2 Week Doc

I'm a bit late...but this past Monday Asher had his 2 week pediatrician appointment. I do like his pediatrician but I've heard a few really bad stories recently from a moms group that I attend. So I'm kind of up in the air about staying with him or looking into a new one already. I think we'll give it a bit longer and see how it goes. Anyway, here are the stats:
Weight: 8.7lbs 25%
Height: 21 in. 50%
Head: 14 1/2 50%
The doc mentioned that everything looks great. He went over any questions I had and explained about Asher's feeding, development, sleep, bowel/bladder and safety tips. Overall it was great except the part when Ash peed all over himself including his FACE! Eek! We managed to get him all cleaned up and and home safely! :)

Here are some recent pics:

1st day he wore shoes. haha! We went out and about that day and he got so many compliments on them! :)

My dad & stepmom (Happy & Memaw).

Not sure why this one is upside down...but this is Asher getting some tummy time on mom & dad's bed.

My mom, Mimi with Ash. (This is before Asher was treated for his jaundice...you can tell he is yellow!)

Mike's stepsister, Laurie, loving on Asher

Neighborhood girlfriends. They delivered a delicious dinner and we introduced baby Ash to baby Dash! Dash is 3 months old...they will be going to daycare together!! :)

Mike's Dad & stepmom (Grandad & Gigi)

Sweet friends visiting us at the hospital.

Back to reality...

My Dad & step mom, Dawn, came to visit for a week and left this afternoon. They were such a great help and we had a great time while they were here. They loved on Asher the whole time...it was a great visit and we can't wait for them to come back already! While they were here we got out a few times with Asher. We all went to the mall, out to dinner, to family friends house, etc. We are starting to get the hang of putting the car seat in and out of the car and packing the diaper bag to go out. Dawn was sweet enough to watch Asher and encouraged Mike & I to go on a date! We went to a local favorite for dinner (Zanata's) and out for ice cream even though it was probably 20-something degrees outside! It was nice to get out of the house...just us two! Another night we ran errands and I went to get my nails done, that was nice too!!
Tomorrow we'll be back to reality. Mike will be back to work and I'll, of course, be home with Asher. He has his 2 week wellness appointment at 8:30am. I'm still getting the hang of getting up early (after being up overnight to feed him) and be up and ready and at the doc at 8:30AM...so we'll see how I do. EEK! I feel like I need 2 hours to get me and him ready. I hope once we get in a better routine, it'll get better.

Post baby body changes:

• I can see my toes again!!!!!
• I can sleep on my stomach again! LOVE it!!
  
• I'm COOOLD as opposed to being hot all the time!
• I now have lower back pain (maybe from the epidural!??!) I need to check with the doc...
• Even though you can't tell by looking at me... I lost 24 of the 28 lbs that I gained during pregnancy! YIPEE!!!

I'll have Asher's stats after his doc appointment tomorrow BUT I can already tell that he's heavier and longer when I hold him when nursing. He's also basically growing out of the 'newborn' clothes and fits in most of the 0-3months and a few 3mo!

NICU

When we were released from the hospital from my delivery they told us that Asher had 'medium-high level of jaundice' and that we needed to go see our pediatrician on Monday for a followup. We went to our 1st appointment on Monday morning and they confirmed that the levels for jaundice were high and to keep him in the window so he can get some sun. Just our luck...it was freezing that day and snowed so no sun for Asher! They set an appointment for the very next day to see if his biliruben numbers lowered. Unfortunately they raised even higher...so they admitted Asher to the NICU! I was so scared for him. Are you serious?! My baby is only 5 days old and you are already taking him away from me?!?! We went to the hospital that evening and they started him on IV's, antibiotics and put him right under the UV lights to improve his numbers. They told us that we couldn't stay with him because he needed to be under the nurses care in the NICU and because he was on IV's he couldn't stay in a room with me for liability purposes!?!? So...I basically lived at the hospital for the next three days. I was so sad every time I saw him. The NICU nurses were super sweet and taught Mike & I a lot about what was going on. Of course we were clueless when we went in. His numbers gradually got better and better. We checked him in at 21.7 and they released him on Thrusday at 7.4! So thank God he improved tons!!!

Hooked up to IV's under the UV lights. I lost it when I saw him like this!! :(

Broke my heart!!

To help things get better faster--we decided to supplement a bit of formula.
Mike feeding Asher for the 1st time! :o)) They both loved it!

Our sweet baby boy just before he was released.

Pictures!!!

getting wheel-chaired to my L&D room!

Delicious last supper!

Sweet baby Asher!

First family picture!

