Three is not a crowd

This morning, as I finished feeding Clayton, my girls came into our bedroom. As is now the case, as soon as they walked in, they immediately asked, "Where's Clayton?" They have tabs on him at all times during their waking hours. When they saw that I was feeding him, they gathered around and touched, talked to, and gazed at him--all while he was blissfully having breakfast. When he was finished, I cuddled him onto my chest to burp him. When Whitney realized what was going on, she joined right in, patting along with me. Kallie, too, noticed the joint patting effort and came over to participate as well. It was a sweet picture to look at that tiny little boy with three sizes of hands patting his little back. He doesn't know yet how lucky he is to already have the adoration of three girls!

The Birth Story

So, I thought I'd post my version of Monday evenings events here--both for my own journaling and for those who are curious.

We arrived at the hospital at about 5:20 p.m. I was concerned that I wouldn't be on "The List" since no one from the hospital had called by the time we left the house. I worried, (as I usually do), in vain. They knew we were coming and we were called back about 10 minutes later. We were taken into a room with 4 curtained areas. I think it's a place they usually used for pre-term labor monitoring, but since the unit was incredibly busy that night, that's where we started out. After changing into my gown, my nurse started poking me for an I.V. She usually gets it in on the first try. It took 3 tries this time around. I was grateful that she was able to take the 5 vials of blood needed through the I.V. port instead of a separate poke each time. By this time, we were approaching 7 p.m.--and my scheduled time was 7:30 p.m. I didn't have much time to dwell on this, though, as they announced that we were ahead of schedule and would be heading down to the O.R. within a few minutes.

As we walked through the hall, my mind was racing. It's been a while since my last c-sec and I remember all of the issues from the past 2. It was more than enough time to work up some nervousness. As soon as we got in the room, the anesthesiologist administered my spinal. After the initial "pinch" of the topical anesthetic, I had to ask if it was done. Yep--all done even before I knew it had started. I layed down on the table and focused on relaxing as much as possible while they prepped me for surgery. With my previous c-sec's, I felt like the spinal numbed me up to my collar bone. It made it hard to breathe and I think contributed to my nausea. But this time around, it didn't spread higher than about the bottom of my ribcage. I was numb higher than that, just not dead-numb. I could feel a lot more of the pushing/pulling, but absolutely no pain--AND, I never felt short of breath. That, alone, was a miracle to me.

Within a few minutes, they pulled Clayton out. He came out just as I predicted: kicking, screaming, and peeing. My Dr. commented that with the amount of fluid Clayton had off-loaded, he had probably lost a few ounces. After determining his APGAR scores, (9 & 9), suctioning a bit, and wiping him off, they wrapped him up and handed him to Ryan. As I looked at that tiny little face, I could definitely see familiar features. He looked like Whitney, but had definite Kallie features as well. It's fun to see that our children have a look that connects them all.

About this time, my nausea kicked in. I was amazed that it held off for that long in the first place! As soon as I mentioned the impending off-loading, the anesthesiologist added Zofran to my IV and slapped a motion sickness patch behind my ear. I did throw up a couple of times before the meds kicked in, but miraculously, that was it. I was seriously amazed by this--because with my 2 previous c-sections, it has taken several hours for the nausea to abate.

When I was all closed up, they took me into a recovery room and Ryan went with Clayton to the NICU. Clayton was doing REALLY well, but since he was born prior to the 37 week mark, he had a mandatory 6-hour stay in the NICU for monitoring. After my 2-hour post-op monitoring, I was wheeled on my stretcher into the NICU to see and hold my baby. The pic in the post below is the first time I held him. Let me tell you--it was about 10 p.m., I had barf in my hair, and was getting over the post-op shakes. I didn't feel attractive for the pic--but I was thrilled to hold my little one!

