David's Story Part 3

Welcome to the World David!

Part 3

Part 1: Here

Part 2: Here

They sewed me up which felt like it was taking forever.  But soon enough I was ready to roll into recovery.  I was feeling pretty good really.  Still numb, and very little pain.  I was of course on a lot of drugs!  It only took about an hour to regain feeling back.  Apparently my body temperature wasn’t staying up, so during that hour they had to bundle me in some blankets, and then in this crazy blow up blanket that was connected to a big fan that blew hot air into it.  Eventually I started to get crazy hot, so it did the trick.  Regaining feeling was not as strange as I thought it was going to be.  I was terrified I was going to feel that “pins and needles” feeling throughout my body, but luckily it was nothing.  I could just all of a sudden start feeling more and more, starting from my chest, and finally my toes.  Dad had come back after about a half hour of being with David.  He was having some breathing difficulties and was placed under a clear oxygen hood to help him get air.  Jim said there was nothing much else to do there, so decided to come check on me.

When it was time to go, they wheeled my bed into the NICU so I could finally see my little man.  He was a tiny little guy and made a sweet yet sad whimpering sound as you could tell he was struggling a bit to breathe.  It broke my heart to see him there and I was sad I wasn’t going to get to hold him right away.  I was still hopeful that he would be out of there soon and I would be holding him before the end of the day.  Unfortunately, that didn’t end up being the case.

Some other bad news that I learned along the way was that I was not going to be able to eat anything until the next morning.  I was on a “clear liquid diet”.  Fabulous.  All I wanted to do was scarf down a subway sandwich.  In all honesty, I wasn’t that hungry actually, but I knew I would be and was stuck with chicken broth and italian ice.  Well, as a little bit of luck had it, I managed to ::ahem:: pass some gas within a couple hours, which bought me a ticket to a “full liquid diet” which meant I could have a milkshake or some creamed soups.  A little more appetizing at least.  I took advantage of that and had a large milkshake that evening.

The next few days have gotten a little fuzzy honestly, but luckily we have lots of pictures to remember what happened.  For Dad and I, we just did a lot of sitting around.  Not much to do in the hospital when I’m pretty much stuck in bed and we have no baby in the room.  We would make a few trips to the NICU - which was thankfully right across the hall - each day to check on David.

Dad had to run home to check on the kitty cats, and ultimately we decided it was best for him to stay home.  It wasn’t really that comfortable for him at the hospital and the air was so dry, it really affected his allergies.  I was sad that he wasn’t with me, but really, we would both sleep better with him at home.

Around 10:30pm or so, one of the NICU doctors came in and decided that the oxygen hood just wasn’t working anymore and wanted to put David on a CPAP machine.  Dad used to wear one to sleep, so we were very familiar with what that was.  Basically, it is a machine that pushes air into the lungs via the nose.  So David would then not have to struggle as much to get the air into his system.  He was still breathing on his own, but this was just a major assistant.

This was a setback, and we were now really getting worried about what this would mean for David.  All I wanted to do was be able to hold my baby!!

David under the oxygen hood

I see you!

Daddy and David

Mama and David

All those yucky cords

Tiny little leg

Dad's home checking on Devo

Sadie in her favorite spot

Dad's bedtime aresnal!

David's Story Part 2

Welcome to the World David!

Part 2

Part 1: Here

Monday, June 4th was a surreal day.  We awoke bright and early - 4:30 am to be exact and got ready to go.  It was just a strange feeling packing up and heading to the hospital knowing you were going to meet your baby that day all the while not feeling an ounce of labor pains and such.  We arrived and went through the battery of tests and questions for 2 hours prior to the big event.  It all went pretty smooth and pretty quick.

Around 8:00 it was time to head to the OR.  They opened the doors and I was immediately pretty freaked out.  It looked straight out of the movies or TV!  Bright white lights, machines, doctors and nurses all standing there waiting in their scrubs.  Dad had to wait outside for the initial period while they got me all set up and ready to go.  This was all very routine stuff for the staff, but for me....not so much!  The anesthesiologist came in and started to get me prepped.  My doctor pulled out his phone and picked some soothing music for me to listen to.  One little poke in the back and I was ready to go.  That’s when things got weird.  In almost an instant my legs were warm and heavy.  They laid me out on the table, IV in one arm, blood pressure monitor on another.  Oxygen in the nose, curtain in front of my face.....yikes!  Then the nausea kicked in (which I was told would be a side effect).  I just laid there with my eyes closed feeling rather uncertain.  Then dad came in and thought for sure I had been knocked out!!  He said, “Hi honey I’m here”.  No response from me.  A minute later my response came - “I’m going to throw up”.  The nurse scrambled for a little pan and dad loving held it up to me as I did what I said I was going to do.  After that I did feel a little better.  I could open my eyes and try to relax just a touch before the show was about to begin.  I had to try my hardest to stop thinking about the fact that I couldn’t feel my toes.  It was almost like a panic would set in when I would try with all my might to move my feet and I physically couldn’t.  I had to focus on other things.  I would flex my arms and hands a lot to focus on them more since they were pretty much the only things I could move.

