Here are some recent pics of my boy:
Friday, September 2, 2011
*sigh*
There are 18 days until my baby turns 1 year old. I can't even begin to describe how I feel about this. *sigh*
Here are some recent pics of my boy:
Here are some recent pics of my boy:
Monday, August 29, 2011
Caleb's First Week Part 1
Caleb's first week was interesting.
At around 7ish, just after my parents and grandmother left the hospital, Ben was attempting to feed Caleb. Ben mentioned that he was having a difficult time getting Caleb to take the bottle, so the nurse offered to take over once she took care of something that I needed (I was still flat on my back from the c-section). The nurse headed out, and Ben laid Caleb down in the bassinet. He was going to help me eat my dinner (soup, bleh). He said something to me, then turned around to look at Caleb. He was choking on something. Ben yelled at me to hit the nurse button.
I was completely out of it and couldn't react fast enough to do so, but he managed to hit the button, then flipped Caleb over to pat his back. I was still barely even able to comprehend that something was wrong. Ben told the nurse over the intercom that something was wrong with the baby. He then got impatient with the nurse, and nearly knocked her over as he left the room to find her (or anyone).
The nurse took one look at Caleb, grabbed him and ran. Ben followed. A moment or two later the anesthesiologist who had been with me during my c-section called me to let me know everything was ok and that he'd be in the Special Care Nursery, etc. He had just been choking on leftover amniotic fluid, and they gave him some oxygen and he was OK, but they were still going to keep him in the SCN to keep an eye on him.
I called in the middle of the night to check on him. He had another episode of apnea but nothing serious or alarming.
The next morning they wheeled me down there to see him. While I was there the pediatrician who was there in place of my pediatrician (she was on vacation) came in, along with a specialist from another hospital. They looked him over, and started talking about putting him on some expensive formula, etc., but decided to try regular formula again and see what happened.
That didn't go over well. He kept having episodes of apnea, and spitting up his formula (and then choking on it). So they kept him on IV fluids until Thursday to see if they could get everything cleared out of his system. Another pediatrician was on call that day as the one seeing him all week was off, and that doctor took Caleb for some test to see what was going on internally when he drank. He told us Caleb had pyloric stenosis and needed to be transferred to Children's Hospital in Milwaukee (our hospital is too small to have a NICU or any kind of pediatric surgical services) to have surgery. They had been talking about releasing me that day but they were going to allow me to stay as a patient until Friday if Caleb was still in the hospital. If Caleb would have to stay any longer, they would have given me a room just outside the New Life Center (which had filled up in the few days I was there!) and allowed me to stay as a parent. However, with his transfer to Children's Hospital being imminent, they checked with the OB, who said I could go home.
I took a shower, while Ben ran home to get a few things, and take a few things home. The transfer would happen that afternoon. The nurse went over discharge stuff with me. Ben also took care of filling the prescriptions for pain meds that they were sending with me. I walked down to see my baby, had lunch, then napped most of the afternoon.
Finally, the transfer happened. The EMTs came to take him down via ambulance (so we wouldn't have to go through the ER). They got him strapped into the carseat, and then strapped onto the stretcher. Ben took our stuff out to the car, and the EMTs got the last minute paperwork they needed. The nurses gave me his footprints and a couple other things. The EMTs checked with me to make sure I didn't want to ride along. I really did, but I had a feeling I was going to be in a lot of pain on the ride down if I went with them.
So I said goodbye (temporarily) to my son, and parted ways with the EMTs. I left the hospital and met Ben at the front doors.
That's all for now. I'm crying as I write this, so I know that means I need to take a break.
At around 7ish, just after my parents and grandmother left the hospital, Ben was attempting to feed Caleb. Ben mentioned that he was having a difficult time getting Caleb to take the bottle, so the nurse offered to take over once she took care of something that I needed (I was still flat on my back from the c-section). The nurse headed out, and Ben laid Caleb down in the bassinet. He was going to help me eat my dinner (soup, bleh). He said something to me, then turned around to look at Caleb. He was choking on something. Ben yelled at me to hit the nurse button.
I was completely out of it and couldn't react fast enough to do so, but he managed to hit the button, then flipped Caleb over to pat his back. I was still barely even able to comprehend that something was wrong. Ben told the nurse over the intercom that something was wrong with the baby. He then got impatient with the nurse, and nearly knocked her over as he left the room to find her (or anyone).
