Linus' Original Birthday

Here's my Linus today, at 20 days old on what was supposed to be his birthday. Although, as far as God was concerned, it was never supposed to have been today. Hmmm. Deep thoughts.
All three kiddos in one photo--not an easy feat.
Linus on my shoulder. Duncan loves the position of his hands.
My first attempt of all three together. Not so successful. And I love my knees in the picture.
Ah! What have I gotten myself into?


So today, September 18th, was Linus' original birthday. The really funny thing is that the two women at church who were pregnant with me, and both due last week, are (were?) both in labor at the same hospital as mine with the same doctor as mine, today. Duncan asked if I was jealous. The weird thing is, in some ways I am. In other ways, NOT AT ALL!

First Day of Pre-School

The only tears shed were my own. I'll chalk it up to hormones. She had a great morning.

Tomorrow it should be Linus VICTORY!!!

On Monday, an "unhooked" Linus--finally we can see his sweet face!
It's rough being a baby! (I'm a sucker for yawn pictures.)
This was on Sunday when I nursed Linus for the first time.
On Friday, Amelie and Violet hanging out in the hospital waiting area.
On Saturday, Amelie and Birdie Grandpa (Duncan's dad) coloring at the kitchen table.


Tomorrow, well later today, as I check the time, Linus is expected to be discharged from the hospital. We are so excited at the prospect of being a whole family for the first time since August 6th. I'm ready to sit on the couch and nurse my baby. All this running back and forth to the NICU seems to have made my recovery speed up. My pain level is so low that I don't even feel the need to take my pain meds. However, the swelling is still pretty bad in my legs, which will get better once I can keep my feet up a bit more. Hopefully, that will be possible after tomorrow. I wish I could show you how big I'm smiling at the thought of Linus HOME with the rest of us.

Six posts in one day?

It's definitely a record. I'm going home tomorrow. I will be spending time enjoying my girls, my husband, my home and traveling back and forth from the hospital at least until Wednesday. (That's when Linus' course of antibiotics will be over.) I'm alone tonight and know I won't have much time to blog after going home. I so appreciate all of my blogging friends and family and wanted to share as much as possible, while I had the time. I'll update when I can, but can't promise it'll be very often. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your love and prayers through all of this. God is so good.

Just the facts, ma'am.

I'm not ready to share the birth "story" complete with emotions, but I can share the factual details.
*My c-section was scheduled for noon, but they were running a bit behind schedule on Wednesday. I didn't enter the operating room until about 1:00.
*They were unable to start a spinal on me, so I was put under general anesthesia.
*Because I was asleep, Duncan had to wait in the hallway for Linus to be born.
*Duncan said he was born within 5 minutes of my "going under."
*Duncan got to be with him almost immediately and got to trim the cord. (They left it long when cutting it from me.) He's never cut the cord before!
*I woke up in the recovery room and got to see Linus for a few minutes before his trip to the NICU. Duncan went with him.
*My recovery took a while. It took my uterus a while to contract (I got a shot to help it) and I lost a fair amount of blood.
*I got to visit the NICU to see Linus and hold him before I went to my room.
*Linus is amazing and totally worth all of it.
*I am so thankful for modern medicine.

Pictures from yesterday and today...

Amelie LOVES baby Linus. This picture from Friday should prove that! Since the sibling age limit in the NICU is two, Violet hasn't seen him yet. She's pretty clueless about his existence anyway. She did see pictures today and got very excited. We'll see how she feels about his constant presence in our home in a few days.
This is Linus chilling out in his warmer this morning. He has an IV on his foot and a tube in his mouth for feeding and removing air from his tummy. Everything else is external.
This morning, I got to see Linus' eyes for the first time. It was very fun.

What's in a name?

I'm sure some of you are wondering where the name came from. As with our other two children (Amelie Muriel and Violet Ella), Linus' first name is one that we like and his middle name is one of his great-grandparents' middle names. Duncan's paternal grandfather, Maurice Victory Salada, was born on November 11, 1918. For those of you that aren't up on your history, that is THE day that The War to End All Wars, also know as World War I, ended. Grandfather was given the middle name Victory to commemorate the day on which he was born. We thought that was really cool and so we decided to use it. In light off the circumstances of my pregnancy with him and our birth experience with him, I feel it has many meanings, that I'm sure you can imagine.

Why is Linus in the NICU?

