The girls' bedroom

This is a close-up of the etching they did on the girls' mirror. There are three crowns and the girls' names are etched under them. Very cute. My cousin, Angela, did that (she's also the one who took these photos)
This is a view of the girls' bed. The color of the walls goes wonderfully with their bedding! Makes it a monochromatic theme; but the new bed we're getting them is white - so that'll add to it. Also, we're going to move the plastic thing out. I'm going to paint a wood chest that I have in the kitchen and we're going to move what is in the plastic drawers into the chest - it's bigger and will give them more storage space for stuff.
Their closet - the banner hanging on the door is one that Bippie made for Elizabeth's 3rd birthday party - it's a royal decree and is so cute! The dress was Nin's and then Annie's when they were babies. The ducks sitting on the edge of the dresser are both Elizabeth's - Henry is the smaller one and Puddles is the big one.
These are the girls' initials (obviously) Bippie painted them. E's is from Pottery Barn Kids, Nin's was her Christmas gift this year and is from Michael's, Annie's came from Hobby Lobby.
The foot of their bed - the cute little flower pegs for hanging their ball caps, a little collection of their names and initial stuff. All the snowmen are at the foot of the bed and the dolls are having a tea party at the table that PawPaw built for them.
Here is a view of the girls' dresser. This was taken before Bippie got the cord covers on - she made lavender covers for the VCR, DVD and power cords for the TV. They found the mirror at Dollar General store and the frame was silver so they painted it Moonlight Waltz (also from the Princess Colors Collection) Drew painted the frame.

My family

I know I've complained about my family and their reactions to me being pregnant again. Comments throughout my pregnancy about us having another baby have really upset me. Having another family member upset about my son's name (she wanted to use Harrison if she ever had a boy) was upsetting...just a bunch of different things have bothered me and honestly made me wonder, "Will they love him when he gets here?" Well, I shouldn't have.

On Sunday, Brad called my aunt to tell her we weren't being discharged; as well as to put her on alert that my mother was sick and my sister was going to have the girls. I heard him saying, "Oh, you didn't need to do that. Really. That's just too much...you really didn't need to do that." I looked at him and he's teared up (very little makes this man cry - but obviously something she was saying brought out the tears). After he hung up I asked what was going on and he wouldn't tell me other than to say it was a surprise for me. I said, "They must've done all the laundry then."

On Monday, he ran home to take a shower and shave once it became apparent that we weren't going home on Monday, either. My aunt had to meet him at the house to let him in. When he came back to the hospital I asked him, "What did they do?" He said, "I can't tell you, it's a surprise; but I will tell you that the stuff she told me they did only scratched the surface." I knew not to ask again.

On Tuesday afternoon when we came home, Brad turned onto our street and said, "I want to do a drive-by and look at something, okay?" We live on a cul-de-saq and there are five other houses on our street...kind of weird, but okay... We drive by and I notice our front door is black (it was white when we left for the hospital) and there's a little spring decor set-up on the front porch.

My family was busy while we were gone! Then he reached down and grabbed something - I realized it was a garage door remote - up went our door. The fly wheel on our garage door opener went flying off a few months ago and we've not had time to get a new one and install it -- way too much going on around here. So, my parents got one and my uncle and cousin installed it.

We came inside and my kitchen had been scoured, I had a cute basket on the counter for mail. There were new linens on the table. Walk into the family room and see a couple of baskets, freshly vacuumed family room, clean laundry in the baskets and new coat hooks in the entry way. Wow. Brad said, "Oh, you've not seen anything yet."

I walked into what used to be Annie's room - walls that were pink when I left are now a color called Cotton Whisper (Behr paint). Above the bed, which they left a toddler bed, is Harrison's name. His bedding has been ordered and should be here shortly:
I can't wait to put it on his bed! We'll convert his bed to a crib again when it arrives. Bippie and MiMi chose it. (JCPenney - "Green Paisley Splash" by My Baby Sam). They also put up a sweet sign in the room "I am a dream come true" - it's a funky little spot on the wall where the AC venting runs across to the hallway and it's a perfect spot for the little sign.
They put a little train shelf over the changing table and hung some of his little toys from it. My aunt told me that my uncle is in the process of building a couple of little shelves to put in Harrison's room as well and we're going to put some of the little decorative things on it that they found as they were cleaning up all the junk around here -- a pair of baby shoes that had been Brad's, a little wooden cross that was Elizabeth's, a few other things. That may be where I end up putting the crib medal as well. As I stood in the room trying to take it all in, sobbing, Brad said, "Now, would you like to know who was responsible for this room?" I nodded because I couldn't talk. He said, "Abbigail did this." Abbigail - my cousin's girlfriend who has met us once and who I later found out was in on the planning of this from the very beginning and came up with many of the ideas. She painted and decorated Harrison's room. The waterworks really started then. Brad said, "And you haven't even seen the girls' room yet!" I'll take you over there in the next entry. I can't figure out what these photos are doing... :P

Tuesday 2/19/08

Tuesday morning Paul walked into my hospital room and I laughed. "Good morning! I decided that if you weren't coming to see me, I wasn't going home." He said, "I tell you what, we're sending you home today and that cath is NOT going with you. I've already told them we're pulling it and you have until noon to empty your bladder." Fine by me! We got to have a long conversation about my section and how I was feeling (really hurting, especially as Harrison nursed - afterbirth pains were excruciating and I'd started taking Percocet the day before). He got out so they could pull my cath.

I started drinking. I called my aunt (who was back at work after two weeks off) and said, "Did I hear you say you were making tea? Can I have some?" She was making tea and she brought me a big 33-ounce cup. I drank it all. I also drank a cup of cranberry juice and 2 of those big UAMS mugs full of water. I was able to get a total of 160ccs out and that was it. Paul was shocked at how much I'd had to drink and how little I voided. "You drank all of that and still no pee-pee?" (he's such a medical professional, isn't he??) You got it, bub. He sighed. "I was really hoping that four days post-op you'd be rested enough to pull the cath; but this just tells me how banged up you are. Okay, here's the plan. We'll recath you but we're not going to pull it Thursday. On Thursday, we're going to pull your staples and that's it. We'll pull the Foley on Monday."

Tiffany, my nurse, was wonderful when she recathed me. She used the lidocaine jelly perfectly and so it wasn't nearly as traumatic on Tuesday as it was on Saturday or Sunday. Then we got Harrison and me dressed to go home!!! Harrison's weight was up to 6 pounds 4 ounces - within 10% of his birth weight and his blood sodium was 147, within 2 points of normal. Since things were headed in the right direction with him - she let him go home. Hooray!

Harrison's going home outfit swallowed him, even though it was a newborn size. Poor little guy! He looked so tiny in his car seat...as you can see, he loved it (don't worry, we did buckle him into the seat). I had to stick my pinkie finger into his mouth to keep him from howling like this all the way down to the first floor.

As I reviewed my discharge papers, I noticed there was nothing prescribed for pain beyond ibuprofen. Huh? No Percocet? I asked Tiffany about it and she said that she'd noticed it as well and questioned the resident doing my discharge. Based on something I'd said Sunday morning the resident determined that I did not want Percocet. Tiffany pointed out that I'd been taking it at least every six hours since Monday morning and I'd been hurting. The resident refused to reconsider or even discuss it with me. I said, "No worries. We have some Percocet at home." Famous last words.

At 9:00p.m. horrible afterbirth pains hit me. I was writhing in pain and sobbing. It was horrible. Poor Elizabeth was frightened because I was hurting so badly - and ended up standing over Harrison in the bassinet praying for me and asking that God would help her be a good big sister to help me with Harrison and help him not cry. I called the ANGELS triage desk trying to be understood through the sobs - the nurse didn't seem to have a problem understanding me. The nurse said, "Let me go talk to the doctor and I'll call you back." The doctor was in a c-section so I was going to have to wait. While I was waiting on them to call me, I called Tandy - my Foley looked weird to me and I needed some reassurance about it as well. She wasn't home. I told Todd, "I just wish I was still at the hospital" - he said, "She's at the grocery store, call her cell phone." So, I did. I was on the phone with her sobbing, trying to not freak out, hurting like crazy and she said, "Give me just a minute and let me call you back." A couple of minutes later she called back, "Heather and I are on our way to your house." (she had called Todd and he said, "Are you kidding? Get over there!") It was 9:30p.m. That made me cry even harder. Brad was on his way to the hospital to pick up my script for Percocet and take it to Walgreens. Can you imagine sending a 4-time-repeat-section-plus-tubal mom home with no pain medication!?! But how sweet that Tandy, late at night, was sacrificing her bedtime to come to my house and help me. (didn't hurt matters any that Heather got to drive her new-to-her car over here - tee-hee) They were here until 11:45. They didn't leave until Brad got home and Tandy saw a Percocet go down the hatch. I told Todd via email the next day - my pride didn't want to let her come over here but I'm so glad she didn't really give my pride a chance -- because I needed her. I have really needed her since this baby boy has been born, haven't I? And thankfully she's been willing to talk to me - even when I called her five minutes before she needed to leave for choir, she's sat with me late at night, whatever I've needed. I'm so thankful for a friend like her and only hope that I can be a friend like that to her or to someone else who needs me like I've needed her.

Tuesday morning, early...

Everything has cleared up and there's not been any blood in the Foley for the past 48 hours. The feeling is: (a) if my bladder was nicked during my section, it has healed and (b) it got so incredibly banged up during my c-section it is basically paralyzed and needs to rest. So, I definitely go home with it - and I'm good with that. Saturday or Sunday I would have been devastated with the thought; but after my sobbing phone conversation with Tandy on Sunday afternoon, I'm okay with it. I'm so glad God has put someone in my life that I can trust to level with me and help me see things clearly when my head is spinning with emotions and my body hurting.

Speaking of Tandy - she, Todd and family were out of state when Harrison was born; but she and Todd got to come up here last night (it's 4:20a.m. as I write). Talk about God's perfect timing. We had just been informed that Harrison's potassium levels were elevated. They were going to have to redraw them - this was a new development and one that I knew could be serious. Just as we heard that news, our phone rang and T&T were outside the doors to the unit (this unit is locked down now and all visitors must be buzzed in). It was good to introduce them to our little man and just celebrate the blessing of his little life. Then the news came - second K levels were also elevated. The pediatrician came in to talk with us and explain what they wanted to do next: venous draw (the last two sticks were heel draws, which is why they really felt the K levels were elevated, but they needed to make sure it wasn't renal or heart related), an arterial draw if they couldn't hit a vein, and depending on results of the venous/arterial draw, possibly an EKG. We prayed together and before they left, "CALL US with the results, we're going to stay up until 11 or so and we want to know!"

The lab tech was able to get a venous draw on Harrison (hooray). And at about 10:00 the nurse stuck her head in, "Potassium was 4.8 - totally within normal limits" so it *was* the heel sticks falsely elevating the levels (red blood cells rupture when the draw is made which releases potassium into the serum and falsely elevates K levels - definitely a risk with heels sticks since they have to squeeze the foot so hard).

When I called Tandy with the news, I said, "I know you'd been trying to get here all day; but I'm so glad you were here when you were. God knew I would need you here tonight." How kind is God to go before us; arranging her day and her schedule so that she couldn't get here until late yesterday evening. And since she couldn't get here until after dark, Todd came with her - He knew we would need her and Todd to offer their support, opinions and pray with us.

Introducing....Thomas Harrison

If you're here for photos and vitals - here they are: :) Thomas Harrison Egg, 6 pounds 14 ozs (my littlest Egg!), 19 3/4 inches long. Born at 10:02a.m. (edited to correct time of birth...what a horrible mother I am!) He weighed a full pound less than what my OB had guessed (based on an external exam of the baby) and what the ultrasound had estimated about an hour before he was born!


Some of this is clinical - but it's so I'll remember it in the future...

Man oh man - was Friday a nerve-wracking day or what? I woke at 4a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep. The nerves hit almost immediately. I can't put my finger on exactly what made me so nervous beyond the thoughts of anesthesia - would I get a spinal headache? Would something happen that would require putting me under general anesthesia? I prayed and cried and almost got sick from my nerves. I calmed down some after we got to the hospital and all my prep started.

Let me just say, fourth c-sections are rough and never doubt that they aren't. I could tell from the moment they made the incision that it was not going to be a fun ride. It made me more and more nervous about the situation. Thankfully Brad was there holding my hand. I could not have done it without him there to reassure me and comfort me. Such a sweet husband. He would occasionally stand up and tell me where they were in the process, what was going on. I heard Paul throughout the section, "What color is our urine output?" The only time he didn't ask was when Harrison was actually being born.

I heard the resident say "Rupture!" and Paul said, "Get ready for a baby. Brad! Stand up!" Brad started snapping photos like crazy and got some great ones of Harrison being born. Harrison was really, really wet sounding when he was born; but once they got him suctioned on the warmer, he sounded great. APGARS were 9 and 9. After they did basic clean up, they took him to the nursery for a bath, immunizations, etc. Brad went with them and that's when I suddenly felt horribly alone. And frightened.

I heard Paul order them to push the Pit now and asked that they get him 600mg of Cytotec then ordered 400mg of it to be administered rectally (ACK!). Pit AND Cytotec? I knew then I was bleeding and at risk for hemorrhaging. My blood pressure took a nose dive from the Pit and I got sick as a result. Paul ordered more Pit and told the anesthesiologists to get me something now to stop the vomiting because they were trying to close, I was bleeding a lot, and they needed my abdomen still. I started apologizing for being sick and Paul said, "Gina, it's okay, hon. This isn't your fault at all. But let me tell you - you've made a very, very wise decision. This was a difficult section." They tilted the head of the bed down, gave me some meds to bring my blood pressure up and gave me drugs to stop the vomiting. I was petrified. I wanted my nurse (well, I really wanted Patsy or Wanda since I knew Brad was with Harrison) but since my nurse was busy cleaning all the baby equipment in the OR, the anesthesiologist held my hand instead. I could hear Paul and the resident talking about my tubal and making certain both tubes were done (thank you!) then they were ready to put me back together and get the final closure done. Then they dropped the drape, everything was finished and I was ready to go to recovery. They wrapped me up and lifted me onto the bed. Paul tucked the warm blankets around me and told me again what a wise decision he thought we'd made. The sweet resident, who'd not had a chance to meet me before the surgery started, stepped over to me and introduced himself then said, "Wow, you made us work for that baby!" Paul told me he'd come talk to me in recovery.

Again in recovery he reiterated what a good idea it was to stop, that we'd be facing significant risk if I were to get pregnant again (Lord, please let my tubal work!!) Dr. Burton stopped in to let me know I would be keeping my catheter for 24 hours instead of the usual 12 since there was some concern that my bladder might have been nicked. He said they weren't sure if they'd nicked it or if it was the trama from the delivery - but I was urinating blood. The 24 hours was needed to see if the bleeding would stop or would resolve itself.

Debbie (the lactation consultant) brought Harrison to me in recovery where our first job was to get him nursing immediately. Patsy and Wanda were about to leave recovery and I said, "Wait a minute! I really do NOT care that you guys are in here if you don't care. Y'all stay. " Immodest? Eh, I'm feeding my baby - doesn't bother me one iota. Thankfully they didn't hesitate to stay. Wanda ended up getting a very sweet photo so I'm glad she was there. I know when I look at it that I'm feeding him as my sister and the lactation consultant look on.

They were ready to move me to 5A - so Brad, Sammie, Wanda and Patsy went to the unit while I waited for transport. Sammie got to hold Harrison, got her "baby sugar," then she headed back over to wait with me - after the way I'd cried when she got there, she didn't want me in recovery alone. I have such a sweet sister.

As I write this it is late Monday night, a difficult weekend of recovery has passed and Harrison and I are both still in the hospital. He, because he's lost 12% of his body weight and is dehydrated. Me, because my bladder wasn't nicked but was severely traumatized from the adhesions and my delivery and is basically paralyzed. Hopefully, God willing, we will be going home tomorrow. I will be going home with a catheter; but better with a catheter than with a non-functioning bladder and no catheter.

I look at my sweet, precious son and think, just as I've done with his sisters before him, that he is wonderful and I'm so blessed to have him. Exceedingly, abundantly blessed. But at the same time, I am also thankful knowing that he is the perfect close for our family - a wondeful finale!

Working on birth story

I know some of you are waiting to read it; but right now I'm not up to posting it (will get there eventually and will share photos then as well)

So I'm posting this email instead so you'll know what's going on...

It's Sunday evening and we are still in the hospital. Harrison lost over 12% of his weight and was dehydrated (his blood salts are elevated - they are 155 when normal is 135 to 145) so they wouldn't let us go home with him. Not that *I* could go home either. I've been recathed YET AGAIN. They pulled my cath on Saturday, gave me 3 hours to empty my bladder - I didn't so they gave me 3 more hours - I still didn't so they recathed me. This morning, they filled my bladder via the cath and then pulled the cath. I had 3 hours to void all 300ml they put in plus whatever I produced on my own. Didn't happen. I asked for another two hours - Okay, I didn't ask. I said, "I'm not going to let you cath me for another two hours, with all due respect to the resident." An hour into it I realized "it's not happening" - called a friend of mine whose opinion I respect greatly and asked her, "What do you think I should do? I need someone with a clearer head than mine helping us with this decision" She said, "Based on what was relayed to me that your doctor said to you - I think you need to let your body rest. You need to focus on Harrison right now, too. Get the cath. If you get sent home with it - then you do and that's okay we can work with that. You need to focus on your healing and Harrison - let your body rest. You've had a lot of trauma in that area of your body, let it heal." They're still not sure whether or not they nicked my bladder and I'm not sure what it would take for them to know. Paul's wife is out of town and so he has taken the weekend off to be Mr. Mom to their 5 younger kids while she and their oldest are interviewing for scholarships in St. Louis - so I haven't had a chance to talk to *my* doctor since Friday afternoon when I was massively drugged on Phenergan and really, I don't remember anything he said beyond, "Love you, dear" when he left my room that day.

So, we are still here at the hospital and will be until such time as Harrison has shown consistent weight gain and his blood salts are down to within normal limits. I adore the pediatrician taking care of him - he's such a sweet man (Dr. B) - very kind and caring. I don't question his treatment decisions at all. We're supplementing with formula after every breastfeeding because he says this is the safest way to rehydrate him - this lets Harrison dictate what he needs. My milk is coming in; but obviously that's happening a little slower than we'd like thanks to everything I've been through.

Anyway, that's the scoop and I'll try to keep you guys posted.

Thanks for your thoughts, prayers and calls!
Gina

Dorky night-before-Harrison picture

So, here we are - the night before he's born. ACK! Yes, that's my bare belly. Frightening isn't it? I look like a total goober.

TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is 10:30a.m. local time as I type this. Hopefully this time tomorrow morning I will be nursing my son! Can. Not. Wait. I'm anxious to meet this little muffin!

And, I found out that I'll have WiFi access at the hospital - so watch this space for photos!

A week to go!!

OB visit was good yesterday. Talked to him about Brad's fears that I'll get out of the OR without tied tubes. He assured me that won't happen unless I tell them at the last minute that they can't do it. I don't think there's any danger of that - 42, 4th section - both good reasons to let Harrison be The End. I just have to laugh. Had you told me six years ago, as we were about to embark upon IUIs, that I'd eventually have my tubes tied, I'd have thought you were smoking crack.

Got to feel baby boy's head yesterday - low and midline and ready to come out! We talked about the fact that he might not spend the first night in the room with me but may be in the special care nursery. "Little white boys are wimps" to quote my OB and when they come before 39 weeks, it can mean respiratory issues after delivery, especially when they're section babies. However, we have to weigh the risk of uterine rupture against the risk that he might have a little trouble breathing - and at this point, risk of rupture is greater. I told him I didn't expect the baby to come out screaming like his sisters did. But, Paul said, "Oh, he may well do that - it'll be an hour to an hour and a half later that they whisk him off to the nursery. That's why we have pediatricians who will keep a close eye on him post-delivery." And if he gets whisked away, I'll be calling Mary Kate to call Bob (friends of ours from church - Bob is a neonatologist who practices at the hospital where I deliver, Mary Kate is his wife). So, I'll be anxiously listening to him breathe, making sure he's not grunting.

My big girls are fighting like crazy - kicking, hitting, scratching, pushing, pulling hair - driving me. in.sane. And they've only been awake for 30 minutes!!!! I'm ready to take them to school this morning already! Annie has been super cling-on lately. Brad asked her last night, "Where is Harrison?" She pointed to the bassinet, "Baby's bed!" Yes, that's Harrison's bed but where is he right now? She pointed to the bassinet again and very emphatically said, "Baby's bed!" She doesn't get that he's inside me - maybe if she did she wouldn't use my belly as leverage everytime she moves around in my lap. It hurts - she's constantly pushing her hand or elbow into my belly to gain leverage for moving around. Ouch, ouch, ouch!

Seven days...I remember when we made our paper chains they had thirty-two links. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone!!!

Two weeks from today!

Gracious me - two weeks from today Harrison will be here! Exam yesterday indicates he *won't* be here early (got to love contractions that do ab.so.lutely nothing...but hurt!) - it's a good thing though because I don't want baby boy here before he needs to be.

The insomnia is still raging. I'll go to bed, I'll go to sleep and sleep pretty well, then one of the girls (usually Bitsy Bug) will wake up in the middle of the night and that wakes me. At that point, while I still need sleep, it's too late for me to take the meds.

Tuesday night into Wednesday was the worst. I woke at 10:45p.m. and was hungry. I got up and fixed some peanut butter toast (thought the protein would help carry me through the rest of the night). Went back to bed and at 2:30a.m., I realized there was no way I was going back to sleep (too late to take meds). I was awake until 9:30 Wednesday night (Brad wasn't at home). You'd think after having been awake for 23-hours I'd have crashed. But I didn't. Contractions woke me off and on and then Annie came into our room around 2:30 Thursday morning, crying. She was awake until a little before 5:00. Of course, by then, I was wide awake.

Brad isn't home tonight but shouldn't be too late. Since tomorrow is Saturday and we're free other than a birthday party for Elizabeth to attend on Saturday afternoon, I'll be taking an Ambien to see if I can get a decent night's sleep.

Now, I'm starving...again. Off to find something to eat!