Monday, March 12, 2012

Our crazy beautiful life

I feel like my life is one big rush, but the days are passing quickly. It's hard to juggle splitting time among Aliyah and Jayden, but I'm doing it! Bryan went back to work last Monday, so I've been on my own. I am recovering pretty good, still a little sore & swollen, but over all I'm doing good & I've only had a couple mental breakdowns ;).

I've been trying to do things with Aliyah like we did before so she doesn't feel left out. She has been really clingy & having more tantrums lately, which I knew was going to happen. She understands that jayden is in the hospital and he gets to come home when he gets bigger & better, but I don't think she truly understands that he will be LIVING with us & that she will have to share her mommy, daddy, grandparents & her house with him. That might come as a shock to her!

Jayden is doing so good. I am amazed by him, as are all of the nurses and doctors. He has a large opening in one of the arteries of his heart which caused him to have a slight murmer. The doctors aren't too concerned about it right now because he is not showing any signs of it bothering him. Hopefully it will just close on its own. If he starts showing any symptoms of it, he will need surgery. So fingers crossed! Other than that, he hasn't had any major changes. He is up to 2 pounds 5 ounces as of today, and is now taking a 1/2 of an ounce of breast milk! That may seem like a small amount, but it's alot for his little belly. He is changing every day & is so precious. I spend about 3 or 4 hours with him a day & I get to hold him the majority of the time. Bryan held him for the very first time yesterday. He was scared & didn't move the whole time, but it was precious

This whole thing has made our marriage so much stronger. I have definitely fallen in love all over again. I am so lucky to have such a great husband to love & co parent with. He is my best friend

We cannot wait to take jayden home & live a normal life again! Hoping the days, weeks, and months go by quickly so we can have our family all together

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Introducing baby Jayden

This passed week has been an emotional roller coaster.

I'll start from where it all began. Monday, February 20 I woke up for work and my face, hands and feet were extremely swollen. I didn't really think much about it and went to work. I sent pictures to my mom and aunt and of course they were freaking out and told me I needed to go to the hospital. I went to work for a couple of hours. By this point I was light headed and started to see spots. I called Bryan and he met me at banner gateway hospital around 7:45 am. They checked my blood pressure and immediately sent me back to a room. Everyone appeared to be very concerned at this point. My blood pressure was abnormally high. They started doing tests and foud that I had a +3 level of protein in my urine as well as high blood pressure. This meant my liver was not working like it should be. I was also having chest pains. They took me to do a CT scan to see if i had any blood clots in my lungs and thankfully I did not. They put the baby on the monitors and he appeared to be doing just fine. They continued to do more and more tests and finally determined that I had preeclampsia. I had no idea how serious this was. I thought they were just going to send me home on bed rest. Boy was I wrong.

The nurses came in and started talking about maybe having to deliver the baby today because of my condition. By this point I was starting to freak out. They said they were going to call an ambulance and transfer me to banner desert because the nurses and doctors there are more certified to handle these types of circumstances. the ambulance came and got me around 5 pm and took me to banner desert. I was put into a labor and delivery room and doctors and nurses came in to talk to me about preeclampsia and everything that could possibly go wrong. They said they were going to keep me in labor and delivery on case they had to deliver the baby that night.

Bryan spent the night with me, and got up and went to work the next day. Being away from Aliyah was extremely hard and all I could do was cry. I had no idea how long I was going to be in the hospital or what was going to happen to me
Or the baby. I was so scared. So Tuesday passed, my blood pressure remained high. They did a blood test and my platelettes were low, but they didn't seem too concerned. I was given two doses of steroids to make Jaydens lungs develop faster in case he needed to be delivered. I also had an ultra sound and he was monitored 24/7. Jayden appeared to be doing fine, and under no stress. My body was just rejecting him. The doctors said the only cure to preeclampsia was delivery.

Wednesday came and everything stayed the same except that my platelettes were even lower and my blood pressure was high, but again they didn't seem too concerned at this point.

Thursday, they did another blood test and another ultra sound. I felt okay and Bryan went home this afternoon to let Aliyah play and he did some laundry: so I was by myself. The doctor came in around 6pm and informed me that my platelettes dropped a lot and my liver was starting to fail. They were concerned with my health and Said they would need to deliver the baby on Friday at 2pm.

I didn't know what to think. He was only 27 weeks. Was he going to make it? Was I? I had no idea what was going to happen. Bryan got there shortly after the doctor came in and was just as scared as I was. They moved me back to labor and delivery and gave me the meds that I needed. Then I was supposed to try and rest. Ha. I was so scared, I was up all night. 2pm Friday seemed like An eternity away.

2 o'clock came and they prepped us and took us back for surgery. I got a shot of anesthesia in my spine and Bryan was able to come in the room with me. The doctor was running late so I was freakong out that the numbness was going to wear off. She finally came and they started the csection. They started at 2:58 and he was born at 3:04. It was the wierdest feeling ever. I could feel them moving around inside of me. When they took jayden out, he cried a soft little cry. I cried. I couldn't believe it. They started putting me back together and Bryan got to cut his cord and take pictures of him. He was 1pound 11 ounces and 12.5 inches long. I've never seen anything so small. They immediately stuck a tube down his throat and took him up the the NICU.

After I was in recovery for a while, I was able to go see him. He was so tiny. I couldn't believe it. They put him in an incubator and put a Cpap machine on him. He was breathing on his own, so he didn't need oxygen or a ventilator. They put lights on him to prevent jaundice. I couldn't believe we created such a tiny little miracle.

We stayed in the hospital untill I was discharged today. My blood pressure stayed high, so I was sent home with medicine. Jayden has continued to shock all of the nurses. He has started to eat thru his feeding tube. Getting breast milk has been a challenge, but it's coming. Bryan has been so helpful and I am definitely blessed to have him in my life.

This is going to be an extremely rough next couple of months, but we will continue to take it day by day & pray for the best <3 he was sent here early for a reason.