Overall, Linus is slightly premature and was born via c-section. These two things combined can be cause for breathing problems. When babies are in a contracting uterus and pushed through the birth canal, they benefit by getting the fluid and mucus in their lungs squeezed out. Since Linus was lifted out of a non-contracting uterus, his lungs were full of fluid and mucus. Often babies in this predicament will struggle with their breathing for an hour or two. If they don't stop "grunting," or struggling, they end up in the NICU. Since Linus' lungs are a bit immature, he's been slow to improve as his lungs develop. So, Linus continues to be in the NICU, but everyone is very pleased with his slow, but steady progress. He started eating today (my breast milk though a tube in his mouth) and once his respiration rate goes down, I will be able to try and nurse him. He's been on "room air" and the amount of pressure to force it in to him has been lowered twice today. This is a great thing! We're so thankful for the wonderful nursing staff that have been taking such good care of him. We'd appreciate your continued prayers for his improvement.
By the way, we are ever so thankful for the decision to wait three weeks to deliver him. Had he been born at 33 weeks, he probably would have struggled so much more. It makes the three weeks I was here SO worth it.

Linus Victory's "Birth" Day

These are some photos from Linus' birth. More later. Promise.

Drumroll Please...

Duncan, Nancy, Amelie, and Violet would like to announce the birth of---


Linus Victory Salada
8lbs. 11.5 ounces
20" long
born at 1:49 pm
on August 29, 2007

It was not and is not the most ideal of circumstances, but mom and Linus continue to improve. More info about a c-section under general anesthesia, Linus' continual stay in the NICU (which as of today is only until next Wednesday! yipee!), photos and a name explanation will come soon. Just wanted to give y'all a quick update. Thanks so much for your continual love and support through all of this. To God be ALL of the Glory!

This is it! 17.5 hours and counting!!

Tomorrow is the big day! Check back within the next few days for a bloggy birth announcement! If you think of it, please pray that all will go well tomorrow around noon. Thanks for all of your support through this experience!

Day 20 or Three Days to Go?

Which way should I look at it? I think I need to consider both. If I've been here for 20 days, I can certainly handle three more, right? I've settled into my new room, which is much smaller. It's more like a regular hospital room. The labor and delivery room I lived in for 17 days was about three times the size. However, I certainly didn't need all of that space. After I have the baby, I should be up on the postpartum floor, unless it's full. The overflow is down here by antepartum. I wouldn't be in this room, however, since it's not big enough to have one of those comfy beds, which Duncan needs in order to stay with me! So, we'll see how it all works out. Other than that, there's nothing much to report.
Thanks for your comments. And tammyo, I haven't read anything except for Harry Potter and some magazines. Concentration is pretty hard. HGTV has been another popular diversion. Although, I'm kind of sick of it. Makes me happy we don't have regular cable.

New Digs

It that even how you spell that? Well the big news today is that I've moved! The hospital decided to open their antepartum wing this afternoon and I get to be one of the very first "guests," as my doctor put it! My room is much smaller than the labor and delivery room I've lived in for the past 17 days. It's more like the postpartum rooms I've visited. So, if you're one of those people that calls or visits me, please e-mail me for my new direct phone number and room number. I pity the poor women that labor in my old room who keep getting phone calls for some lady named Nancy!
Six more days!!

Day 16

Seven days from now, I should be in a lot of pain and holding my little boy. I am so excited to meet him! And even more excited to introduce him to his sisters and to show him where he lives!! (Along with being there myself!!)

A Fresh Perspective

As my little boy hiccups, I'm marveling at the wonders a good night's sleep can do for someone in my situation. I didn't let on yesterday, but I DID NOT sleep well on Saturday night for a few reasons. I was kept on the monitor all night AND they started another IV. The nurse heard something "funny" with the baby's heartbeat and was essentially freaked out by it. Which, in turn, kind of freaked me out, understandably, I think. It turned out to be nothing that lasted, for which I'm grateful, and it seemed to be much more drama than was necessary. The frustrating thing to me was that it never would have been an issue if I were home, since I don't hook myself up to a fetal monitor three times a day while I'm there and it had nothing to do with the placenta previa. (Whoa, major run on.) So needless to say, I feel much better about things today. We're on Day 14 and that means 9 days until the c-section. Hmmmm, come to think of it, things sound better every day. As always, thanks for your prayers.

Negativity

As you all know, I've been trying really hard to be positive in this situation. However, today, I'm feeling pretty down in the dumps. I'm really struggling with feeling sorry for myself. Today is Day 13 and if all goes as planned the baby will be born in 10 days. That is exciting. I just miss my girls, my husband, my home, my life, my responsibilities so much. I yearn to be a whole family once again. It occurred to me, while Duncan and the girls were here this evening, that if all goes as expected, we should all be home together two weeks from today. But, I realized I haven't been here two weeks yet. Not until tomorrow, that is. That is discouraging. Ugh. I feel like such a whiner. I'm sorry to go on and on. If you think of it, please pray for my attitude.