The nurse took one look at Caleb, grabbed him and ran. Ben followed. A moment or two later the anesthesiologist who had been with me during my c-section called me to let me know everything was ok and that he'd be in the Special Care Nursery, etc. He had just been choking on leftover amniotic fluid, and they gave him some oxygen and he was OK, but they were still going to keep him in the SCN to keep an eye on him.
I called in the middle of the night to check on him. He had another episode of apnea but nothing serious or alarming.
The next morning they wheeled me down there to see him. While I was there the pediatrician who was there in place of my pediatrician (she was on vacation) came in, along with a specialist from another hospital. They looked him over, and started talking about putting him on some expensive formula, etc., but decided to try regular formula again and see what happened.
That didn't go over well. He kept having episodes of apnea, and spitting up his formula (and then choking on it). So they kept him on IV fluids until Thursday to see if they could get everything cleared out of his system. Another pediatrician was on call that day as the one seeing him all week was off, and that doctor took Caleb for some test to see what was going on internally when he drank. He told us Caleb had pyloric stenosis and needed to be transferred to Children's Hospital in Milwaukee (our hospital is too small to have a NICU or any kind of pediatric surgical services) to have surgery. They had been talking about releasing me that day but they were going to allow me to stay as a patient until Friday if Caleb was still in the hospital. If Caleb would have to stay any longer, they would have given me a room just outside the New Life Center (which had filled up in the few days I was there!) and allowed me to stay as a parent. However, with his transfer to Children's Hospital being imminent, they checked with the OB, who said I could go home.
I took a shower, while Ben ran home to get a few things, and take a few things home. The transfer would happen that afternoon. The nurse went over discharge stuff with me. Ben also took care of filling the prescriptions for pain meds that they were sending with me. I walked down to see my baby, had lunch, then napped most of the afternoon.
Finally, the transfer happened. The EMTs came to take him down via ambulance (so we wouldn't have to go through the ER). They got him strapped into the carseat, and then strapped onto the stretcher. Ben took our stuff out to the car, and the EMTs got the last minute paperwork they needed. The nurses gave me his footprints and a couple other things. The EMTs checked with me to make sure I didn't want to ride along. I really did, but I had a feeling I was going to be in a lot of pain on the ride down if I went with them.
So I said goodbye (temporarily) to my son, and parted ways with the EMTs. I left the hospital and met Ben at the front doors.
That's all for now. I'm crying as I write this, so I know that means I need to take a break.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
September 19th, 2010
As I said in my last post, I was scheduled to be induced on September 20th at 6pm. But Caleb had other plans.
On September 19th my SIL and niece spent the night. MIL watches my niece 3 days a week and SIL often stays with us so she didn't have to spend as much in gas driving back and forth.
Ben and SIL ran to Buffalo Wild Wings and picked up dinner. I believe I had the Big Daddy Jack Burger. Or else Boneless Parmesan Garlic Wings with Wedges with Cheese. Can't remember exactly. My sister called about 9 to wish me luck since she wasn't sure what time we were going on. We chatted for about 45 minutes, then Ben and I went to bed.
At 10:30 I woke up to a warm, wet feeling. I laid there for a minute like "WTF?". Then I leaned over and poked Ben. "Honey, honey, I think my water just broke."
He was all sleepy and confused. "What?"
"My water broke."
Insert craziness here. I hightailed it to the bathroom gushing amniotic fluid, Ben woke SIL up who was sleeping on our couch because my niece was sleeping in Caleb's crib. SIL woke MIL up to let her know what was going on. Ben called the hospital, they said to take a shower and come on in.
So I got in the shower, while Ben started packing. After the shower I put clothes on. The packing was pretty much done and then we were out the door. I sat on some towels on the way to the hospital.
The contractions started on the drive. They weren't bad. I didn't gush any more fluid until I stepped out of the car at the ER. Yay, I got to walk into the ER with soaked pants.
Ben parked the car and brought our suitcase in, then we headed up to the New Life Center.
Insert painful, awful, horrendous back labor all night long. And I mean back to back contractions. The nurse pretty much sat in the room with us most of the night to keep the monitors on me to make sure Caleb was tolerating those contractions. I was begging for the epidural but couldn't have one until I was dilated to 4. I was only at 1.
Shift change was 7am. I asked that nurse to check me and see if I could get the epidural yet. I'd gotten no relief all night long and no rest. She checked, I was not quite at a 4. But she checked with my OB and he said to go ahead.
Let me tell you, having to sit perfectly still while having back to back painful contractions while they stick a needle in your back is no fun. And definitely not easy. Once that was in, within a little bit I felt nothing from the waist down.
