Hudson's Birth Story: December 18, 2013

This is the longest poster ever, but I wanted to make sure I wrote everything down so I wouldn't forget.

Hudson's birth went very smoothly compared to Hannah's. However, everything leading up to his birth was very stressful. Two days before he was born, I was still at work trying to finish up my last project. I planned on taking that Monday off to relax, but still didn't have final approval on my gala invitation. This was very stressful on me.

That evening, Hannah came down with some kind of virus and was running fever. We took her to the doctor and were advised not to bring her up to the hospital once the baby was born.

Tuesday afternoon I went in for blood work and prep and chatted with my doctor one last time about anesthesiology. She said the two CRNA's that she wanted to use were out of town, but another doctor she liked said he would come do it. I was still so nervous about the epidural and feeling a little defeated about the whole thing.

Then the night before we received some horrible and shocking news that Brandon's uncle whom we both really admire and love, had passed away in a freak oil field accident. We were sitting at Abuelo's enjoying our last meal before the big surgery when Brandon's other uncle called with the devastating news. I was an emotional train wreck. I didn't sleep much the night before he was born.

Wednesday morning arrived and we did our best to get up and get going, but were running a little late. The hospital called and asked where we were. We rushed to drop off Hannah at school and hurried to the hospital. Brandon spilled his coffee all over himself in the car. I think he was a little nervous. And of course the one day we need to be somewhere fast, we got stuck in traffic.

We arrived at the hospital at 8:30am and got checked in. There were a lot of babies being born that day, and the birthing center was at capacity. They put us in the last room at the end of the hallway. It was fine. Very private. My nurse was awesome. She put me at ease. She put my IV in and had me fill out some final paper work and called in Dr. F to do my anesthesia consult. Dr. F was awesome. I really had a good feeling immediately about him. He was shocked to hear about my previous experience with an epidural and that his esteemed colleagues were unable to get it in. He reassured me though that everything would be fine.

Brandon got scrubbed up and we were ready to go back to the OR. I was super nervous at this point. I told my mom goodbye and that was it. No turning back.

Brandon had to sit in a chair outside the OR while they put my spinal in and prepped me. It was the longest wait of his life. Dr. F had me sit up on the the table and lean over. Then he and the resident doctor started the spinal. I was shaking all over. Partly because I was so nervous and partly because it was freezing in there. They put warm blankets over me and that helped. Then he said there will be a quick stick and a burn. Then he attempted to put the spinal in. At first I felt a pain like I did with Hannah going down my left side, but with a slight adjustment seconds later it was over and I began to feel numb. What a relief!

After that they had me lay on the table and I began to shake. My heart was racing and they were telling me just to relax. Easier said than done. After they prepped me, the brought Brandon in. He said it was the longest wait of his life. Then Dr. L came in to do begin the surgery. 

I couldn't feel a thing and then before I knew it they were holding him up over the curtain and said it was a boy! Hudson Jacob had arrived at 10:03am. They brought him over to the warmer and weighed him. He was 7lbs 7oz 21in. They the kinda wrapped him up and put him on my chest. I was a little uncomfortable holding him though. It was a little awkward and I began to feel dizzy so I think Brandon took him from me. The rest of the surgery was a little blurry. I think I might have fell asleep. Before we knew it we were in the recovery room.

I remembered my mom coming in first and holding the baby and then my dad. By the time Brandon's dad and step mom came in the room though I began to feel really hot and nauseous. I threw up several times. They said it was due to the extra pain meds they put in my spinal. I also itched all over for days because of that medicine.

During Hudson's routine newborn screenings it was discovered that his blood sugars were extremely low. They had to put a tube down his throat and pump some formula in his stomach and then check his sugars about 40 minutes later. Because they didn't want to cause him extra stress they didn't bathe him. (In fact, he didn't receive his first bath until 2 days later). I was able to breastfeed him though. From what I can remember they checked his sugars again and they had gone up so we went to our postpartum room.

Brandon and I hung out, got a little rest and just loved on our new baby. The nurses kept checking on us and pricking Hudson's heal to check his sugars. But they were still low. So they did the tube thing again. By late evening and after the third attempt to get his sugars up it was decided he needed extra help and would need to go to the NICU.

I was devastated. I couldn't believe my full term perfectly healthy 7 1/2 pound baby was going to NICU. We were scared and confused.

Our plan was that Brandon would stay home at night with Hannah and I would be up at the hospital with the baby getting help from the nurses. But without my baby I felt very alone and sad. That first night was the pits. I didn't get much sleep.

