Birth Story

Dec.15.2010 8AM, I was lying in bed when I feel a "pop" I run to the bathroom to assess the situation. Mucus on the TP told me something was up. I call out to J, "It's happening" all I hear is "are you serious"? Do you have time to take a shower? Yes and Yes so I hop into the shower and shave my amazonian legs as best as I could. Being as big as I was I wasn't able to see much past my boobs. Get dressed and go downstairs to get a glass of orange juice. I called my OB and told them that I thought my water might have broken and if I could come in earlier than planned. I had a scheduled appointment for 9:30am that same day. The girl on the phone told me to head on in and they would be ready when I arrived. I asked J to keep track of my contractions as I started to feel faint pain every 10-15 min. He kept track all the way to the Dr's office. Once there, they rushed me to see my OB. As he was checking to see if my membranes had ruptured, a huge gush of water came out. I'm assuming that was the rest of my amniotic fluid as if felt like I had wet myself. The Dr told me that they would admit me to my original hospital to observe me but then would be transferred over to the Seton Facility Down Town as they have a better Neonatal ward. I was wheeled over to St. David's hospital where I spent a few hours being monitored and  given a medication to help stop my contractions to prolong my pregnancy as long as they could. At about my 2 hour mark there my contractions really kicked in but didn't hurt not as I had invisioned them to. They felt like period cramps to me. So at that point they also gave me a mild pain medication. At around 4PM the paramedics came to take me over to Seton where I would eventually have the baby. On my ride over my blood pressure was so high it didn't register on the machines :/ 

Once I was settled in to my new room, I was poked and monitored and all sorts of things were going on. I was given an array of things from Steroids for the baby's lungs to potassium to help regulate my elevated blood pressure.The Dr on call came in and introduced himself as Dr. Bushhart. He said they were trying to stop my contractions but if the medication didn't work then they would deliver the baby whenever he wanted to come. He checked to see how dialated I was and at that point I was at 4cm. My contractions kept on for a good while until I just couldn't take it anymore. I called the nurse and asked her if she could give me an epidural. The Dr. came back into the room and checked to see how far along I was and at that point I was at 7. He ordered the epidural and told the nurses to stop the medication to stop the contractions as the baby was going to come whether we liked it or not. The anesthesiologist came in about 15 min later and hooked me up with the catheter for the medicine. After one failed attempt he finally got it in and I was feeling pretty nice. At 8:20PM I got the sudden urge to push, so I buzzed for the nurse. Within seconds they were all in the room and I was at this point 10cm and 100% effaced. They wheeled me to the Delivery room, J right by my side. I got settled in and after about 6 good pushes Mr. Jett was Born @ 8:56PM

He Weighed 3lbs 3.75oz and 17 1/2 in long. He was born 7 weeks ahead of schedule!

The next 23 days of our lives were the longest of our lives. It was so incredibly hard to leave him every day to come home. I would feel so much guilt it drove me insane. I tried to cope as best as I could but I would always end up crying my eyes out. Although he was doing so well, I still couldn't get that thought out of my head. What if something goes wrong and I'm not there? I would call everyday to check up on how he did through the night and we were there every night for a few hours. He stayed for 23 days. He was there to grow and learn how to eat. He didn't quite grasp the whole concept of breathing, sucking, swallowing. He did have a bit of Jaundice but it was cleared out with 2 days under the Billi light. He also had a few episodes of Apnea which was treated with caffeine. Really his stay was long due to the fact that we had to wait 10 days for the caffeine to leave his system to see if he was free of the apnea. He was finally allowed to come home on January.7th which so happens to be my BFF's birthday. He came home weighing 4lbs 8oz.

On his first Pedi appointment the following Monday he was 5 lbs.
The following Monday he had a second appointment and he was at 5lbs 4oz. The Dr. told me that she was hoping for an oz a day weight gain but where he was at was fine. I went home feeling a little down simply because I thought that perhaps I was doing something wrong and that's why he wasn't gaining any weight. The most recent appointment was last Tuesday and he came in weighing an amazing 6lbs 7oz and measured 18 1/2 in. He gained 19oz in 7 days! Wooohooo. I was glowing the rest of the day.


While he was still in the NICU, they administered a newborn hearing test and he flunked it twice. They told us we would have to follow up with a specialist at the Dell Children's hospital once he was a little bit older. We had the appointment today and it turns out that he indeed can hear. He's just incredibly stubborn and does things when he wants to and how he wants to. Hummm, wonder where he gets that from........

As of 2 weeks ago my milk supply has vanished. I'm chalking it up to being overly tired, depression, not eating as well as I should and the fact that my LO can't latch on. He's too tiny and it's so awkward. It stresses him out and of course me. So now he's 100% on Formula :/ It's not what we wanted but there isn't much I can do at this point. So to make up for the added expense of Formula and simply because I wanted to do this anyways, we'll be cloth diapering him. I'm about to order some PUL and make my own. If they turn out nicely, I might even try to sell a few on etsy.

Jett and his papa

1.7.11 On his way home!

Quit taking pictures!

1.8.11 First day home.