The OB came in to check on me. He inserted some internal monitors since the external ones were not staying put and they were having such a hard time getting a reading on my contractions and on Caleb's heart rate. He noted that Caleb's heart rate was declining during contractions and said he'd watch it. If it got worse or went on too long, he'd do a c-section.
Right around 10:30, Ben was going to go and get something to eat really quick, and I was going to try to catch some shut eye. The doctor came in right at that point and said that he'd been watching the decels and he wanted to take me in for a c-section. Ben asked him how long until they'd be ready. The OB said "20 minutes". I cried a little, but not because I was scared. I teared up because I knew my baby boy was coming and I couldn't wait to hold him.
They did all the prep work and got me wheeled into the OR. Ben sat next to me and held my hand and the anesthesiologist stood at my shoulder to make sure I wasn't feeling anything.
At 11:21 am on September 20th, 2010, the doctor asked if Ben wanted to take a look as they pulled Caleb from my belly. Ben walked away from me at that point so he could get pictures of the little man getting weighed, measured, checked out, and cleaned up. He got peed on. They took Caleb's footprints and put them on Ben's scrubs (we got to keep them!) and in his baby book, and on the card from the hospital. They wrapped up my baby and brought him over to me.
I couldn't stop crying. It was the most amazing moment of my life. Hell, I'm tearing up just thinking about it.
On September 19th my SIL and niece spent the night. MIL watches my niece 3 days a week and SIL often stays with us so she didn't have to spend as much in gas driving back and forth.
Ben and SIL ran to Buffalo Wild Wings and picked up dinner. I believe I had the Big Daddy Jack Burger. Or else Boneless Parmesan Garlic Wings with Wedges with Cheese. Can't remember exactly. My sister called about 9 to wish me luck since she wasn't sure what time we were going on. We chatted for about 45 minutes, then Ben and I went to bed.
At 10:30 I woke up to a warm, wet feeling. I laid there for a minute like "WTF?". Then I leaned over and poked Ben. "Honey, honey, I think my water just broke."
He was all sleepy and confused. "What?"
"My water broke."
Insert craziness here. I hightailed it to the bathroom gushing amniotic fluid, Ben woke SIL up who was sleeping on our couch because my niece was sleeping in Caleb's crib. SIL woke MIL up to let her know what was going on. Ben called the hospital, they said to take a shower and come on in.
So I got in the shower, while Ben started packing. After the shower I put clothes on. The packing was pretty much done and then we were out the door. I sat on some towels on the way to the hospital.
The contractions started on the drive. They weren't bad. I didn't gush any more fluid until I stepped out of the car at the ER. Yay, I got to walk into the ER with soaked pants.
Ben parked the car and brought our suitcase in, then we headed up to the New Life Center.
Insert painful, awful, horrendous back labor all night long. And I mean back to back contractions. The nurse pretty much sat in the room with us most of the night to keep the monitors on me to make sure Caleb was tolerating those contractions. I was begging for the epidural but couldn't have one until I was dilated to 4. I was only at 1.
Shift change was 7am. I asked that nurse to check me and see if I could get the epidural yet. I'd gotten no relief all night long and no rest. She checked, I was not quite at a 4. But she checked with my OB and he said to go ahead.
Let me tell you, having to sit perfectly still while having back to back painful contractions while they stick a needle in your back is no fun. And definitely not easy. Once that was in, within a little bit I felt nothing from the waist down.
The OB came in to check on me. He inserted some internal monitors since the external ones were not staying put and they were having such a hard time getting a reading on my contractions and on Caleb's heart rate. He noted that Caleb's heart rate was declining during contractions and said he'd watch it. If it got worse or went on too long, he'd do a c-section.
Right around 10:30, Ben was going to go and get something to eat really quick, and I was going to try to catch some shut eye. The doctor came in right at that point and said that he'd been watching the decels and he wanted to take me in for a c-section. Ben asked him how long until they'd be ready. The OB said "20 minutes". I cried a little, but not because I was scared. I teared up because I knew my baby boy was coming and I couldn't wait to hold him.
They did all the prep work and got me wheeled into the OR. Ben sat next to me and held my hand and the anesthesiologist stood at my shoulder to make sure I wasn't feeling anything.
At 11:21 am on September 20th, 2010, the doctor asked if Ben wanted to take a look as they pulled Caleb from my belly. Ben walked away from me at that point so he could get pictures of the little man getting weighed, measured, checked out, and cleaned up. He got peed on. They took Caleb's footprints and put them on Ben's scrubs (we got to keep them!) and in his baby book, and on the card from the hospital. They wrapped up my baby and brought him over to me.