While in the waiting area, prior to surgery, a med student had come in to ask if he could assist in the procedure.  I figured hey, they need to learn somehow, and said that was fine.  I trusted my doctor and new that everything would still go smooth.  I was in good hands.  So during the whole procedure it was surreal to hear them talking about what they were doing, what was what, and why.  The sensations I felt were just tugging and pulling.  Sometimes uncomfortable, but never painful.  Then at 8:28 am the big moment came.  They pulled him out and a mere minute later he cried his first cries.  David Russell Choate was born! They were so soft and small compared to Emily (she is a loud one through and through).  Tears came to my eyes as I saw him rushed over to the isolette to get wiped down and checked over.  His little legs were stuck straight up in the air practically over his face still, since that’s how he was comfortably living in my belly.  Dad and I asked over and over - How much does he weigh? How much does he weigh?  He didn’t look too small at first glimpse.  We held our breath in anticipation as the nurse yelled “6 lbs 3 oz.”  The collective sigh of relief was huge.  He wasn’t too small!  I asked the doctor - “That’s not considered IUGR is it?”  He said no.  We thought we were in the clear.  Well, unfortunately we weren’t quite out of the woods yet.  David wasn’t doing very well breathing on his own.  They decided to take him over to the NICU for awhile.  Meanwhile I was getting sewn up.  Dad went along with him to keep an eye out and find out what was going on.  I just laid on the table feeling the relief and pressure of the last few weeks melt away and looked forward to holding my new son for the first time.

Bags packed and ready to go

Last belly shot!

Dad all scrubbed up

Almost time!

Dad being silly

Welcome sweet David!

Happy mama

Hehe, look at the legs

David's Story Part 1

Welcome to the World David

The story of how David got here is quite different from that of his sister Emily's.  Hers was the classic story of awaking in the middle of the night finding you are in labor and proceeding to the hospital to have a text book (practically storybook) type of labor and delivery!  Little David on the other hand starts back about 33 weeks gestation....

It was a rather general ultrasound checkup at 33 weeks to see if my pesky placenta had moved up and out of the way.  Apparently at 20 weeks it was down a little low.  Doctor had said this was pretty common and it should move out of the way by then, no biggie.

I figured since it was just going to be a quick in and out appointment, daddy didn't have to come with me, so instead Grandma Choate came along.  It was supposed to be a lighthearted and fun appointment.

Well, things suddenly changed when the tech started to do his measurements.  Something wasn't right, however, not a word was spoken.  Next thing I know he's telling me he's going to bring in the doctor to double check a few things and try to accurately find where the placenta was as well.

Doctor "no beside manner" came in and did his thing.  The tech and him whispered things back and forth and proceeded to scare me even more.  Finally the news.  "Your amniotic fluid is rather low and your baby is measuring too small."  Huh?  What does that mean??  "Oh and he frank breech (butt down, feet up against face).  Fabulous.

They put me in a small office and said they were going to call my doctors office.  I sat there and tried my best to hold it together.  I had no clue what was going on.  Finally they came back and simply said "Your doctor will call you later."  Wow.  So I just had to leave and speculate on what the heck was going on.  Me and Grandma went down to Starbucks and had a coffee, trying to figure out what to do next and what was going on.  Without talking to my doctor, all we could do was just hope it was nothing and try not to dwell on it too much.

We parted ways and I went to my car and just lost it.  I called dad and he instantly said he was coming home.  Figures, the only appointment he doesn't come to is the one where I needed him most!!  I just thought it was going to be the same old humdrum thing - look at the baby, tell me the placenta has moved, get a few pictures, send me on my merry way!!

I called the doctor and got the "diagnosis".  Baby was measuring under the 5th percentile.  It was something known as IUGR (Intrauterine Growth Restriction).  Typically is can happen when the placenta is not developing well or if the mother is not taking care of herself properly (poor diet, drinking, smoking, etc).  I was instructed that I would now need to monitored quite heavily and go to the doctors and hospital about 4 times a week for numerous scans and checkups.  I took a deep breath and immediately set up all the appointments I needed for the next few weeks.  The doctor also said he felt the baby would need to be delivered at around 37 weeks, which is full term.  That was only 3 1/2 weeks away!!

