This morning I woke up early to pump and decided to just get ready and head over to the hospital. I needed more sleep and figured with all the people staying at our house, I would have a better chance of sleeping more in Samuel's room than at home. So I left the quiet house full of sleepers that were sure to soon wake up.
I got to the hospital and grabbed some more breakfast, pumped and laid down. Sleep overtook me quickly. I woke up to talk to the doctor and hear more about the results of the head ultrasound. Yesterday they gave us some preliminary results and what the doctor told me was also not an official reading, but I think we can go with it pretty well. What he told us is that this ultrasound looked like there really wasn't much for bleeding. In fact the grade 3 now looks like a grade 1 and the grade 2 looks like a 0. The doctor said they might have been simply over zealous in the diagnosis the first time or they might have misread it too. He found it hard to believe that it would have gone down that much in so short a time. They will do another head ultrasound in another week and we are hopeful that it will match or be better than the one they did today!
The doctor also said that we would probably start giving Sam more of my milk at each feeding starting today. He has been getting 3 milliliters every 3 hours and now he should get 6 every 3 hours. They then starting doing this too with the 12:30 feeding I believe. He has been tolerating the upped amount great too!
This morning Samuel must have decided that breathing is just hard work! He would stop breathing enough, which would set off an alarm that would call a nurse over to check and help him. After doing this several times and not getting his oxygen level back up the nurse decided to give him a little bit more oxygen. He is doing great on the amount of oxygen he is given and actually only receives a little more than what we get breathing regular air.
Ben, AJ, Dale (Ben's Dad) and Anna all started showing up a bit before noon. A few of them were surprised that I was at the hospital they had thought I was at home sleeping until it was commented on while eating breakfast.
During the afternoon everyone decided they were finally ready for lunch (I had eaten the food at the hospital already) so we took a break and went to Jimmy John's. Then after finding out that Ben's Dad had never been to Cold Stone, we stopped there too.
This evening has been really uneventful. I got to kangaroo with him again, which I just always find absolutely wonderful. They have me pick him up and put him back and I am getting much more graceful at it, which means Sam gets less fussy during transition.
Now we are just kind of relaxing and getting ready to go home. Samuel's still doing great! He is gaining weight back now too, he is practically back to his birth weight!
06 February 2012
Friday, February 3 - Head Ultrasound Update
So today was a very eventful day. As mentioned yesterday, my father-in-law made it into town late last night and after we all got up he and I headed over to the hospital together while Ben finished up doing a few things at the house. We got there just in time to grab some breakfast and head upstairs.
Sam was doing great! Well, he really did do great all day. Soon Ben also arrived. Our doctor came in and talked to us about a few things. One was to let us know that his blood count was low, because of that they wanted to do another head ultrasound in order to see if the ventricular hemorrhage had gotten worse and that was the reason for the low blood count.
The other thing he wanted to talk about was what to do about the IV line. Currently he receives most of his nutrition through IV and my milk only accounts for a small portion of it. The IV line that he was given originally was through his umbilical cord. This is a good location for a while, but then there are risks of infection, which is why our hospital tends to try to replace it either with a Peripheral IV or a PICC line.
As mentioned yesterday they attempted (but failed) in establishing a peripheral IV. The problem with those is that they tend to go bad quickly and can be hard to establish. PICC lines run risks of infections, but tend to be a more stable line that they could use until he no longer needs the IV. Ben and I talked it over and decided we would be more comfortable trying the peripheral IV and going from there.
Throughout the day I would kick the boys out so I could pump and that morning as I finished pumping they brought in the ultrasound machine to run the head ultrasound. That was good because that meant we had a better chance of finding out the results of it by the end of the day. Since they ordered the ultrasound that morning they weren't sure when it would happen.
That afternoon I went home with the intention of grabbing my knitting and going to knit at Church with the ladies, but I was so exhausted and started crying over the silliest thing, that I decided it was better for me just to nap.
Meanwhile back at the hospital lots of things were happening. As I wasn't there I am relaying as best as I can remember what I was told. The nurse was checking Samuel over when she noticed that part of his umbilical cord IV was missing. Not a good thing and she couldn't tell how long that had been the case. That meant that we had to go from talking about what we wanted to do about the IV to doing something about it right then.
They found a lady on staff that is really good with peripheral IVs and brought her in to do one on Sam. Ben said he and his Dad said a prayer while she was working and God sure answered it. She was able to establish one successfully on the first try! Thanks be to God!
Right at that point I was also feeling somewhat antisocial so I kicked the boys out again. My younger brother, AJ was also coming into town and they wanted to grab supper with him. I decided to stay and eat the food at the hospital (which is actually pretty good) so I could keep pumping on schedule. Thus I was able to settle into a nice relaxed evening. So about the time that they were getting supper, I was kangarooing with Sam. I just absolutely love that time with him!
Later that evening my cousin, Anna, stopped in for the night and we all headed back to the house. We then spent a bunch of time talking before finally heading to bed around 12:30. It was overall a good long day.
Sam was doing great! Well, he really did do great all day. Soon Ben also arrived. Our doctor came in and talked to us about a few things. One was to let us know that his blood count was low, because of that they wanted to do another head ultrasound in order to see if the ventricular hemorrhage had gotten worse and that was the reason for the low blood count.
The other thing he wanted to talk about was what to do about the IV line. Currently he receives most of his nutrition through IV and my milk only accounts for a small portion of it. The IV line that he was given originally was through his umbilical cord. This is a good location for a while, but then there are risks of infection, which is why our hospital tends to try to replace it either with a Peripheral IV or a PICC line.
As mentioned yesterday they attempted (but failed) in establishing a peripheral IV. The problem with those is that they tend to go bad quickly and can be hard to establish. PICC lines run risks of infections, but tend to be a more stable line that they could use until he no longer needs the IV. Ben and I talked it over and decided we would be more comfortable trying the peripheral IV and going from there.
Throughout the day I would kick the boys out so I could pump and that morning as I finished pumping they brought in the ultrasound machine to run the head ultrasound. That was good because that meant we had a better chance of finding out the results of it by the end of the day. Since they ordered the ultrasound that morning they weren't sure when it would happen.
That afternoon I went home with the intention of grabbing my knitting and going to knit at Church with the ladies, but I was so exhausted and started crying over the silliest thing, that I decided it was better for me just to nap.
Meanwhile back at the hospital lots of things were happening. As I wasn't there I am relaying as best as I can remember what I was told. The nurse was checking Samuel over when she noticed that part of his umbilical cord IV was missing. Not a good thing and she couldn't tell how long that had been the case. That meant that we had to go from talking about what we wanted to do about the IV to doing something about it right then.