I couldn't stop crying. It was the most amazing moment of my life. Hell, I'm tearing up just thinking about it.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
More Pregnancy Highlights
Because of Ben's congenital heart defect, we set up a fetal echo for our anatomy scan. That was set up to be done at 24 weeks. Most anatomy scans are at 20 weeks. Ours was done a little later because the doctor wanted to get as best of a look at the heart as possible.
Everything turned out great. And we found out that we were having a boy! We were excited. Our baby was healthy and showed no signs of following in daddy's footsteps with a heart problem. We set up a repeat ultrasound & fetal echo for 30 weeks so that the doctor could just double check, since we were high risk for there being issues. She was positive that there were no issues, but still wanted to make sure.
At the beginning of July, incidentally the day before an OB appointment, I started having this weird flashing in my eyes and was seeing an aura. I mentioned it to the OB at my appointment, and he sent me to see an eye doctor at the clinic to make sure that I didn't have a detached retina or anything bad going on. Turns out it was just migraines. In my eye. And they were painless.
July - Also had my GD test and failed. Took the 4 hour one the morning of the 30 week ultrasound. Also failed. Met with the diabetic consultant and got an eating plan. Also learned how to test my blood sugar.
Turns out the eating plan didn't work very well. At least for my morning sugars (aka fasting sugars). My OB ended up putting me on Metformin, and eventually switched that to 2x a day. That did the trick and I was able to sneak a few extra carbs into my diet to satisfy my desire for pizza, pasta, and pineapple.
September 1st we had a growth scan to check the size of little Caleb Martin. He still had a big nugget, but was just under 7 pounds at that point by their estimates. I was going in twice a week for NSTs.
My OB doesn't allow GD patients to go past 40 weeks, so we set up an induction for September 20th, 4 days before my due date when I'd be at 40 weeks. I wanted to make sure that my OB was the one to deliver Caleb so I pushed for that.
My last week of work sucked because I was dealing with finalizing everything for me to be gone 6-8 weeks, and arguing with the office about my FMLA paperwork. Ugh. I don't even want to talk about that.
Last day of work was Setember 17th, 2010. The induction was set for September 20th at 6pm. I had one last NST & OB appointment scheduled for that day as well. Ben was going to work half a day, then take the rest of the week off of work and the following Monday. He was going to come home at about noonish and we were going to have lunch, go to my NST, pack, and then go to the hospital.
Notice I say "was going to".
Caleb had other plans.
Everything turned out great. And we found out that we were having a boy! We were excited. Our baby was healthy and showed no signs of following in daddy's footsteps with a heart problem. We set up a repeat ultrasound & fetal echo for 30 weeks so that the doctor could just double check, since we were high risk for there being issues. She was positive that there were no issues, but still wanted to make sure.
At the beginning of July, incidentally the day before an OB appointment, I started having this weird flashing in my eyes and was seeing an aura. I mentioned it to the OB at my appointment, and he sent me to see an eye doctor at the clinic to make sure that I didn't have a detached retina or anything bad going on. Turns out it was just migraines. In my eye. And they were painless.
July - Also had my GD test and failed. Took the 4 hour one the morning of the 30 week ultrasound. Also failed. Met with the diabetic consultant and got an eating plan. Also learned how to test my blood sugar.
Turns out the eating plan didn't work very well. At least for my morning sugars (aka fasting sugars). My OB ended up putting me on Metformin, and eventually switched that to 2x a day. That did the trick and I was able to sneak a few extra carbs into my diet to satisfy my desire for pizza, pasta, and pineapple.
September 1st we had a growth scan to check the size of little Caleb Martin. He still had a big nugget, but was just under 7 pounds at that point by their estimates. I was going in twice a week for NSTs.
My OB doesn't allow GD patients to go past 40 weeks, so we set up an induction for September 20th, 4 days before my due date when I'd be at 40 weeks. I wanted to make sure that my OB was the one to deliver Caleb so I pushed for that.
My last week of work sucked because I was dealing with finalizing everything for me to be gone 6-8 weeks, and arguing with the office about my FMLA paperwork. Ugh. I don't even want to talk about that.
Last day of work was Setember 17th, 2010. The induction was set for September 20th at 6pm. I had one last NST & OB appointment scheduled for that day as well. Ben was going to work half a day, then take the rest of the week off of work and the following Monday. He was going to come home at about noonish and we were going to have lunch, go to my NST, pack, and then go to the hospital.
Notice I say "was going to".
