What A Ride...

"Have you felt your contractions? You're dilated to a six..."

And so it began.

On Tuesday, January 26th, I noticed some pink-colored discharge (sorry for the information some of you may not have wanted to know) when I went to the bathroom for the first time early in the A.M. Throughout the rest of the morning, it got a little darker pink, and some red. Worried, of course, I called my doctor about it. I was told to go to labor and delivery if it turned bright red, and it was persistent. Otherwise, to come to my 34 week appointment, which had already been scheduled for the next day.

I arrived about 10 minutes late, and sat in the waiting room until I was the last one there. I weighed 142 - which was quite a jump from 138 just two weeks before. My blood pressure was good, Jack's heartbeat was strong, and I was told to wait for Dr. Smith to come in. I changed, he checked me, and told me I was to go straight to labor and delivery. I was to be monitored over the next 24-48 hours, and it was possible that I wouldn't leave without a baby.

Cue the tears. I cannot describe the emotions I was feeling, but most of them weren't good. I was so unprepared, so overwhelmed. Was I ready to give birth? Really? Trying not to freak myself out, I visited the bathroom and dropped to my knees. I prayed for a blessing of comfort, and tried to pull myself together before facing the nurses downstairs.

I was told to leave a urine sample, which I had just done upstairs, so with difficulty (I think because of nerves) and peeing all over the place... literally, I managed to get some in the cup.

The nurse came in to hook me up to the monitors around my belly - one for Jack's heartbeat, and one for my contractions. Pretty glamorous looking, eh?

I jumped up to a seven within the hour, still not feeling contractions. This baby was coming, and I wasn't leaving. Because I was only 34 weeks, I was given a steroid shot for the baby's lungs, hoping to make them more mature for when he was born. The shot, however, takes 24 hours to kick in, which we weren't sure I had. I was prepped for the worst, told what would probably happen when he was born. I wouldn't be able to hold him; he'd most likely be taken and put on oxygen right away. Again, I tried not to worry.

I was given the choice of an epidural, which I took. I may not have been feeling contractions, but I was positive I'd feel what would be coming out of me in a matter of hours. Turns out it slowed everything down - and left me at a seven for the next 22 hours or so (which is just what we needed).

Chris, waiting. And waiting. It's hard work.

My water still hadn't broken by 2:00 PM the next day, and Dr. Smith came in around 5:00 to break it himself and get me started. After he did, we waited some more.

Here we are, just before our world was about to change forever.

After about an hour of no progress after the water was broken, I was given pitocin to speed it up. I started pushing at 7:00, and at 7:40 PM, Jack Bauer Lewis arrived in the form of 4 pounds 8 ounces, and 16.5 inches long. He was beautiful.

Our new family... I was a bit overcome with emotion at this point.

I have to hand it to those mothers who do this without drugs, and to those who push for hours. 40 minutes was exhausting. Not to mention afterwards... which I will spare the details here. Let's just say I hope I forget it before we decide to have another one... either that, or Chris will have to do it. He laughed when I told him that. Pretty sure I wasn't kidding.

I was done.

That night they brought him in so I could hold him before they took him to the nursery, where he would stay for the remainder of my hospital stay, and after I left.

Yes, this is me. Can we say swollen? My face is nothing.

Here are my feet... I believe they call it elephantitis? It didn't go away for a week.

Jack didn't need oxygen, but there were some other issues. His belly was enlarged, and he wasn't digesting his food like he should.
Sometimes he liked it in the nursery,

Other times, he didn't.

He was fed through a feeding tube, and had an I.V. for additional nutrition, but we knew Altaview could only do so much and there was a chance he would be transferred somewhere where he could be taken better care of.

Here he is being transported to Primary Children's Medical Center. We knew he would be getting the best care available, so we were ok with this.

They welcomed his arrival and were ready to help.

This is how he looked when we arrived at the Newborn Instensive Care Unit on Sunday night at Primary Children's. Poor little guy.

He was placed under the lights for his bilirubin, which causes jaundice if there is too much in the blood. Until he could make bowel movements to pass it through his system, sun tanning was his life.

He started taking a bottle on Monday, and we were able to burp him.
He smiles for us and we love it when he opens his eyes to say hello.
Proud daddy. It's so fun to watch.

Proud mommy... I love to snuggle with him whenever I can.
We gave him a bath for the first time on Wednesday night. So fun.

We read books to him. This is Chris reading Oh The Places You'll Go (which he could only get through a couple pages before we both got choked up. I finished it later).

He has his dad's legs, I love it.

He is now working on taking a bottle and tolerating his feeds. He's progressing so well, we are incredibly blessed. As far as how long he'll stay, we're not sure. He's just little and needs to learn how to do it on his own.

Even with all of his cords, he makes it look good.

We can't wait to bring him home.