Day 11

Yesterday was such an exciting day. So incredible, I didn't even get to post about it!
1. My doc said I could have wheelchair rides! So when my sister Karen came to visit, she wheeled me around the hospital, inside and out, for an hour. I still can't believe I spent 10 days in this room without leaving!
2. My doc said I can have showers EVERY DAY. You heard right, folks. This is such great news.
3. My c-section was confirmed for Wednesday, August 29th at noon. That's only 12 days from now! I'm nearly halfway there, when considering how long I've been here already!

Thanks for your continued prayers, calls, visits, comments, and overall support.

Roll Call

In no particular order, these are the folks that have called and/or visited me since I've been here.
Thank you, Lord for--
Carol Grace Duncan Amelie Violet Stephanie Mike Barbara Lynn Joy Linda Chelsea Megan Glenda Bob Irma Erin Megan Jen Mom Dad Terri Julie Carla Barbara Joy Diana Jill Suzy Ruth Jean Stef Pam Fix Rachel Heather Jean Becky...

Thanks also for your comments. It's exciting to receive them! It's not official, but my doc's surgery scheduler has requested Wednesday, August 29th as my c-section day. That would be two weeks from today! Hopefully, I'll get a confirmation soon.

Today I had a steady stream of visitors. Some even overlapped a bit. It certainly makes the day go fast! I feel bad I'm not partaking in all of the diversions people have brought for me, but talking to actual people is much better than just about anything else.

Duncan and I were talking about how it's nice to sit and talk with people, with no distractions or responsibilities. I've literally just sat and talked to folks for hours! I never get to do that anymore.

Oh--I finished the last Harry Potter book this morning. If anyone wants to discuss it, let me know!

Unexpected Happenings

Thanks so much for your sweet and encouraging comments. They are definitely a bright spot in my day, as is any contact with the outside world. Yesterday, my doctor said he doesn't like someone in my situation (a complete placenta previa) to go all the way to 37 weeks, so we're probably looking at 36 weeks. That means that I'm about a third of the way done with my time here in room 220. Have I written about how I haven't left this room since 11pm on Monday, August 6th? That's right. We're on Day 8 now. I'm glad it's an attractive room. It doesn't have a window directly to the outside, but rather a window to the lobby of the building, which has windows to the outside. So, from my bed, I can see what color the sky is. That is an encouragement to me.

And now, I can't say I expected--
* to wear a hospital gown for a whole week. I now have my new comfy pj pants from Old Navy.
* to take a shower using only one hand. My iv hand gets all taped up,with a glove over it so it doesn't get wet. It's pretty impossible to use in this predicament.
* to sit on a bench while taking a shower. The girls arrived during my shower yesterday and Amelie thought this was HILARIOUS.
* to only ever eat in bed. You've heard of breakfast in bed, but who's ever heard of lunch in bed and dinner in bed--every day?
* to get my sheets changed every day. Sheet changing is not my forte at home.
* to shop, blog, e-mail, and surf the internet from a hospital bed. Hence the new comfy pj pants from Old Navy.

I'm sure, as time wears on, I'll be able to add to this list. But that's enough for now.

Still here...

...not much new to post. I'm still here and am thankful to have six days behind me--six more days that the baby's been able to grow and develop and six days closer to when I deliver (whenever that may be!!)
I've had lots of phone calls and visitors, but am ALWAYS happy to receive more.
I had a very little bit of bleeding last night, which FREAKED ME OUT. Thankfully, Duncan was here and was actually able to spend the night. I'm not sure why it freaked me out, I think I just figured: "I'm on bed rest. I only get out of bed to go to the bathroom. I'm taking it easy. Therefore, I shouldn't bleed." But my day nurse was very frank with me today, saying--you've got previa, you're going to bleed. A little bit isn't bad. It's when it becomes very heavy and doesn't stop that it's an issue of needing to deliver the baby quickly. So, my struggle with anxiety continues and learning to rely on the Lord continues, as well.
I had a sweet visit with my girls today. We watched a Barney dvd on the laptop and ate Cheeburger Cheeburger. It was way yummy. Oh yeah, Daddy and Ducky were there too =).
In other news, the maternity p.j.s pants I ordered from Old Navy are in Baltimore and should arrive at the house tomorrow. I'm very excited to be out of the hospital gown. I've decided it makes me feel sick to always be wearing it. I'm excited to actually wear some clothes. I think I get to take a shower again tomorrow. That's exciting.
This post is very boring, I know. Maybe my next post will be about my i.v. That would CERTAINLY be more interesting, I'm sure.