Poop happens

I have been told stories of mothers who willingly catch their sick child's vomit in their hands and have heard mothers casually talk about getting peed on or seen them glance at the spit up on their outfits like it was no big deal. At the time I thought all of these things were absolutely disgusting and just didn't understand how these women could think these things were okay.

My Mom actually told me about the time she walked in to find that one of my little brothers [I won't tell you which one] had actually taken off his diaper and smeared his poop all over the wall. He was standing in the middle of his crib smiling when she found him. She told me she just laughed. I couldn't imagine laughing at that when she told me [at the time I was pregnant]. A few days ago James starting peeing while I was changing his diaper and the 'safety wipe' had moved. I started laughing hysterically as soon as I felt the warm pee on the hand that was holding his legs up. Most of my friends would think this is absolutely foul as I would have just a couple of months ago but I think I get it now.

In the short couple of weeks that James has been home, I've been peed on, had poo get on me, have been spat up on, etc. It only gets worse from here. It's just something you can't avoid but it's okay because it's your child. If your child needs you to be there to catch his vomit, fine. You might not win any mommy of the year award but thats okay because it's your job.

Instead of doing something productive - I'm blogging.

Right now I really should be working on the thank you cards that I should have sent out last week according to thank you card etiquette. If you are reading this and have attended a shower, sent a gift, or brought us food, I'm very sorry for the delay. Please forgive me.

James is doing so well. I love watching him learn and grow. He still isn't doing much but even the little changes fascinate me. At this point he is probably close to eight pounds. We can hardly believe it. I'm surprised that he is still fitting into newborn sized clothing and diapers but I'm sure it won't be long before he is in the next size up.

I'm still waiting to see a real smile [not a gas smile, although I enjoy those too]. Since James was born a month early, we need to adjust the milestone time line to reflect his prematurity. So as much as I would like to be experiencing a smile at this point, I can't really expect one for another 4 weeks or so. As soon as I get one I'm going to have the camera clicking away to take photos of my little model. I hope no one is getting sick of the photos of James. I know I'm not.

James and I took a little trip to the grocery store today and he was so well behaved. I hope he keeps it up :). I barely got a peep out of him from the time I put him in the car seat to the time I took him out. It seemed I stopped on every other aisle just to check to make sure he was still breathing since he was so quiet. I can only hope he will be this good during his toddler years. HA HA HA.

David and I put a poll on the blog to see who people thought James looked like since we can't tell ourselves. It seems almost everyone thinks he looks like me. We both couldn't see it until the night before last. We opened up my baby album and starting laughing hysterically. My baby photos look like the could be photos of James. It's scary to see how much James looks like me when I was his age. I wish I had a scanner so I could post the photos to prove it.

Well it's about 9 at night and I'm going to try to work on those thank you's before the next feeding.

:)

Mommy and James

Snug as a bug!

It's wonderful to be home. The three of us are adjusting to our new life pretty well.

We had an appointment with the pediatrician on Monday. James had another bilirubin test done and we found out that his levels are low enough that we no longer have to watch his levels. He is gaining enough weight and is an all around rockstar. We are so happy to have a healthy baby!

Home Sweet Home

Yay! It's finally time for us to go home. The pediatrician came in this morning and gave us the green light. James passed all of his tests with flying colors. We do still need to come back tomorrow to test his bilirubin levels as they typically go up a little once the lights are taken off. So hopefully that testing will go well. I can't believe we get to take him home! He is really ours!

Can we take a baby nurse home with us?

Home tomorrow? Maybe?

Well we were hoping that we would be able to go home today but we were thrown a curveball - James didn't gain any weight last night. It's amazing since he is drinking anywhere from 20-40 milliliters more than his required amount. At least we are learning a lot while we are here.

The good news is that his bilirubin levels seem to have gone down further so the bililights are off right now. Hopefully his levels will be okay tomorrow so that we can go home. His little goggles are gone and later the nurses will remove the special lights and blanket and take off the tape from his face. I'd remove the tape myself if I knew it wasn't going to hurt the little guy but it's on there pretty well and it's even in his hair so I'd rather the nurses be the bad guys. :)

This will be the first time that I get to see James without tape on his face other then when he was first born! I can't wait. I've gotten used to seeing my baby with wires and wrapping and tape all over him. Once the tape is removed I'll take some more photos and post them up.

Well both of the men in my life are asleep and the room is nice and quiet. I'm going to take advantage of this time and take a nap myself!

