Reese's Debut Part 2

So I left you at Friday night. I forgot to mention that we had a scheduled ultrasound Friday afternoon to check Reese... make sure she was growing, had enough amniotic fluid and to check my cervical length. Well, we got an ultrasound, but not a nice one like I wanted. It was a quick, "Let's make sure this baby is in the right position" kind of ultrasound. It also didn't help that while the ultrasound tech came in, 4 nurses were trying to find a good vein to draw blood from. Yeah. That was quite the ordeal. A vein was not found after MULTIPLE pokes & prods. That's why I ended up with the pic line.

Anyway, back to the ultrasound. Reese was head down, but face up. When I asked if that made a difference in delivery she said that it would just be a little more difficult. Super. But, there was still time for her to turn over, since the goal was to keep her in another week. The tech also estimated her to weigh 4 lbs. 1 oz, give or take a few ounces. Which actually, was a good size for a 32 weeker.

Friday night I was took an Ambien, at the insistence of the nurses and Brian. I hadn't slept since Wednesday night and was exhausted. I thought I would sleep just fine, but when I started thinking about all that I had going on (catheter, compression socks to prevent blood clots, pic line, IV, staying on my side, nurses coming in every 30 minutes to check vitals) I knew I wouldn't sleep. So I took the Ambien.

I was woken up at around 6:00 am by the nurse to give me my Thyroid medication. I was still dozing when I felt a contraction. Pretty strong and intense. 10 minutes later, another contraction. 10 minutes after that a 3rd contraction. My nurse told me I should only have 3 mild contractions an HOUR. I mentioned it the nurse when she came in. She checked the contraction machine and said, "Oh yeah. They're pretty strong huh? Let's go ahead and check you." "Checking" was something the nurses and doctors didn't want to do because they didn't want to risk infection or "activate" labor. By the time the nurse came back 15 minutes later, I must have had at least 3 more contractions.

She did her check. "3 cm dialated and 100% effaced. This is going to go quick." It was 6:30 am. Brian immediately says, "She wants the epidural." Yup. I wanted the epidural ASAP! Nurse went out to get things moving along. While she was gone, I had Brian bring me my makeup & toiletry bag. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, put on my face. Girl has to look good when meeting her new daughter.

Fresh face! Last few minutes of being pregnant and a family of 3.

The next hour and a half was a blur. I can hardly remember what happened. I got the epidural, which didn't hurt as much as I remember Jaxon's hurting. The doctor came in checked me again. I was 8 cm dialated at this point. Brian says that I could have started pushing sooner, but the doctor was waiting for the neonatologist and NICU nurses to come in. Once they arrived it was show time. Brian says I pushed for less than 5 minutes and Reese was here! Seriously, so fast. The girl was ready to meet her Mama & Daddy. Unlike with Jaxon, they actually put Reese on me right away. I didn't see Jaxon for at least half an hour after he was born. The one clear thing I remember was that when the doctor asked who wanted to cut the chord, Brian jumped at the chance. "I'll do it!" There wasn't a second of hesitation.

First glimpse of my little girl

Getting cleaned up

Neonatologist, Dr. Richards, showing off Reese

They whisked Reese away to the NICU to check her out. Brian went with them. He came back some time later to let me know she weighed 3 lbs 15 oz and was 16 1/2 inches. She was a tiny little thing. She also did not have to go on oxygen :) YAY!

I think it was a few hours later that I got to go to the NICU to see her. Oh. She was the tiniest little thing I had ever seen!

First time to hold this precious little thing

So sweet

Her feet are long!

Meeting Lola 

The hat was made by my Aunt Wanda

This is my favorite

Meeting Grammy Sue

Meeting Auntie Ami

Auntie Ami made her a sign!

Meeting Auntie Mary

What a nice friend

When the 3 of us got back to my room, a Reese Witherspoon movie was on TV!

I think those were the most exhausting days of my life. I stayed in the hospital until Monday. I was dying to leave. I just wanted to get home to Jaxon, my own bed and my own shower. I was so anxious to leave the hospital that once again I got jipped of the wheelchair ride to the car! Man Alive! I walked my happy little butt out of the hospital for a 2nd time.  Maybe they'll wheel me out when Reese is set free?

So many people asked me if I was ok leaving Reese. I told them I was. No problem. She was in great hands. Well, I'm clearly a late reactioner. (The same thing happened when we got engaged, I didn't cry till 2 days later) Leaving Reese hit me like a ton of bricks Monday night. Poor Brian he didn't know what happened! One minute I was fine the next minute I was crying. I was on the brink of tears for the next few days. I wanted to cry every time I saw her in her incubator. Now I'm just happy to see her and I can't get to her fast enough each time. 

This little girl has stolen my heart.

