Playing in the mud

So, it's been almost 3 weeks. I love being a mom.


But there are things that happen on a daily basis that make me miss Brendan.


Just the other night I was feeding Dylan in the middle of the night, rocking on the rocking chair in our bedroom and started to cry. I never got a chance to feed Brendan. When Brendan was 2 weeks old, he was lying in a hospital bed recovering from heart surgery. I wasn't even able to hold him.


I stared at Dylan and just thought about how lucky I was that I get to hold him whenever I want, but it also made me sad that I didn't get that chance with Brendan.


Dylan cries. Brendan had the most pathetic little cry. He wasn't even able to cry a majority of the time because he was intubated.


Dylan is home. Brendan was stuck in the hospital. I wasn't able to do all the things with him that I am with Dylan, like to go the store, go out to a restaurant, go to a friends house.


Dylan is awake for a couple hours during the day. Brendan was on some strong pain medicine and one side effect was drowsiness. He slept most of the day.


Dylan gets to breastfeed. Brendan had a tube that gave him all of his food.


Dylan can lie on his back without losing oxygen. It's kind of remarkable. I sometimes freak out just looking at him thinking that he is going to stop breathing, then I remember that healthy babies are supposed to be on their backs.


I talk to Dylan at night while Jeff is sleeping and Dylan is having his midnight snack. I tell him about his brother. I tell him that he was a strong little man who fought and fought to be on this earth. I tell Dylan that Brendan gave his dad and I the most joy that we have ever experienced. I tell him that Brendan was a sweet little boy and that I think that he is Dylan's guardian angel. 


I think that Brendan and Dylan were hanging out in heaven before Dylan arrived. I think that they were playing in the mud and giving God a hard time, as boys tend to do.

Brendan - 3 months old

Dylan - 3 days old

You know, Dylan has a couple little freckles on his neck and head. I think that he and Brendan forgot to wash all the mud off and those freckles are just mud spots. Well, I am sure that they are just freckles. But it's fun to pretend. It makes me feel like Brendan is close by.

Dylan's birthday! Part 2

OH MY GOSH I HAVE TO PUSH!

I yelled at Jeff to get the doctor, a nurse, the janitor, anyone. This baby was coming. Quick. ....


The nurse walked in and nonchalantly got things ready. She told me to hold on. Seriously? You want me to wait? This is no joke lady. I am about to have a baby, with or without you. Someone better be on the receiving end to catch it!

And by the way, trying to hold in a baby is like trying to catch a water balloon covered in vaseline. It wasn't going to happen. So I turned on my side, bent my legs, and got into the fetal position and grabbed onto the bedrails with all my might. I had to wait to push and this was the only thing that worked.

I kept looking at Jeff and crying and asking him why the epidural didn't work. I kept thinking about the last time I was in the hospital. I was so stressed and so worked up. This was not the experience that I wanted. I was supposed to be relaxed. Jeff was trying with everything he had to calm me down, but it wasn't happening.

Poor thing. He really was trying. I can honestly tell you that I heard nothing he said to me. I was channeling my strength. I was trying to not go to pieces at the thought that another one of my babies may not be okay.

Then I looked up, and noticed the doctor gowned up and ready to go. She told me to push at the next contraction. Thankfully we didn't have to wait long because they were 30 seconds apart.


At this point, I remember getting dizzy, pushing, and then feeling excruciating pain. I think that I pushed about 5 times, through about 3 or 4 contractions, before the doctor told me that the baby was coming with the next contraction.


I started to panic. The pain was unbearable, but the thought of meeting my little man was greater than any pain I was experiencing. I wanted him out and I wanted to make sure that he was okay.


I pushed one last time, and his head was out, then I sighed a sigh of relief...until I realized that his shoulders were wider than his head. Crap, that was going to hurt. The doctor could sense my nerves and was being encouraging and told me that it was almost over and I was about to meet my son. Then, before I knew it, his shoulders and the rest of his body were out.


Let me interrupt this part of the story and tell you something. I asked the doctor how we would know if his lungs were good and how I could tell if he was healthy. She told me that a good strong cry is a surefire way to tell if their lungs are developed and that if he was just making little weak noises, then that meant there was a problem.


So back to the delivery room.


The baby came out, and it felt amazing. For several reasons.


First, the burning, excruciating pain was gone, and it was replaced by an ear-splitting sound. No, not by me.


By my beautiful baby boy. This child came into the world screaming so loud, that I think a few nurses came into the room just to check and make sure that we weren't shoving wooden shims underneath his finger nails.


I have to interrupt again. Each nurse, doctor, lab tech, basically any person that came into the room to talk to me while I was in the labor room asked me about my history. I had to explain about 12 times that I have had 2 miscarriages, once full term pregnancy, and that I had a son that died at three months old. I had to rehash this tale so many times that I seriously think that the entire labor and delivery team was aware of my story.


