should have been less than 3 was over 9. Do to the GBS they wondered if he had a delayed infection, though most babies would still test at a 3. To be on the safe side they started him on two different antibiotics and scheduled a retest for 7am. I stayed with Buddy until almost 4 am before returning to my room to get a little sleep. Around 6 am I called Hubby to let him know what was going on so he could be at the hospital for the Dr’s. early morning rounds.

When I called I obviously woke Hubby up. This did cause a bit of confusion and extra panic for Hubby as he misheard part of what I said. I said “Buddy’s in the NICU, though they don’t think he’ll be there long.”  Hubby heard “Buddy’s in the NICU, he’s not stable.” I did get a bit emotional there too, which also scared Hubby. Hubby ‘heard’ what I said and then hung up after saying he’d be there in a few minutes. (I remember thinking, “he did hear me say Buddy’s okay, right?”) I guess he threw on some clothes, went downstairs to post on our Church’s FB asking for prayer and called out to his parents to keep an ear out for Princess as she had woken up as he passed by her room—his parents didn’t hear a word he said, just his voice.

I came out of the bathroom as he walked into my room with his hair sticking up in all directions and absolute panic on his face. The nurses later told me that nobody knew where this panicked dad belonged as he raced down the hall. I explained what I knew and we headed down to see Buddy. When we got there they had already given him his next dose of antibiotics and redrawn his blood. I think it was this day that they had to redo it twice because there was a problem with the sample. Anyway, we were later told that his level was 5.7 which was still high but down a lot from midnight. This caused the current on-call Pediatrician, Dr. P to think that it wasn’t an infection because he hadn’t had enough antibiotics to reduce it that much, but to be on the safe side they would continue the medication.

At this time I was able to nurse Buddy. While I did so, Hubby called his parents to update them and also called my parents. My parents immediately sent my sister K up to help so that Hubby’s parents could come to the hospital. Mom thought she was getting sick so she didn’t want to risk it, though they did later bring food up.

Hubby’s Dad walked over to the hospital and his Mom came over after K got there. His mom later told me that that day was one of the scariest of her life. Considering Hubby was 7 weeks early and nearly died from an amoeba before he was 2 years old, I can’t imagine it.

Hubby’s Dad doesn’t usually hold or touch babies before they are 4 months old, but that day when Hubby took him in to the NICU to see Buddy, he asked to stroke his leg. That meant a lot to my Hubby. I can still see him getting choked up as he told me about it, after his parents returned to the house. Over the next couple days they made multiple trips back and forth to bring us stuff and check on us. They along with my sister were a lot of help.

The next time I went to feed Buddy, the nurse had had a recliner brought in for me instead of the glider rocker that was just a bit uncomfortable for me. I was impressed at her thoughtfulness. She was very encouraging and helpful that day and the next. We really liked all the nurses except the last night’s nurse. I just felt like she wasn’t listening and that frustrated me.

Later that day (Saturday) I was “discharged”; meaning they changed my status in their computer from patient to guest. At this hospital they think it is very important for the parents of babies in the NICU to be on-site so they allow you to stay in the same room you were in (unless they need it for a delivery, then they move you to a smaller room on the other end of the floor) so that you can be close to your baby. They do this at no additional charge to you or your insurance company. 

Buddy's Birth Story-Part 2

My sister was there (they were doing almost 24/7 “baby watch”) and my Mom came up the 2^nd. It was very helpful and nice having one or both of my youngest sisters able to come up and watch Princess during most of my appointments. They were a lot of help.

Anyway, we got to the hospital at 7am and checked in. About 7:45 my doctor broke my water, well he tried but was successful so he said to start me on the Pitocin and the first of three doses I would receive of the antibiotic, and he’d come back in an hour. About 10 minutes later it broke and showed quite a bit of meconium—a lot more than with Princess, but they were still calling it “light”, can’t imagine what heavy would be! By 10am I decided to go ahead and get an epidural as the contractions were getting harder and I figured that I’d barely be able to take it by the time the epidural kicked in. While it was being put in they were getting pretty hard. Right away I wasn’t getting the relief I remembered having with Princess. I had a lot of pain in my right hip. They gave me a couple of bolus injections to help. It took another hour to be “pain free”.

During this time I read a book and Hubby had some books based on a comic strip. The temp nurse (subbing while my nurse was at lunch) was amazed how relaxed we were. Apparently some of the nurses/doctors thought I was too nice and polite to my husband. Really??? I should tell him he can’t eat because I can’t?? I DON”T think so! (He did choose a bad time to get his supper though. It came shortly before I was ready to start pushing, and something on the tray didn’t smell good to me.) Though many of them really enjoyed the music I had playing.