Reese's Debut Part 1

It's Monday night. It has been the craziest 4 days of my life I think. Well, I had a crazy 3days 3 1/2 years ago.

Let's take a little trip back in time..

Wednesday EARLY  morning, Brian headed to ABQ for work. We said a groggy goodbye, see ya tomorrow night and off he went. That day I started to make plans for Thursday... 32 week appointment at 11:30 am, then to Target to get a birthday present for a friend's daughter's party & some Reese shopping, a quick mani/pedi and eyebrow wax and finally get Jax from school so I could go home to work on Reese's room.   Oh, I was also going to do a quick blog update on Reese's progress.

After the shower I was on a mission to get everything ready for our little girl. I promised myself I would do something each day to get ready. I started with her laundry and organizing her closet and dresser. One funny thing looking back, I opened a jammie set and one of the jammies said, "Born in 2011."I thought, "Oh, it's too bad Brinley isn't wearing newborn clothes anymore or I'd pass this along to her. Reese won't need it." Hmmm. Foreshadowing maybe?

Thursday came and started off well. Jax & I got to school "on time" and we each went about our day. I left for my appointment and everything went well there. Well, the doctor did run about an hour late since she had a complication with another patient, but everything was perfect on my end. Reese's heart beat was in the 140s, my belly measured 32 cm and I had only gained a pound in 2 weeks. Things  looked good!

Oh yeah. I took a quick belly picture before we went to school Thursday morning.

Since the doctor was late I had to make the executive decision to run quickly to Target, forgo my mani/pedi and pick Jaxon up by 2. I did Target in about 30 minutes! Go me! The funny thing to me is that I passed the baby section and saw some Christmas outfits and thought, "I wonder if I should get Reese a Christmas outfit, just in case? Nah. She won't be here by then, but I have time to change my mind." Famous last thoughts.

I got to school just in time to chat with Ami & Charlotte for a bit before I got Jaxon. I updated them on Reese's progress... everything looked good. I believe Ami may have said, "Oh good. Please wait until Mary comes back before you have a baby." "Oh don't worry. She's not coming anytime soon." Again, famous last words.

I got Jaxon home and in bed for a nap by 2:15 pm. At 2:30 pm I felt a little leakage. Hmmm. Interesting. No big deal. These things happen when you are pregnant. I cleaned up, went along with the afternoon. At around 3:00 I felt some more leakage. Hmmm. Should I call someone? Nope. Not going to alarm anyone. It's nothing! At this point Brian called to check in from ABQ. I mentioned it to him. He urged me to call the doctor. I said no. Everything was fine.We hung up.
3:15 another moment of leakage which I could not ignore. This was starting to feel very familiar.  I called the doctor. She called right back and said, "Go to triage. You water may be broken" Uh oh.

Brian is gone. My mom wasn't home yet. Ami was at school. Jaxon was sleeping. What to do? Drive myself? Leave Jaxon alone? Take him with me? I called my mom, she was close to home and my dad was home. She would drive me and Dad would stay with Jaxon. Brian was on his way to the airport and would be in Tucson by 7:30 pm.

Yes, I was slightly panicked, but keeping it together, cause really? What else could I do? They got me to triage right away and right away the nurse is like, "Oh yeah. Your water is broken. You have to go to Labor and Delivery."She may or may not have jumped back and squealed a bit when she checked me. I believe her exact words to other nurses were, "I have a 32 weeker rupture! Get her L & D right away."  I actually thought it was quite funny. The sight of a nurse taken off guard like that.


I got whisked away to L & D. And I'm not exactly sure what happened next. I do know they set up an IV, started antitbiotics, gave me magnesium to prevent contractions and gave me a shot of steroids to help mature Reese's lungs quickly. The first plan was to keep me pregnant until Saturday at 7:00 pm when I would have had 2 doses of steroids. The next plan was to keep me in on STRICT hospital bedrest until Reese was 34 weeks gestational age. Which was the Monday after Thanksgiving. And by STRICT bedrest I mean, lying on my side until the baby came.

Brian came to the hospital straight from the airport at around 8:30 pm. At this point I think I called Jaxon to tell him what was going one. Poor kid. I didn't get a chance to say goodbye. He woke up with my dad at home not knowing where his Mama was. Thankfully he had a blast with Abu and my uncle from Puerto Rico was also here so they kept him entertained. He was quite excited when I told him Reese may be coming soon. Not so excited when I told him I wouldn't be home and neither would she right away.

 Things happened so fast I couldn't even think straight. The magnesium made me feel like crap all day Friday. I had double vision, could hardly keep my eyes open, my veins were so uncooperative I had to have a pic line put line just so they could check my blood.

So sad with my pic line

Ouch!

My BFFs came to visit and lift my spirits. 

