Adam and I were scheduled to arrive at the hospital on Sunday, September 4th at 6:00 pm. Mom came up early and took a quick picture of us before we left our home for the last time as just us two! We met up with Dennis, Hillary, Madilyn, and Denton in Amarillo for some Ruby Tequilas for our last supper (nerves told me I'd better just eat tortillas!) Adam and I headed to the hospital and got checked in and gowned up while everyone checked into their hotel rooms.
I am pretty much the luckiest gal in the world to have a mother that will make anything for me on request, so I was lucky to have two adorable hospital gowns for my stay (which turned out to be a lot longer than planned!) They started Cervidil that evening to soften the cervix and found I was dialated to a one and had been having contractions for a while (explaining the discomfort at the last football game.) We spent the rest of the evening relaxing, visiting with family, and waiting around!
I got up Monday morning and they removed the Cervidil and let me get ready for the day. I got to shower, and put on makeup, and even fix my hair before being bound to the bed for the next 36 hours. This gown was very special with Lexi's birth date and angel wings. I thought of her a lot throughout the day and felt at peace as the day progressed.
At 7:00 they started the Pitocin to induce labor. At this point I was still only 1 cm dialated and at -1 station. Adam's family arrived soon after and we spent the morning getting through contractions and visiting. By lunch they had started the epidural. I didn't want to be as uncomfortable this time around so I opted for an epidural as early as possible. As usual, it was not as effective on the right side and I had to receive extra doses throughout the day to kept the pain at bay. After lunch, they checked me again and I had dilated to a 4 and they realized that Abram was "sunny-side up" meaning his face was turned forward instead of backwards. This was going to make it harder for him to make his way down so they attempted to get him turned by laying me on my side with one leg up in a stirrup (fun position when you can't feel a thing!) The monitors showed that I was still having contractions that were still very close together, but not as strong as they needed to be so they continued the Pitocin beyond their normal limit. At around supper they checked again and I had progressed to a 7. Still very slow going! I even had a teacher from school show up thinking that he'd already arrived, but to no luck. I was nauseated on and off so family stayed in and out the room for the rest of the afternoon. At 10:00 they checked again and found that I had not made any further progress in several hours. At this point, we felt the impending doom! They called Dr. Freeman (pretty much the best Dr. ever) and he came and broke the news to us that we were going to have to proceed with a c-section. I shed a few tears from the idea of knowing that this would mean a longer hospital stay, longer recover, and a hell of a bigger bill, but at that point I just wanted him here and healthy. Adam on the other hand looked like he was gearing up for the Super Bowl. His nerves got to him, but he quickly digested the information and suited up!
They quickly had me ready for the OR and gave me all kinds of fun drugs to make sure I would be completely numb. Adam sat right next to me and we held our breath until 11:04 pm when Luke "Abram" Watson made his arrival with a loud healthy boisterous cry. Overwhelmed doesn't explain the half of it. Adam was able to see him and bring him over to me in a warmer blanket and then left the OR to celebrate with our families. The nurses showed me his gigantic footprints and then they dosed me up with Benadryl and spent the next hour fixing me up. They wheeled me to recovery where I got to see pictures from him getting warmed up and weighed and measured. He came in at 7 lbs. 12 oz. and measuring 20 1/2 inches long. Adam admitted that he fell apart once it was all over.
I was so thankful that our families and friends got to see him get his bath and get measured (things that are normally just done in the delivery room.) After 7 1/2 hours for most of them, it was a fun experience for them. I was back in a room after 1:00 AM where I finally got to officially meet my little man. He was able to nurse and go down for a few hours. The next day was spent just grasping the idea of the long few days ahead. I was able to get up and moving after lunch and showered and cleaned up that evening. I refused pain meds via IV until I could get oral medication at 5:00 pm. I didn't want to experience any nausea with the now very sore stomach. After that, we spent a few days relaxing, visiting, learning the ways of Abram (who could wet his bassinet like no other) and living on cloud 9.
We were able to get released on Thursday after 4 nights in the hospital.
We left, ate Furrs, did some shopping and got home. Adam had to quickly run off to his first Junior High football game (which he won). Nursing was quite difficult because the little guy is "tongue-tied" meaning he gums everything instead of being able to use his tongue. From this point on, I have been pumping for all of his feedings and he is able to get breast milk from a bottle. It is a little more challenging because it is time consuming, but he is tolerating it well and is still receiving the benefits.
The day after we got out of the hospital, Mom drove me to Adam's football game in Stratford. I am thankful to be pretty pain tolerant and be able to have gotten out of the house and enjoy going and doing!
Saturday, Adam's family joined us to meet the baby and have a hamburger cookout. I can't believe they made the long trip, but thoroughly enjoyed their company!
Mom stayed another week and we went to Amarillo and shopped (love my jogging stroller!!), took Abram's newborn pictures (which is a lot harder than it looks) and she spent time making things for Abram's first homecoming.
After falling apart a million more times, Mom left on Saturday after being in the Panhandle two weeks. She took a picture of us as a new family of three before she left. I cannot be more thankful for what she did for us while she was here!!
We went to Abram's two week appointment (as well as mine) and found out that he was now 8 lb. 1 oz. and 21 1/4 inches long! They let us know that would eventually need his tongue clipped to keep from having speech problems in the future and to also allow him to nurse easier. We have that scheduled for the 25th of October. He got his second PKU test at the hospital, got to see the Urologist for his sharpened pencil checkup, and I saw my Dr. at which time I was able to confirm that I was 20 pounds down from my PRE-pregnancy weight (I had only gained 5 pounds from start to finish.) Dr. Freeman told me to continue to take it easy, but to see him again at 6 weeks. From here on it's been smooth sailing. He's got his days and nights mixed up so I am trying to feed him every few hours during the day and disrupt his sleep and see if he can sleep better at night. We are at four weeks since his arrival with only two weeks before I go back to work. He is an absolute blessing to us and I have enjoyed every waking second of him being in our lives.