Luckily I had an awesome nurse to help me get through it. Her name was Precious and she definitely is. She was my night nurse when I had Hannah and helped me through my difficult stay with her. 

By the next morning I was determined to get my catheter out and get dressed so I could go down stairs to see my baby. I was very unhappy with my day nurse who wasn't moving fast enough. After that morning she strangely wasn't my nurse anymore. It helps to know people in high places. Ha!

We went downstairs around 9am and got to see our sweet boy. He was tired and uncomfortable and I was a mix of emotions. His NICU nurse was awesome though. She explained what she could to us and let us care for him normally as much as possible. And that's what we did for the next three days.

At first there was a lot of unknowns. They thought he could have an infection. And they treated him for one. They even put a feeding tube in his nose but never used it. In the end, I think most of what they did was protocol. Once a baby is in the NICU they have to do lots of tests to rule out stuff before they can send the baby home. But he was healthy and fine. I went home that Friday and we brought our boy home the day after. It was very strange leaving the hospital without my baby but I'm so glad it was only for one night.

I've worked on projects in the NICU but never thought I would be on the other side as a parent. It's very surreal. My heart really goes out to all the parents of sick babies. Many of the little ones in the beds around Hudson were only 2 lbs at birth. I'm changed by going through this experience. I will be forever grateful for those who took care of us while in the hospital.

I'm glad to have made it through this experience. It was a long road to get here. Now we will be moving forward with our lives and raising our two kids the best we know how. I feel extremely blessed and happy.

Hudson Update

Wow! What a whirlwind we've been through. Between the holidays and adjusting to life with a new baby, I barely have had time to shower much less blog. Ha! Life with two kids so far has been about as difficult as I thought it would be. It's challenging at times, and yes I would like more sleep, but I really wouldn't trade it for anything.

Hudson is almost 3 weeks old already. Time is flying bye. I don't know where it's going. All I feel like I've done in the past few weeks is feed, change and hold this baby. He's really sweet and precious. I love having a boy.

He sleeps and eats well during the day. He rarely cries except he has a fussy time at night that drives me and his daddy a little bonkers. Last night he was up from about 12:00-1:30 crying and fussing, but then slept til 5am. He woke up and I changed him and fed him and he went back to sleep til almost 9am. So we do sleep some. It's just a little crazy from about 11pm-2am every night. Ugh!

At his two week check up he weighed 7lbs 14oz and was 20.5" long. He's growing like a weed and right on track to where he should be.

This experience has been quite different than my postpartum with Hannah. My recovery hasn't been easy by any means, but it has been easier than with her. And so far, I haven't had any baby blues or postpartum depression issues like I did with her. I'm beyond grateful for that. I am tired and do get a little anxious at times but overall I'm feeling really happy and thankful at where I'm at.

Well that's it for now. I will blog about Christmas and his birth story soon. I'll leave you with some photos I took the other day.

Introducing Hudson Jacob

It's been a whirlwind of events, but I'm happy to announce our little man made is grand entrance into the world Wednesday, December 18 at 10:03am. He weighed 7lbs 7oz and was 20in long.

His birth went really well and I'll do a post on that soon. A few hours after he was born they did a standard blood sugar testing on him and he was extremely low. After several attempts and failures to get his sugars up, he was sent to the NICU. He stayed there until he went home 4 days later.

God truly had His arms around our sweet boy and he received excellent care while in the hospital. His blood sugars got under control and he was protected and healed from infection so he got to go home on Saturday. I went home on Friday. We are so thankful that we made it home before Christmas and everything turned out the way it did. I'm truly grateful to have my little boy here and I'm just soaking him up everyday.

He's such a sweet baby and we are so in love with him. My recovery is going really well and I'm feeling better and stronger everyday. It's been so much better than it was with Hannah. I am getting some sleep which helps. Hudson sleeps a lot during the day and I've gotten some naps in between feedings.

So far life with two kids is pure bliss and Hannah really loves her new baby brother. I will post again soon, but for now I will leave you with a few pics from the last week. Enjoy!

39 Weeks, Last Bump Post

Well tomorrow is the big day. We are about as ready as we can be, but I'm still very anxious and scared about the delivery. I'm just trusting in the Lord to see us through tomorrow and hopeful for the best possible outcome, which is healthy baby and healthy mommy. The last 9 months have been challenging, but overall I feel like this pregnancy was a lot better than when I was pregnant with Hannah.

