1 Month Check-Up

Well today was Pod's one month check-up. The doctor said he looks great! He weighs
10 lbs. 13 oz & is 21 3/4 inches long. Next month he goes for the two month check-up and has to start immunizations.... Poor Pod!

The doctor looked at the nodules on his little arm and said that he was impressed that they were going away. There are two gone and one is still pretty predominate. So he's going to call the pediatric dermatologist for suggestion and see if she wants to follow-up. She wanted to make a 3mm biopsy of the nodules when Pod was three days old, but Joe & I decided to wait and follow-up. Our pediatrian said he would keep an eye on them & follow-up with the dermatologist as he felt necessary as he feels they are subcutaneous fat necrosis. He put in a call to the dermatologist, but he hasn't heard back from her and neither have we.

The doctor listened to his heart and lungs. Checked his throat, ears, and eyes. Took off his little diaper and checked his groin area. Everything looked great. I asked about the stools. Pod screams when he passes gas or has a bowel movement. The doctor said that is normal and as long as the stool isn't hard, it should be fine. He's not concerned about it. The formula that Pod is taking absorbs into his system. Therefore, he won't have a bowel movement every single day. Some babies go up to 5 days without a bowel movement. So when there is a movement, it can be challenging for him. The doctor advised if I felt I needed to give him water, it was okay to do that, but nothing more that 4 oz in a 24 hour period. Also, after one more month of there not being any blood in the stool and my nursing, then we can also offer diluted apple juice, but no more than 1 oz. He really doesn't want him to have the apple juice right now because of the proteins in the apples and the fact that Pod was having explosive bowel movements prrior to us going to the ICU. He thinks that apple juice at this age is too early, especially with Pod's history.

I started nursing again, but expressed my concern with my low supply. The pediatrician recommended Fenugreek, which is an herbal supplement. I need to take it three times a day. I went to the local healthfood grocery store and found it for $25 a bottle! YIKES!!! So when I got home, I called my mom and she told me of a website to try. Thank goodness for mothers! I was able to order 2 bottles of capsules and 2 boxes of the herbal tea plus the shipping costs for less than one bottle at the healthfood grocery store!

Speaking of healthfood grocery store... Joe calls it the hippy hang-out.... anyway, I found a great blog with recipes for food I can eat. As I mentioned before I'm on a strict diet resulting from Pod's trip to the ICU... So I found some great recipes that are gluten-free, soy-free, and dairy-free. Tonight I made Rosemary Apple Chicken, Acorn Squash stuffed with apples and cranberries, pomegranate spinach salad with home-made advacado dressing, and apple crisp for dessert. Yes, I know, call me Betty Crocker. It only took me 3 hours to finish cooking the meal, cost way more than eatting out, but it was delicious. Lesson learned out of the experience???? I'm going to buy only the hard-to-find items at the healthfood grocery store and buy the rest of the stuff at the regular grocery. Why can't I buy the apples at Ingles or Kroger instead of at the healthfood grocery? I paid double for them I guess. Oh well, saved in gas for the trips to multiple grocery stores....

Speaking of gas... I paid $2.89 today per gallon!!! WOO WEE!!! I didn't think I'd see it below $3.00 again. That's awesome!

Well, I've got a headache so I need to go lay down. Hope all is well with everyone out there reading this.

I'll update more soon, until then....

Updates

It has been a while since I've posted anything other than pictures on here. I figured I better get everyone up-to-date. Things are going well now. Jace is happy and as far as I can tell, extremely healthy. He's been doing very well on the special formula he has to take. Unfortunately though, because the formula can only be purchased through the pharmacy, but doesn't require a prescription, our insurance refuses to pay for it. So, we've shelled out a ton of money for this formula already. Thankfully my mom suggested I look on-line to see if I could find it any cheaper since Pod is going through 2 & 1/2 cans a week. I found that I can order direct from the manufacture for 1/2 the cost of what the local pharmacies are charging. We've started back nursing, but since he's been on this formula, I've not been producing as much milk as before. I'm still supplementing with formula until my supply builds back up.

On another note, we were successful in finding a daycare for Pod when I have to go back to work. The daycare is right down the street from my office. It's literally 3 mins away from the office. The down side is that they do not do part-time. We have to pay for all five days regardless if he is there or not. I don't know how some families do it, especially single parents or families with more than one child in day care.