Therefore, when baby popped out and appeared healthy (despite the preeclampsia, HELLP syndrome, high blood pressure, and my history) every person in the room seemed to take a deep breath and look up to the sky and thank God. There was a very noticeable sense of calm that fell over the room.


Dylan Scott had arrived safe and sound!


Then we all switched gears and were wondering who was torturing the poor newborn on his mother's chest. As soon as they covered me and him, he calmed down. It's like he knew how is momma was and new exactly what to do. He rested his little head on my chest and closed his little eyes. I held him for what seemed like only a few minutes, and then the nurses took him to the other side of the room to give him his shot (again with the ear splitting screaming) and dry him off. Then they returned him to my chest. It was like he was born to be there.


Another thing they were concerned about was Dylan's blood sugar. Because I had gestational diabetes (dude, add it to the list of problems) the main concern was that Dylan's blood sugar would be too low after birth. They needed to check it right after he was born and every few hours to make sure that it stayed within normal range.


The first test was normal.


Dylan was healthy.


Breathing: check


Heart Rate: good


Blood sugar: normal


Ten fingers and ten toes: check


Cute as a button: heck yeah!


Seriously. There were so many things stacked against us going into delivery, that I couldn't stop starring at my healthy baby boy. It was unbelievable. 


He was born at 9:34 pm on Thursday evening. I didn't sleep that first night. Not one wink. I held him in my arms and stared at him. I snuggled, kissed and talked to him all night. It was the best night ever.


One other thing. Shortly after he was born, the nurse came in and said that because I was on the magnesium, they were going to take Dylan to the nursery (the well baby nursery) and make sure that I got rest and I recovered well. She said that they don't like me being around the baby because the mag makes me dizzy and uneasy on my feet.


I freaked out. Again. I said no. I told her that there was no way that they were going to take him away from me. He was going to stay with us. She looked a little shocked, and said that she was going to have to check with the doctor and she would let me know. She never brought it up again.


Dylan stayed with me in the room for almost the whole time. He left for 20 minutes to get a newborn screening test done.


The delivery may not have gone exactly like I planned, but in the end I got a healthy baby boy. 


I got to keep him in the room the entire time with me.


I got to have skin to skin time with him for like 5 hours.


Daddy got to cut the cord.


Dylan was able to breastfeed. That's another thing. He was totally a champ at it. Brendan was never able to breastfeed (although he ate my milk through a G-tube) and I was terrified that Dylan would have issues. Nope, not one.


We were able to take him home after 3 days and 2 nights in the hospital.


We were a family and we were going home! All three of us healthy and happy! Albeit tired. And scared. And nervous. 


Oh dear what did I get myself into?


Sleep deprivation and crankiness here I come!

Dylan's birthday! Part 1

So I am a mom. Officially. Not that Brendan didn't count, but the nurses and doctors were more like his caregivers than I was. I didn't have a normal experience as a mom before. This past week has been more like what I expected.


Let me start at the beginning:


Thursday, September 23rd.
Jeff and I had an early doctor's appointment at UT Medical Center. It was just a routine appointment to check baby's heartbeat, and check his size. Everything was good, but the doctor wanted to do a non-stress test just to make sure every thing was okay.


The test is just me sitting in a room, with a monitor on my belly watching the baby's heart rate and watching to see if I was having contractions. It is boring. I told Jeff to go to work.


Well I sat there reading my book (the book that I haven't had time to pick up since then-in fact I am not even sure where it is) and felt fine. I didn't feel contractions, and the baby's heart rate was good. I enjoyed listening to it. It was calming. It kinda felt like time stopped. Then I looked at the clock. Time had stopped. Seriously. The second hand was going back and forth from 10 seconds, to 11 seconds, and back to 10 seconds. Time had stopped. I have no idea how much time had passed, but I enjoyed every minute.


Anyways, The nurse came back in and took a look at the info and went to go show the doctor. Then the nurse came in and said that the doctor was going to have to come in and talk to me. I think I peed my pants. I think she saw this and assured me that every thing was fine. She told me that I was having contractions, every 3 minutes, and they weren't going away. I however didn't feel a thing. Not one contraction. I thought that you were supposed to be more in tune with your body when it was your second pregnancy. What the heck was my problem?


Anyways, my doctor told me to go to Labor and Delivery Triage and they would monitor me and give me meds to stop labor since I was only 36 weeks along.


So I called Jeff and told him what was going on, and told him to stay at work, since all they were going to do was give me meds and send me home.


They checked me out set me up with a monitor and told me to drink like 48 oz of water (dehydration can cause contractions). And then I waited, and waited, and waited. There was no change. I was still having contractions, and I had to pee.


I was wearing a gown. A gown not fit for a woman with a big belly. A gown that made my butt cold.


