Sharing a story from Grayson's birth

Four and half years ago when I had Brayden, I wasn't put in a room on the typical postpartum unit due to our circumstances. During my two week stay in the hospital I had a great and fantastic nurse named Courtney. She was my day time nurse for the majority of my stay. I trusted her and she understood me when others couldn't. The catch was that she typically didn't work with postpartum patients, she worked in Labor and Delivery. She made my time there bearable and she took such excellent care of me.

Fast forward four and half years, I am sitting in the hospital the morning of Grayson's birth and Courtney walks in my room. I recognized her immediately and she did as well. After some hugs, she told me that she had  been assigned to be with me for Grayson's birth. Full circle right? What a great person to  be with me for Grayson's birth. She made sure that everyone knew our past history so I didn't have to explain it YET again. God knew that I needed her that day. She understood when I cried and fell apart before and during Grayson's birth. It was so great to have someone there that shared our past and now our future with us. What a gift...

Yesterday...

Yesterday I watched helplessly as a tornado passed too closely to where my husband was.
Yesterday I covered my son in our dark basement praying that the tornado wouldn't take our lives.
Yesterday I listened to my husband tell me terrible stories of the children being brought in to the hospital.

Yesterday... people lost their husbands, lost their wives, and lost their children. Praying for them...

My Little Glow Worm

Grayson's Aunt Jennifer brought us this sleep sack while we were still in the hospital and Grayson loves it! My babies tend to run on the hotter side so I don't like to put them in the traditional fleece sleep sack, unless of course it is winter. This is a great alternative and it is made of a light weight fabric. It is called a Woombie and it makes my little one look just like a  glow worm. Isn't he cute!

Grayson's First Easter

First Doctor Visit for Grayson

Yesterday(Monday) Grayson had his first visit with his pediatrician, Dr. W. He had to be seen shortly after being discharged from the NICU so we packed up and headed out. It took us all morning to get it together but we made it to his appointment on time. Grayson got a clean bill of health! He also gained 4 ounces. I had some concerns about his stay in the NICU and other crazy questions but Dr. W put me at ease. He is doing so well and he had the attention of the whole office! Here is some pictures from our first outing.

Waiting for Dr. W

Grayson and Dr. W

NICU Sounds

Babies that spend time in the NICU come home with one issue. The lack of sounds. The NICU does a great job of trying to keep the sound level low and turning the lights low at different intervals of the day, however, it still is not like home. So when a baby gets home from the NICU, they typically, at least my babies, have trouble sleeping without some noise. I should really think about making a whole new sound machine of NICU sounds. Nurses talking, babies crying, machines beeping. My machine would also come with a plan to wean your baby off the sounds without  you going crazy from lack of sleep. Sounds like a great plan right?!?

For now Grayson is enjoying the sounds of birds and a rainstorm, hoping I can get two consecutive hours of sleep tonight.  Thank goodness he is so darn cute! ;)

He's Home!!!

Grayson made it home on Saturday after 10 days in the NICU. We are so thankful to  have him home! He is keeping us on our toes but it is all typical newborn stuff. Here are some pictures from the big day...

Dressed and ready to go!

Finally heading out.

Grayson's first time outside!

In the car and heading home!

He has arrived!!

We are so blessed.

Just a Quick Update

Grayson is holding his own in the NICU and is doing well. No new problems have crept up and (fingers crossed) no new problems will. He has been sitting under the billi-lights for the last two days because of jaundice but we hope today will be his last day. His eating is going really well. He seems to really enjoy nursing(it is quite humorous to watch him latch on) but I can't be there for each feeding so hopefully when we are all back home we can have a better routine. Right now we need to operate on NICU time. I have been dubbed the Dairy Queen because of all the milk I am making for him which I am glad that I am able to do that if I can't be there for every feeding.

Being back in the NICU has a been a bit unnerving. The smells and sounds are all the same but it has been strangely comforting as well. It is all so familiar. The hissing of ventilators, the constant alarms going off. We even see some of the same people that took care of Brayden. Luckily I have retained a lot of info on bonding with your baby while in the NICU and I am using that. Each day I pump covered in one of his blankets and I bring it back to him the following day so that he can be comforted by that. I also sing him the same two songs when I see him. I am so excited to finally get him  home but we have no discharge date yet. Hopefully soon.

I was discharged yesterday and, as always, it was incredibly hard to leave your child behind. I am recovering well though. I am still in some pain but it is manageable. The anxiety is the worst to deal with so I am on the phone constantly checking on Grayson.

Here are some pictures but I plan to take my camera and get some new pictures hopefully today to  post. Sorry there are no pictures of me and him but each time I am holding him usually I am nursing. Thanks for checking in!

He is here!!

So I know that I need to give an update on how everything is going so here it goes.However,  I take no responsibility for any of this that doesn't make sense ;)

On Tuesday, 4/12/11, I wasn't feeling to well. I had had a rough night beforehand and despite the resting, was still having contractions. My mom was there with me that day so every time I would have a contraction she would time them. Well apparently  they were pretty consistent and my mom convinced me to head down to labor and delivery, which all I was concerned about is that I didn't want to spend the night. Silly I know, but after being told time and time again that everything is fine, I just didn't think we would end up staying. Wrong! I was actually in labor this time. They had decided to give me some medication to stop the contractions and then another round of steroids for his lungs and deliver him on 4/14/11.

The morning of Grayson birth was exciting and nerve racking with him being born at 35 weeks and 2 days. He came out screaming!! I cried with disbelief that my son would actually cry and breathe. He was doing well and he is SOOO cute and I was able to keep him with me for a few hours. But then he started grunting to much and breathing really fast. He also felt cold and clammy. Turns out his blood sugar dropped which caused his breathing issues and because of his breathing issues he couldn't eat to get his blood sugar back up. He was admitted to the NICU and he has been doing well. He has now made it to an open air crib because he is controlling his temperature more. Our hope was to be discharged on the same day, Monday, but that is not going to happen. He has started having apnea spells related to his prematurity so that will delay his homecoming for probably another week. We are so thankful at how well he is doing.

Ok, I think that is everything. I am healing well just exhausted. I want to thank everyone for the prayers, visits, text messages, emails, etc that I have been getting. Please know that I am getting them but I may  not be able respond right away. I have been extremely focused on Grayson, his health...AND his cuteness.

Okay here are some pictures. I did not take these pictures and I have not edited the pictures but you can get the idea on how so cute he is ;)

From where I sit...

This is what I see.

Bed rest means...

Bed rest to me means....

• sleeping a lot
• watching tv
• playing on the Internet
• reading A LOT!
• and being down right bored

Well the doctor finally put his foot down and said no more working. Things had been going really well and I had not had any real bothersome contractions in so long. Last Thursday they came back with a vengeance and they were so bad I wasn't sure what was happening. I thought for sure for a minute there while I was at work my water was going to break and he was going to pop up and say "Hi Mom!". We had him checked out because they were concerned about his movements and his position. He's fine!  Of course! He just loves giving his momma trouble!! In truth, he is not low enough to be putting pressure on my cervix at this point (that can change at any  moment) so I am not in pre-term labor as of right now. I am officially not working anymore and staying on bed rest. At this point, bed rest doesn't really seem to make a difference right now because I am still having contractions and at odd times of the day and night but I do what I am told.

I am still going to the doctor twice a week and Grayson continues to look so good. So proud of my boy! We are getting closer!