They found a lady on staff that is really good with peripheral IVs and brought her in to do one on Sam. Ben said he and his Dad said a prayer while she was working and God sure answered it. She was able to establish one successfully on the first try! Thanks be to God!
Right at that point I was also feeling somewhat antisocial so I kicked the boys out again. My younger brother, AJ was also coming into town and they wanted to grab supper with him. I decided to stay and eat the food at the hospital (which is actually pretty good) so I could keep pumping on schedule. Thus I was able to settle into a nice relaxed evening. So about the time that they were getting supper, I was kangarooing with Sam. I just absolutely love that time with him!
Later that evening my cousin, Anna, stopped in for the night and we all headed back to the house. We then spent a bunch of time talking before finally heading to bed around 12:30. It was overall a good long day.
Thursday, February 2 - Pokes Hurt
The big thing that happened on Thursday was trying to establish a Peripheral IV. The goal is to eventually get the IV out of his umbilical line. The problem with peripherals is that they tend to go bad quickly and can be hard to establish. Today was showing the hard to establish part of it.
They came in and tried their best, but it just wasn't working, as soon as they found a good line, stuck in the needle it went bad... Poor Samuel went through at least 4 if not 5 of those pokes. He laid quietly through most of the pokes, in fact he just kind of laid there like, alright you can play with my arm or my leg or whatever, I know crying isn't going to stop you.
Well at either the last poke or second to last poke he decided he had sat there quietly enough for long enough and just let out a nice long cry. He cried so hard, loud and long that he exhausted his little body and fell asleep. Ben and I sat there amazed at how loud he could cry. He's not loud in the grand scheme of things, and I know babies can cry much louder than he did, but he still had quite the volume!
With talking about the peripheral IV and not know when that was going to happen, and I think they were playing with the CPAP mask to find the best fit, I didn't hold him during the day, by the time everything settled down, it was getting late and I was exhausted! So Ben got to Kangaroo with him. :-) We took our first ever family photo that evening!
They came in and tried their best, but it just wasn't working, as soon as they found a good line, stuck in the needle it went bad... Poor Samuel went through at least 4 if not 5 of those pokes. He laid quietly through most of the pokes, in fact he just kind of laid there like, alright you can play with my arm or my leg or whatever, I know crying isn't going to stop you.
Well at either the last poke or second to last poke he decided he had sat there quietly enough for long enough and just let out a nice long cry. He cried so hard, loud and long that he exhausted his little body and fell asleep. Ben and I sat there amazed at how loud he could cry. He's not loud in the grand scheme of things, and I know babies can cry much louder than he did, but he still had quite the volume!
With talking about the peripheral IV and not know when that was going to happen, and I think they were playing with the CPAP mask to find the best fit, I didn't hold him during the day, by the time everything settled down, it was getting late and I was exhausted! So Ben got to Kangaroo with him. :-) We took our first ever family photo that evening!
Wednesday, February 1 - No More Bili Lights!
Wednesday was a fairly uneventful day. The big news is that they took his bili light away. The bili lights are used to treat jaundice if you remember from my Saturday post. Every day they took a count of how much jaundice was still in his skin. When the number gets low enough they no longer use the bili lights. Well, the count Wednesday morning was low enough, therefore no more bili lights for Samuel!
That was good because that meant they were now able to snuggle him in better in his little incubator. That snuggling is god for him because it gives him something to push against. In my womb, he had all sorts of boundaries to kick (which he did kick quite regularly), under the bili lights he had almost nothing to kick and punch, which meant he was constantly squirming!
Now that he doesn't have the bili lights anymore and they wrap him in better he has been much more calm and relaxed overall. It's good to see that, I always wanted to do something to help him calm down, but didn't really know what I should do!
The other exciting thing was that he pooped for the first time! So before he just had wet diapers, now he is working on pooping out that gross meconium stuff that comes in a baby's first diaper (but for him it will take him a little longer to get it pushed out). That means the milk is doing well with him and he is doing well at pushing it through his system. So proud of my little man being able to poop!
I got to kangaroo with him again on Wednesday. Those are such special moments for me with my son. It becomes easier and easier to think of him as my son, my little child that I get to care for and love with all the joys and frustrations that go with that!
Now I can't remember if this happened on Wednesday or Tuesday, but since I had less to write about for Wednesday, I'm going to say it happened Wednesday, even though I think it might have happened Tuesday instead. I think I have mentioned that Sam is stubborn. If I hadn't yet, well, he is. He is stubborn and determined to get what he wants when he wants something it seems. Ever since birth, one thing he has wanted was none of these tubes and lines stuck to him anymore. Just let me free!
Well one evening, while under the bili lights, he really managed to free himself from a lot of his "bondage." Ben and I were sitting in the room and I saw him really squirming quite a bit, so I went to check on him. I get over there to find out he had undone the velcro on his bubble CPAP hat that holds the CPAP in place, he had pulled out his eye mask that he needed to protect his eyes from the bili lights AND he had pulled the tube that goes down to his stomach almost completely out! So I wash my hands quick and I get in there and I am doing my best to put things back where they needed to be (but I didn't trust myself shoving a tube back down his throat) so while I am trying to put things back I told Ben that we needed to get a nurse to get things back to place right!
I was very impressed with Sam's ability to get all that stuff off. He is a smart and strong little boy!
And that is the thought I will leave off at with this post. :-)
That was good because that meant they were now able to snuggle him in better in his little incubator. That snuggling is god for him because it gives him something to push against. In my womb, he had all sorts of boundaries to kick (which he did kick quite regularly), under the bili lights he had almost nothing to kick and punch, which meant he was constantly squirming!
Now that he doesn't have the bili lights anymore and they wrap him in better he has been much more calm and relaxed overall. It's good to see that, I always wanted to do something to help him calm down, but didn't really know what I should do!
The other exciting thing was that he pooped for the first time! So before he just had wet diapers, now he is working on pooping out that gross meconium stuff that comes in a baby's first diaper (but for him it will take him a little longer to get it pushed out). That means the milk is doing well with him and he is doing well at pushing it through his system. So proud of my little man being able to poop!
I got to kangaroo with him again on Wednesday. Those are such special moments for me with my son. It becomes easier and easier to think of him as my son, my little child that I get to care for and love with all the joys and frustrations that go with that!
