Chase - Day 4

Chase - Day 3

Chase - Day 2

The day after Chase's birth was a busy one! There were a lot of people who wanted to see our little man. People traveled from different parts of the state (and Emily from Chicago) to see Chase. We are so lucky to have such great friends and family!

Unfortunately, Chase's blood sugar levels were gradually dropping throughout the day and reached a point where if they didn't significantly get higher SOON, he was going to be admitted to the NICU. Because of the seriousness behind this, the remaining visitors were asked to leave. Those visitors were my dad and older sister, Lori. Needless to say, we didn't get any pictures of them. :( Hopefully we can see them again soon!

Chase's levels dropped as low as the 30's (they want to see levels at least in the 50's). They were giving him one more chance. He was to feed once more and after an hour, if his levels weren't in the 70's, he would be admitted to the NICU. I got the call at 9:00pm that his levels were 74 and they were bringing him back to our room. Of course I bawled. WHAT A GOOD BOY!




Grandma and Grandpa F.

Chase, Daddy and the Grandparents. I hope Chase looks just like his daddy!


Aunt Julie


Aunt Beth

Emily

Kylie

Chase's birthday - post delivery

I am so incredibly proud of my son. As I mentioned before, at 35 weeks gestation, there is no telling if the baby would need to go into the NICU. From what I've heard and read, most 35 weekers do need some NICU time. It seems most do fine breathing on their own but have difficulties with feeding. I've read of 35 weekers spending anywhere from 3 hours to 4 weeks in the NICU and also of some at that age who don't need the NICU at all.

When Addison was in the NICU, we heard the term "wimpy white boy" on several occasions. What this is referring to is the fact that Caucasian baby boys tend to do the worst (make the slowest progress) when born prematurely. African American girls do the best and I think Caucasian girls follow. I remember being so happy that Addison was a girl rather than a wimpy white boy!

When the premature scares started a few weeks ago, one of the first things I thought of was this "wimpy white boy" syndrome. I gave Chase talks on several occasions that if he was premature, he was going to be the exception. I told him he had to be strong. We don't make wimps in this family! :)

And he listened.

When I found out that he wasn't going to have to go to the NICU, I cried some of the happiest tears I've ever shed. I just couldn't believe our good fortune.

I'm so proud of my son. He's no wimpy white boy!

He grew to a good size in utero, developed some strong, healthy lungs and took to feedings right away. It took a few tries to get him to latch onto me, but that's not uncommon for even full-term newborns. The nurses told me that his ability to latch so well was not typical of a 35 weeker. They called him an over-achiever.

Who, my kid? :)

Chase was hanging out in my pelvis for quite a while (probably weeks) before birth, so came out with a bruised head and crooked little nose (his face was smooshed against my tail bone). The bruising has since almost disappeared and though his nostrils are still a little asymmetrical, his nose has straightened up. Just thought I would mention these things so you didn't wonder when looking at the pictures.

Ready for a bath

First bath in the hospital

First diaper

All cleaned up!

They had to put an IV in his arm, which stayed in for almost 3 days, to administer antibiotics. The antibiotics were given to him as a precautionary measure in the case of an infection caused by either my Group B strep or ruptured membranes. It took 48 hours to get the blood cultures back, which thankfully tested negative for infection. The IV was removed shortly thereafter.

Being wheeled in to go see Mommy in our postpartum room

Together at last!

Picture with our son. Please excuse the cherry popsicle stained mouth!

The proud papa

We had lots of other visitors that night.

Gammy, who made it into town after I was taken to the OR, but before delivery

Grandma F. came a couple hours later

Uncle Damon, Daddy's brother

And that concludes Chase's birthday!

Chase's Birthday - Delivery

Disclaimer: There are a couple of more graphic pictures in this post. Dustin actually captured one of Chase being pulled from my uterus. It is a pretty cool image, but admittedly makes my stomach rather queasy, so I will spare you.

Here is the story about the day our son came into this world.....

Around 12:30am on Friday, January 29th, I woke to find my bottoms (underwear and pants) a little wet. This had been going on for a few days but even more so, the day prior. I knew something was different this night as every time I moved, it felt as if I had peed myself. I was hoping that it was just that (a major incontinence problem)!

From 12:30 - 3:30, I laid in bed with contractions and researched the internet about how it would feel when your water breaks. (Side note: It is really called waters, not water. I learned this in my childbirth class when pregnant with Addison. However, because it just doesn't feel right to say it in the plural sense, I am sticking with water.)

I read that a very small % of women's water actually broke without medical assistance - about 10%, which eased my mind a bit. It didn't smell like urine, but it also didn't smell like amniotic fluid. What does amniotic fluid smell like? I dunno, but the message boards I was reading described it as smelling like sulfur. I don't really think it smelled like that either. I almost woke Dustin up about 500 times in those 3 hours to tell him that "it was time", but kept telling myself that it wasn't. I also changed my underwear 3 times in those 3 hours.

My friend, Emily, had flown in that night for the weekend so I knew someone would be there to watch Addison if we needed to head to the hospital. But I am so darn stubborn and was convinced everything was okay. About 6am I woke up with the same issue. I had a doctors appointment in a few hours and decided to hold out until then. At this point, I didn't feel like my contractions had become more frequent or stronger.

