Wordless Wednesday: April 20, 2011

A Baby Story, or, How Jones Tanner Ward Entered the World

Jones is here!  You know you want to hear the story of his arrival, so here goes ...

Over the weekend of April 2, I started having some pain in my upper right quadrant (like where your liver is located).  This, when you are in the hospital for chronic hypertension and preeclampsia, is a bad thing, and if it ever happens to you, your doctor will frown and get a worried crease between his eyebrows because it probably means that your liver is becoming enlarged and things inside you are going downhill (for you and your baby).  That's what it meant for me anyway, and the end result is that on Monday morning when Dr. Lefler came by for his daily visit, he decided he didn't think we should wait any longer to deliver Jones.  I was 36 weeks and 1 day and since 36 weeks was our original goal, that was enough for him.  Sssssoooooo, cue frantic phone calls from me to Alan and my parents and my best friend Jessica (best advice ever:  "It's okay to be scared right now ... this is scary!  But it's going to be fine!"  Jessica is the best) and text messages to all other interested parties, and at 2:30 I was wheeled over to Labor & Delivery to be induced. 

Don't I look awesome?  Anywho, after they managed to get the IV placed (which took awhile, about an hour, because my hands were so swollen from everything ... they ultimately had to place it in the bend of my elbow which, for future reference, is probably the worst and most inconvenient place to have an IV), they started the pitosin and magnesium (magnesium because of my high blood pressure, pitosin to make contractions start), strapped me to the monitor to see how Jones handled the contractions, and we were off.  They kept asking if I was having contractions.  I told them I wasn't sure, having never had a baby before and not having any frame of reference, and was told it would feel like a menstrual cramp.  Not ever really having had menstrual cramps either, this was not terribly helpful, but I was able to start identifying mild contractions around 5:00 or 6:00 (I told the nurses, "I think I'm having a contraction ... I mean, I just thought it would be more painful."  Nurses:  "Oh, don't worry, they will be.").  However, after a few contractions, it was determined that Jones was not handling them well - he decelerated every time I had one which meant that he wasn't handling even the mild contractions and beginning of labor very well, and would not be able to handle the stress of actual labor and the stress of being born in the traditional way.  Dr. Lefler, who had honestly just walked out the door thinking maybe we would be able to go through labor and a regular birth, and who was headed home to watch the National Championship basketball game, got the results from the monitor and declared that we would be having a c-section. 

Let me tell you this about an emergency c-section:  it happens much, much more quickly than you would think.  Once it was decided, it was less than 30 minutes and we were in the operating room.  Everybody on the team moves like a well-oiled machine, getting you dressed and trussed appropriately, giving you the spiel about anaesthesia, getting your husband into scrubs and going over the procedure in the operating room with him, and the next thing you know, you're wheeled into the OR and it. is. happening.  They get you onto the operating table and then you have to lean forward to get the epidural - feels like bee stings in your back and then it feels like nothing at all, like you have no torso or legs.  They put up the drape and bring in your husband and off you go.  I saw none of the actual surgery, which is fine with me.  I had the sensation that things were happening down there, behind the drape, but I couldn't feel a thing.  Alan and I had a nice conversation sitting there waiting and then, all of a sudden, I hear Dr. Lefler say, "Okay, come here Mr. Jones!" and a lot of pressure in the abdominal area (that would be Dr. Lefler pushing Jones forward to come out of the uterus ... it didn't hurt, but it was just a weird sensation) and suddenly:  a cry!  A loud, healthy cry from Jones that caused all of the doctors and medical personnel in the room to exclaim and laugh and say, "Well, there's definitely nothing wrong with his lungs!"  It was by far the coolest moment of the birth, that first cry.  Dr. Pilkington, the pediatrician on call, did all of the testing, weighing and measuring (he's healthy, weighed 3 pounds 14 ounces and was 17 inches long) and then brought him around for us to get our first look (Dr. Pilkington is pretty funny; when he brought Jones around to us he said, "Look at this monster!"):

At this point, Alan got to take Jones down to the nursery to see everybody (my parents, his parents, my grandparents, my aunt) and the medical team got to work putting me back together.  Again, a totally weird experience because I knew that stuff was going on down there, but it's like you don't have a body past your chest.  Anyway, I was all sewn up and in recovery in no time, and then they got me back to my room after that, and let me see the little guy and hold him for awhile (Jones had short visits with us for the week after he was born due to his prematurity).

