3 Weeks Old

Nursery

A while ago I promised pictures of the nursery. I finally finished putting the last few things on the walls. I love it :)

Quick Update

Elias loves his G-mama!

First playdate with Kaden!

Casts - Week 1

Elias' had a great first week with his casts. Doesn't seem to bother him at all, which is great! Tomorrow he gets a new one, so we're rockin' and rollin'!

I finally feel alive, praise the Lord. Like I said before, it was SO hard not being able to do anything for him. But now we're doing great! My mom was a huge help for the first couple weeks, helping out with night-time feedings. But since I came home and am feeling better, Kevin and I took them all (ya know, its our kid and all...lol). He seems to be getting better at falling asleep quicker during the middle of the night.

Portraits

With his infamous pumpkin hat Aunt Erin made :)

Longest Week Ever...

This has probably been one of the worst weeks of my life. Starting last weekend, I started feeling sick. All I did was sleep and throw up.  Awful. At Elias' one week check up on Monday, I got sick in the doctors office. They told me it was just my body still recovering from the c-section. I just didnt understand...I was fine when I was discharged with Elias the week before. This was different. So I felt like death that night and we ended up coming back to the hospital. They didnt find an infection, and determind it must be a GI bug. So off I went home on Tuesday night.

Woke up Wednesday, took the meds, then a few hours later started feeling sick again. Tried to sleep it off most of the day. Threw up inbetween. Couldnt hold anything down. This went on for 3 more days. I was so weak. I couldnt even finish giving me son a sponge bath, I had to sit down. Thats been the hardest part...not being able to do anything for Elias. Thankfully my Mom has been amazing and has stepped in. But I feel so awful for not being able to be his mom his first week home. Its just so hard.

So enough was enough, and we ended up coming back to the hospital on Saturday night. I was sooo deydrated, it was awful. They stuck me 8 times trying to get a line in and some blood out. They eventually went into my foot, which was just so painful. It actually felt worse then my epidural, no lie. Once they got the fluids flowing I started feeling a little better. Got some xrays and finally got to a room at 5am. They told me in the blood tests they saw some indicators of gull bladder disease. Oh great. So I went to bed, then came back a few hours later and took some more blood. This time there weren't any of those indicators. Apparently the blood the first got had started to clot, so it effected the test results. So confusing. So now theyre saying they dont think I have a problem with my gall bladder.

Heres the bottom line though, and this is what I told the doctors. I am not leaving until they figure out what is causing my nausea. I cannot go home and take anymore of this. I need to be better for my baby. This has got to stop. So I'm here till atleast tomorrow. They might do a CT scan, but theyre concerned that I wont be able to stomach the stuff they make you drink first. Heck, I'll do whatever...I don't care. I just wanna know whats wrong. And I especially want them to look at my gall bladder now just to be safe.

Okay. Now that thats out...

Bath Time

At Elias' one week appointment on Monday, he weighed 5lbs 14oz. Little muffin gained 10 oz in one week! He also got his cast on his left leg on Friday, and was quite a trooper! He almost pee'd on the doctor while he was putting the cast on, and I think he learned just how loud he really can yell...great...lol.

He seems to have his days and nights mixed up. He's been wanting to stay up from 12-4 every morning for the past week or so. I've really been wanting to start him on a schedule in hopes that that might help, but its just been so hard being sick. Hopefully later this week once I'm home I can get into the swing of things.

Everyone told me not to buy newborn clothes because either they're hardly in them for that long or they skip right over that size. Well my little peanut is so tiny and I hardly have any newborn outfits for him! He has a long torso like Kevin and I, and shorter legs, so he can fit into newborn onezies but newborn pants are still too big.  My mom and I found some preemie pants and picked up a few pairs that fit him pretty perfectly.

I'll post more pictures once I'm home and functioning again. Thanks for all your prayers and well wishes. Theyve been extremely encouraging to me. Love to you all!

One Week

I can't believe its already been a week since Elias was born! Time is just flyin' by already.

Last night was the roughest night yet. We tried a different formula before bed, and oh man was that a mistake. He was up from 12-3 screaming. Not crying. Screaming. Finally, come 2:30 I woke up my mom and she took him for a bit. She thought hit stomach felt rock hard, and the way he was moving his legs up and down constantly was as if he was in pain. So I called the doctor on call at TUFTs and they recommended a medication for constipation and gas. So I went on over to CVS at 3am, found the medicine, and by the time I got home he was just falling asleep for my mom. It was pretty scary though. I mean, its only been a week, but as much as I can tell and know about my son, he doesn't cry for no reason. He is a very content, happy baby. (knock on wood...)

