Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Hospital Stay

My time in the hospital felt like and eternity and a blur all at the same time. I will do my best to recall those few days!

After the c-section I had to go to recovery for 2 hours before I could go see my precious little man! It was a LONG wait! Finally my time was up and got wheeled in my bed up to the nicu. It was quite a bumpy ride and I was filled with so many emotions! I was so relieved when I got see him and learn that he didn't need ANY MEDICAL HELP AT ALL!!! He only had a few wires hooked up to him to monitor his oxygen, and heart rate. Everyone was amazed at how well he was doing for being so early! I was so happy to be able to hold and nurse him! He nursed like a champ! The nurses kept saying things like; "Don't be too excited, they often do really well at first and then fade." Or, "It could just be the honey moon phase." But I didn't accept any of that! I knew how strong my little man was and how awesome my God IS! I knew he wasn't going to need supplementing and had to fight for that a little.

The days were long. having to go back and forth between the nicu and my room a floor away. I got NO sleep for the first 36-48 hrs and then got a little the next night. Trying to time sleep, meds, eating, and getting to the nicu to nurse was hard and exhausting, not to mention emotional leaving my baby!

Even though the c-section itself was pretty cool, recovering from one has been horrendous. My body does natural labor and vaginal delivery like a pro, but I was not designed for c-sections! Trying to find medications that helped was hard, and even still am in a lot of pain. But, I will be okay and baby is perfect so that's all that really matters!

It was hard having to go back and forth when I knew he didn't have any problems. It was like torture! They had my hopes up to him coming to my room on Thursday, but the pediatrician wanted to watch him one more day to make sure he didn't have any breathing problems. It was killer to hear that, but I know they just want to make sure and better be safe than sorry. I could not wait till Friday to see the Pedi again and show her how amazing he is, and that he didn't have any problems. Thankfully she agreed and he got to come down to my room with me Friday night! I was thrilled! To be together constantly and not have to go back and forth was amazing!

Another blessing was that nursing has gone so well!! He has latched great and my milk came in super fast! I feel that is one way God helped me to not have to supplement with him! The nurses were even shocked at how much I was able to pump after feeding him!

Then came the battle to get home! When you have a preemie, they have to pass a car seat test. They have to be able to sit in a car seat for an hour with out their heart rate dropping. They did the first test in the middle of the night Friday. They came back and said he failed. They said he made it most of the way so it might have been a fluke, so they were going to test again in a little while. I told my friends to pray and one of my friends had a similar experience 2 months ago and brought me the car seat she had to bring her preemie home in. I was so thankful! They tested him again, and again he failed! I was devastated! Worrying what they were going to want to do if he couldn't pass and go home with me! Amazingly, some one saw my post on a moms group forum I'm on. She doesn't even know me, but offered for me to borrow their special flat bed like car seat for preemies. I was blown away by her generosity! I was still so nervous! This was our last hope! They took him back to test and came back with good news this time! WE GET TO GO HOME TOGETHER!!! I was so happy!!

It was interesting how being in a hospital full of nurses and doctors none of them had heard about embryo adoption. They were all so curious of our story and were amazed at it all! I should have had it recorded to just push play when each new nurse or doctor asked! So many of them couldn't wait to tell someone they knew about it! I love how the Lord is using us to spread a way to give life to those who can't speak for themselves!

One of the biggest blessings though is all the help we got from good friends! We could not have made it through with out them! Being that we have 5 kids at home we constantly needed someone to be with them as I was not in shape to be alone at the hospital. Physically or emotionally. I'm blown away by their generosity. From watching kids, to bringing me car seats, and spending time with me, and all those that prayed for us through it all! It is a miracle and a birth story we will never forget!

We joke that he wanted to come into the world the way he went into my womb. Surgically!
Here is a picture of us right before the transfer and then right before and after the c-section. If you look close you can even see Paul is wearing the same clothes!!!

Before the embryo's where put in my womb. 02/28/2014

Joshua David's BIRTHday! 10/15/2014


Every LIFE is important no matter how small!! An embryo is not just a cluster of cells, but a human!
HE IS PROOF!




This whole journey has been AMAZiNG!! To be able to give life to the unwanted from the very beginning is so hard to put into words how magical it is! There is nothing like it! Truly miraculous! If you would like to give to help us with our amazing journey of embryo adoption there are several ways!!

1. Simply donate using the link on the right. We still have quite a bit to pay off from the whole process.

2. You can sign up to bring us a meal or gift card to help with meals as we adjust to a new baby (#6) and recovering from a c-section.  Click Here for meal registry. 

3. We have a baby registry at Target of a few things we still need. Click Here for baby registry.

Will update how we are doing since we've been home soon!

Thursday, October 16, 2014

He is Here!!! WARNING graphic part one of our journey of Joshua David's birth.

*There are probably tons of typos and might not make total sense since I haven't slept in almost 48 hrs, but here is a rough draft of his birth.....

Joshua David decided to make an entrance into our arms a little earlier than planned! Wednesday October 15th at around noon I started having a pain in my back on the left side middle. It was a pain I have never felt before and made me kind of nauseous. I kept going about my day for 30 minutes and the pain got worse. I texted my husband and he told me to call my doctor and that he was going to come right home. You see, my husband knows me so well and if I was concerned enough to mention it to him, than something was definitely not right. The pain increased fast and by the time I called the nurse I was hyperventilating. At first she told me to come into the office to be assessed, then a few minutes later after talking to the doctor called back and said to go straight to labor and delivery. Thankfully we have wonderful friends were willing to stop what they are doing and come help quickly. My friend go to me before my husband was able to, so I jumped in her car and another friend stayed at the house with Izzy. Paul got the kids out of school and dropped them off at the house and headed to the hospital to meet us there. When I got there I was still in a good deal of pain and not breathing well. They had me slow my breathing and pee and put monitors on me to watch baby and contractions. Shortly after the pain actually subsided. They were thinking a kidney stone or something alone those lines, which was what my initial thought was too since the pain was specifically located. They continued to monitor me and took some labs and checked my cervix. At that point I was only at 1cm which was no big deal. They said they were going to monitor me a bit longer and see what happens. After being checked the contractions picked up big time. I went to the restroom and laid back down and a few minutes later felt a trickle. I thought that it might be just the gel from being checked because it was a small amount, then a few minutes later felt a big gush. They check and it was blood! At that point I got nervous, but baby still looks fantastic so they checked me and I was at a 3. They kept watching me and I kept having blood leak. They checked me again about an hour or so later was still 3. Since my bleeding wasn't slowing down and I wasn't in active labor, they decided it would be best to get him out via c-section. At that point I had all sorts of feelings! knowing I was going to get to see my son, but not sure is state, and getting a c-section for the first time, all scary! They explained everything to us and wheeled me away. I got into the OR and they gave me a spinal, then Paul was able to join me and got me all set up. Once they started and I didn't feel any pain I relaxed and actually got gitty! This was cool! I was awake and yet knew I was cut wide open! I was so intrigued and told Paul to take pictures and told the doctors to talk loud enough so I could hear. All the docs and nurses were women and I think they really got a hoot out of my energy. When it came time to pull him out they lowered the drape for me to see and Paul recorded it and is linked below :) He came out crying and they said he was looking great! I got to see him for a minute and then Paul went up with him to the NICU while I went to recovery. My time is quite limited so I will post more tomorrow if I can to fill you in more on how we are doing.