Now I can't remember if this happened on Wednesday or Tuesday, but since I had less to write about for Wednesday, I'm going to say it happened Wednesday, even though I think it might have happened Tuesday instead. I think I have mentioned that Sam is stubborn. If I hadn't yet, well, he is. He is stubborn and determined to get what he wants when he wants something it seems. Ever since birth, one thing he has wanted was none of these tubes and lines stuck to him anymore. Just let me free!
Well one evening, while under the bili lights, he really managed to free himself from a lot of his "bondage." Ben and I were sitting in the room and I saw him really squirming quite a bit, so I went to check on him. I get over there to find out he had undone the velcro on his bubble CPAP hat that holds the CPAP in place, he had pulled out his eye mask that he needed to protect his eyes from the bili lights AND he had pulled the tube that goes down to his stomach almost completely out! So I wash my hands quick and I get in there and I am doing my best to put things back where they needed to be (but I didn't trust myself shoving a tube back down his throat) so while I am trying to put things back I told Ben that we needed to get a nurse to get things back to place right!
I was very impressed with Sam's ability to get all that stuff off. He is a smart and strong little boy!
And that is the thought I will leave off at with this post. :-)
05 February 2012
Tuesday, January 31 - Mother's Milk
As of Tuesday our little Samuel had only been receiving nutrition through IV fluids. He had dropped some weight (pretty much every baby drops some weight, regardless if they are term or premature), but the doctor said when he starts getting my milk he will start gaining it back. The other "fun" thing he will get to start doing is pooping!
So Tuesday, because things seemed to be going well, they decided to start Sam on my milk. I had produced a bit of supply by now, so I was excited that all this time I have been spending pumping and kicking people out of Sam's room so I could pump was finally going to be put to use. Besides that, by him taking my milk, I feel like I am contributing more!
Some clarification on what it means for Sam to take my milk... He has a line that is run through his mouth into his stomach. The milk he receives will go into this line and directly to his stomach. That means he doesn't actually drink it and he does not need to be on the breast to get it, he simply receives it passively in his stomach.
Also by starting him on milk that does not mean he will no longer get IV fluids. They start these premies on such a small amount and only slightly reduce the fluids. Most of his nutrition will still come from the fluids until they up his amount of milk. Tuesday they started out by giving him 3mL of milk a feeding (which happens every 3 hours). Eventually 3mL will go up, but they have to make sure he is taking to the feedings well. They do that by checking and seeing how much of the last feeding is left over before giving him a fresh one. As long as less than half of it is in there, then he is taking them just fine.
So I got to excitedly watch an unexciting event of him taking my milk (kind of anticlimactic, because all he did was lay there while they ran the milk through a line). Yet it still made me happy nonetheless.
Tuesday I also got to kangaroo with him again and yet again I just stared at him in amazement that he is my son and he is already here!
All the families in the NICU do something called family rounds once a week. Our day is Tuesday for family rounds. What this means is the whole team of people that are working together to get Samuel strong meet and discuss his progress over the previous week and the goals for the next week. The parents are invited and encouraged to join in on the rounds as much as possible. So Ben and I were there and ready for our first set of family rounds.
The team that is working on Samuel is quite large actually, it includes the following people: doctor, nurse, dietician, lactation consultant, family liaison, social worker, physical therapist and I think I got everyone??? Basically the outcome of the first set of rounds was pretty much what we expected.
Goals: keep an eye on the ventricular hemorrhage, slowly up his dosage of milk. And I am sure they were more, but most of the goals just dealt with keep an eye on how he is doing with different things and just get him through his first week of life safely. They say he is the most fragile during the first week.
So Tuesday, because things seemed to be going well, they decided to start Sam on my milk. I had produced a bit of supply by now, so I was excited that all this time I have been spending pumping and kicking people out of Sam's room so I could pump was finally going to be put to use. Besides that, by him taking my milk, I feel like I am contributing more!
Some clarification on what it means for Sam to take my milk... He has a line that is run through his mouth into his stomach. The milk he receives will go into this line and directly to his stomach. That means he doesn't actually drink it and he does not need to be on the breast to get it, he simply receives it passively in his stomach.
Also by starting him on milk that does not mean he will no longer get IV fluids. They start these premies on such a small amount and only slightly reduce the fluids. Most of his nutrition will still come from the fluids until they up his amount of milk. Tuesday they started out by giving him 3mL of milk a feeding (which happens every 3 hours). Eventually 3mL will go up, but they have to make sure he is taking to the feedings well. They do that by checking and seeing how much of the last feeding is left over before giving him a fresh one. As long as less than half of it is in there, then he is taking them just fine.
So I got to excitedly watch an unexciting event of him taking my milk (kind of anticlimactic, because all he did was lay there while they ran the milk through a line). Yet it still made me happy nonetheless.
Tuesday I also got to kangaroo with him again and yet again I just stared at him in amazement that he is my son and he is already here!
All the families in the NICU do something called family rounds once a week. Our day is Tuesday for family rounds. What this means is the whole team of people that are working together to get Samuel strong meet and discuss his progress over the previous week and the goals for the next week. The parents are invited and encouraged to join in on the rounds as much as possible. So Ben and I were there and ready for our first set of family rounds.
The team that is working on Samuel is quite large actually, it includes the following people: doctor, nurse, dietician, lactation consultant, family liaison, social worker, physical therapist and I think I got everyone??? Basically the outcome of the first set of rounds was pretty much what we expected.
Goals: keep an eye on the ventricular hemorrhage, slowly up his dosage of milk. And I am sure they were more, but most of the goals just dealt with keep an eye on how he is doing with different things and just get him through his first week of life safely. They say he is the most fragile during the first week.
Monday, January 30 - Tears and Joy
Monday has been my most emotional day so far. I came to the NICU as soon as I could get moving in the morning. I was clearly very tired though, as I didn't arrive until almost 11am. Ben started reading the Psalms to Samuel that morning. He left to go to work shortly after I arrived.
Then the doctor came in to talk to me early that afternoon. They had run a head ultrasound on Samuel because premies tend to have some problems with bleeding in the brain. The doctor came in and explained (very kindly and gently) that they did see some bleeding in his brain. This is called intraventricular hemorrhage. Read the explanation from the link for a better explanation that what I would give. Basically though you have 2 ventricles in the brain and with premies like Samuel the blood vessels close to these can leak blood. The lower the grade rating the more minor it is, rated from 1-4. Samuel had a grade 2 on the right and a grade 3 on the left. The doctor described grades 1 and 2 like a bruise. It will take some time to heal, but leaves no lasting impact on development. Grade 3 and 4 however can possibly leave some lasting impact on development (mainly physical development, but in some cases mental as well). His grade 2 was a very minor grade 2 and his grade 3 was a more major grade 3.