Caleb had other plans.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
First Mother's Day
Caleb got me tickets to see Weird Al on June 2nd! Should be a blast! :)
Breakfast with Grandma, Caleb, and my parents didn't turn out the way it should have. I stubbed my big toe on the metal table leg, and bent my toe nail halfway back. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.
My dad took me to the ER while Mom & Grandma kept an eye on Caleb. Ben was picking his mom up from rehab, so that's why he wasn't along. The worst part about the ER visit was when they jabbed my toe with needles to numb it. All they had to do was bend the toenail back in place and clean it up. No biggie. It's still numb but that's going to probably wear off soon, so we'll see how bad it hurts.
Good news is I get to wear sandals to work for a few days while it starts healing. Bad news is I may not be able to wear my sexy shoes for Auntie Tashina's wedding, and I probably won't get my pedicure the day before. :(
Yay for the ER on Mother's Day. At least I know I'll never forget my first one.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Caleb's First Spring
I'm jumping ahead to today. Yesterday was nice. After doing some grocery shopping, Ben and I took Caleb for a walk. He liked it.
Today was really nice. It was definitely pretty close to 80 degrees outside. Caleb and I went for a walk while Ben ran to the hardware store. Afterwards, Ben was doing some stuff outside, and Caleb and I went out to join him. Caleb "drove" the Civic with his shades on. The pics are still on the camera, but are definitely super cute.
Later Uncle Jim, Oliver, Uncle Leroy and Travis came by. Caleb and I did go and hang out outside for awhile, so he got LOTS of fresh air.
He totally seems to dig the fresh air and being outside.
All in all, despite his current "I want Mommy all day long" mode, we had a great day.
Today was really nice. It was definitely pretty close to 80 degrees outside. Caleb and I went for a walk while Ben ran to the hardware store. Afterwards, Ben was doing some stuff outside, and Caleb and I went out to join him. Caleb "drove" the Civic with his shades on. The pics are still on the camera, but are definitely super cute.
Later Uncle Jim, Oliver, Uncle Leroy and Travis came by. Caleb and I did go and hang out outside for awhile, so he got LOTS of fresh air.
He totally seems to dig the fresh air and being outside.
All in all, despite his current "I want Mommy all day long" mode, we had a great day.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Pregnancy Highlights
We had to wait 3 months from the time of my miscarriage before we could start trying to get pregnant again. This was not only so that we could grieve, and not only so that my body could heal from the miscarriage, but because I had to have a rubella immunization. Rubella immunizations can cause birth defects which is why you can not have them when you are pregnant and they recommend waiting at least 3 months to help ensure that your next baby won't have birth defects.
Had my first pregnancy been successful, I would have gotten the rubella shot after I delivered. Instead, I got it after my miscarriage.
We started trying Christmas morning in 2009.
On January 24, 2010, I took a pregnancy test. It was positive. Three days later, Ben confessed to me that he had a feeling we were having a boy.
Because of my miscarriage, I had extremely bad anxiety over this pregnancy. My moods went up and down constantly. I went from being extremely excited one moment to crying and freaking out that this baby would die too, the next moment.
Over the next month, I had 3 instances of nausea. None of them resulted in vomiting. Thank God for that.
Two days before my first appointment, I had a breakdown. We were watching Criminal Minds, and it was the episode where JJ brings her baby boy into the BAU. If it would not have been for Ben, I would have been lost.
On February 23rd, I determined that leftovers were no good. Over the next few months, I would keep trying, but I found leftovers were disgusting. I also determined that chicken breast, pork chops, steak...well, basically any meat that wasn't ground had to be eaten slowly in small bites or the texture made me gag.
February 24th, 2010 - Tears. Tears. More tears. What a wonderful birthday present for Ben. There was our little one on the ultrasound with a little flutter which marked his heart.
The following Saturday (February 27th), we told our families. First, we went over to my parents' house and gave them the news, showing them the ultrasound picture. They were super excited. That afternoon, Ben's family came over to celebrate his birthday. We took the framed ultrasound picture and placed it on the baker's rack to see if anyone would notice. Ben had admitted that he had told Kris about the pregnancy weeks before, so she offered to "find" the picture. I tried several times to get Jody to notice the picture. I asked her to get the house phone for me. I asked her to put it back. Finally, I had to say "Jody, can you look at my new picture and tell me what you think?". That finally did the trick.
Ben's mom was all "I KNEW something was up!" :)
I still had sad moments, especially early on, even though we'd seen the heartbeat. To this day, I wholeheartedly believe that Caleb's older brother or sister is looking down on him and watching over him. He has the best guardian angel a little boy could ever ask for.
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