After lunch my nurses checked me and thought I was at 10. She called my Dr but when he came he thought I was more 7-8. Which actually was pretty good considering an hour before the epidural I was barely a 2? So 2-7 in the 2 hours since things kicked in sounded good. However about 30 minutes later I was in a lot of pain from my right hip across my belly. They gave me 2 or 3 more bolus injections but they didn’t help at all. I think it was during this time and not later that I felt like I was going to pass out. They gave me oxygen, but the mask made me feel like I was suffocating. After a few minutes I felt better so I took it off. The nurse replaced it and I told her I was fine. She told me that the oxygen was for the baby, so I left in on for a while. Finally they checked my epidural and discovered that it had come out. I hadn’t been receiving anything for at least 2 hours. They called down to get it replaced. I got to get rid of the oxygen. YEAH!! J A different anesthesiologist came and after removing all the tape they use and the old line—NOT FUN to have tape ripped off your back during a contraction!!—gave me a shot, some type of block I’ve forgotten the name of. The relief was immediate. Hubby said that he could see in my eyes, within the first 20 seconds, the pain melt away. The new epidural was placed in and the Dr stayed to make sure it kicked in. It was now about 4:30pm. I hadn’t progressed anymore.

Pretty much from the beginning Buddy showed signs of distress during contractions but would be fine between them so they figured that the cord must be under him in some way. Certain positions such as my right side caused a lot of distress. My Dr decided I needed an amnio flush. Basically they put fluid back in to try to give the baby enough room to move off the cord. They also put me back on oxygen for a little while.

My Dr left at 5:30 and the on call Dr checked me about 6. He said that I was now at 10 but needed to thin out a little more. It sounded to me like the same situation I had had with Princess. About 7 he came back and said that I was the same. He said to try sitting up straighter to see if that would help. He told us that if I were to try pushing that it could cause swelling that might prevent me from giving birth and from future deliveries. That made us wonder if some of my problems were because I had pushed with Princess for an hour when I was like this. He left the room saying he’d be back in a half hour or so and that we might have to start talking options if this didn’t work.

After checking me he told me to do a practice push with the next contraction. After seeing it he told the nurses to finish getting everything set up. I started pushing around 7:45 and at 7:54 our little Buddy was Born! J

When we saw him for the first time his mouth was open in a scream and Hubby said “his mouth is huge!!” It was true that in comparison to Princess it was. Buddy weighed 8 lbs 12 ou so the ultrasound estimates were VERY WRONG!! He was 8 ounces and 1.5 inches longer than Princess, but thankfully his shoulder had not gotten stuck. J However the cord was wrapped once around his neck.

While I had been in labor Hubby’s parents arrived at our house from CO. Hubby called the house and told Princess the news as well as the grandparents who were there J then the news spread to other family members thru them rather than us calling everyone like we had done with Princess. Hubby told the grandparents that he’d be home after a while and would put Princess to bed so they should just let her stay up a little late. Hubby got to hold Buddy that night!

Buddy’s Pregnancy & Birth Story-Part 1

The summer of 2012 we decided to try to have another baby. My OB agreed to give me the medication I had been on with Princess but started me out at a lower dose. Not surprisingly to me it didn’t work. He bumped me up to the next dose which hadn’t worked before. This time it worked better but not as well as my Dr wanted, so he gave me the same dose as I had before. At first my Dr wasn’t pleased with the results because though it worked he felt it should have been faster and said that the middle dose the previous month actually did better. After I told him my previous experience with the medication he decided that though it wasn’t ideal it was probably just the way my body was and that since I had had success before I should continue, but let him know if I hadn’t gotten pregnant in 6 months so that we could discuss options. Two months later, I got pregnant. The funny thing was that again Hubby & I thought that the medication hadn’t worked that month! It was also the same month of the year, as Princess, though slightly later in the month. My due date was 2 days after Princess’s second birthday.

Again I didn’t have morning sickness, though I had a lot more headaches than with Princess. My doctor decided not to do an early ultrasound so this time we got to find out what we were having a month earlier than before. In late April we found out we were having a BOY! J

We started telling Princess about her brother and referred to the baby as such. We pretty much knew “brother’s” first name from the start as it was a name we had decided on previously, but changed and discussed the middle name for a few weeks. Whereas, with Princess we didn’t use her name even to each other as we were trying to keep it a secret, this time we used it with Princess and each other, but tried to keep it from others. It was funny because it drove my family nuts, they were always trying to figure it out. When they learned that Princess knew it they tried to get her to tell them. She would say “NO” or put her finger to her lips saying “Shh” (we actually never heard Princess use his name until after he was born). Sadly, I was the one that slipped up. One week when my sister was at our house as she had watched Princess during an appointment, I used his first name while talking to Hubby. My sis said that she wouldn’t tell as she liked the idea of knowing when others didn’t. However, a week or so later she said it and my brother thought he heard it (turns out he heard wrong). Anyway, we ended up telling most of our family the first name but keeping the middle a secret.