My mom came back down to visit and stayed with us for a week. We had a great time & she was a huge help. Joe and I were able to go on a date! We haven't been on a date since the baby was born. It was nice to get out and have a nice dinner & not have to worry about the baby. I knew he was well taken care of. Of course I did keep my phone beside me the whole time, but restrained from calling and checking in. Joe and I went to PF Changs and then went to see Eagle Eye in the Imax theater. That's a great movie, by the way.... Maybe Joe and I can keep up with date night once or twice a month. That would be nice.

Pod made his first trip to the Smoky Mountains this past weekend. We went to have some pictures made. Mom took some pictures and Joe took some pictures. I'm a horrible photographer so I didn't volunteer to take any. I've posted some pics above. (Yes, his eyes really are that blue!)

Well, other than that, everyone should be up to date now. Hopefully the weather holds out and we'll be able to make it home for Thanksgiving. I can't wait to bring the baby home to meet everyone. I may not be able to eat Thanksgiving dinner & will more than likely have to buy my own food, but that's okay, too.

I'll talk to everyone later!

Jace is one month old!

The New Bed

Here's Pod's new bed that he loves. Of course Mommy has a hard time doing laundry, but he is my favorite piece of dirty laundry!

Smiles Galore - 2 Videos included, too!

Short video and cute glasses

Our long weekend at Children's Hospital

This past Friday (09/26/08), I changed a diaper for Jace & found blood. I told Joe that the baby was passing blood. We immediately got out all the reading material we could find & everything told us to call the pediatrician. So I called the doctor, but the office was closed for lunch. Joe called Children's Hospital & asked if we should forgoe the dr & come straight to the hospital. zthey told him it would depend on the amount of blood loss. We had to pass by the dr's office on the way to the hospital & by the time we would go by there, they would be back from lunch break. So we stopped in the office. The dr pushed lightly on Jace's belly & blood came out of his bottom. He put the diaper back on & told us to get straight to the ER & not to stop anywhere on the way there. So we rushed to Children's Hospital ER. They did the triage fairly quickly, however we sat in a room waiting to see a doctor for about an hour. Once the doctor came in, they started taking blood samples and decided they were going to have an X-ray done. So Joe and I went with Pod to the X-ray room. I held his legs down and Joe held his arms. When we were done, we walked back to the ER room. When I put Jace down, I noticed there was blood on the blanket he was wrapped in. There was so much blood in his diaper that it had soaked through the diaper, through his clothing and through the blanket. I opened the diaper to find a huge puddle of blood. It was about 2 oz of blood. When I lifted his legs to clean him up, more blood just poured out of his bottom. I started to panic, but tried to remain as calm as possible. They wanted to do a CT scan, but needed to have the contrast bottle fed. It would take over a 2 hour period, however, Jace was bleeding so badly Joe demanded they treat this as they would any other trauma patient because the baby couldn't continue bleeding like this for two hours. So they ended up putting a tube down his nose and into his tummy. They extracted fluid to see if there was bleeding in the tummy. There wasn't any so they forced the contrast in to get the CT done quickly. The CT scan and X-rays were not showing any damage to the tummy or intestines that the ER doctor could see. She consulted with a GI doctor, the pediatric ICU doctor and surgeon. They had some blood on stand-by in case they needed to do a transfusion or surgery. The GI doctor suggested that this may be a food allergy rather than damage to the intestine, but the ER doctor had advised there was a lot of blood loss for a food allergy. GI doctor & PICU doctors both said that is normal. They decided to admit Pod to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. We spent two nights in the PICU and then they moved him to the floor. X-ray after X-ray and the scans were all coming back not showing any signs of damage to the intestines or tummy. They advised me that they felt this was a food allergy & told me that I was to stop nursing him. I needed to change my diet to exclude all dairy products (milk, cheese, etc), eggs, soy, nuts, and flour. I would remain on this strict diet for 2 weeks cleaning out my system. In the mean time I need to continue to pump so that I can go back to nursing once my system is cleansed of the allergens. Pod is on a prescription strength, hypoallergenic formula that has the proteins broken down. I am to feed him that for two weeks, then slowly re-introduce nursing. If I nurse and there is no blood in the stool, then I can slowly start introducing the allergens back one at a time starting with the one we feel is least likely to have caused this. I feel that it's probably a milk allergy since I drink so much milk (2 gallons a week). Anyway, I can drink rice milk and have been instructed to do so to keep the calcium intake up as pumping / nursing will take a lot of my calcium away.