Tomorrow we're going to get some portraits taken of Elias, and then he has his 1 week appointment. I'm excited to see how much he weighs. When we left the hospital on Thursday, we was 5lbs 9oz. He gained a significant amount in just 4 days. Our theory is that he was deprived the last few weeks because of the cord being wrapped around his body every which way, and so now he's just playing catch up :)

Home Sweet Home

My boys

Elias and I had quite the day on Thursday. I was a little anxious about getting my staples removed. I actually never even looked at my incision because I was afraid I'd get super grossed out. But the doctor came in, did her thing, and I didn't feel a thing! Literally, every 25 minutes some doctor was coming in to exam or take him away to do something. Lets see if I can remember who all came in...

The Physical/Occupational Therapists came in and made Elias custom splints for both his hands. The idea is for him to get used to holding his right hand more straight at the wrist. On his left hand, it will begin stretching his thumb out so that we can do as much as we can to straighten it before surgery. He doesn't mind them at all! They also showed us a few stretches to do with his feet before he gets his boots.

The Pediatric Orthopedist came and examined Elias again with his team. The determined that only his left foot is clubbed (hooray!) and his right is just crooked from the way he balled up in the womb. So next Friday we will be going in for his casts!

The Audiology doctor came in and discussed with me his hearing test he took the day before. She said he passed with flying colors, but cause of the little skin tag on his ear, they want to do a more in depth test just to make sure.

The Neurology doctor and her entourage made an appearance. She was so sweet. She said that his CT scan and MRI came back perfect. She said her expectations for Elias are for him to graduate from MIT summa cum-laude and find the cause of clubbed feet :) As far as she could tell, there are no problems with his brain! She wants to have a follow up in January to see how he's doing.

He was also tested for jaundice, and his billy rubin level was low, so we checked that off the list! His skin is so olive, its kinda crazy. He has a complexion similar to Brielle and my dad, and hair the color of theirs, too. Genetics are a crazy thing :)

After they did the "snip-snip" on him, we were finally discharged at 7pm. When we got home and walked through the door, I was completely speechless. My Mom, MomMom, and Kevin had completely finished everything there was to be done from our move the weekend before. It was wonderful. When I was in the hospital, every so often I would think of what a pain it was going to be to come home and still have so much to do before we brought Elias home. I cried, of course. Such a blessing to us. I can't even begin to explain how thankful and appreciative I am to have my mom here with us. She has been the biggest help over the past week. She takes a feeding during the night so that we each only get up once with him and can get a good chunk of sleep. Not to mention she's been around the block once or twice (more like 4 times) when it comes to c-sections, so she knows exactly what I'm feeling. I love her so much. She's such a great grandma!

Here's a few pictures to enjoy!

Elias and Gemma

Elias and Auntie Becca

Elias and Jessica

So pretty

Skin to skin with daddy

No More NICU!

Today was a great day! Elias was released from the NICU and joined us in the room this afternoon. He has had so many appointments with so many different people, and hes doing so well. They're pretty much give him "the works" as to eliminate things that could also be wrong in addition to his hands and feet.

Lets see...the OT lady came and gave us some different techniques to try with his hand and thumb. When working with right right hand, the one that he likes to keep bent at the wrist, she was able to get him to completely straighten it out, which is awesome! We just need to work on him keeping his wrist straighter. She thinks there might be a little webbing problem with his left thumb, explaining why he holds it in so tight to his palm.

Orthopedics came and took a look at his hands and feet. They said they were gonna collaborate and come back tomorrow with a more complete game plan.

I was down in the NICU with him snuggling when a lady came in to do a hearing test. She put these big headphones and a few electrodes on him, and then turned the machine on. Apparently it sends signals to the brain and can determine your hearing, as opposed to him reacting to sounds in his ear. So cool! He slept through the whole thing lol.

He had a CT scan. Everything was great. Neurology ordered an MRI and CT scan to rule out anything in the brain. He did great for the CT scan, and he'll get the MRI tomorrow.

He had an ultrasound of his kidneys that came back great, so it looks like that skin tag is simply just a skin tag. Im going to ask the pediatrician at our next appointment when we can have it removed.

Thats all for now. I'm probably missing a few things, but Elias feel asleep on my chest and I'm about to conk out as well. Goodnight

Little Belly

Quick update...

Elias saw quite a few doctors today.

The eye doctors came and said his eyes looked great.

The genetics team came and said that to them at this point, his issues appear to be simply orthopedic (praise God) and want to see him in a week or two, and at that point depending on his progress, may or may not draw more blood for some testing.

The orthopedic doctor did not make it to him today, so I'm hoping he comes right away tomorrow. I'm very interested to see what he says is going on with his hands, and what we can do to correct them.