I went to my appointment, as scheduled, and was hooked up to the fetal monitors. I was registering a contraction almost every minute. I could tell by the look in my nurses eye and her constant reassurance, "You did good, Kristi. You got this baby to 35 weeks!" that I probably was not going home after my appointment. I was only on the monitors for a few minutes before heading to an exam room. My Dr. took a sample of this fluid that I had been leaking and put it under the microscope. Positive for Amniotic Fluid. OH NO!!!! MY WATER HAD BROKEN! In medical terms, I was diagnosed with PROM (Premature Rupture of Membranes).

Dr. L. said that we would be delivering this baby in a couple of hours and to head straight to the hospital for antibiotics. The antibiotics were two-fold. For one, I was positive for Group B Strep, which could be dangerous for the baby upon delivery and two, my membranes had ruptured, meaning there was no longer a barrier keeping bacteria from entering my uterus, which could cause life-threatening infection for both myself and the baby. The unknown about when my water had actually broken made this even more urgent. He asked me if I had any questions and I said, "Is this negotiable?" HA! I was being serious...he didn't think it was very funny. Ooops. :)

Off the the hospital we went. Fortunately I had prepared for this moment and had packed my car with all our bags and other equipment for the big day.

I was relatively calm, taking the "it is what it is" approach. Dustin took one last belly shot.

I was happy to have gotten to 35 weeks, but so incredibly disappointed that I didn't make it further. I was very worried about Chase's health, but knew that we did everything we could. I did not falter on bed rest. I struggled with it, but I did it...and that alone made me feel so much better. At that point, I just wanted Chase to be delivered alive and with no major medical issues. 35 weeks is such a gray area, there was no telling if he would need medical intervention or have to go to the NICU. Of course I didn't want him to go to the NICU, but that was the last thing on my mind.

They pumped me with saline and antibiotics and made some phone calls to alert people of the situation. Soon enough, it was go time.

I was wheeled into the operating room, given a spinal (which sucked, mostly because I have scoliosis...go figure) and Dustin then joined me. This was different than my cesarean with Addison. Her delivery was so emergent that they did not have time to wait for a spinal to take effect and put me under general anesthesia, which meant that I was not awake and Dustin was not allowed in the OR.

It was so wonderful to be awake and have Dustin with me through it all. I was getting bradycardia and whatever medicine they gave me to raise my heart rate also spiked my blood pressure. I suddenly had the worst headache imaginable. I sobbed and begged for it to go away. They quickly gave me more medicine and the headache eventually subsided. Needless to say, I was definitely not enjoying the process. As I was laying on the operating table, I kept telling Dustin how much I hated it. I just felt like it was taking forever and thought that they hadn't even made the first incision.

Within seconds, my doctor said "I have the head" and out came this little guy! (That's Dr. L - LOVE THAT MAN)



I heard the most wonderful screams come from those little lungs. In the meantime, Dustin was with Chase as they weighed him, cleaned him up and did the routine testing. As the medical team was putting my insides back together and stitching me up, I kept hollering back to Dustin trying to get some details!




He scored 9's on both APGARs and was breathing on his own. They said they had to do some more testing but gave us a few minutes to enjoy time with him. Seeing my baby for the first time was a moment I will always treasure.






Happy as a clam as I'm wheeled out of the OR into recovery. (In case you were wondering, the FedEx box is the cord blood we are storing.)

January 2010 in Review

January was a challenging month for us. It seemed that not one day passed without drama. I was thinking back to our month and how crazy it was and thought I would recap. There are definitely some things I could have done without, but many blessings came to us, as well.

January 2010 in review:

Trips to the hospital - 6

Stitches/staples - 3 for Addison and lots for Mommy

Toe injuries - 1

Toe/foot infections - 1

Preterm labor scares - too many to count

Cases of the stomach flu - 3

Colds - 3

Car accidents - 1

Irregular prescriptions filled - 5

Weeks on bed rest - 3 1/2

Healthy preemies born into our family - 1

Vacations cancelled - 1

Non-refundable airline tickets refunded - 3

Meals provided for our family - 21

Friends and family who have stepped in to help last minute - numerous

Friends and family who have offered to step in to help (last minute or not) - dozens!

Weeks Baby Chase stayed tucked away while on bed rest - 3 1/2

Impact those few weeks had on Chase's health - immeasurable

Knowing that at the end of the month, regardless of the challenges we faced, we were a happy family with 2 healthy, beautiful children - PRICELESS

Introducing Chase Anthony!

A lot of you have already heard that our little man has arrived. I apologize for the delay in posting, but we have been so busy enjoying Chase's company that the last thing I've wanted to do is sit on my computer. I promise to post more details soon. We are still at the hospital and will be discharged tomorrow (Tuesday)....ALL OF US....TOGETHER!!!!

So, due to ruptured membranes (aka water breaking, leaking amniotic fluid), Chase was delivered at 35 weeks, 1 day on Friday, January 29th at 6:19pm, weighing 6lb. 1.6oz and measuring 19 1/4" in length. What a bruiser he would have been had he gone full term!

Delivery went great and Chase arrived screaming. Music to our ears! He is perfectly healthy and with the exception of a small scare with his blood sugar levels, there has been no mention of sending him to the NICU. This is absolutely amazing to us. We are experiencing something we didn't have the chance to with Addison. Having him with us at all times is simply surreal.

Chase is so sweet. I just can't stop telling him how awesome he is. We love him so much and can't wait to introduce him to his big sister tomorrow!

Will post more soon, but hopefully in the meantime, these couple of pictures taken with my phone will satisfy your appetites!