Pod came home on Monday. He's doing really well now and hasn't had the slightest problem with the formula. He hasn't had one bloody stool since he was put on the formula. Now that I'm making bottles, Joe can help out with the feedings, too. That's a relief to me, too, but I want to nurse Pod so that he'll get his immunities. I hope he'll go back to it okay.

Well, that's all for now. I'll update this blog as often as I can. Lack of sleep & energy is keeping me from posting very frequently! LOL

Baby Jace is Here!!!

Well, the time has finally arrived! Baby Jace was born on September 13, 2008 at 2:02 am. He is definitely Mommy & Daddy's bundle of joy!

Friday, September 12, 2008 I had a doctor appointment scheduled for 2:45. I wasn't feeling really well Friday morning or early afternoon. I checked my blood pressure and it was extremely high. I called Joe at work and he told me to go lay down and call him back in 30 mins after checking it again. I fell asleep and Joe called to check on me after he hadn't heard from me within 30 mins. So I got up to go check the blood pressure when my water broke at 1:00 pm. I told Joe I would call him back, but I thought my water had broke.

I called the doctor's office, told them about my blood pressure and that my water had broken. They told me not to wait until my appointment, but to get right in there to see the doctor. I called Joe back. He came home to pick me up. I told him I would meet him at the doctor's office since I wasn't having contractions or any discomfort. He wouldn't let me drive and told me he was on his way.

We made it to the doctor's office and they confirmed it was my water that had broken, but I hadn't started dilating yet. They ran over some information with us, checked the baby's heart rate, and then sent us on to labor and delivery.

Once in labor and delivery, I had a lot of paperwork to fillout (even though I had pre-registered). The contractions hadn't started yet. The doctor's kept coming in and checking on me. Finally they started Petosin (?). I'm not sure how to spell it. Anyway, I went from 0 cm to 3 cm in less than an hour. We thought I would have a very quick delivery. 10 hours later and after upping the petosin, I was only dilated to 4 cm. The contractions were so hard & strong they were going off of the chart. The attending OB doctor finally said that I should consider taking the epidural based upon the pain he could see in my face. So I did. I labored for two more hours, but couldn't feel a thing after the epidural. The contractions were still very strong, but after two hours (total of 12 hours) I hadn't dilated more than 4 cm. The doctor advised that the baby hadn't moved far enough down the canal and due to his size and my pelvis size, I wouldn't be able to deliver vaginally. Joe and I talked it through about waiting a little longer vs. going ahead with the C-section. We opted the c-section since the baby wasn't moving further down. I could lay there hours upon hours laboring, but I wasn't going to get anywhere. So they prepped me for the operation and got Joe dressed and off we went.

Jace was born at exactly 2:02 am. It was amazing. Joe was beside me the entire time holding my hand. They held the baby up for us to see. I couldn't really see him at all because of the drape. Joe went over to be with the baby and check him out. He weighed 8 lbs 4oz and was 21 inches long. He has a head full of auburn hair and registered 8.9 on the Apgar. Once he was cleaned up they brought him over to Joe to show me. What a precious moment that was!

Joe and I celebrated our one year anniversary in the hospital! Actually it was the sweetest thing ever! He suprised me by bringing our cake and topper the hospital along with our wedding video, two red roses, and the gift he got for me. It was the most romantic thing ever! We sat in the hospital bed eatting cake and watching our wedding video.

Later that afternoon Jace and I were released from the hospital. My mom stayed the week with us & was a huge help! Some of the ladies from church made us dinner two nights. Mom did most all of the remainder of cooking, cleaning, laundry. She was exhausted.

Joe and I spent most of last week running from doctor's appointment to doctor's appointment with the baby. This week has calmed down a bunch. Yesterday was one doctor appointment for me since the blood pressure thing is still in an uproar and Thursday is another doctor appointment for Jace. Tomorrow Joe and I are going to go look at a day care center and get put on the waiting list. I believe we've just about go the blood pressure under control, though.

So, that's a VERY basic outline of all that has happened. There's so much more detail and things of that nature, but quite frankly, I've got a newborn and I'm tired. So I'm going to go lay down while he's still asleep!