We'll be home before you know it

Dr. Miller, one of the pediatricians we have been working with, came in this morning and told us the latest he could see James going home is Monday. How exciting! He could potentially come home as early as tomorrow. I'm a little nervous too. I hope we are prepared at home for him.

James is still under the lights but his bilirubin levels have gone down. Hopefully they will go down even more today and tonight. Here are a couple of photos of him this morning. I know we have a ton of other photos that look exactly the same but I can't help myself. Since he is still under the lights he does still have his goggles on. I can't wait to get some photos of him without them and without all the icky wires and tape. :)

Just a small update!

I can't believe I'm awake right now. I think I have gotten 5 hours of sleep in the last two days. I know every mother reading this is thinking 'Welcome to motherhood'. Thanks. David can apparently sleep through anything. The night before last I attempted to wake him on three separate occasions. On the third try I finally kicked him [gently] in the side to get him to tend to the baby since I had my hands full. As I write this its almost noon and David is still sleeping. I think he has been asleep now for 14 hours. This isn't fair.

James is currently sleeping like an angel but last night he gave the nurse and I hell. We couldn't believe how hungry he was. Between his hunger, his diapers, and gas, it seemed that he was much more vocal than usual. It was just one thing after another. I think he is preparing me for when we get him home.

He is using the bili-blanket again to help assist the bili-lights in reducing the jaundice. Hopefully between the lights and the dirty diapers, his levels will be normal in no time. Since he is feeding so well, he is off of the IV completely now. It's nice having one less cord attached to him. Currently he has four cords attached to him which all work together to monitor his heart rate, his oxygen levels, and his respiratory system.

Things are looking really good. The swelling and bruising on his head [trama from labor] has gone down quite a bit and his head is almost perfectly normal. I'm so happy that he is as healthy as he is. We look forward to taking him home.

Day four

Now that I have been released as a patient from the hospital and David and I are boarders, we can come and go as we please. David and I went out to dinner last night and this afternoon we took a trip to our apartment to work on some of the chores that got left undone when I went into labor. Leaving James was almost as difficult as labor. I know that we are leaving him in wonderful care when we do leave and we have nothing to worry about but I just miss him like crazy. David and I are head over heels for our little guy.

The first question we get asked when talking to friends and family is 'when does he get to come home?'. We still don't know an exact date and we probably won't know until the day of or maybe the day before he is release. So many things can change from day to day but things are really looking good.

He is feeding really well. I think he might be bent on being a 20 pound baby by the time he leaves this place. Since he is feeding so well he is pooping and peeing a lot which is helping to lower his bilirubin levels and means he needs less from the IV's. The more bilirubin he disposes of, the less light therapy he needs. Once he is off of the IV's and lights, he can come home!

While I look forward to taking him home, I greatly appreciate the fact that James is in the care of such a wonderful nursing staff and that I am able to continue to recover in such a safe place. It's nice knowing that my child has around the clock care while I can take it easy. If we were at home... I wouldn't have that luxury. I'm really getting spoiled here.

Half way outta here

Well I have officially been released from the hospital and am now a 'boarder' here. So I'm no longer under medical supervision but since James is still here, David and I get to stay here too.

James is doing well. He is still under lights but we managed to get a few photos of him while he was out from under them. Here he is being fed by mom. He is being fed donor milk by bottle until mom's milk comes in and his sucking reflex matures.

I am feeling better and better as each day goes on. It won't be long before I'm not on any painkillers. I'm still a bit swollen but I know it will go down before too long.

We are so grateful for all of the support and prayers we've received. Thank you everyone. We will continue to write updates as we get them.

Baby update.

After spending a couple of days in the special care nursery, James is finally in our room with us. He is currently under special lights which are causing the blue glow in the photos. Since the labor process was so eventful, James has quite a bit of trama to his little head. As the bruising on his head breaks down it releases bilirubin into his blood stream. This causes the skin and eyes to yellow... aka jaundice. These special lights help James to release the bilirubin through his urine. The faster it gets out of his system the better. This morning we were told that while he is looking so much better, his bili levels are up. They've turn the lights up on him a bit to help out with that. Don't worry - It just means that his bruising is disappearing quickly.

We thought he looked pretty cool with his little goggles. He almost looks like he is tanning. We can't help but think that he is getting cuter and cuter everyday.

James flashes the peace sign for the camera. He was born in Boulder after all.

Look at his little cheeks!

All of the wires on him are to monitor his vitals. Mommy looked the same for a while. If you are wondering where his other foot disappeared to... its there but its covered in another diaper so that the wiring that is on his foot doesn't get messed up by the bili lights.