There for a while it felt like every doctor’s appointment brought bad or disappointing news. At 34 weeks I was told that Buddy was in a transverse lie position. This is sideways and is the worst position for a baby. At 35 weeks he was still there. The doctor said that if he hadn’t changed position by 36 weeks we’d have to discuss options. Thankfully at 36 he was head down. At my 37 weeks appointment I was told that I tested positive for GBS which meant that I would have to have antibiotics during labor. My doctor said that it was actually safer for the baby to test positive rather than negative because it was possible to be negative at 36 weeks but positive at delivery and vice versa. Since you can’t be tested during delivery if you are positive but don’t get the antibiotics the baby can get very sick and in rare cases die.   

At 38 weeks we had another ultrasound to check Buddy’s weight as Princess was big and had the shoulder dystocia so Buddy could have that problem too. They said that he was on track and should be fine, though we had our doubts especially considering Princess wasn’t born until 41 weeks. I was also told that I hadn’t progressed toward delivery at all. That continued over the next couple appointments. At 41 weeks we had a non-stress test and another ultrasound. Supposedly Buddy was only 7.5 pounds plus/minus half a pound. DOUBTFUL!!! I also still hadn’t progressed. If this continued another week my Dr would recommend a c-section as I probably wouldn’t be able to be induced. He said that if we tried at that point I would likely end up with an emergency c-section which is more difficult than a planned one. Anyway, at 41 weeks 4 days we went in for another non-stress test. Buddy was still doing well and thankfully I had started to progress!!! I was now eligible to be induced. It was scheduled for Thursday morning (exactly 42 weeks…according to him, I say 42w 1d), October 3, 2013.

The Last Couple Months-Part Two

Saying and doings of Princess

She has done so many cute things and I KNOW I have forgotten many of them. It has been a hard couple of months especially the last one. Princess had a really weird cold that started as a low grade fever with no other symptoms for over a week. As she started having a runny nose and cough her fever spiked to 104-105, going down with medication and then straight back up as the meds wore off. After a few days of this we took her back into the doctors, where she was diagnosed with a bad ear infection. She is now doing really well and back to normal. Due to her being sick which lasted about 3 weeks and then several bad snow storms the kids & I were stuck at home for a whole month. I think I went out 5 times that month including the 2 trips to the doctors.

A few days ago she was dressing and undressing her doll, talking to the doll about going home. I asked her where Doll Baby was at. She replied “at the Doctor. He make her all better!” I asked if the Doctor made her better, she said YES! Last night at Church she was telling her SS teacher about being sick she said that she had had an “owie in her ear”. This was only the second time she had mentioned her ear or that it hadn’t been feeling well.

Several weeks ago Princess was playing with her toy kitchen that she got for Christmas. She brought me a mug and told me to drink it. After pretending to drink we had this conversation—Me: That was very good. Could I have some more coffee?

Princess: Yes! I will make more delicious coffee.

Me: Who taught you to make such delicious coffee? Was it me?

Princess: No.

Me: Who then? Nana?

Princess: No, not Nana.

Me: Aunt R?

Princess: No not Aunt R. Daddy!!

Me: Daddy taught you to make coffee???

Princess: YES!!!

This is hilarious because Hubby HATES coffee. While he has bought it for me, I don’t think he has ever made it or would even want to. J She still sometimes tells me that Daddy makes delicious coffee.

She likes to pretend to cook and has come up with some interesting dishes, like cranberry soup! Not sure what she puts in it though!

About a month ago on a Sunday morning (I think it was the morning after the tator tot casserole) Princess climbed up on a chair and started chanting “No more girls; eat that first; don’t touch that; Time Out!” She said this over and over and has said it several times since. Most of these phrases are variations of things we have said to her, except the “no more girls”. We can’t figure out where that came from!

Last week Princess sat on the floor with her doll saying “Girls can’t…” (I can’t remember what it was that she said girls couldn’t do except that it was definitely something that girls CAN do.) Hubby told her that girls can do that, to which she replied “No they can’t.” Hubby: Princess, you are a girl and you can.

Princess: No I’m not!

Hubby: You aren’t a girl???

Princess: No! I a boy!

Consequently, we had to explain that yes she is a girl and so is Mommy, but Buddy and Daddy are boys. Guess we will see how many more times we have to explain that.

