The last month has been the craziest of our lives. I could write a 50 page post about all the happenings, but for now I will start with a photo of me on April 14:
I planted flowers in a couple pots that sit beside the 2 sycamore trees in our backyard. It was a beautiful Spring day and at 39 1/2 weeks pregnant, I wanted to get out of the house and enjoy the fresh air while I could. Planting flowers probably wouldn't be on most pregnant women's list of to-do's, but it just goes to show how great I felt throughout my pregnancy, all the way to the end. And this, my friends, was the very end.
That afternoon we went to a movie and out to eat. We knew that Baby would be arriving any day, so it would probably be our last date for a long, long time. And by any day, I mean next morning.
This was me on April 15:
I won't go into great detail, but here is the short version of the story:
I went into labor just before midnight, and by 1:45 am, we were checking in at the hospital. My water broke and I progressed quickly and decided it was most definitely time for an epidural after a couple hours. If I had it to over again, the drugs would have made an entrance much earlier! As many of my mommy friends have attested, drugs are great! By this time, I was dilated to a 6, and when the nurse checked me, she looked concerned. She gave no explanation, other than "I need to get a second opinion." Thanks, nurse. That is very comforting.
The second nurse confirmed her fear: our baby was breech, despite my doctor thinking she could feel the head the prior Monday. Suddenly, all of our labor plans went out the door, and I was whisked down the hall for a c-section. The entire experience became surreal at this point. The only part that matters, however, was that at 5:41 am our baby arrived, and Aaron confirmed what we had both predicted: we were parents of a beautiful baby boy, Zachary Kendal Siders.
I looked on as the nurses cleaned him up and checked him. He was crying, and I remember thinking, "he sounds healthy." What sounded healthy to me did not sound healthy to the professionals in the room, however. Suddenly, my baby that I had not even touched was taken away for x-rays on his lungs. I was wheeled to recovery, and Aaron went to find out what was happening with our Zachary.
Zachary had a pneumothorax, which is a tear in the lung, which caused his chest cavity to fill with air. He was kept in the NICU, which was hard on us, but we knew he was getting great care. A few days later, the tear was healed, but he had multiple episodes in which his heart rate and oxygen levels sporadically dropped. He wouldn't be discharged until 3-5 days after the last episode. On April 23, we finally brought him home. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of hospitals for our little guy, but I will stop there for now! At the end of the day, he is perfect and parenthood has well exceeded our expectations. I have experienced more joy and more worry in the last month than I ever thought possible, which I know will continue for the rest of our lives. We are a happy family of three!
Just to bring this story full circle, remember the sycamore tree that I planted flowers by in the first picture? Well, on April 16 this was that tree.
I am pretty sure we can handle anything now!
No comments:
Post a Comment