Landon's arrival

After last weeks visit, Brian and I both had a feeling this was going to be the week. I had a feeling something wasn't right and Brian said if they find something this time, he pretty much guarantees we will be delivering by this weekend. Looks like our gut instincts were right on...

April 24, 2008:

This morning at 8:30, we had a NST and everything checked out great. Afterwards was our normal visit at 9:45 with Dr. Phillips. She said everything looked great--nice strong heartbeat and good measurements. We then went over to Dr. Goodrum at 11:00 for another ultrasound. The tech started and things looked ok from what he said. However, when Dr. Goodrum came in, she said Landon had pretty much plateaued on his growth and there were some issues with the umbilical cord. There was blood flowing to the baby just fine but not enough was coming out so his heart was having to pump really hard. So, she said she was going to talk to Dr. Phillips but was certain we would be going to the hospital to have our baby. At this point, the only food I had was breakfast at 7:15.

Dr. Phillips met us over at the hospital and talked to us about our options. She said we could start out trying with natural birth since she knew our wishes. She said since I was only dialated to 1cm and was only 50% effaced they would give me medicine, Cervidil, to ripen my cervix. Cervidil takes 12 hours to work and after the 12 hours, they would check me and it could take up to 3 rounds to work. Then, they would start me on Pitocin. She told us she would not be on call this weekend so Dr. Turner would be the one delivering.

So, around 1pm, we checked into the hospital and they start all the initial tests, IVs, and blood work. They informed me that I cannot have anything to eat because of the induction. I can have clear liquids but who are they kidding...jello and broth cannot fill a person up.

At 5pm, Cervidil is started. Insertion of it hurts. Because of everything going on, I have to have continuous monitoring. There is this nice jet tub in the bathroom and I can't even use it due to the monitoring. So far, contractions have started but are very light. In the beginning, I had no idea I was even having them except it showed on the monitor.

April 25, 2008:

At 5am, Cervidil is taken out and my cervix is checked. I am still only 1cm and still 50% effaced. So far, the drug has done nothing. At 7am, another round of Cervidal is started. Still nothing to eat except clear liquids--still more jello and broth.

7pm, Cervidil is taken out and cervix checked. I am now 1 1/2cm and still 50% effaced. The Dr. came in and told me I could have an hour off of the monitors(ie, now I can get in the jet tub). He also informed me that because things have not progressed enough yet, I can have a real dinner. So, Brian goes downstairs and gets me a Subway sandwich and a cookie. First real food since 7am Thursday morning.

8pm, Cervidil inserted again. Dr. said that at 9am tomorrow morning, they would start Pitocin

April 26, 2008:

8am, Cervidil taken out. 2cm dialated and a little more than 50% effaced.

9am Pitocin started. Contractions start in increase and get stronger. At this point, I am still going to try this without an epidural. So far, the pain is not bad. It's like a less severe menstrual cramp.

9:15am--3 hard contractions happened and after each one, baby's heart rate dropped drastically. Pitocin was stopped and the option for natural birth is out. Baby would not make it through the birth if he was struggling this much after only 3 contractions. Dr. Turner comes in and informs us we are going straight to surgery.

10:30am Prepped for surgery. Brian was given his cool blue scrub set to wear. I am wheeled on back to the operating room and the epidural/spinal block in given. That hurt a lot. It also had a weird sound when being inserted. The sound was awful. I never expected it to take effect so fast. What a strange feeling. NICU and regular nursery staff were all present just in case. Apparently, Landon has to weigh at least 2000 grams to be able to go to the regular nursery. If he weighs any less, he automatically goes to NICU even if nothing else is wrong.

11:52 Landon is born. He weighed 1956 grams (4 lbs, 5 ounces) and was 17 inches long.

He was also struggling with breathing. His breaths per min. were up in 120s-130s and somewhere around 30-60 is normal. I got to see him briefly before they took him to NICU. Brian left with him and took a few pictures. I got finished and they took me back to the room. On the way back, they did wheel me into the NICU and put my bed up to his so I could see him one last time for the day. One of the nurses did tell me that later they could put me in a wheelchair and take me down there but when I asked later that night, they told me no, that I have to remain laying down for 12 hours after surgery.

I did make Brian continue to go see him every few hours and take pictures for me. Landon was on oxygen to stabilize his breathing.

Part 2 of funny story: Remember the couple I commented about in the first or second post? The husband, Jacob, called Brian right before we went back to the operating room and asked Brian what we were doing. Brian told him, "about to have our baby. We are have a c-section and we are about to head to the operating room. What are you guys up to?" Jacob said, "having our baby too. Lindsay and I just got here." I then made some comment about how my predictions are coming true. After delivery, they were right on the other side of the wing entrance from us.

April 27, 2008:

I got to go and see my baby this morning. Landon was taken off of the oxygen today. Luckily, he is not on a feeding tube which a lot of babies are at first. He is on bottles/formula though. He will be on formula until I can get enough milk to come in to switch him over. I am not able to try breastfeeding though until a while from now because it takes too much energy for him to do it. The drs. want him to conserve as much energy as possible so he can gain weight to leave. He cannot go home with us until drs. are satisfied with a steady weight gain. It is very frustrating but we are very thankful that nothing serious is wrong with our little boy. We are able to go for each feeding and feed him (which is every three hours around the clock).

He has to take the whole bottle within 30 mins. and once he is done, we have to put him back in bed. We are not able to sit and hold him any longer because doing so would cause him to use more energy and he needs all the energy to grow. It is really hard leaving him when he is awake. I feel so bad walking away when he is looking at us with those eyes. I feel like I need to be there holding him.

April 28, 2008:

Weight is 4.0 I know all babies loose weight soon after birth but since weight gain is critical to him leaving here, it is very discouraging seeing that flash on the scale. My milk also came in this afternoon. So, now Landon will be completely off of formula and totally on mommy's production.

April 29, 2008:

Today we have to leave the hospital. I have been crying off and on all day at the thought of going home without my baby. But, I do know he is in good hands and has wonderful nurses looking after him. Plus, I don't want him home too soon and something happen at home. The nurses let us check out at 11pm instead of early in the afternoon because of the circumstances.

April 30, 2008:

The Dr. has increased his intake from 25mL to 34mL. This is a very good sign.
Today would also have been 37 weeks pregnant.
We have decided to go to the hospital for as many feedings as possible. This means 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm, and sometimes we make the 11pm. We skip the 2am and 5am feedings. It is exhausting but seeing him once we get into the room reminds me that it is all worthwhile. I know it does him good by having us feed him. We all get into a routine and he gets used to our scent.

May 1, 2008:

Weight: 4lbs 2.3 oz.
Brian's mom and dad have arrived for a visit. I feel bad that the only way they can see their new grandson is in the NICU but they did not want to wait till he was out. It is a struggle going back and forth. There are only 2 people allowed at a time in the NICU so we all have to take turns. I hate missing a feeding but it does give Brian and I a chance to rest every few turns. Grandpa David, Grandma Sheryl, and Aunt Laura all got to feed him. They will be in town until May 4. They are also helping around the house by cleaning and cooking.

May 6, 2007:

We are leaving today! Landon had to take a car seat challenge. He is put in his car seat for an hour and the nurse monitors all of his vitals every 15 mins. and makes sure he can keep his head up the entire time. He passed the test.

He also got his hearing test done and passed that. He has his first round of HepB. We checked out of the hospital and got into the car at 6:45pm. It is such a wonderful feeling.



Thank you everyone for praying for us.

First hospital visit

April 17, 2008: The day we thought we would get to meet Landon.

As a result of my diabetes, 2 weeks ago Dr. Goodrum (the high risk dr. in the same office as my dr.) ordered me to have weekly Non-Stress Tests (NST) done with Dr. Phillips. They usually last almost an hour each time. This is where I get hooked up to a monitor that tracks Landon's movements and compares it to his heartrate. In normal circumstances, when he moves, they like to see his heartrate increase by fifteen beats for fifteen seconds.

We had a normal Dr. visit. Everything checked out fine. Then on to the NST. This particular day, nothing was happening whenever he moved. His heartrate wasn't increasing even a little...much less for 15 seconds. So, Dr. Phillips called this a non-reactive NST. She ordered us to go to the hospital right away and have a longer NST done and ordered a Bio-physical profile/ultrasound. So we go over there and they hook me up and after about an hour, he is still non reactive.

So, they continue to watch him over the next 2 1/2 hours. At that point, they came in a took us to have the ultrasound completed. As for the ultrasound, there were four things they were looking for him to do (kind of like a check sheet) and he had to complete the four tasks within 30 min. If he did all four, he passes and we get to go home. Needless to say, one he did not complete. They also saw too much blood flow through the umbilical cord.