After a few minutes with my son, I was taken to my room and tried to get some sleep. Yeah, right. Does anyone get sleep in the hospital? They brought Clayton in to my room around 2 a.m. and he stayed there the rest of the time I was in the hospital. About that same time, I started getting up and walking around.

I have to say, it's been interesting having a "pre-term" baby. Clayton and Kallie were born 5 days apart, gestationally, and he was bigger than she was at birth. However, Clayton had to have a "car seat check" to make sure he would be able to breathe well in his car seat. Kallie never had to have one. Apparently, those 5 days make a difference in a baby's ability to breathe in a typical car seat. Clayton didn't pass his test--his oxygen saturation was consistently too low. So, we had to rent a special "car bed," which is a little boat-shaped bed that straps into the seat belt. There was a possibility that he wasn't going to pass his car bed test, which would have meant we would have to leave him at the hospital. I'm SO glad that didn't happen!

Now we've been home for almost a week. Clayton is growing before our eyes. He is a very good eater and rarely cries. Sometimes, it's hard for me to believe he's actually here--but I am really enjoying him! He is a sweet, cute little bean and we're so happy to have him in our family.

Baby Clayton is here

Clayton Thomas Segeberg arrived on a rainy summer evening at 7:40 pm. He was 7 lbs 8 oz, and 20 3/4 inches long. Both Mom and baby are doing great.

How about...now?

Well, my final appointment was this morning. After a great NST, my nurse came in to see how I was and inform me that my bile acids had indeed gone up again. (This time from 10 to 14.) She left and while she was gone, I was absorbing the idea that our little boy would be arriving tomorrow morning. When the Dr. came in, he said that with my levels going up so quickly, especially since I'm already on medication, (which is supposed to decrease the numbers), the indication was immediate delivery, and how did tonight sound? TONIGHT? Yes, tonight. By the time I go to bed tonight, our son will be here. My Dr. advised me to go get something to eat ASAP and then to not eat until the delivery tonight, which will be around 7:30 p.m. I wanted to laugh, cry, and breathe a HUGE sigh of relief all at the same time. I laughed a little, breathed a little, and the tears came later. For now, I'm just pretending that I'm in labor--minus timing contractions.

Waiting

Final blood draw was today. They only had to poke me twice! Now we're just waiting for the results. Also had my final ultrasound today. I am 36 weeks, 1 day today and the Dr. estimated that the baby is 8 lbs. He'll certainly be MUCH bigger than my other two were! He has chubby little cheeks and a fuzzy little head. I can't wait to see him in person! Now, I just have to get through the weekend before I know if it will be Tuesday or Friday...

FINALLY!!!

I had yet another appointment today. Story of my life right now. It was just an NST, which really is quite relaxing, (well, unless the baby's not cooperative). Last Friday, at my last appointment, my Dr. said that I wouldn't need to do any more blood work and we'd be on track for August 14, unless my bile acids went up to around, say, 10 or so. They've been sticking around 4-5, so I was celebrating the end of the blood work.

At my appointment today, the Dr. told me that last Friday's blood work showed that my bile acids are up to 10. Should I be surprised? Knowing that it can take a few weeks for the bloodwork to reflect the symptoms, I'm not surprised at all. It's been about 3 weeks since my itching exploded. Thankfully, I've been on medication since my symptoms intensified. (And, all I have to say here is I KNEW IT!!! I knew this itching meant something!)

Anyway--what this now means is that I have one more round of blood work to attend to on Friday. If the numbers go up again, they will move my c-sec up to about Tuesday or so. If nothing changes, we'll stick to the original plan. I have to admit, as grateful as I am about this, (I'm feeling SO huge), I'm a little stressed, as I still need to get everything set up and put away in preparation for his arrival. Guess I'd better get busy, huh?

The Ha-Ha-Ha

A couple of months ago, my girls were playing nicely together and I was getting things done. All was right with the world. When they finished, Kallie found me and gave me a minute-by-minute report of their imaginary adventures. She explained that Whitney was pretending to be the "Ha-Ha-Ha." I couldn't figure out what in the world she was talking about, but smiled and nodded because, hey, they had fun and I got things accomplished.

