Labor Day

So to begin, I had my a doctors appointment on Tuesday the 21st. I was dilated to a 3 and my blood pressure was a little high. Nothing to worry about. But to be on the safe side my doctor had me get some blood work done that same day. My doctor received the results of my blood work Wednesday the 22nd at 11:30pm. She called us at home and told us that we needed to go to the hospital so that they could monitor me overnight. We got to the hospital at 11:52 pm. My blood platelet levels had dropped from 240 to 140 and my liver enzyme levels were high. These are classic symptoms of HELLP syndrome which is a variant of pre-eclampsia. I had no indication that anything was wrong because I felt fine. But if something like this were to get out of control they would have had to do blood transfusions and all sorts of scary things and the baby would be at very high risk. So after spending Wednesday night at the hospital and people coming in every couple hours and sticking me like a sewing tomato, my doctor came in at 8:30am Thursday the 23rd and said, "Guess what? We are going to have a baby today!" She checked me and I had already dilated to a 5 on my own just since my last appoinment. She broke my water at 9:12 am. They hooked me up to a magnesium sulfate drip to control any sudden rise in my blood pressure and prevent seizures. This stuff made me super puky and I was dry heaving everything 15 mins and that stuff makes you feel really hot. So we had a big fan brought in and Matt dabbed at my face with a wet washcloth. I had steady contractions starting at around 10am. When I was dilated to a 6 almost 7, I received my epidural at 11:ooam. God bless that anesthisiologist, he was a miracle worker. At 1:15 pm I was dilated to a 10. They let me rest and discend on my own til around 1:55pm. I pushed about 5 times and baby boy entered the world at 2:03pm! He had a small little cry and is as cute as a button. I got to hold him for about 2 mins after he was born then Matt took off with the him and the nurses to the nursery to do a bunch of tests and clean him up. I was stuck in my bed until 7pm because I had to stay hooked to a catheter so they could monitor my urine output to make sure my kidneys were doing ok. And they had to keep me on the magnesium drip until my blood pressure was stable. So I didn't get to see my baby again until around 8:30pm! I was so sad, and still in shock that we had just had a baby. He was pretty lethargic for the first 12 hours because of the magnesium drip I was on. They were concerned about his respiratory system and lack of responsivenss, but as of now he is doing great. The only thing is he can't control his body temperature on his own very well so they have to keep him in the nursery a lot under the "McFry" warmer, which means we don't get to see him as often as we'd like. As of right now I am doing really well and baby is steadily progressing and we hope that he gets to come home on Sunday. I'm able to pump and give him the colostrum I produce and they syringe it into his mouth in the nursery. I'm determined to have him be a breastfed baby, it just might take a little more time and effort than I expected. It is still so surreal that we have a baby. We are so glad that everything turned out ok and that our Heavenly Father was looking out of us and our little baby. It just goes to show that life is what happens when we're making other plans. And my mom hopped on the first flight our and got here around 7pm yesterday. She's an angel. I cannot express enough how wonderful the doctor and nurses were. They were huge blessings in keeping us calm and relaxed about the blur of events. Thanks to all our family and friends for the congratulations and wanting to help with everything. We love you!