Y'all, it pains me to admit it, but I am really stoned in this picture.  They had just pumped me full of pain medication and goodness knows what else through the IV, and then they wheeled Jones in and gave him to me.  I remember being so amazed and overwhelmed by the existence of this tiny creature and at the same time struggling to keep my eyes open (I am comforted by the fact that Jones too was tired and he didn't have any trouble closing his eyes and dozing, so I don't think he'll hold that against me).  Alan was excited to get to hold Jones too:

Well, that's the long and short of it as far as his birth.  He was born on Monday, April 4, 2011 at 8:11 p.m.  I developed HELLP syndrome (which means that my platelets were low and my liver enzymes were elevated, which is a bad thing) and stayed in the hospital a few extra days, getting discharged on Friday (it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be to leave the hospital and go home without Jones ... I know a lot of it was the hormonal roller coaster that is giving birth, but just trust me when I say:  very hard ... overwhelmingly so).  Jones got to come home on Monday, April 11, 20,11 so he only spent an extra week in the hospital despite being 4 weeks early (we spent the night at the hospital Sunday night and "roomed in" where Jones stayed in the room with us and we fed him and took care of him all night, as a kind of trial run before they let you go home with the baby).  My mom has been staying with us the past week and it has been such a blessing - we're getting some sleep at night and easing into everything, and it's made my recovery from what is, truthfully, major abdominal surgery, much easier, and I think she's enjoyed it just as much as we have (even the middle-of-the-night feedings, which she's been doing for us).  We've been having the best time at the house, getting used to eachother, getting used to being parents, and trying to get used to the whole new world of parenthood.  Jones is doing great, gaining weight and growing like a champ, and I think we're doing pretty well at learning to be parents.  Truth be told, I spend the majority of my time holding him and looking at him.  I never really understood that with other people, even my close friends, how ... well ... obsessed isn't really the right word ... maybe intense is more correct ... how intense people are about their children, but I get it now.  I could look at him for hours and not be bored.  I love how he smells and I used to think people were crazy when they said babies smelled good but now I know:  your baby smells good.  Sometimes I get teared up just thinking about him and how much I love him, this little creature that Alan and I created together.

I know everyone wants to know how the spoiled labradors and the bad cat are handling the arrival of Jones.  The answer is:  pretty well.  They are very curious, naturally, especially Augie.  He is the most forceful with his investigations of Jones, and he will whine or cry a little bit if he feels like it's necessary to get your attention, and he spends a lot of time hanging his head over the baby gate watching us take care of Jones, and he gets a very concerned look on his face anytime Jones cries or makes any sort of noise in general.  Layla is interested, but she is content to look at him and then lay down at your feet while you hold him - very protective, but in a motherly way.  They want to sniff and poke and lick (if they get the chance), but they are not aggressive at all.  I think they sense how precious he is to us, and that he's part of the family.  I don't have any pictures right now because it takes the two of us working together for the dogs to be around him right now (one to hold Jones, one to hold off the labradors when their sniffing gets too forceful), but hopefully I'll get some this week since they are getting more and more used to him and his presence in our lives.  The bad cat is also curious, but he mostly just looks at him from afar (unless Jones is eating - Clyde is really interested in the milk which is kind of funny because we don't and never have given Clyde milk to drink, but I guess that's some sort of natural instinct thing).  Sometimes he tries to sidle up to him, but we usually shoo him away because of our worries about cat hair and allergies (cat hair just flies all around).  So, adjustments ahead, but we are a family of 3 now and I think we're going to love it.

Welcome to the World, Jones Tanner Ward!

He's here!  Jones Tanner Ward was born via c-section on Monday, April 4, 2011 at 8:11 p.m.  He weighed 3 pounds 14 ounces, was 17 inches long, and is perfect in every way!  He's doing well, I'm doing well, and everyone is just so excited to finally meet him!  I'll post more later, but just wanted to let everyone know that he's here, he's fine, and he's beautiful: