Jacob's Arrival and picture overload

I still can't believe that a week ago our lives changed again as we brought our beautiful little boy into the world. We are absolutely in love with him and can't get enough of of him.

Last week I hadn't been feeling very well on Tuesday (Aug 7th). I was nauseated and cramping. I told Josh about it and asked him to bring me some Ginger Ale home to see if that would help calm the nausea. That night after getting the girls down we went to bed and I kept telling myself I needed to bring up my concerns with my doctor at my 36 week appointment that was schedule for Friday (Aug 10th). That night around midnight-12:30ish I woke up to contractions but was able to fall back asleep off and on until 3am. I ended up having 10 contractions in an hour and decided to wait it out until the next hour to see if they'd slow down. The next hour I only had 6 so I figured that they were slowing down and I could wait until morning to call the doctors office. Every hour from then on I had 6 contractions. By 7 am, Josh was up and getting ready for work and getting Kaylee out of her crib. We both agreed that he should go to work because we didn't know when I'd be able to go in or even if the doctor wanted me to come in or wait it out. Finally at 8:30 I called the doctor's office to see what they wanted me to do. Because I was pre-term (35 weeks 5 days)and had been on bedrest since 33 weeks and medicine to control the contractions they told me to come in as soon as I can. So I called Josh to have him come and get me (since I was too big to drive) and finished packing what I thought we needed incase they decided to keep me. Both of us were skeptic about them keeping us and figured that we'd be going home after the appointment and having to continue to wait at least another week or two before Jacob decided to make his debut.

Well anyone that has been pregnant or who has gone with their wife to the doctor appointments knows how much we hate to have to wait when we get there. We checked in at the office and waited for what seemed like forever (probably was because my contractions were getting more painful) and then went back to room 5-10 minutes later. That's when things got annoying pretty fast. I did the routine tasks that they have you do and then we waited for almost an hour before the doctor came in. You'd think that by having someone come in for possible preterm labor they'd try to get to you faster but they didn't. After the doctor checked me and told me I wasn't chaning he sent me to another room to have an NST done. Where my contractions were coming frequently and the doctor could see that I wasn't feeling well he was worried that they contractions could be thinning out my previous c-section scar, which could cause a rupture and not a very good outcome for me or baby. After being on the monitor and having the nurse come in several times the other OB (Dr. Evans) in the office came in and looked at the strip. He then told us that he and Dr. Allred felt it best to just take the baby out. Love that he stated that there was more to lose than to risk letting me go another week. As we signed the consents and got some blood drawn I felt so many emotions. I felt calm and okay that our sweet little boy was coming today, nervous about his overall health and his NICU stay, mixed about another c-section, and excited that I was finally going to meet my little boy and be done with this pregnancy.

We left the office a little before noon and headed up to the hospital. We called our parents and Josh's sister (she had our girls at her house) to let them know we were headed up and that they hoped to do the c-section by 12:30. While Josh parked the car I went up to the familiar floor that I had worked at only a year ago to get registered and prepped for surgery. Once we were in the room being prepped it seemed like forever but when they wheeled me to the OR I remember asking myself am I really ready for this. For the first time that either of us could remember in our past c-section experineces I had tears as I went in and Josh had to stay out until they were ready for him. The emotions hit hard but I knew we were doing the right thing and that somehow everything would be okay.

As the c-section progressed the doctor told us it was a very good thing we didn't wait to do the c-section. Even a couple of hours to a day could have been fatal to one or both of us with how close I was to rupturing my uterus. We have truly been blessed and the prayers in our behalf from family and friends definitely had power to them.

Jacob Joshua Harmon was born Wednesday August 8, 2012 at 1:18 pm. He weighed in at 6 lbs 3 oz and 19 1/4 inch long. He seemed and still seems so small but was a good weight for being a little over 4 weeks early. Wish we had remembered the camera when we were in the OR. The doctor was able to pull him out without rupturing the bag of waters, which I've never heard of. It would have been a neat picture I think. Once he was out the bag of waters he had a good loud cry and when they took him to the NICU we could hear him howling the whole time. Josh stayed with me for most (or even all-can't really remember) of the time as they put me back together before going into the NICU to be with Jacob and see how he was doing. Once I was all sown up I went to recovery for several hours before going to a regular room. It was a while after that before I finally made it down to the NICU. I was having a lot of pain and not feeling well after the spinal block wore off. When I first got to see my newborn son he was already 7-8 hours old and had been weaned off of the oxygen.

Holding him for the first time was such a sweet experience and even now as I reflect back to it and write this entry it still brings tears to my eyes. Our outcome could
have been so different. He is such a sweet little spirit! Over the next few days we were told by the doctor and nurses in the NICU that it was up to little Jacob on when he went home. He had to have the IV in place for 48 hours and then it came down to just feedings. They told us that they didn't think it'd be long before he went home but that it could go either way depending on his eating. They told us to plan on at least a week but as long as 5. Josh kept telling me he thought Jacob would be out by the end of the weekend and I just kept silently praying that he'd come home with us. I decided to stay in the hospital for 3 days (with the other 2 I got out as soon as I hit 48 hours) due to still having some pain issues. When we went to the NICU Friday morning to see him the nurse told us that if his blood work came back fine between noon and 1 pm then Jacob would be able to come to our room and as long as his bilirubin labs ( lab to check for jaundice)came back fine in the morning and that he kept up his with his feeding that he'd go home with us on Saturday. We were so excited and let our parents know. The next morning he had his labs drawn and the nurse said he did great with his feedings. We just had to wait on my doctor to release me and see what the pediatrician said. Can' I just say that was a very long morning. I was given the green light around 8:30 to go home but told if baby wasn't coming I could stay one more day. The pediatrician had a very busy morning with a full NICU to attend to so he wasn't able to come out to the floor til mid-morning. When he finally came and looked over Jacob and his labs he gave us the green light to take him home. What a relief that was. As soon as we had the green light, Josh went and got my meds from the pharmacy packed up our room and we went through the discharge process. Finally at 11:30 our little family of 5 headed home to begin our new adventure!

We are all doing well and adjusting fairly well. The girls absolutely adore their little brother. Kaylee is constantly climbing up on the playpen to look at him and try to help him. Ashlyn is so willing to get me things for Jacob and tells me all the time that she loves him and that he is so handsome. We are so grateful to family, friends, and a great ward who have done so much for us!

Enjoy the pictures:

In the hospital at Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg ID

My girls. My sister and her daughter did such a great job with their hairdos. Now if I could only master that talent.

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