Let's just say, the doctor told me this and put tons of emphasis on how it might impact future development, but many babies develop normally. Based on his activity level it was surprising that he even had such a high grade on the one side. Despite his strong emphasis on how this could mean absolutely nothing I started bawling. I hadn't let a single bit of emotion out the entire time (from going into labor on my birthday through that point. All the positive news pushed me forward, the moment I was given a slight negative the tear ducts were ripped open and I let it out.
There was some positive news the doctor had given me at the same time however. There is a valve in our hearts that is open when we are in the womb, but after we are born it naturally closes. This doesn't just naturally occur in premies however. Therefore they had given him a three day dose of medicine that is supposed to cause it to close. It had worked!! YAY!! His heart is now good to go with that valve now closed!
Then I got to kangaroo hold Samuel for the first time. That pretty much dried all my tears and gave me lots of joy. The doctor said there wasn't much we could do for him at this point until we give him another head ultrasound in a week to see if it had worsened or not. Most bleeding like this ceases within the first 7 days of life.
Kangaroo Care is something common to NICUs. Basically what it is is holding Samuel to my skin on my chest. This is something very calming to babies because they know their mother's heartbeat and rhythms of breathing and speaking. It also helps them maintain body warmth, regulate heart and breathing rates, gain weight, spend more time in deep sleep, spend more time quiet and alert with less time crying, have a better chance at breast feeding. For me doing kangaroo care has really helped me mentally and emotionally process the fact that he is here, he is my son, and I love him very much.
At St. Luke's they like you to hold your child for at least an hour. There are lots of tubes and such hooked into him, this way you make the process of getting him out and moving him more worthwhile with the extended holding period. I had them take a few photos of us, they gave me a mirror and I spent the next hour and a half gawking at him laying there on my chest. The mirror helped me gawk, otherwise I couldn't see him so close to my chin! It gave me just soo much joy to hold and love on him. Ok, I'm not really supposed to move at all, so the loving was more just by way of the holding. :-) Best feeling ever!
When they put him back in his incubator, I just wanted to pull him out again and hold him and carry him. But alas, that is for another day!
That night Ben went home before me because I stayed to pump one more time before heading home. When I was walking to the elevator to leave I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. By the time I arrived home I was all out crying. Ben asked me what was wrong and I answered, "I had to leave him there..." I know I had to leave him there and he is better off at the NICU than at home right now, but it sure didn't make it any easier to leave him there that night. I felt so helpless, Samuel's my baby and I felt like I could do nothing for him...
Then the doctor came in to talk to me early that afternoon. They had run a head ultrasound on Samuel because premies tend to have some problems with bleeding in the brain. The doctor came in and explained (very kindly and gently) that they did see some bleeding in his brain. This is called intraventricular hemorrhage. Read the explanation from the link for a better explanation that what I would give. Basically though you have 2 ventricles in the brain and with premies like Samuel the blood vessels close to these can leak blood. The lower the grade rating the more minor it is, rated from 1-4. Samuel had a grade 2 on the right and a grade 3 on the left. The doctor described grades 1 and 2 like a bruise. It will take some time to heal, but leaves no lasting impact on development. Grade 3 and 4 however can possibly leave some lasting impact on development (mainly physical development, but in some cases mental as well). His grade 2 was a very minor grade 2 and his grade 3 was a more major grade 3.
Let's just say, the doctor told me this and put tons of emphasis on how it might impact future development, but many babies develop normally. Based on his activity level it was surprising that he even had such a high grade on the one side. Despite his strong emphasis on how this could mean absolutely nothing I started bawling. I hadn't let a single bit of emotion out the entire time (from going into labor on my birthday through that point. All the positive news pushed me forward, the moment I was given a slight negative the tear ducts were ripped open and I let it out.
There was some positive news the doctor had given me at the same time however. There is a valve in our hearts that is open when we are in the womb, but after we are born it naturally closes. This doesn't just naturally occur in premies however. Therefore they had given him a three day dose of medicine that is supposed to cause it to close. It had worked!! YAY!! His heart is now good to go with that valve now closed!
Then I got to kangaroo hold Samuel for the first time. That pretty much dried all my tears and gave me lots of joy. The doctor said there wasn't much we could do for him at this point until we give him another head ultrasound in a week to see if it had worsened or not. Most bleeding like this ceases within the first 7 days of life.
Kangaroo Care is something common to NICUs. Basically what it is is holding Samuel to my skin on my chest. This is something very calming to babies because they know their mother's heartbeat and rhythms of breathing and speaking. It also helps them maintain body warmth, regulate heart and breathing rates, gain weight, spend more time in deep sleep, spend more time quiet and alert with less time crying, have a better chance at breast feeding. For me doing kangaroo care has really helped me mentally and emotionally process the fact that he is here, he is my son, and I love him very much.
At St. Luke's they like you to hold your child for at least an hour. There are lots of tubes and such hooked into him, this way you make the process of getting him out and moving him more worthwhile with the extended holding period. I had them take a few photos of us, they gave me a mirror and I spent the next hour and a half gawking at him laying there on my chest. The mirror helped me gawk, otherwise I couldn't see him so close to my chin! It gave me just soo much joy to hold and love on him. Ok, I'm not really supposed to move at all, so the loving was more just by way of the holding. :-) Best feeling ever!
When they put him back in his incubator, I just wanted to pull him out again and hold him and carry him. But alas, that is for another day!
That night Ben went home before me because I stayed to pump one more time before heading home. When I was walking to the elevator to leave I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. By the time I arrived home I was all out crying. Ben asked me what was wrong and I answered, "I had to leave him there..." I know I had to leave him there and he is better off at the NICU than at home right now, but it sure didn't make it any easier to leave him there that night. I felt so helpless, Samuel's my baby and I felt like I could do nothing for him...
Sunday, January 29 - Family Time
That night I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep so I paid a middle of the night visit upstairs to Samuel. He looked like he was doing great. I just stood there for a while staring and thinking, "You are born, you are my son, I am your mother" over and over again. Three days later I was still in shock that all this has happened.
That morning when I woke up I walked upstairs to visit Samuel again. I hadn't been discharged from the hospital yet and I had the morning to just relax before family came by. Once they came by though we spent most of our time in my room downstairs. At the NICU they don't like too many people visiting in the room at a time and we had quite a few people over. That afternoon we were supposed to be going to small group (which Ben leads currently) and due to the baby, the small group convinced him not to have it, instead they came and visited me!