After the shock wore off, I did a little research and set up an appointment for a consultation with the doctor.  I came in with a laundry list of questions to get to the bottom of what was going on.  We left feeling confident that baby was just going to be a little on the small side, but that there shouldn't be any other issues.

Mere days later (a Saturday morning), I went in for one of my many appointments to get monitored.  They hooked me up just to check out baby's heartbeat and movement.  They also decided to take a peak at my fluid levels as well.  Not so good.  Need to stay for observation.....

Well, my phone didn't work in the hospital so getting ahold of dad was proving to be a problem.  I had to end up borrowing a nurses phone to call home.  As soon as I relayed the news, he sprung into action, got Emily to her grandparents and came to the hospital to be with me.

Four IV attempts, two steroid shots, three ultrasounds and a four day stay total we finally came out of there in the clear.  What exactly happened is completely unclear and really seemed like just a little bad luck in the chain of events.  But it was just a relief to know that baby was okay and we still had a couple weeks left before delivery.

The last few weeks went quickly with all the appointments keeping me busy.  Since everything was going as well as it was besides the small factor, I now was given the option of an induction under one condition - baby needs to flip out of the breech position!

Well, mama tried everything.  Exercises, cold packs against baby's head, and even acupuncture with moxibustion - now that was some interesting stuff.  But nothing happened.  He moved a ton, but still not in the right direction.

We dropped Emily off the night before at Grandma and Grandpa Choate's house without incident.  We then headed over to one of our favorite restaurants for my "last meal" as I wasn't allowed to eat prior to surgery and who knew when I would eat next.  We went to Kona and ordered our favorite appetizer and split our favorite entree.  We shared a creme brulee for dessert.  It was definitely a great last meal!

Here are some photos of my last weeks of pregnancy, including the pesky impromptu hospital stay.....

32 weeks! Emily's birthday party.

33 weeks!

Contractions picked up on the monitor....

Yucky IV

Mom just wants to get out of here

35 weeks

36 weeks - The day before the big day!

Stay tuned for Part 2!

 

The doors have closed....

And I feel invigorated!  No more wondering who is out there creeping around here looking, reading, spying, etc.  Now I KNOW WHO YOU ARE!  And I thank you for following my humble little journey.  At lot has happened since I stopped blogging.  Last I left off, I was still 31 weeks pregnant and had just celebrated Emily's birthday.  Things were going pretty smoothly actually and we were gearing up to meet our unnamed (at the time) baby boy!

So over the next couple days I am going to fill in the blanks of what went down and why I stopped blogging.  All of this is really a part of David's birth story, so that is the story that will unfold.  It is rather long, so I will do it segments.  I only have a small portion of it completed, so hopefully this will help me to finish the darn thing!  It wasn't as puppies and rainbows as Emily's story, but it's just as special.

Stay tuned!

Going Private

Hey everyone!  I am still alive and have a lot of catching up to do!  I have a beautiful baby boy - David that needs some attention on my blog.  However, after some thinking, I have decided to make this blog private.  I'm honestly not too sure how many people actually read since I don't get a lot of comments or anything, but I am happy to give access to anyone who is interested.  Just leave me a comment with your email address and I will add you to the reader list!  I moderate comments, so if you leave your email address, I will just add it to the list and delete the comment so it won't actually be posted to the blog for everyone to see.  I do this blog mainly for myself of course and would like to just use it more to document my little life.  So if you want to keep tagging along, please let me know!  I will keep this up for a week before I officially switch over.

Looking forward to reconnecting!

Happy Birthday Emily!!

How can it be??  Little miss is TWO!!!

We had a wonderful party for her last weekend, and seriously we have never seen her have such a good time and be so happy.  She just wandered around and enjoyed all the attention she was showered with.  It was an exhausting day for mama and daddy, but 100% worth every second!

The theme this year was "Fish".  Emily loves "shish" as she calls them!

Designed and printed the invites (took a design I saw online and traced it,  so it's not completely original)

Made the applique for the shirt and sewed the skirt for her outfit

Minimal decor, just blue streamers and balloons to mimic an "ocean" feel

Printed and cut out "fish" birthday banner

Her present from mom and dad: Water table!

Checking out all the parts

Snacks included chips, candy, goldfish crackers (of course!)

And Swedish Fish!

She has a unique way of opening gifts...

Another internet find - fish cupcakes!  Was a lengthy process, but they looked cute!

Emily's seal of approval...