My milk hasn't come in yet, and the lactation consultant suggested we begin supplementing with formula because he was VERY hungry and needed something other than the IV fluids. Well he sucked down 10cc's in half a minute. Then it all came back up. Nurse said it was most likely cause he was throwing the biggest fit before I got down there to feed him and he was all worked up, and probably swallowed a ton of air. Then a few hours later, we went down and gave him 20cc's, making sure to pause every few seconds to give him time to swallow. He devoured it again and only spat up a little bit. We left to eat dinner, and came back down for his next feeding and the nurse told us he threw it all up again. She emptied his stomach and said there was a ton of mucus and yucky stuff in there that might not have been helping. She told us that because he wasn't holding it down, they wanted to keep him for another night in the NICU. We were so dissapointed. We had been anticipating all day him being able to come upstairs with us. But we understood.

At his next feeding, we feed him another 20cc's and he kept it all down! Then Kevin went down for some Daddy/son bonding time, feed him again, and he held it all down. So if he can continue to hold it all down by tomorrow, they said he should be able to come up with us :)

Our little pumpkin

Elias, mommy, and daddy are all doing well. It was a rough night for mommy last night though! Ever since the cesarean yesterday, I had extreme pain in my left arm, particularly from my shoulder to my elbow. It felt like I'd been stabbed over and over, and like it weighed 100lbs. I literally had to pick up my left arm with my other hand to move it. Come 4 in the morning, I couldn't take it anymore. The pain in my arm completely outweighed the pain in my belly from the incision. I called the nurse in and she decided to stop the IV fluids and give me another medication. Well, what do ya know...not 5 minutes after she stopped the IV did my arm start to feel better. It turns out my arm wasn't too fond of all the medication that was poured into my veins in just a few short hours. But all is now well. Thank God for drugs, thats all I have to say :)

Kevin and I held Elias for the first time today. It was absolutely amazing. The nurse had his hair up in a little mohawk, which was too cute. He looooves to snuggle, and responds really well to touch. Tomorrow he will have quite a few evaluations. He won't be getting his casts for his feet until next week, I do know that much. It is super hard being separated from him. We went down every couple hours today to hold and feed him. I just hated having to say goodbye, even for a couple hours. But, at the same time, after what my body has gone through the past couple days, its almost a blessing to have such amazing people take care of him while I take some time to recover. Its just heart wrenching to leave him there. Hopefully we'll have him with us full time by tomorrow afternoon, assuming all his tests come back clear.

All our family that is here got to hold him and spend a little time with him in the NICU. He did so well for being handled by so many people!

I also learned that he was a good 10oz heavier than what we though! The nurse originally said he was 5lb4oz, but here it turns out he was 5lb14oz :) 

I just wanted to say that Kevin and I are so grateful for everyones prayers and well-wishes. We are so happy to have people celebrating with us. If you have called, please know that I will call you back very soon, and if I don't, call me later this week again! Things have just been crazy, and I wanted to spend time with our family today before some of them left to go back to PA this evening. Also, if your wanting to come visit us at the hospital, we just ask that you call first to give us a heads up :)

Elias Alexander Lance

Our little muffin is finally here!

After 24 hours of trying out the cervix-softening tablets, the doctor examined me and told us I had barely made any progress. My body clearly was not ready. So his suggestion was to try one more round of the tablet, and then if that didnt work, we could either try another cervix-rippening agent, or call it a day and go for a c-section.  At that point, after almost 28 hours of not being able to leave the bed, my hips were KILLING me. The bed felt like a brick, and no matter which way I laid, I just could not get comfortable. I also kinda felt like my body simply wasn't ready yet, and therefore just was not responding to the meds. So Kevin and I decided if this last tablet didnt work, we wanted a C-section.

Also, let me add that up to this point I was hardly have any contractions and the ones that I was having were hardly making me flinch. All day, I was expressing how much pain I was having in my hips. The nurses all instantly said "the epidural is totally available if you want it". I was not against getting an epidural at all...however, I didn't want to get it just for my hips.

Well, when the checked me at 12:00am last night, I was 3cm. So the doctor suggested we start the pitocin and see what happens. About 15 minutes into it, the contractions started...and they came on VERY strong.  At around 2:30, I was done and asked for the epidural. I was actually pretty terrified of the process of putting it in. I've had shots in my butt, legs, arms...but never in my back. I wanted it, but at the same time was totally petrified. But I sucked it up, squeezed the nurse as hard as possible, and let it happen. The first two tries the doctor did were not successful. She couldn't get it to thread. Another doctor who was there for this very reason stepped in and was able to get it in no problem. And ohhhh my goodness...it worked absolutely wonderful. I didn't feel any contractions the entire time, and was able to lay on my hips and get a solid 5 hours of sleep. 