We had a good time visiting with my family that came out and with any visitors that dropped by. We would make occasional visits up to the NICU. Samuel's status didn't really change at all either. So we gave thanks for the fact that they were able to make him stable on the machines they had on him.
Daniel, my brother, had a lot of fun taking pictures and videos with his fancy camera. He takes quite the photos! He also gave Ben and I the second picture that he wanted to give us for Christmas, but hadn't arrived by the time we saw him. He had taken a picture out at Camp Luther where we got engaged and then another one of the two of us at Ivannacone (sp.??) in Lincoln, NE. They were printed on a canvas which we'll be hanging in our house soon.
After everyone left to go to their own homes Ben and I went upstairs to visit Samuel for a while before leaving the hospital. When we left it all just felt very surreal. It felt wrong going home without our baby, but Ben was with me and that strengthened me.
That morning when I woke up I walked upstairs to visit Samuel again. I hadn't been discharged from the hospital yet and I had the morning to just relax before family came by. Once they came by though we spent most of our time in my room downstairs. At the NICU they don't like too many people visiting in the room at a time and we had quite a few people over. That afternoon we were supposed to be going to small group (which Ben leads currently) and due to the baby, the small group convinced him not to have it, instead they came and visited me!
We had a good time visiting with my family that came out and with any visitors that dropped by. We would make occasional visits up to the NICU. Samuel's status didn't really change at all either. So we gave thanks for the fact that they were able to make him stable on the machines they had on him.
Daniel, my brother, had a lot of fun taking pictures and videos with his fancy camera. He takes quite the photos! He also gave Ben and I the second picture that he wanted to give us for Christmas, but hadn't arrived by the time we saw him. He had taken a picture out at Camp Luther where we got engaged and then another one of the two of us at Ivannacone (sp.??) in Lincoln, NE. They were printed on a canvas which we'll be hanging in our house soon.
After everyone left to go to their own homes Ben and I went upstairs to visit Samuel for a while before leaving the hospital. When we left it all just felt very surreal. It felt wrong going home without our baby, but Ben was with me and that strengthened me.
Saturday, January 28 - We Really Have a Son!?!?!
Last Saturday the amazement at the fact that we really have a son had not worn off yet. Really the whole weekend is sort of a blur at this point, between the baby arriving so ridiculously early and all the visitors we had at the hospital, I don't know that I know for sure any more what all happened on Saturday, but I'll tell you what I do know and remember!
I got really great sleep that night, I remember waking up feeling quite energized--a feeling that I hadn't really had in so long (I would say about 4.5-5 months) that I was on top of the world when I woke up! I was just hoping that Samuel felt just about as on top of the world as I did...
That morning they took him off of the ventilator and put him on a CPAP. Yup, CPAP is what adults get put on to help them with sleep apnea. Which apnea is something that Sam has being born so young. Apnea basically is when you stop breathing for a little while. When a baby is in the womb all they can do is sort of take practice breaths of amniotic fluid, but they can't actually breathe. They do that when they are first born. Sam being born so young has not quite mastered breathing all the time. He seems to know he needs to breathe, but sometimes he'll stop breathing. We have monitors in the room that show him where his oxygen is. Normally he is able to bring it back up on his own with no problem.
Now the CPAP he is on is called a Bubble CPAP. It attaches to his nose with a special hat and either prongs or a mask. Since it is a bubble one, we get to hear bubbling noises in his room all the time. If it stops bubbling that means something isn't set right, which can happen simply from Sam opening his mouth. It can also happen that he moved or he pulled on the prongs or mask causing them not to seal properly. What the CPAP basically does for him is it keeps his air ways open so that he can breathe easier. This way it isn't as hard for him to get breaths. Eventually they will take it off of him when his lungs have matured enough and he is able to get the oxygen he needs without much help.
The other big thing that happened Saturday was he was put under bili lights for his jaundice. So that mean that a special light was set above his little incubator and they shined it on his body because that is where they could reach the most skin. Since the idea is that he is exposed to as much of the light as possible they weren't able to wrap him in very much. This meant Sam was free to show off all the kicks and punches he was doing to me the whole time in my womb! I knew he liked to move around a lot and seeing him out just proved it all the more!
During the day we received word that my brother, Daniel, was planning on coming out. He arrived pretty late and did not get to see Sam that first day. I was still staying at the hospital because their guidelines were 2 whole days after a vaginal birth, which meant I got to get discharged on Sunday.
With all the family and drop ins from other people it was a busy day! We were just thankful at the end of the day Samuel seemed to be doing well.
I got really great sleep that night, I remember waking up feeling quite energized--a feeling that I hadn't really had in so long (I would say about 4.5-5 months) that I was on top of the world when I woke up! I was just hoping that Samuel felt just about as on top of the world as I did...
That morning they took him off of the ventilator and put him on a CPAP. Yup, CPAP is what adults get put on to help them with sleep apnea. Which apnea is something that Sam has being born so young. Apnea basically is when you stop breathing for a little while. When a baby is in the womb all they can do is sort of take practice breaths of amniotic fluid, but they can't actually breathe. They do that when they are first born. Sam being born so young has not quite mastered breathing all the time. He seems to know he needs to breathe, but sometimes he'll stop breathing. We have monitors in the room that show him where his oxygen is. Normally he is able to bring it back up on his own with no problem.
Now the CPAP he is on is called a Bubble CPAP. It attaches to his nose with a special hat and either prongs or a mask. Since it is a bubble one, we get to hear bubbling noises in his room all the time. If it stops bubbling that means something isn't set right, which can happen simply from Sam opening his mouth. It can also happen that he moved or he pulled on the prongs or mask causing them not to seal properly. What the CPAP basically does for him is it keeps his air ways open so that he can breathe easier. This way it isn't as hard for him to get breaths. Eventually they will take it off of him when his lungs have matured enough and he is able to get the oxygen he needs without much help.
The other big thing that happened Saturday was he was put under bili lights for his jaundice. So that mean that a special light was set above his little incubator and they shined it on his body because that is where they could reach the most skin. Since the idea is that he is exposed to as much of the light as possible they weren't able to wrap him in very much. This meant Sam was free to show off all the kicks and punches he was doing to me the whole time in my womb! I knew he liked to move around a lot and seeing him out just proved it all the more!