Will post more later.

Day five (third day off of work) of bedrest

Okay, so today was day three of staying home due to doctor's orders. Yesterday was a good day for the blood pressure. However, today, it went back up again. I haven't been doing anything other than laying around (on my left side) & watching TV. Who would think that you could have over 300 channels on the satellite and there's nothing to watch? I'm not a soap opera fan; I don't want to get involved in the smut of the morning talk shows; so, this whole TV thing is crazy. So, I watched the Discovery Health baby shows today. Some were good, some were making me a nervous wreck, and some were just giving me more ideas of questions I need to ask the doctor. Maybe I should just block that channel?????

I talked to Kayra, my coworker today. She said things are going good at the office, which makes me feel better for having to leave early. I provided her the address to this blog so she could see the pics of the baby. Later on in the morning my mom called me, then my sister, then my mother-in-law, then my husband, then my sister-in-law, then my mother-in-law, then my husband... I think I talked to everyone today except for my dad, whom I need to call and check on.

Other than that, no more news. I've only had one contraction today, but the pressure (pushing down) is continually there & starting to get very uncomfortable to just walk. My back is killing me from sleeping on the sofa and carrying this little boy of ours.

So no more excitement with the baby coming any time soon. I have another doctor's appointment this Friday to check the blood pressure, have another non-stress test to check for contractions and fetal heartbeat, and exam to see if there has been any dilation.

Monday is Joe & my 1st anniversary. It is also a full moon. An old wives tale is that if you're close to your due date, there's something in the gravitational pull and craziness from the full moon that can put a pregnant woman into labor. Of all days that we do not want the baby to come is Monday. So I'm hoping that he'll either make his appearance before or after Monday.

Well, time to get back to the couch and lay down. I'm waiting on Joe to get home from school.

Today's Doctor Appointment & New Pod Pictures

Today Joe & I went to our doctor's appointment to see how things are progressing. This time no weight gain for me! YEAH!!!! However, the blood pressure was up again. We went in for the ultra sound and you can see what we saw! A cute little smooshed up baby boy! He is head down and in position ready for his big debut! ;)

According to the measurements taken in the doctor's office today, I'm officially at 37 weeks and 6 days. We found out why he was measuring big last week.... it's his belly. He has got the biggest belly ever! I can't believe it! It's measuring 38 cm and his head is measuring 33 cm. So, he's got a big ol' belly!

The doctor did an exam and found that I am not dilated and my cervix is not thinning. So he's still got some more "baking" time! Although at 37 weeks he is considered full term, they usually try to go as close to 40 as possible.

The doctor saw my swelling feet and with the high blood pressure decided it was time that I quit work. So today was my last day at the office. I feel really good that I left my coworkers in a great position to where they really don't have much to do on my files. I tried to get as caught up as possible. By the end of the day today, my queues were zero'd out and my calendars were current with what needs to happen on each file.

Because of the blood pressure issues, the doctor wants to see me again on Monday. He said I am borderline hypertensive. If I go in to the doctor's office and my blood pressure is about where it is now and there's no dilating or thinning of the cervix, he'll allow nature to take it's course. However, if I go in on Monday or have any readings over 180 this weekend, they may induce me. The problem with them inducing me on Monday is that since I'm not dilated and the cervix isn't thinning, there's a high probability for a c-section rather than a vaginal birth. As long as the baby is healthy is all I'm concerned about.

His heartbeat was measuring at 140 beats per minute today and he's continuing to have great movements. So, they're not concerned at this point. I just have to keep an eye on things.

The doctor advised that even if they didn't induce me on Monday, he doesn't think I'm going to make my due date at all. In fact, although I'm not supposed to hold him to it, he said he didn't think I would make it through next week without delivering. He said he could be wrong, but there's a good possibility.

Since the blood pressure was high and I'm borderline hypertensive, the doctor ordered blood work on me to check to make sure my liver was okay. He told me that if it came back elevated, he would call me today otherwise consider everything okay. I didn't receive a phone call from the doctor this afternoon or this evening, so good news there!

Anyway, it's getting late and I need to get some rest. So I'm going to call it a night. Just wanted to update you on the doctor appointment and share the pics of the baby. Sorry they're so blurry. Our scanner isn't hooked up yet so I took a photograph of the ultrasound picture! LOL

Good night!!!