All morning, I was progressing right along! By 11:30, I was 8cm and feeling great! Then, all of the sudden, no matter which way I laid, whenever a contraction came along, his heart rate fell drastically.  The doctor came in and after about a half hour of her observing the machine and pressing on my stomach to get the baby to move, she said its time to call it quits and go for a c-section.

I was so bummed. I finally got all this way. I was a basket case. If you would have asked me 12 before, I would have been all for it! So I balled all the way into the OR, and even once we were in there. They shot me up with a ton more through the epidural, and I started shaking uncontrollably. Apparently thats a very common side effect. I pulled myself together, and was able to control myself. At 1:08, they said they finally reached him, announced that he was out, and...nothing. No cry. No one said much. They didn't hold him over the curtain for us to see. They took him over to the corner to work on him, and no one said a thing to us about him. I kept asking what was going on, but no one answered me. Finally the anesthesiologist said he couldnt tell me anything, only the people working on him could...and they wouldnt answer.  They asked if Kevin wanted to come over, and he went and took a few pictures while they wiped him up. He let out a few cries, and finally he let out the cry I'd been waiting to hear. It was the sweetest sound I ever heard.

Finally, a nurse came over and explained to us that the cord was wrapped around his neck, arm, and leg. They had to work on him for a few minutes to get him breathing on his own. They also said there was a possibility he swallowed the maconium, so they were taking him to the NICU for observation. So they brought him over to me for just a moment, then took him away.

As bummed as I was to have to get a c-section, its a darn good thing we did. They said if I would have tried to deliver him normally, he would have been strangled and it might not have turned out very well. Praise the Lord for intervening and protecting our son!

From start to finish, the whole operation took a little over an hour.  I was then taken to a recovery room to rest while the anestesia wore off. Then at 5, after my mom got back from picking Mom-Mom up at the airport, they took us to the NICU to see him.  When they brought us back to him, I just couldn't believe what I saw...a full head of DARK hair! Not peach fuzz...hair! Kevin and I were both totally wrong. I thought he'd be a blonde and Kevin prayed for a redhead.

The nurse was super sweet, and took some time to explain to us what was going on.  She said right off the bat that he's doing great. He's breathing completely on his own and all his vitals are perfect. His feet were exactly what we expected. Both hands will have to be looked at by a doctor (I'm assuming tomorrow) because they both appear to have some slight problems. The one looks possibly clubbed, and on the other, he cant/wont extend his thumb from his fist. Annnnd he also has a skin tag on his left ear. They said it could be an indicator for kidney problems, so they'll take a look at that tomorrow too. Its easily removable though, so we'll hopefully have that done by the time we leave the hospital.

He's staying in the NICU till tomorrow, so tonight I'm going to try and get as much sleep as possible. I seriously feel like I've been hit by a truck. But we're going down in just a few minutes to hold him for the first time. When we were there earlier, there was too much going on with other babies for them to let us hold him. So they told us to come back down later, just the two of us, and we could spend some more time with him.

24 hours later...

Its been 24 hours since Ive been admitted, and not much has happened. They had to do 18 hours worth of cervix-softening tablets so far just for me to get 1cm. They put another one in and they'll be checking to see at 6:30 to see where we're at. Contractions are coming and going. Since they want to monitor the baby at all times, I'm limited to this bed...and it is beyond uncomfortable. Whats most frustrating so far for me is how much pain I'm having in my hips from laying in this bed. So if you could, please pray for relief for my hips. I was in tears all morning because no matter which way I laid, I was in extreme discomfort. They let me take a shower, and that helped a lot.

So thats all for now. My mom and sister are here, and Kevin's mom and stepdad are on their way.

Being Induced...

Well here I am, sitting in a room all hooked up, beginning the induction process. At my ultrasound this morning, they saw the amniotic fluid was low, and want to get him out before it becomes a hazard to him. So they told me to go straight over to labor and delivery. Umm WHAT?! I asked if I could go home to pick up a few things, but she insisted I go right then.

Kevin came right away, and my mom and sister are getting a flight any minute now from Philly. They're during a series of pills to soften to cervix, and once that's done, they'll start the pitosin (sp?). They said just getting the cervix to soften could take up to 24 hours....uggh! But its painless, so I'll take as much of this as I can get before the "real deal" begins.

Also, we don't have cell service in the room, which is why I'm doing this on the computer, and will be keeping the computer close by. If you need/want to get a hold of us email/fbook...we'll have it set up close by.