During the day we received word that my brother, Daniel, was planning on coming out. He arrived pretty late and did not get to see Sam that first day. I was still staying at the hospital because their guidelines were 2 whole days after a vaginal birth, which meant I got to get discharged on Sunday.
With all the family and drop ins from other people it was a busy day! We were just thankful at the end of the day Samuel seemed to be doing well.
03 February 2012
January 27 - We Have a SON?!?!
My parents jumped in their car to come down as soon as they saw Ben's text that we were in labor and the baby was coming. They just didn't see the message until 10:30 so they got here a little later than they wanted, but also just in time.
Shortly after they arrived my Dad (an LCMS pastor) and our pastor went upstairs with us to baptize little Samuel. With him in the NICU we just wanted to make sure it happened, after all they were telling us most babies end up staying close to their due date (April 28th). It was amazing to see him get baptized.
The rest of the day I spent just in shock that he was born, we have a son, I'm a mother, I'm no longer pregnant.... WHAT just happened???? It all happened so quickly, I just couldn't quite wrap my mind around it. But we had family out and we had friends stopping by and that kept my mind occupied enough to not freak out that Sam was really just born.
We took the rest of the day kind of easy, I went and saw Samuel a few times. I finally got to eat something around 4PM (the evening before I ended up having a small supper while Ben was resting, if I knew labor was really going to happen, I probably would have eaten a lot more). One of the nurses came in and got me started on pumping. Pumping was really awkward at first, as I really didn't have any idea of what I was doing except what the nurse said. But I figured as long as I follow their advice I should be ok. The advice they had been giving me up to that point seemed to be good advice.
That night after everyone left (Ben decided he wanted to sleep at home, and I was too tired to really care where he slept) I was able to pass out and sleep like I hadn't slept in months. It felt really really good. And maybe the next day I would begin to comprehend what just happened...
We took the rest of the day kind of easy, I went and saw Samuel a few times. I finally got to eat something around 4PM (the evening before I ended up having a small supper while Ben was resting, if I knew labor was really going to happen, I probably would have eaten a lot more). One of the nurses came in and got me started on pumping. Pumping was really awkward at first, as I really didn't have any idea of what I was doing except what the nurse said. But I figured as long as I follow their advice I should be ok. The advice they had been giving me up to that point seemed to be good advice.
That night after everyone left (Ben decided he wanted to sleep at home, and I was too tired to really care where he slept) I was able to pass out and sleep like I hadn't slept in months. It felt really really good. And maybe the next day I would begin to comprehend what just happened...
January 27 - Go Time
By 1AM they had an IV in my left hand, given me drugs through the IV to try to stop the labor and shot me with a rather large needle in my butt with steroids for the baby's lungs. The goal was to get this labor stopped and shoot me with more steroids later.
I was not allowed to stand up, I had to use a bedpan (that is a rather awkward experience by the way and not something I really ever want to have to use again) and that is what I had to look forward to if they were successful in stopping labor. Well, the drugs caused the contractions to slow for about 20 minutes then they came back with even more vigor, they came just as often but much harder.
I think Ben's hand started to get sore through all the clenching of it that I was doing... Well, it did help me to concentrate on squeezing his hand. The funny thing was we were about to start taking some of the baby classes to prep us on labor and delivery, but we got a crash course from the nurses instead. They walked me through breathing techniques and I tried my best to use them in the midst of everything. I tried my hardest to not push when the desire started to hit me.
One thing is for sure, it is no fun having contractions when your bladder is full and your water hasn't broken! So after spending several hours trying to hold myself back during the contractions my water finally did break (maybe 5AM?? not real certain I was rather exhausted by then) things started feeling much much better. In fact I barely even felt the contractions after that happened!
Now the nurses asked us about giving me an epidural--something I hadn't really decided yet if I wanted or not. In all my exhaustion I looked at Ben and told him that I trust him and that I want him to make the decision because I cannot think clearly and do not trust myself. After talking it over with the nurses and finding out that baby was sitting sideways and hadn't dropped (meaning possible C-Section) he told them to give it to me. After that I was able to get some sleep (for about an hour and 20 minutes). We had to wait for our baby to drop anyways.
On a side note, our little one was always very active inside of me and it was somewhat comical as the nurses had to keep chasing him down all night! They would have his heart beat, then he would move just enough to make it hard to find again. Kind of frustrating and funny all at the same time!
When I woke up they checked me over again and found that the baby had moved and was almost in position (and in the correct vertex position--head first), so we would be pushing very soon. They got the OB doctor in, the NICU doctor, NICU nurses and who knows who all else (Ben told me there were about 8 medical staff in the room ready to welcome our baby into the world) and we started pushing. After no more than 15 minutes our baby came out and was given to the NICU doctors to get him stable so he could be transferred to the NICU upstairs.
Another side note: How can a woman push for hours? That's hard work! I could have pushed longer if needed, but seriously for hours??
In all the hubbub we were trying to find out if we just gave birth to a little boy or a little girl, finally the pronouncement was boy. So we gave him the name we had picked out: Samuel Benjamin. Samuel has quite the tuff of hair on his head. So Ben was all jealous about that. At this point I just settled back a big on the bed and Ben kept a worried eye on the reactions of the NICU doctor and nurses. From the first minute Samuel was not liking the idea of having tubes and lines stuck in and on him! They then claimed him stable enough to move upstairs, rolled him over so I could look at him and off they went (with Ben following close behind).
Samuel Benjamin was born at 12:44PM weighing 2# 8oz and was just over 15" long.
I was not allowed to stand up, I had to use a bedpan (that is a rather awkward experience by the way and not something I really ever want to have to use again) and that is what I had to look forward to if they were successful in stopping labor. Well, the drugs caused the contractions to slow for about 20 minutes then they came back with even more vigor, they came just as often but much harder.
I think Ben's hand started to get sore through all the clenching of it that I was doing... Well, it did help me to concentrate on squeezing his hand. The funny thing was we were about to start taking some of the baby classes to prep us on labor and delivery, but we got a crash course from the nurses instead. They walked me through breathing techniques and I tried my best to use them in the midst of everything. I tried my hardest to not push when the desire started to hit me.
One thing is for sure, it is no fun having contractions when your bladder is full and your water hasn't broken! So after spending several hours trying to hold myself back during the contractions my water finally did break (maybe 5AM?? not real certain I was rather exhausted by then) things started feeling much much better. In fact I barely even felt the contractions after that happened!