Daddy has huge hands in comparison to little James.

I'm working on recovering. I feel decently okay after everything but I am still a bit tired and in a little bit of pain. My blood pressure has gone up and I have a good amount of swelling so we are turning away visitors right now. It's not unusual for this to happen especially since I had so many medications in my body I'm not used to anything stronger than excedrine. James isn't expected to go home anytime soon. He could be here another week or two.

We will post more updates when we get the chance!

James Grey Ruybalid is here!!!

On Thursday I was working around the house and getting things ready for the baby's arrival. I finished folding the clothes that I had washed the day before and a few other things like hanging the letters I had painted for his room. I was planning to head on over to the hospital to pre-register but decided to take a nap before I left. At about 2:20 I woke up from my nap and I felt a small trickle. My first thought was 'Am I peeing my pants?' and wrapped my blanket around me. I felt a little bit more and thought 'Is my water breaking?!?!?!?!?'. I dropped myself to the floor from our couch and felt a huge gush! 'What just happened?' I thought. I could hardly believe it as I sat on the floor in the blanket. I knew there was no way I had lost control of my bladder like that. No way.

I called David and I tried to act casual.
'So where are you? and how much work do you have left to do?'
'I'm at the office, why?'
'Not to freak you out but I think my water just broke. I could have also peed my pants. I'm going to call the doctors office to see if I need to come in. Come home when you are finished with your work.'

During our brief conversation I worked to finish packing my hospital bag and wash the blanket. The more I did the more I panicked. I knew it was my water but I was secretly hoping it was urine. I know thats gross but I'm not due for another month! There was no way this could be happening. After all, we weren't ready and we hadn't even taken a hospital tour yet!

I called the doctors office and they told me to come on in. At this time I can feel the contractions coming on. I started timing them and while they were tolerable, they were only five minutes apart. I told David and he looked at me and asked what that means 'It means we should head to the hospital'. Our doctor's office is at the hospital so they told me to just head on to the labor and delivery area. Ekk. Once we got there, I was tested to see if it was my water that broke. It was water. I couldn't believe it. It was time.

By this time its around 4pm and we are settling into our room. I'm being monitored and being given pain killer [thank goodness]. Getting the epidural wasn't bad at all. I had pictured in my head that it was awful and almost as bad as labor itself. I barely felt the needle go in. They also gave me another painkiller that I could control with a button. I referred to this painkiller as my 'magic button' for the remainder of the stay in that room. It really was magic. Before I knew it I couldn't even feel the contractions.

They continued to monitor me and see where I was until I was fully dilated. About 4 in the morning, my doctor came in and told me it was time to start pushing. This meant I couldn't press the magic button anymore. Boo. I pushed for four and a half hours. I pushed well according to the doctors and nurses who were helping me but we weren't getting anywhere. James head was just not moving any further. We changed positions to see if that would help. Nope. We tried the vacuum next without success. We finally realized that I had been pushing for a while and barely had energy to push anymore and he wasn't coming out willingly anymore.

It seemed that our little guy, who was so eager to come out, had changed his mind. It was time for a c-section. At this point I was very sore from pushing for so long. It seemed that I might as well have been without an epidural since it seemed it had worn off so much. They wheeled me into the operating room and transfered me onto a new bed. There they numbed me from the ribcage down. That was spectacular. Other then some pushing, I couldn't feel a thing. They put up a sheet so that David and I couldn't see anything going on during the surgery [because it's gross] and one of the doctors helped to keep me warm since I was shaking.

The surgery was over before we knew it and they were holding James above the blanket for us to see. He was red and crying like most babies do when they are first born. David accompanied James and the nurses to the nursery while the doctors stitched me up.

James Grey Ruybalid was born on July 4th, 2008 weighing in at 6 pounds and 11 ounces. He is 19 1/4 inches long. He is currently staying in the nursery while the nurses monitor him. He is no longer on oxygen but is under light therapy for jaundice. He is doing amazingly well for being premature. David and I finally were able to hold him today and I attempted to feed him. Feeding didn't work out too well since he just wanted to sleep :).

We are not sure of how much longer the baby and I will be at the hospital. It still seems unreal. I feel a little more like a mom every time I hold him. We will keep everyone updated when we can. Right now David and I are taking advantage of James being in the nursery and sleeping every chance we get. We appreciate all of your support and prayers. We've received a ton of phone calls, text messages, and emails over the last few days and each one has brought a smile to our faces. Thank you again! Here are some pictures for your enjoyment.