Here is the story of the past 3 weeks of my life…it’s been a wonderful, scary, emotional, incredible ride. Warning: This is a long story.
Exactly three weeks ago at about 7:10 PM my life changed forever. I was sitting on the couch, surrounded by my dogs, watching Kate + 8 and waiting for Ryan to get home from work. The dogs know the sound of his truck so when they hear him pull in, they always run to the door to greet him. So they all jumped off the couch, barking, and I shifted a little. My water broke.
Ryan wanted to go to the hospital right away, but I was wandering around the house in a little bit of shock. After my doctors appointment the past Friday, I was convinced I was going to have to be induced on my due date, more than 2 weeks away. I wasn’t ready- the house was a mess, I was a mess (I’d been cleaning/painting all day- which I know, everyone says is “nesting” and I shouldn’t have been surprised about what happened- I just think I needed to clean and paint), and what were we going to do with the dogs? So I called my doctor, and she reassured me I had time to finish packing and shower. I called Denise at WT and she was so wonderful about letting Ryan bring the dogs that evening. It was so weird- I knew it was time and I had to go to the hospital, but I wasn’t having any contractions, pain, anything. Just leaking.
We finally packed the car and headed to the hospital- I think we got there sometime around 9 PM. The checked me out and determined that yes, in fact, my water did break (duh) but I wasn’t dilated or effaced. Again, I felt totally normal. The hospital called my doctor with that information and she told them to start me on pitocin. Well, after that, so much for feeling normal! The contractions started quickly and got painful quickly. I got an IV of pain meds which really helped for a few hours and I was able to sleep some. But then that wore off and the pain got really intense. But then I got my miracle, the epidural. Yeah, it’s pretty much amazing. You feel nothing. It did make me sick to my stomach and I puked a few times, but after those contractions, I really was ok with that.
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| 5 lbs, 7 oz and a head full of hair! |
All night they had been telling me that I was still hours and hours away- based on how I was progressing the nurse predicted I would go until about 10 or 11 AM. However, about 5:45 she checked me and- well, Grayson was ready to come! After that everything went really quickly. My doctor came and I started pushing somewhere about 6 AM. It was not bad- just physically tiring, but again, I felt nothing! At 6:27 AM, my beautiful, perfect little Grayson was born. I remember them saying how tiny he was and how much hair he has- 2 things that have been repeated over, and over, and over the past few weeks. Ryan cut the cord and they plopped him on my chest. Wow.
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| Ready to go home! |
We had a good few days in the hospital- lots of visitors and excitement. Considering the circumstances, I really felt pretty good and was able to enjoy Grayson and my family. We got home Friday afternoon and thought we were going to settle into our new life at home…
The weekend was fun- Saturday we hung out at home, and Sunday we took Grayson to my parents’ house to watch football with Daddy and Grandaddy while my mom and I went to the baby shower that was supposed to be before Grayson arrived- we only stayed an hour, but it was so fun to see friends and show them pics of my little guy.
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| Nurse taking temp at the doctor |
Monday- Ryan went back to work, and we had a great morning- my mom was with me, and we gave Grayson his first bath, had a visitor, and then after lunch took Grayson for his newborn checkup at the pediatrician. I brought my camera and took some pictures thinking they would be fun to put in his baby book. I had NO idea that everything wasn’t fine. We stripped G down and put him on the scale. He was down to 4 pounds 9 ounces and I could tell the nurse was concerned. My pediatrician then told me she might re-admit us to the hospital for a few days to monitor his eating and weight gain. I immediately started crying-I had no idea he wasn’t getting enough food. Then they took his temperature- twice. It was below 95 degrees, and then they were very concerned. Change of plan- we needed to go to the ER in Katy, immediately. I remember the doctor saying they needed us to go to Texas Children’s but there wasn’t time for us to get there. I was terrified- thank God my mom was with me. She called Ryan and he immediately left work and met us at the ER. For the next few hours, my brand new baby was under a warmer being poked, pricked and stuck too many times to count. He was surrounded by nurses, who were so wonderful and let us be near him and ask questions. They tried several times to get urine from a cathedar but weren’t able to because Grayson was so dehydrated. Then the ER doctor had us sign off for him to have a spinal tap. So scary. They actually weren’t able to do the spinal tap effectively at the ER, but he did have to have one later that evening.
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| My little trooper |
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| Second homecoming |
A few hours later, Grayson and I took his first (and hopefully last, at least for a looong time) ambulance ride to Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Med Center and he was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Again, more IV’s, monitors, blood samples, and cathedars. The next few days we spent at his bedside (2 at a time) waiting on blood and spinal tap test results, feeding him (pumped breastmilk and formula), and praying that he would be ok and we could go home soon. We were in the PICU for 3 days and a regular room for 2 days. Finally, all but one of his tests came back negative for infection. The one that came back positive was a urine test, but the doctor said they weren’t able to get a sterile sample from a cathedar and wasn’t concerned. We were discharged on Friday and got to go home- one week after our first homecoming. This time it was a beautiful, sunny day, and we were optimistic that things were going to be a whole lot better. We are so blessed to have so many people who prayed for us, visited us in the hospital, called, texted and facebooked with their concern and good thoughts. Grayson is one lucky little baby to be so loved.
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| Sweet baby |
So now we’ve been home for over a week. Grayson is doing great- he is eating really well, although his strict feeding schedule is wearing me out- I am SO tired. We’ve been back to the pediatrician twice and are going again on Thursday for another weigh-in. In the past week or so, he’s met most of his aunts and uncles, who completely adore him. His Aunt Rebecca visited from Savannah and took some fabulous newborn pictures, which we will treasure forever. I am really enjoying being home with my little guy, although it is a ton of work and sometimes I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing! Thankfully, my mom has been a huge help- she’s been here almost every day and I could not have made it through the past few weeks without her. I also have wonderful friends who have visited and called, and sometimes just let me cry.
So that’s the story of my first few weeks of motherhood- it’s been a wild ride but my sweet G is worth it all!
Congrats on your beautiful baby boy– he is just precious!! I'm so sorry that your first week as a new mommy was so scary & I'm relieved to hear that Grayson is doing well. Being a new mom is overwhelming, but so rewarding– I'm so in love with my little guy! Thanks for your comment on my blog– I'll definitely be back to read yours!P.S. I LOVE your carseat!
Congratulations!! That was a rough beginning, but motherhood is the best!! i hope you guys are doing well. Keep in touch!Grayson is adorable! Dori