Princess has also decided that her one of her dolls is a boy and has her brothers’ name. That was pretty cute. She loves to sit and feed and change her doll copying what we do with her brother.

She has a hard time with certain parts of language. She gets her negatives and pronouns mixed up. She will often say “carry you” or “hold you” when she wants to be picked up. But I think she is starting to get it. Yesterday morning she was eating breakfast when suddenly she looked up at me saying while pointing at me “mommy is you, Princess is me” (now pointing at herself). Most of the rest of the day she had them correct though this morning was a bit of both. A few minutes later she called me “Grams” after a character on one of her shows. I told her that I was Mama not Grams. She then said “You Mama, not Grams. I Princess, not Grams. Brother Buddy, not Grams.”  I got upset with her a couple weeks ago when she was calling me Grams. But my Mom pointed out that Princess was recognizing that I take care of her like Grams does the twins on the show. That Princess was doing really well with recognizing that relationship. SO I am trying not to let it bother me if she does that.

          Buddy

Well Buddy is 5 months old already!! Can’t believe how fast time has gone. I know I still need to do his birth story. My goal is to do it next post. J

He loves to watch Princess run around. At first he almost looked scared when she would come near him, sadly with good reason. She could be very sweet one minute and then be scratching him the next. Thankfully she seems to have stopped that. Now he often tries to get her attention. We got him an activity mat for Christmas. He loves to play on it and bat at the toys. The mat came with a Sun that plays music and goes over some shapes and animals when certain buttons are pushed or levers are pulled. About a month ago I looked over one day to see him with his legs in the air and his hands holding onto his pants trying to swing his legs at the Sun. I reached over and hit one of the buttons. He looked up at me with a beautiful smile as if to say Thanks I wanted that! The next day he did it again, only this time he managed to hit the button! His aim wasn’t great so he swung more often than he hit but he kept trying! Now he is big enough and coordinated enough to pull the shapes that are attached to the ribbons and levers. He also loves to play with the mirror. He rolls over on the mat up against the arched sides and tries to scoot. He hasn’t succeeded but not for lack of trying. Hubby thinks he will be crawling soon. If so it would be much earlier than Princess did. Of course Buddy has more incentive to do so than Princess did. Yesterday he had his legs under himself for a few seconds, so Hubby could be right. I joked that at this rate, he would be crawling before he can sit up!

Sometimes it sounds like he is saying “HI”. Yesterday, my cousin and her mom came for a visit. Princess was getting pretty wound up running back and forth between them. Buddy was laying on his mat watching everything. My cousin looked down at him saying “Your sister’s pretty crazy, huh?” With perfect timing Buddy makes noise that sounded like “Ye-AH”. We had a good laugh over that. 

The Last Couple Months-Part One

January 7, 2014-March 6, 2014

More on the last couple months.

          Cooking adventures:

The day before Thanksgiving, Hubby decided that he would like to try to make Crème Brulee. He found a recipe at on a site for engineers. He loves this dessert but rarely has it. I’ve never made it. I don’t think I would have had the courage to try making it for the first time with guests coming but Hubby did…it turned out GREAT!!! He made it again at Christmas for his family.

We also made caramel corn for the first time. It was really good and we ate WAY too much. J

Hubby had some whipping cream he wanted used up so he got online and found an amazing cake recipe. I’m not a big fan of cake and I’d never had this kind but I guess it was one he had while he was in Grad School. Anyway, he made a chocolate cake, poured warm caramel sauce over it, and then he covered it in homemade whipped cream and toffee bits. I told him he was welcome to make that for me anytime.

Next, he decided he wanted to try to make homemade fried chicken. He decided to start with by making chicken strips. I thought they were very good but he was disappointed that the coating wasn’t crunchier. I think he just needs a little more practice, after all he can’t expect everything he makes to be perfect on the first try! Though, truthfully he hasn’t had a fail yet! J

One night we were going to have French toast, Buddy decided he needed to eat as I was getting out the ingredients, so Hubby told me he’d take care of it. He headed downstairs to the computer and came up with a recipe a few minutes later. Telling me that I may not need a recipe but he did. It was different than what I usually make but again very good.

He has several more things that he’d like to make but is trying to pace himself so that he doesn’t gain too much weight.

One Saturday night I decided to make tator tot casserole. Princess wanted to help so hubby got a chair for her to stand on. She helped me put the tator tots on the top. Since then she asks to help with something almost every day. Some times that is a bit of a pain but overall it is cute and I am trying not to discourage her so she doesn’t get to the point where she won’t help when she is older and I am really ready and needing her to help! J