Just this past week, I FINALLY figured out what the Ha-Ha-Ha actually is. I figured it was some sort of bad guy, but I couldn't figure out for the life of me why they decided to call it the Ha-ha-ha. I found out quite by accident while shopping at Costco. Whitney started playing with her hands/fingers as she usually does. If she has 2 of anything, those 2 things will have conversations and interactions with each other. It's great because she can entertain herself anywhere. At one point, I heard one of her hands say something along the lines of, "I'm going to get you! Ha, ha, ha!" (in a bad-guy-style, slower, deep, menacing tone). The other hand replied, "No, not the Ha-ha-ha!" Thus, the bad guy is named the Ha-ha-ha. I finally understand! And, I have to say, it definitely makes sense now.

Things Learned During a Heat Wave

1. I will NEVER tire of complaining about how hot it is. Especially considering that I currently have a bun in the oven. This means my personal oven is always on, making it about 20 degrees hotter for me than usual.

2. I am grateful to have a window unit air conditioner. When we were moving, in the middle of a snowstorm in December, Ryan and I were debating whether to bring along our air conditioner or not. The weather up here is supposed to be temperate year round--and we didn't know I'd be 8 months pregnant in August. We actually brought it by default, because neither of us had time or desire to post it on Craigslist at that point. Boy, am I grateful we did! Temperatures 20-30 degrees above normal have necessitated that at least ONE room in the house be liveable.

3. There isn't much to do in the living room. This is where our A/C unit is--it's the only place in the house built to hold a window unit A/C. There is a couch, a piano, and 2 not-in-use kitchen chairs. The TV in the family room is visible, but not audible from the couch in the living room. I took my card making supplies down a few days ago, but that gets REALLY repetetive and boring after a while. I need to find a few good books and/or other living room compatible projects to get through this heat wave--but I'm still trying to think of a few.

4. Speaking of thinking, my brain doesn't work well when it's hot. It's like a computer whose fan doesn't work--I overheat and end up getting nothing done.

5. Heat really does rise. The downstairs is generally cool, thanks to the A/C and strategically placed fans. When you walk upstairs, past the ceiling line of the bottom floor, the humid heat hits you like a wall. Thus, we really don't come upstairs until bedtime, because that's when it's bearable again. Still warm, but bearable at that point.

6. My kids nap quite well on the family room floor. Their room is arguably the hottest room in the house--and I absolutely cannot have them sleep in there in the heat of the day. I hesistate to put them in there for bedtime. If it weren't for a fan in their window and smaller fans blowing straight on them, they'd be sleeping downstairs.

7. The heat brings out the grumpies--in everyone. My kids are grouchier, I'm grouchier. The only person who really isn't grouchier is Ryan. It's a good thing at least one of us isn't grumpy on a regular basis. He stabilizes the rest of us.

8. Two fans are enough while I'm sleeping. After a restless, sticky night, (inspite of the fan blowing cooler air in from the window), I was seriously considering sleeping downstairs. Ryan suggested that we add another fan blowing directly on me--and it worked. I finally slept well and mostly through the night. The funny part is the night I was really warm, I had a dream that I walked into the hospital and said, "Please, just give me my c-section right now. I'm done. It's too hot and I'm too uncomfortable." And you know what? They believed me and started getting things ready for the delivery. Man, sometimes I wish real life were more like our dreams. (And, mostly, I'm glad that it's not.)

9. There is NOWHERE to go for complete relief. Yesterday morning, I had an ultrasound appointment and was looking forward to getting out of the house and the heat for a while. When I arrived, it was apparent there was no power. I sat in the Dr's office for about 30 minutes, sweating and fanning with a magazine, and then they told me I should probably go home. (I still had to pay the $4 parking fee--nevermind that I didn't have my appointment AND that the power was out in the garage, too.)