Now the nurses asked us about giving me an epidural--something I hadn't really decided yet if I wanted or not. In all my exhaustion I looked at Ben and told him that I trust him and that I want him to make the decision because I cannot think clearly and do not trust myself. After talking it over with the nurses and finding out that baby was sitting sideways and hadn't dropped (meaning possible C-Section) he told them to give it to me. After that I was able to get some sleep (for about an hour and 20 minutes). We had to wait for our baby to drop anyways.
On a side note, our little one was always very active inside of me and it was somewhat comical as the nurses had to keep chasing him down all night! They would have his heart beat, then he would move just enough to make it hard to find again. Kind of frustrating and funny all at the same time!
When I woke up they checked me over again and found that the baby had moved and was almost in position (and in the correct vertex position--head first), so we would be pushing very soon. They got the OB doctor in, the NICU doctor, NICU nurses and who knows who all else (Ben told me there were about 8 medical staff in the room ready to welcome our baby into the world) and we started pushing. After no more than 15 minutes our baby came out and was given to the NICU doctors to get him stable so he could be transferred to the NICU upstairs.
Another side note: How can a woman push for hours? That's hard work! I could have pushed longer if needed, but seriously for hours??
In all the hubbub we were trying to find out if we just gave birth to a little boy or a little girl, finally the pronouncement was boy. So we gave him the name we had picked out: Samuel Benjamin. Samuel has quite the tuff of hair on his head. So Ben was all jealous about that. At this point I just settled back a big on the bed and Ben kept a worried eye on the reactions of the NICU doctor and nurses. From the first minute Samuel was not liking the idea of having tubes and lines stuck in and on him! They then claimed him stable enough to move upstairs, rolled him over so I could look at him and off they went (with Ben following close behind).
Samuel Benjamin was born at 12:44PM weighing 2# 8oz and was just over 15" long.
January 26 - My Birthday!
As many or all of you are aware a lot has happened over the last week! I have not had time to write down thoughts and updates on all of it in my blog. I intend on writing a post for everyday and then trying to keep it up to date after that. So let's go to when the chaos all start.... my birthday!
In my last post I mentioned how I had stopped teaching (and by my birthday I really was missing my students) and was thankful for the ability to get a little more rest in. I was also looking forward to the extra time I had for exercise and getting the house ready for baby. In fact last week I went walking at the ymca every day for at least a half hour. It felt great!
So on the day of my birthday I had no big plans. I told Ben that I just wanted to stay home and take it easy and so he said he would make me supper that evening after work. That morning I walked at the ymca, then I came home to take a shower before getting some work done around the house. During my shower I had some pain that I hadn't experienced before, so I finished up quick and then laid down trying to get the baby to move off the nerve s/he seemed to be on. Eventually the pain stopped and I went back to work on other things.
Only now I started having a new cramping sensation. So I researched Braxton Hicks contractions versus real labor contractions and decided they were probably Braxton Hicks, as they came at very irregular intervals and by changing my activity they would stop. Then they stopped for several hours. I resolved to myself to keep an eye on it and call my doctor if they started again.
During that afternoon I got a lot of laundry done, cleaned the kitchen up nicer and made cookies. It sure felt great to bake! Then I had a student over for an hour that I was tutoring. About then is when the contractions started again, so I did my best to ignore them while I was with my student. After tutoring I had a Bible study to go to and as I didn't seem to be feeling too bad I went (only to find out it must have been canceled...). While at Church I told my husband he had to go home because he hadn't been feeling well.
We got in our cars and drove home. Ben clearly wasn't feeling well because when we got home he threw up twice! Yet he was determined to make me supper on my birthday. I made him lay down instead, after all we don't have to celebrate on my birthday, he could always make me supper the next day.
While he was laying down I started paying closer and closer attention to the cramping sensation. In my mind I wanted Ben to sleep as much as he could, as I was starting to get the idea that it could be a very long night. We were just at 27 weeks (3 months to go to the due date) and the contractions were coming every 10 minutes and lasting about the same amount of time. Around 10:30 I woke him up and said something like, "we need to go to the hospital, I think the baby is trying to come and the baby doesn't need to be coming yet." And off we went. Ben grabbed a few things to work on as he figured they would observe me for a few hours and send us home...
By 11:30 they were admitting me to the hospital as I was definitely in labor with contractions now 3-4 minutes apart. The goal when the admitted me was to stop the contractions, give me a steroid for the baby's lungs and put me on bed rest...
In my last post I mentioned how I had stopped teaching (and by my birthday I really was missing my students) and was thankful for the ability to get a little more rest in. I was also looking forward to the extra time I had for exercise and getting the house ready for baby. In fact last week I went walking at the ymca every day for at least a half hour. It felt great!
So on the day of my birthday I had no big plans. I told Ben that I just wanted to stay home and take it easy and so he said he would make me supper that evening after work. That morning I walked at the ymca, then I came home to take a shower before getting some work done around the house. During my shower I had some pain that I hadn't experienced before, so I finished up quick and then laid down trying to get the baby to move off the nerve s/he seemed to be on. Eventually the pain stopped and I went back to work on other things.
Only now I started having a new cramping sensation. So I researched Braxton Hicks contractions versus real labor contractions and decided they were probably Braxton Hicks, as they came at very irregular intervals and by changing my activity they would stop. Then they stopped for several hours. I resolved to myself to keep an eye on it and call my doctor if they started again.
During that afternoon I got a lot of laundry done, cleaned the kitchen up nicer and made cookies. It sure felt great to bake! Then I had a student over for an hour that I was tutoring. About then is when the contractions started again, so I did my best to ignore them while I was with my student. After tutoring I had a Bible study to go to and as I didn't seem to be feeling too bad I went (only to find out it must have been canceled...). While at Church I told my husband he had to go home because he hadn't been feeling well.
We got in our cars and drove home. Ben clearly wasn't feeling well because when we got home he threw up twice! Yet he was determined to make me supper on my birthday. I made him lay down instead, after all we don't have to celebrate on my birthday, he could always make me supper the next day.
While he was laying down I started paying closer and closer attention to the cramping sensation. In my mind I wanted Ben to sleep as much as he could, as I was starting to get the idea that it could be a very long night. We were just at 27 weeks (3 months to go to the due date) and the contractions were coming every 10 minutes and lasting about the same amount of time. Around 10:30 I woke him up and said something like, "we need to go to the hospital, I think the baby is trying to come and the baby doesn't need to be coming yet." And off we went. Ben grabbed a few things to work on as he figured they would observe me for a few hours and send us home...