New Tummy Picture

Well, here I am in my last month of pregnancy. The birth of Jace is right around the corner! Today Joe and I go to the doctor. We are going to have an ultra sound done to determine how far along we really are, what the projected birth weight is going to be, etc. So this picture I labeled "Either 37w2d or 39w2d" As of right now, I really don't know if I'm actually 37 weeks along or 39 weeks along (see previous post to see why). You can barely see it in this photo, but did you notice that the "turkey timer" is popped out?? I have an outtie belly button... YUCK!!!

Oh well! I hope I can get rid of this weight. Just look how fat my face is! Ewww... That's what adding 60 lbs will do to you! Yeah, that's right.. as of last week, I had put on 60 lbs. Isn't that just the most depressing thing? I've got my work cut out for me! I hope I have a 50 lb baby!!!! Knowing my luck, Jace will weigh 5 lbs. Then I'll just sit and cry! LOL

Well, enough for now. I'll post more about the doctor's appointment later today.

Update on Doctor's Appointment

Friday, August 29th Joe & I went for our scheduled OB appointment. We were supposed to have had an ultra sound done, but the doctor didn't do one as the U/S techs were backed up. When we arrived at the appointment, I went in and did the usual weight, blood pressure check, and urine test. Then the nurse came in and got us. We went into the exam room and she measured my tummy from the pelvic bone to the top of the fundus. She asked me if I had measured "big" before. I advised that I had not. I've always been told I was measuring "Right on target". However, this appointment I was measuring at 38cm. I told her that would be about right because I was at 36 weeks and 3 days at that point and the doctor had told me before that the measurement could give or take 2 weeks. So at 36 weeks, it should be normal for me to be at 38 weeks. She said that close to 38cm. So then she checked the Jace's heartbeat. It was 144, which was normal. She said that because my blood pressure was high, she wanted me to lay on my left side for 5 mins and then would be back in to check on me. After the time was up, she came in and the blood pressure went back down. The doctor then came in and took me and Joe back to his office to talk. He advised that our next appointment we'll have an ultrasound done. He said that I had a good spike in weight since my last appointment. He also said that the measurements were measuring at 38 weeks. He wouldn't change the due date and advised that we should know more next week when we have the ultra sound done. He stated the reason for measuring big could be a growth spurt in the baby, extra fluid retention, or just the way the baby was laying. He talked to us about the contractions, etc. and how to tell the difference between Braxton Hicks and the "real thing". He stated that after the "real" contractions got to 5 mins apart for about an hour time, it's time to get to the hospital. He did say that we're at a point in the pregnancy now where he won't stop the labor as it's more dangerous now to stop it than to just let it go. Also, he stated that we're far enough along that we can deliver at the hospital that we wanted to deliver at. No need to go to UT for NICU purposes. YEAH!!!

Anyway, Friday was also my birthday. Joe took bought me an iPod Nano, which I love. I'm trying to get used to all the little features. It's pink and just so cute! I've got a ton of music downloaded into it already as well as a ton of pictures! He took me for dinner to my favorite restaurant - Season's Cafe. He had a New York Strip and I had meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I also got a bowl of tomato and blue cheese bisque. MMMMM it was good. After dinner we went Jerome & Sue's house for my favorite cake.... mandarine orange cake.... and they bought me some birthday gifts, too. I got two pairs of PJ's and a pair of slippers. Joe's neice bought me a little necklace that is reallly cute, too.

The remainder of this weekend I have spent laying down. My blood pressure has been somewhat elevated all weekend. I haven't had any contractions until tonight. Joe and I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few odds and ends and then went to Cracker Barrel. I started contracting during dinner. So now, I'm getting ready to go change my clothes and get back to laying down.

Good night all!

Fixed the Widget

Daddy brought it to my attention that the Widget "Rotating baby" said I was only 19 weeks pregnant. We had some computer problems and I forgot to fix it, but it should be done now!

New Tummy Picture as of 08/22/08

Here's the newest tummy picture. It was taken 08/22/08, which would have put me at 35w2d.

Just a Few Pics From The Shower Yesterday

Here are just a few pictures from the baby shower yesterday hosted by some of the ladies at our chuch. We have over 125 pictures, but I didn't want to upload them all! Anyway, I'm running late for work. I'll post more later on.