Speaking of Hannah, she's sick today. This only adds to my anxiety. We are taking her to the doctor this morning. Hopefully she will be better tomorrow. Please pray that she will be. The plan is to drop her off at day care in the morning and then head to the hospital. This might be a problem if she's still running fever.

We also got disappointing news at the doctor's office yesterday about the anesthesiologist. The two people my doctor recommended will not be working tomorrow. It's very disappointing since this is the thing that went so wrong with Hannah's delivery and the thing I'm most scared about. I really don't know who will be doing it at this point so I'm feeling very nervous about the whole thing. I really want to be awake for the delivery and experience his birth since I was put under for Hannah's. I'm really trusting God is in control of this and will provide the perfect person to administer the spinal.

(I have no bump photo edited. I took one but couldn't upload it. I'll come back and do it later). 

Here’s what’s happening in Week 39:

Weight Loss/Gain? Over 32lbs total. I'm okay with it.

Cravings: Christmas cookies and hot chocolate.

Miss Anything? Nope. Just ready to be on the road to recovery and back to my old self. 
 
Gender: BOY!!! Hudson Jacob Hughes

Favorite Moment this Week: Getting everything ready for little boy's arrival.
 
Sleeping: Not so good. I'm sure I won't sleep much tonight either.
 
Stretch Marks? Yes. Boo :( 
 
Labor Signs? He dropped significantly in the last week and his head is really low. I'm 3cm dilated and ready to go.

Maternity Clothes: Yes. Can't wait to wear regular jeans and pants again. It's the simple things in life like buttons and zippers that you take for granted when your not pregnant. Ha!

Baby Movement: He moves a lot especially at night. He always has hiccups and I usually feel lots of body parts sticking out all over the place. 

Most looking forward to: Meeting this sweet boy tomorrow!!! I'm trying to stay positive, but can't wait til this surgery is all over and I have him in my arms. 

Next time I post we will be the proud parents of two beautiful children. I'll post pictures soon :)

37 Weeks

Well I completely missed my 36 week post. Time is really getting away from me. With Thanksgiving behind us, we are in full baby mode. I'm trying to prepare myself mentally for his arrival, but lately I've just been so overwhelmed. We did finish the nursery this weekend, I washed his baby clothes, I packed his bag, bought some new pajamas for me to take to the hospital. I do need a few more items, but overall I'm technically ready to go.

I'm feeling a flood of emotions right now. On the one hand, I'm so done being pregnant. My body just hurts all over and I'm just so tired. But I'm feeling very anxious about the c-section, bringing a new baby home, taking care of a newborn again in general, balancing my time between two kids who need me in different ways. I'm worried about Hannah and how she will act towards her little brother. There are just a lot of unknowns right now. I think the first few months we are just going to be in survival mode. We'll get through it. I pray that he's an easy baby :)

Here’s what’s happening in Week 37:

Weight Loss/Gain? Over 30, ugh!

Cravings: Not too much. Feeling stuffed without eating anything.

Miss Anything? Sleep. I have major insomnia issues.
 
Gender: BOY!!! Hudson Jacob Hughes

Favorite Moment this Week: Thanksgiving, putting up Christmas decor and finishing Hudson's room.
 
Sleeping: Not good.
 
Stretch Marks? They finally came out. I have a few unsightly marks. Boo :(

Labor Signs? A few contractions here and there. Some pressure, but he's still really high so I'm pretty sure he's staying put for now.

Clothes: Duh.

Baby Movement: He's a mover still. He's constantly on my left side.

Most looking forward to: Meeting this sweet boy soon. We are scheduled for Dec 18th. So in 16 days or less he will be here. Eeek!!!

Life is Precious

Wednesday was one of the scariest days of my life. It seems so surreal that we went through what we did, but I'm so glad we made it through and everything is fine now.

It started like any other day. I got up, got dress, got Hannah dress, went to work, Brandon dropped HK off at school, he went to work, and that was that. Little did we know what was about transpire in just a few short hours.

I was leaving the office to go pick Hannah up a little after 5 when I got a call from Brandon telling me to meet him at the daycare. I asked what was wrong. He said don't panic, but the daycare had just called him and said that Hannah had had a seizure and to get there as quickly as possible. I hung up the phone and began to panic. I rushed as fast as I could to the daycare. I could not get there fast enough. It was probably the longest 10 min drive of my life. All I could do was pray that she was okay.
 
When I pulled in the parking lot I saw a fire truck and an ambulance and immediately knew they were for my baby girl. It was 5 o'clock and everyone was picking up their kids so I couldn't find a parking spot. I ended up just parking in a non spot and raced to the front door. When I reached the door I saw Brandon and the EMTs coming out with my sweet baby on a stretcher. She was sitting upright shaking but awake. They had her stripped down to just her diaper and her orange bow. I started to freak out, but Brandon said for me to calm down that she was alright but they were just going to go ahead and take her to the ER.

I road a long with her in the ambulance to the hospital. On the way there I kept trying to get her to focus on me, but she was pretty out of it. She wasn't herself at all. Not talking not really reacting the way she normally would. I was really scared. On the way to the hospital she threw up a lot. More than she has ever thrown up in her life. I felt helpless.

We made to the hospital and the one of EMS guys carried her in to the ER for me. We got into a room and immediately the doctor and his team of nurses were there to take a look. I work for UMC and I love it, but I don't love when I or someone I know is a patient. However, I was so impressed by our UMC Emergency Center staff and Dr. Haley. If you have to go to the ER for your kid, do yourself a favor and take them to UMC. Dr. Haley is the best around.

Anyway, after a quick examination and vital check, Dr. Haley told us the seizure was a Febrile Seizure caused by the quick spike of fever. He said it's pretty common for kids that young to have them and it didn't mean she would have another one or have any damage from the seizure itself. He said she was also pretty sick with a virus most likely croup which causes high fevers. We didn't have to do blood work or x-rays because he was pretty sure that's what it was. After a little waiting and a steroid shot to open her airway, we were on our way home. She was really tired and pitiful looking but overall doing so much better.

We were so relieved she was okay. It's the scariest thing I've been through as a mom. I'm so thankful she alright and I feel really blessed that we walked away from this unharmed. My sweet girl is so precious to our family and I can't imagine my life without her. I thank God for her every day, but I hugged her extra tight that night. I'm very glad our daycare responded so quickly and called 911. I'm glad for a fast response by EMS. I'm so glad Dr. Haley was there to take care of her. I'm so thankful for my family and that I didn't have to go through this alone. Mostly I praise God for healing her quickly and getting us through all of this. Life is truly precious.

34 Weeks

Today I'm 34 Weeks and 5 days pregnant. Moving right along and feeling bigger but good. We had another really good doctor's appointment on Monday. Everything looks good. Heartbeat was in the 140s. He's measuring right on track. We also tentatively scheduled a csection date for Dec 18th. So in 5 weeks from today or less our little boy will be here!!!

I'm getting more ready to meet him everyday, but still have a lot to do before he arrives. This weekend my wonderful husband will be putting Hudson's dresser together so I can start organizing his clothes and finishing his room. I haven't touched it or barely gone in it in the last month so it's time to get it done.

This past weekend was pretty busy. Brandon has his last pedi cab game day and Hannah and I went to a first  birthday party for my boss's little boy. It was a Mickey Mouse theme and really cute. Then on Sunday, we went over to my brother's inlaw's for Mr. Harlan's 2nd birthday party. It was a really nice and sweet party for my adorable nephew. He's so cute and he and Hannah played really well together. Unfortunately the twins were asleep the whole time we were there so I never saw them. I went over there on Friday though and got to spend some quality time with them. Poor babies had a rough time this Lubbock trip and are battling ear infections. No fun. The next time I'll see them they won't be the littlest cousins anymore :)

Here’s what’s happening in Week 34:

Weight Loss/Gain? 27-28lbs total. Doing pretty good. I think I'm really running out of room for food. I feel so full by the end of the day.

Cravings: Not too much. I have enjoyed ice cream lately. I also really been craving Peppermint Mocha's from Starbucks. I've only indulged once though.

Aversions: None. But I'm more picky about what I eat lately.

Miss Anything? Not too much.
 
Gender: BOY!!! Hudson Jacob Hughes

Favorite Moment this Week: Hanging out with family and a good doctor's appointment.
 
Sleeping: Sleep is so so. Some nights I sleep really well, but most nights my sleep is interrupted by my snoring husband and dog. So I end up sleeping on the couch.

Stretch Marks? None :)

Labor Signs? Less contractions this week. Feeling good, just some pressure. Things are about to get real.

Clothes: Mostly all maternity now. Some dresses fit still as well as some tops. Pants are all maternity.

Baby Movement: He moves around a lot. Some days he kicks so hard it hurts. Other days I don't notice it as much.

Most looking forward to: Visiting with my Nana. Working on the nursery some more.