Well, there's the list. As I type, I'm starting to sweat so much I feel like I've been running in 90 degree heat for an hour. It's time to take a cool shower and head downstairs for the day. At least the temps are supposed to break in about 5 or so days...I'm counting down.

Beer n' Pie Tins

I think that all of the regular readers of my blog know that Ryan and I don't drink. We have never consumed even one drop of any kind of liquor--and neither of us intend to start doing so any time soon. So, when I asked Ryan to pick up the cheapest beer at the grocery store on Saturday, you can imagine his reaction.

Let me give a little background: a few weeks ago, I noticed that something was chomping holes through the big, beautiful leaves in our garden. I don't have time for a 24-hour garden surveillance--and in the times I'd been out weeding or watching the kids, I hadn't seen anything that could make the culprit list. I did notice, however, that the leaves closer to the dirt were those with the most missing. It made sense that the attack was not aerial, but rather executed from the ground. The only thing that came to mind were slugs. Ooey, gooey, sticky, slimy little slugs. Gross.

At this point, I was determined to rid our garden of the gloppy little creatures. Not wanting to go immediately for a chemical pesticide, I thought about my options. My sister-in-law told me that her dad used to send the kids out with sticks after it rained. They were to spear as many slugs as possible. Well, my kids and sticks don't mix well right now. Plus, I don't know if I could convince them to spear a slug. Then, I remembered something I had been told when we first planted our garden: slugs love beer. Why not give it a try?

So, Ryan brought a six-pack of Coors Light out of the grocery store, (inspite of his youthful looks, he didn't get carded), as well as a six-pack of pot pie sized aluminum pie tins. When the girls saw the silver cans, they asked what kind of soda it was. Our response? It's not soda--it's pesticide. That's the only reason those cans were in our possession--so we felt that was an honest answer for our kids.

That night, after the girls were asleep, we snuck out to the garden to lay our traps. We dug small holes, put the pie tins in, and then filled our four traps with 2 cans of beer. (The other 4 cans now reside on the top shelf in the shed--right next to the Miracle-Gro.) Yesterday, Ryan came in from the backyard with a report of "mass carnage." Turns out slugs really do like beer. We caught 25-30 slugs in our intoxicating mini-pools. We decided to leave them for one more night just in case a few more slugs would like to take a sip. I haven't gone out to check them yet today--I hope they're full of slugs for Ryan to throw away after work!

In the end, I'd say our experiment was a success. And, hopefully, the little boogers don't come back.

Baby Update

I haven't mentioned anything about my health or the baby's health in a while, so I thought I'd do a quick post for inquiring minds. As far as cholestasis goes, I do not have it yet. At least that's the official stance right now. I'm puzzled about this, however, as I have had evenings where I'd like to cut my feet and lower legs off because they itch so bad. These evenings are coming more frequently--and I'm starting to get minor itching during the day sometimes. But, the blood work keeps coming back with insanely low numbers. I have to admit that I'm a little nervous that the symptoms and results aren't matching up. The good news is that my Dr. is still monitoring me very closely, with twice a week NST's and ultrasounds. This certainly helps alleviate some of my nervousness. And, I'm still delivering 4 weeks from tomorrow.

As far as the baby goes, he's looking perfectly healthy. In fact, he's so healthy that his estimated size (currently) is above the 97th percentile. Last week's ultrasound and this week's ultrasound both estimate that he will be about 8 lbs. (give or take 1/2 lb.) when he is born at 37 weeks. I have DEFINITELY felt that he is bigger than either of his sisters were by this point. I also got to see his sweet little (big?) face today--and the Dr. said he has a head full of hair! It's fun to have a peek inside during these last few weeks. But, I have to say, these peeks are making me a little more impatient! I can't wait to meet this little one and cuddle him in my arms! Not too much longer...