I was getting nervous and so I called Jeff and told him to come back to the hospital just to be with me.


He got there in record time. Let me just take this time to tell you how awesome my husband is. He kept his cool the whole time to avoid freaking me out. He told his boss that he had to leave to be with me. He probably sped past 5 cops on the way to the hospital, and didn't get one ticket. That's impressive.


The doctor finally came in and told us that my blood pressure was a little high (a sign of Preeclampsia) and the blood tests showed that I had a low platelet count (which is a sign of HELLP syndrome) that can cause serious problems with the mother if it goes untreated. The good news was that the baby was okay.


She said that she was uncomfortable stopping labor because of the risks to me. 


Then the doctor said these magic words: "you ready to have a baby today?"


This did not make me a happy camper. 


I was a freaked out camper. Here is what went through my mind:


I was only 36 weeks along. 
The baby wasn't ready. 
The nursery wasn't ready. 
I haven't had my baby shower yet. 
We didn't have our bags packed.
I didn't want the baby to spend any time in the NICU.
I hadn't shaved my legs in like a week.
Thank goodness that we took the hospital tour 2 days ago.
I was hungry.
I still had to pee.
I was supposed to stop by Lowes and pick up paint after the doctor's appointment and paint the baby's room.


Oh dear Lord. I was going to have a baby.


They said that they were going to transfer me to Labor and Delivery once they got a room available.


It took like 6 hours.


I finally got settled and the doctor came in to tell me that they wanted to break my water to get things moving quicker. They didn't want me laboring too long, because the longer I labored, the greater the chance of complications.


I also had to be put on magnesium to reduce the risk of seizures because of my low platelet count. They told me that I couldn't leave labor and delivery and go to the postpartum unit for 24 hours so they could watch me and make sure I was okay. They had to make sure that my body responded well and that there were no complications.


Here's the kicker. If the baby had to go to the NICU, I couldn't leave to go see him. I had to stay in the room hooked up to the monitors and the IV's until I was cleared and all the mag was out of my system. 


I started to freak out even more. How can I possibly be away from my baby for that long. Again. I did it once with Brendan and I was not going to do it again. I started to panic. Then I started to cry.


This was not turning out to be the birth experience that I wanted.


The doctor finally came in at 6:30pm and broke my water. I requested an epidural just in case. I figured that if the contractions were manageable I would turn down the meds, but I didn't want to be stuck without the option.


Fourty five seconds after the doctor left the room from breaking my water, the contractions got stronger. And stronger. And longer. And more painful.


Great, I was freaked out, not relaxed, worried about my baby's health, worried that I wouldn't be able to see him for 24 hours, and I was feeling every little contraction. I couldn't relax. How was I supposed to breathe and think happy thoughts with all this going on in my head?


Then I got some good news. The magic man with the drugs came in. Actually it was a woman. She looked to be about 20 years old. But at that point I just wanted something to make me feel better. There was too much going on and I knew that I couldn't handle it. It was just too much.


So I got the epidural. It took no time at all to put in.


But it didn't work. I started to work for about 20 minutes. Then it wore off.


It wore off completely.


I started the transition phase of labor (click here to see the stages of labor). I got nauseous. Then I stared feeling excruciating pain.


I am dumb. I forgot to breathe. There was so much going on in my head.


I was thinking about the baby's health.


I was thinking about Brendan and the fact that less than a year ago I was giving birth to him.


I was thinking about how scary it was when the doctor took Brendan away from me less than 2 minutes after he was born and how I couldn't possibly go through that with a second child.


I was trying not to push because there was no one in the room but me and Jeff.


OH MY GOSH I HAVE TO PUSH!

I yelled at Jeff to get the doctor, a nurse, the janitor, anyone. This baby was coming. Quick. 

Dylan Scott Plemons

Well, Baby P is here! Dylan Scott was born happy (well, screaming) and healthy yesterday, Thursday, September 23 at 9:34 pm, weighing 7lbs 9.5 oz. He was born at 36 weeks and I was terrified that they would have to take him to the NICU and that he would have problems breathing. But he came out screaming and every doc, nurse and person in the room sigh a big sigh of relief and then started laughing because he was so loud!

Last night I didn't sleep one wink. I couldn't put him down. I was just amazed that God would allow us to have this little miracle come early and healthy. I literally looked at Dylan all night long and couldn't stop smiling.

Dylan is doing really well with breast feeding and has no blood sugar issues. NOT ONE! That is awesome considering that momma had gestational diabetes!

Dylan popped out, and was laid right on my chest where he warmed up and screamed his head off. It was right where he needed to be. :)

We didn't have a birth plan ready yet, but we knew what we wanted, and most of those were met. It was so amazing to have everything go well. I am beside myself.

Anyways, I am going to try and get some sleep. I just wanted to let you all know that God has blessed us twice in one year. We are so happy to have Dylan Scott in our family. 