By 11:30 they were admitting me to the hospital as I was definitely in labor with contractions now 3-4 minutes apart. The goal when the admitted me was to stop the contractions, give me a steroid for the baby's lungs and put me on bed rest...
21 January 2012
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
It's been a while since I have been on and posted, which is evidence of how busy and tiring this pregnancy and job situation has been! Finally I am sitting down to write a post and I am not completely sure what I want to say, but I know I should update.
To get perspective on where we are at on the pregnancy, we are at 26 weeks today and almost in the third trimester!! It is unbelievable that in apr. 3 months we are going to be bringing a little baby boy or girl home from the hospital. This little one sure makes her/her presence known already though! I have read forum posts about the baby playing bongos on your bladder.... Well our little one sure does do that and has been doing it since about the end of November! I have felt our baby move since about mid November. In November at our check up the doctor was using a doppler to get the heartbeat and our dear child would not stop moving! She was literally chasing our baby down on my belly. It was quite entertaining!
The December check-up was ultrasound time! Our baby kept placing his/her hands by the mouth, making it really hard to get a good 3D shot of the head. We elected not to find out the gender of our baby. So we don't know, and if we don't know we sure can't tell you!
We also had an exciting and not so fun incident the week before Thanksgiving. My husband was playing basketball and managed to not only sprain his ankle, but also break his foot. For a little more than a week now he has finally be allowed to not wear a walking boot all the time. Which is also good thing for me, because he broke his right foot, meaning I have been honored to do all the driving!
Now the reason I called this post Decisions, Decisions, Decisions is because of a decision I was left needing to make this winter. As I mentioned before the only real pregnancy symptom I have had has been exhaustion. Well, that continues to be the case. Now the exhaustion I have been experiencing has been really hard to deal with when it comes to be a first year, full time teacher.
This school year has been amazing! I have thoroughly enjoyed being a Spanish teacher. I just noticed a downhill slide when my energy never seemed to really come back. I had a slight bump in energy for about a week or two as first tri ended and the second one began, but that was it, then I was back to just being completely exhausted all the time again and this time it was wearing on my quite a bit. I started going to bed insanely early just to make it through the next day. If I got what used to be my usual amount of sleep, I would be pretty worthless the next day...
So after lots of conversations with my husband and lots of prayer I went back from Christmas break having decided to step down from the position. This has really been one of the hardest decisions of my life. I really wanted to continue, I enjoyed teaching, but at the same time the joy I felt at the beginning of the school year seemed to be lost in yawns in constantly checking the clock. Besides with our baby due in April I wasn't going to be able to finish the school year anyways...
It was amazing how quickly they managed to find someone to step in. God is good all time! After less than a week after break they were already hiring the new teacher! I met with her a few times (it turns out we live in the same town and thus have the same half hour commute to work) and then this week (Mon-Wed) I worked with her to get things set up in the classroom and let her take over. She seems like she will do a great job! I left the job feeling excited for my (former) students that they have a new teacher excited to be there and one that has a lot of energy!
Now I get to focus on nesting. :-) I haven't done too much with that this week, but this first week is more about recovery and getting my feet back under me. I did cook my husband breakfast yesterday (I hadn't cooked in a long time) and I am cooking him supper today, so I am moving forward, doing things I had been lacking the energy to do. Hoping to make our house a home ready for a newborn infant.
With this change, I am sure I will be able to get on more often and write more about what is going on. I will also be able to get caught up on things that were shoved to the side while working. I am excited about the next 3 months. It feels great to have a fresh start for the last trimester!
To get perspective on where we are at on the pregnancy, we are at 26 weeks today and almost in the third trimester!! It is unbelievable that in apr. 3 months we are going to be bringing a little baby boy or girl home from the hospital. This little one sure makes her/her presence known already though! I have read forum posts about the baby playing bongos on your bladder.... Well our little one sure does do that and has been doing it since about the end of November! I have felt our baby move since about mid November. In November at our check up the doctor was using a doppler to get the heartbeat and our dear child would not stop moving! She was literally chasing our baby down on my belly. It was quite entertaining!
The December check-up was ultrasound time! Our baby kept placing his/her hands by the mouth, making it really hard to get a good 3D shot of the head. We elected not to find out the gender of our baby. So we don't know, and if we don't know we sure can't tell you!
We also had an exciting and not so fun incident the week before Thanksgiving. My husband was playing basketball and managed to not only sprain his ankle, but also break his foot. For a little more than a week now he has finally be allowed to not wear a walking boot all the time. Which is also good thing for me, because he broke his right foot, meaning I have been honored to do all the driving!
Now the reason I called this post Decisions, Decisions, Decisions is because of a decision I was left needing to make this winter. As I mentioned before the only real pregnancy symptom I have had has been exhaustion. Well, that continues to be the case. Now the exhaustion I have been experiencing has been really hard to deal with when it comes to be a first year, full time teacher.
This school year has been amazing! I have thoroughly enjoyed being a Spanish teacher. I just noticed a downhill slide when my energy never seemed to really come back. I had a slight bump in energy for about a week or two as first tri ended and the second one began, but that was it, then I was back to just being completely exhausted all the time again and this time it was wearing on my quite a bit. I started going to bed insanely early just to make it through the next day. If I got what used to be my usual amount of sleep, I would be pretty worthless the next day...
So after lots of conversations with my husband and lots of prayer I went back from Christmas break having decided to step down from the position. This has really been one of the hardest decisions of my life. I really wanted to continue, I enjoyed teaching, but at the same time the joy I felt at the beginning of the school year seemed to be lost in yawns in constantly checking the clock. Besides with our baby due in April I wasn't going to be able to finish the school year anyways...
It was amazing how quickly they managed to find someone to step in. God is good all time! After less than a week after break they were already hiring the new teacher! I met with her a few times (it turns out we live in the same town and thus have the same half hour commute to work) and then this week (Mon-Wed) I worked with her to get things set up in the classroom and let her take over. She seems like she will do a great job! I left the job feeling excited for my (former) students that they have a new teacher excited to be there and one that has a lot of energy!
Now I get to focus on nesting. :-) I haven't done too much with that this week, but this first week is more about recovery and getting my feet back under me. I did cook my husband breakfast yesterday (I hadn't cooked in a long time) and I am cooking him supper today, so I am moving forward, doing things I had been lacking the energy to do. Hoping to make our house a home ready for a newborn infant.
With this change, I am sure I will be able to get on more often and write more about what is going on. I will also be able to get caught up on things that were shoved to the side while working. I am excited about the next 3 months. It feels great to have a fresh start for the last trimester!
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