Monitoring Reese

I had contractions on and off, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Jaxon came to see me, which was fun. He seemed to handle my hospital bed, IVs and monitors pretty well. He of course had a lot of questions, but nothing I couldn't handle. He was so sweet standing at my bedside stroking my hair. Made me so sad to think I may not see him for days on end. Thank goodness for my parents who took excellent care of him!

 After things calmed down Friday night, Brian & I talked about what we wanted to happen. Stay uncomfortable and on bedrest for Reese, or have her born 7 1/2 weeks early? Brian & I felt like Reese would cook at least through the weekend. She needed as much time as possible, even if it meant I would be miserable for days on end.

That was Thursday & Friday. Stay tuned for Saturday!

Why Does Time Fly By?

My baby will be three tomorrow. THREE! I cannot believe it. I know we have many, many more years of birthdays, but this one is making my heart hurt (I think the other 2 did also). He is a real-live boy, with his own, very definite, opinions and ideas life. I just can't believe it has been 3 years already. I remember May 6, 2008 like it was yesterday (and that's saying a lot since I have a hard time remembering what I even did yesterday!)

It was a Tuesday. I was wearing a pinkish-peach sleeveless dress. I was 36 weeks pregnant (or so I thought. Come to find out at 3:50 pm May 7, I was really 34 weeks. Due date was wrong.) I was wearing the Crocs flip flops I begrudgingly bought months before when my feet starts to swell like sausages.

At school that day, I had to give my kinders the DIBELS assessment, a literacy fluency test. That meant I split up my kiddos amongst the other 7 kinder teachers & I tested one at a time all day. When we were assigning days to administer the test, I was given the last day of the testing window. I very vividly remember protesting, "I'd like to go first. What if I have the baby before then?" Well, no one thought that would happen since my due date was a month away and first time moms always go past their due date! So I got the last day.

The first week of May the staff took pity on me. My feet, ankles, calves, belly, face, everything was HUGE!! I had a hard time walking around campus. It HURT!! The principal was kind enough to reserve a parking spot right up front for me. The custodian even made a reserved sign in front of my designated space. How sweet. I was touched.

I spent Tuesday with my feet up on a chair while I assessed my kids. At the end of the day I was exhausted. Just drained. I had no energy left. A friend of mine came to check on my in my classroom and before she even said hello, she said, "Anabelle, you get home right now! You look terrible. You should be on the couch with your feet up." Normally, I would protest. The kids had only been gone 10 minutes, my classroom was a disaster, I wasn't ready for Wednesday. But I listened. I did feel crappy. So I left, at 3:15. I was home before Oprah even started at 4:00. that NEVER happens! I stay at school until at least 5:00 pm every day.

I remember putting a pillow on the chair and lying ont he floor with my feet propped on the chair & pillow. Then I took this picture and sent it to my parents

"What's that?!?!" my dad said when he saw it. Yes, those were my poor, gigantic feet. I mean seriously, don't they look like they belong to a woman that weighs 300 pounds?? At least they were pedicured.

I stayed like that for hours. I couldn't move. Then at 10:00 pm I headed upstairs for bed, but not before Brian took my belly picture. We forgot to take it Monday, I think Brian was out of town

showered and got to bed. Well, as I'm lying in bed I feel something quite peculiar trickling down my legs. Hmmm. Had I wet myself again? But this went on a lot longer than a little leakage. 15 minutes. Then I said something to Brian, "Do you remember what the lady on our birthing class said it felt like when your water broke?"

"Umm no, I wasn't paying attention."

"Yeah me either, but something weird is going on down there."

"You probably just peed on yourself again." I guess it happened more than I cared to remembered.

"Your probably right." a few more minutes passed. I was still leaking. "I'm still dribbling Brian."

"Call the midwife then and ask."

I did not want to do this. I felt like an idiot. Of course it wasn't my water. I was too early. But I did anyway.

Bingo! It was my water. The moment I got up to get the phone a gush came out all over the carpet. The midwife said, pack your bags, take a shower and head to the hospital. Um yeah. I had no bags to pack! I didn't even have a maternity pajama. That was going to be done this weekend. I wanted something really pretty. And what does one wear to the hospital when one is about to give birth???

Brian was a trooper. He sprang right into action. I on the other literally did circles in the bathroom, crying. This can't be. I'm not ready to have a baby. What if it hurts? Oh my! My classroom is a disaster! I have no sub plans. Do we have time to go to school?

We were at the hospital an hour later. and 16 hours after that my sweet, tiny, preemie little boy was born. The little boy who could not wait until June to be born. The little boy who was out in 3 pushes. The little boy who never went to the NICU even though he was 6 weeks early. The little boy who was the smallest baby Women's Hospital had ever had in their "regular" maternity ward. The little boy who stole our hearts.