I will write more later when I am rested, I am not sure any of this will make sense. So far 36 hours with no sleep. But I wanted to give it a try.

PS. I had no idea that babies heads smell so amazing. I think I shall spend all day tomorrow smelling Dylan's noggin. :)

Will post pictures soon. I am no longer able to keep my eyes open.

Chocolate

Okay, so today I went to my High Risk OB appointment. Everything is going well. And the good news is that I don't have to stick myself with anymore needles. Don't misunderstand, I still have to continue with the insulin shots before meals and the blood sugar testing after meals. But at every appointment I have had so far, they have told me that I have to add another way to stick myself. Today, there were no MORE needles, just the same amount of needles as before.


Need less to say, I was elated.


Then the nurse told me something.


I asked her if I still had to give myself shots and all that fun finger pricking stuff after the baby was born. She smiled and said that as soon as he is born, I can eat whatever I want. Are you kidding me? I went from elated to, well what's more than elated? Ecstatic? Overjoyed? Well whatever it is, that's what I am.


I write this to tell those of you that visit while I am in the hospital to bring reinforcements. Sweet, sweet reinforcements. Here is a list of the things that I like: Feel free to bring more than one.

Coca Cola Cake from Cracker Barrel

Molten Chocolate Cake from Chili's

Double Stuf Oreos

Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

Just to name a few. I like chocolate, dark chocolate, anything really that has chocolate. Feel free to bring In N Out as well. Okay, that one was just to make sure you were paying attention. That would be one nasty burger after a 5 hour flight. But I would love anyone who could actually find a way to bring me a fresh one. That would be awesome.

Well, now that I am starving and all I want is an In N Out Burger, I am going to go get dinner started: low carb spaghetti with homemade sauce, veggies and garlic bread. Not too shabby, but it ain't no Double Double.

Torpedo Belly

Jeff came home from a week long business trip. Actually it wasn't even a full week. He left Monday and came home Friday. So technically we went 3 days without seeing each other. Here's why this is important information:


When I picked Jeff up at the airport, one of the first things he said to me (after kissing me passionately and making me weak in the knees and telling me that he missed me).....sorry I need to focus.


After that, he looked at my belly and said that my belly got bigger while he was away.


This is impossible. There is no way that my belly got that big in 3....


Wait a minute. These jeans were a little looser last week. And come to think of it, this top fit a lot looser last week, too.


Crap, Jeff was right. I got bigger. In 3 days.


Now, before you women get on Jeff's case for saying that I am big, I must tell you that I am okay with him telling me I am bigger. It is the truth. I am carrying his 2nd child in 2 years, and babies are supposed to grow as are the vessels that carry them.


We also have the kind of relationship where we promised to be completely honest with each other always. While this sounds great, it has it's downfalls, like when I ask if my butt looks big in a certain pair of pants. Jeff will be honest, and tell me that yes, it does. The upside is that I, in turn, am allowed to tell Jeff that he can be a real jerk sometimes. See? Honesty is good for every relationship. Most of the times anyways.


Again, sorry, I am going to get back to the topic.


The funny thing is that I didn't gain any weight this week. Not. One. Ounce.


I think this has something to do with the whole no sugar, watch your carbs thing. But I am still looking into it.


Here's the kicker. I didn't get any bigger, but the baby did. My dear friend Heather, who saw me everyday but one last week, commented by the end of the week that the baby seemed to be all out front. Like a torpedo belly (okay I am putting words in her mouth, but it looks like a torpedo to me). 


It looks like this child is just squatting in the middle of my belly, he has his cute little feet pressed up against my rib cage, and then he is stretching as far out as he can with his round (and big) head... Like a torpedo...A big, round, slightly uncomfortable for momma, but still cute, torpedo.


Why don't I just show you. Because after all, a picture is worth a thousand words. But we all know that I am going to write a thousand words regardless, so at least there are a few pictures to reward you all for reading to my lengthy post.


Enjoy, you deserve it.

Happy belly!

This is why you wait longer than three months after the birth of your first child, to get pregnant with your second.

This wall really needs a picture on it or something.

The view from my front door

This is the view from my front door each an every Saturday.

We finally got a lawn mower, much to the excitement of our next door neighbor the treasurer of the HOA, who is out taking care of his lawn daily.

Yes, Jeff, I am taking pictures of you mowing, just ignore me.

Yes, those are vacant lots that currently have only a foundation, and have had only a foundation for about a year. BB is going to have fun playing in the construction.

So diligent, so handsome.

My favorite. :D

So diligent, so handsome, so sweaty. Eww, make sure you dry off before you step foot in my clean house.

Wow, I should really get back into the house and do some work, huh? Although watching Jeff do all that work up and down the yard is making me sleepy. Perhaps I will go upstairs and take a nap. Yes, that is exactly what I shall do.