After the ultrasound, Dr. Phillips came over to the hospital and told us we were going to stay overnight just in case and then see Dr. Rowe (the other high risk dr.) the next morning for another ultrasound. She also told us that later that night, they would do another NST for about an hour.

10pm rolls around and the nurse comes in for the NST. I get hooked up and everything seems to be going ok. All of the sudden, babys heartrate dropped to around 80 and the nurses come running in and rolls me to my side. This seems to control it and they leave. It happens again within 10 min. At this point, they have called Dr. Phillips. They hook me up to oxygen, have started an IV, and drew the neccessary blood work needed for a c-section. Dr. Phillips comes by and informs us that if this happens one more time, we will be having the baby that night. This of course scares Brian and I. And of course, because they are watching his heartrate, I have to stay on the monitors all night. This does not make for an easy sleep. Luckily, things were normal the rest of the night.

The next morning, we have our ultrasound with Dr. Rowe and he said everything looked good and there was no need to have a c-section this week. He wanted me to come to his office next Thurs. for another ultrasound. He also told me because the baby is so small, to get off the diabetes diet, get on bedrest all weekend, and eat, eat, eat till I see him next Thurs. OK--I think I can handle that.

Because of all that happened so far, Brian and I have now packed our bags for the hospital and are now bringing them to all future dr. visits.

Finally

We have finally started our blog. We have been meaning to start one since we found out we were pregnant but everything else got in the way. So, we are going to do a quick recap of the pregnancy for a future keepsake. You can skip this whole post if you do not feel like reading all day.



August 18, 2007: Brian and I were driving back from the store when Brian started asking some random questions. He asked how soon I could finish school if I only took one or two classes for the next couple of semesters and if my current job could be done part time at home. Once we got home, I asked him why all the questions. His reply--I think we should start trying for a baby.

September 12, 2007: Found out we are pregnant. I tested at 5:45am before getting ready for work and went and jumped on the bed where Brian was still asleep. Nice wake up call for him I am sure. Showed him the test and started crying.
Told Tina and Latoya at work. We are the first three there in the mornings so I walked in with a pink onesie and a blue onesie, held them up and asked which one do they think I will need. (They knew we were trying.) They started screaming.

September 14, 2007: Made a cake for work. It was a Latoya's last day till next year, it was a few people's birthday, and I decided to tell everyone about the baby. The cake read "Happy Birthday, Good Luck, Congrats!" Gerald , my boss, caught on to the congrats and thought it was for Latoya. He assumed she was pregnant with her second child. Once I told them all if was for me, they all started clapping and cheering. Gerald's mouth was open wide.

September 17, 2007: First doctor appointment. We are using Dr. Cynthia Phillips. They did lab work to confirm everything. Dr. said everything looks great so far.

September 23, 2007: Told everyone in our Sunday School class we are pregnant.

September 26, 2007: Dr. office called. All of the lab work came back and we are officially pregnant. They said the HcG leves are right where they should be.

September 29, 2007: Went by Brian's work this evening. A few people at his office know we are pregnant but we have not told everyone there because Craig, my brother, works there. We have not told our parents yet (waiting till we can tell them in person) and if Craig knows, it would no longer be a suprise. When I showed up to Brian's office, a few people loudly said congrats and one woman said, "so this is the new mommy". Luckily, Craig was focused on something else and did not hear.

October 5, 2007: We had our first ultrasound this morning. It is so hard to believe that something so tiny can already have so much life to it. The baby's little heart was just beating away. We are leaving today to head home to Arkansas to see both sets of parents.

We told his family later that night. His family is very big on having lists for gift giving so we made our "list" for Christmas time. Our list was items for a bedroom. We put on there 2 sets of fitted sheets, a nightstand lamp, a couple of baskets, a set of curtains, a quilt, a few blankets. We handed a copy of our list to his mom, his dad, and his sister. His mom started asking why we just needed the fitted sheet, and if we were already redoing the bedroom. We just bought bedding and curtains in blue and brown. So, I then went out about how we have a picture of exactly how we wanted the room to look. We passed out a copy of the picture that is online of the nursery bedding set we were getting. The picture of course had the room and furniture all set up with all of the matching items to the bedding. His mom knew right away and started to cry. His dad asked why all of the furniture was so small. (he was still thinking we were redoing our room and hadn't even looked at the decor to see it was baby). His sister asked us why we wanted baby animals for our bedroom. Finally, everyone got it. It was great.

October 9, 2007: We decided to upgrade from our condo to a house. We are starting our search.

October 12, 2007: Went to see Christine's mom and dad. We had bought two coffee cups; one said I love grandma and the other said I love grandpa. I attached at tag that said love baby O. When they opened their gifts, dad thought the cups were from Hayden and he said thank you Hayden and put the cup back in the gift bag. I told him that he should read the tag. They both read them and were very excited.

October 14, 2007: During my previous church's (Piney Grove UMC) joys and prayers time in service, dad told everyone that we were making him a grandpa again. After church, we went over to my grandma's house for a big family dinner and we told everyone then.

October 29, 2007: We got the house we wanted!

November 13, 2007: Dr. appointment today. We got to listen to the heartbeat.

December 13, 2007: Brian's birthday. Dr. Appointment today. Baby's heartbeat was 157. We were ordered the full anatomy scan.

December 19, 2007: Exactly 18 weeks. Felt baby move for the first time this morning. It felt like fluttering feet like you do when swimming. Had the full anatomy scan done today. Everything is looking great. Found out we are having a boy!! You were being stubborn and not wanting to move. We picked out your name today...Landon Keane Oliver.

December 22, 2007: Brian's mom, dad, and sister are in town for Christmas. Very excited we are having a boy. We had a banner across the front entrance that said "it's a boy!" that they could see when they pulled into the drive.

December 23, 2007: Started working on our new house. We painted the master bedroom and took down wall paper in the office. Brian's mom and I made you some blankets--they turned out really cute.

December 25, 2007: My mom and dad arrived today. Today, we finished the nursery. My mom and dad got us a rocking chair and rocking ottoman for the nursery.

January 18, 2008: I left for Arkansas with my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. My dad is going to have a triple by-pass.

January 19, 2008: Saw you move for the first time. Can't wait to show Brian.

January 21, 2008: Dad had his surgery--only needed 2 bypasses instead of three.

January 25, 2008: Dad got to come home.

January 27, 2008: Brian saw baby move for the first time.

February 20, 2008: Started our Lamaze/baby care/breastfeeding classes. 6 weeks total.

February 28, 2008: Took 1st diabetes screen test. Found out I failed that one. Have to go in for further testing.

March 6, 2008: Took 3 hour diabestes test. Hated this test. Gave me a headache and made me very tired.

March 10, 2008: Found out I have gestational diabetes. I have to get a glucose test kit and start a new diet. I have to go take a diabetes class.

March 12, 2008: Made it to 30 weeks. We will start seeing the dr. 2 times a month now.

March 13, 2008: Took diabetes class. I start a strict new diet. I am allowed 45carbs for breakfast, 60 carbs for lunch, 45 for dinner, and 30 carbs 3 times a day for snacks. I also have to test my sugar levels four times a day. Once when I get up (has to be below 95), and each time 2 hours after a meal (has to be below 120).

March 15, 2008: In Arkansas to for our spring break. Today is a shower at Brian's house in Greenwood hosted by Terry. It turned out great!

March 22, 2008: Had a shower at my old church, Piney Grove UMC. There were a lot of people that showed up. It was wonderful to see so many of our friends again.


March 25, 2008: We met with our future pediatrician. Dr. Molly Hammond. We really liked her.

March 29, 2008: A co-worker of Brian's, Lenny, and his wife Amy hosted a shower/cookout for us and another couple. The husband of the other couple, Jacob, also works with Brian. Him and his wife Lindsay are due four weeks ahead of us.

Funny story--I had told Lindsay and Jacob that it would be pretty cool if their baby was a week or so late and ours came a couple of weeks early and we had them on the same day. (remember this story for later)

April 3, 2008: We had an ultrasound with Dr. Goodrum to make sure the diabetes has not made Landon huge. Mommy does not want a huge baby. Turns out, he was actually smaller than average. He weighed 3 lbs. 12 oz. at this point. They also said that he is shorter than average too--cause you know, Brian and I are just really tall.

April 12, 2008: Our Sunday School class (Covenant) at Clear Lake UMC threw us a shower. We really enjoyed getting to spend time with everyone.