First picture with mommy!

First picture with daddy!

Asher Anthony

Going home outfit!

Taking a walk through the hospital halls on our last night there.

Baby Boy!

Happy Birthday Asher!!!!

Asher Anthony Atkins (yep, we changed the middle name AFTER he was born! ha!)
DOB: Wednesday January 5th, 2011
Time: 12:52pm
Weight: 7lb 15oz
Length: 20in
Hair: strawberry blond that sticks up like a mo-hawk (no hair products needed! hehe!)

Ahhhh, I can't even describe the feeling now that I'm a MOMMY!!!! I LOVE every second of it!!! Mike documented some of the events as they happened at the hospital. I'm listing them here for my own purposes...they are probably pretty boring to most, but you're welcome to read how my hospital visit went.

Monday 1/3/2011:

8:30am:
Doctor visit to check blood pressure, high levels again. Doc said 'Ready to have a baby?!?' 'Yes!' I answered! He admitted us to the hospital right then...! EEK! Luckily we had our bags packed since we live over an hour away from the hospital. The doc explained that we would start the induction process this evening and by tomorrow at lunch time the baby would likely be here!

9:30:
McDonald's breakfast, stopped at my moms house to pick up nursing bras that she bought me! (Thanks Mom!!)

10:35am:
Checked into Baylor Frisco, answered a million questions, put my gown on and had to rest in the bed because of my high BP.

11:10am:
Labs...blood taken, urine sample, baby monitors on belly for Asher's heart rate tracking, filled out forms

3:40pm:
Last Supper: They explained that they have an amazing chef on staff and they can make me WHATever I wanted. I chose chicken salad sandwich, baked lays, sprite, chocolate ice cream and fruit! hahaha, it was DELISH!

4:30pm:
IV Prep in right wrist area. Eek, I hate needles!

5:15pm:
My mom came to visit. She mentioned that she took tomorrow off work in order to be at the hospital at the time of delivery! She also calmed my nerves a bit...I was so nervous!

8:45pm:
Nurse came in to say that my doctor called the hospital and postponed everything for 24-hours due to a 'schedule conflict'!!! GRRRRRRR! We were so upset! Since I was all prepped up and also still had high BP they wouldn't let me leave the hospital! I encouraged Mike to go home in order to get some rest in our comfy bed rather than at the hospital. Sooo, he left and they gave me sleeping meds in order to help me sleep. It worked just great...zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Tuesday 1/4/2011:

9am--8:55pm: sat in my bed ALL day long. Played games on my phone, called friends/family, watched TV and ate food

8:56pm:
Moved to L&D room #7
1st dose of Cytotec given to soften cervix
dilated to 1cm

11:05pm: Ambian given to help me sleeeep
contractions started to hurrrrt

Wednesday 1/5/2011:

1:05am: 2nd dose of Cytotec given to keep softening cervix
LOTS of pain and contractions

lots of crying and shaking throughout the night...I was so scared, nervous and overwhelmed!

5:55am: dilated 3cm, pain and strong contractions continue

6am: IV fluids and got epidural process started

6:15am: Nursery nurse comes in to get Asher's table set up for delivery!

6:38am: epidural in. OUCH but totallllly worth it! No more feeling the contractions! Numb and heavy legs!

7:10am: urine catheter placed. Nope, didn't feel it! :)
Doctor comes...breaks bag of water

7:15am: My mom arrives, I'm feeling great!

8am: Pitocin started

8:15am: Mike's dad & stepmom arrive.

10am: 5cm dilated!

11:10am: 8cm dilated!

11:15am: delivery table delivered and prepped

11:55am: 10 cm dilated! Time to PUSH!

12:52pm: our sweet baby Asher was born!

Our overall experience was WONDERFUL! We would totally recommend the hospital, my doctor, the staff...everything! Asher came out very healthy. Over the course of days following in the hospital Asher was circumcised, bathed, tested for hearing, footprints taken, and loved on by lots of family and friends that came to visit! We are overjoyed and can't believe we are so blessed to have such a sweet baby boy! Thank you God!!

Update

So my appointment on Thursday was good...
Really all they did was check my blood pressure to see if the bed rest has helped lower it. Luckily, it did and my BP was in the normal range! We were thankful, especially after reading lots of scary things on the internet in the previous nights. They also checked the heartbeat and it was great too! He checked my ankles and feet for swelling...luckily none there! I have another appointment on Monday to check my BP again. If it rises at anytime now they will induce...soooo, again, we potentially might have this baby on Monday! We are SO ready. Bags packed in the car and everything! If my BP continues to stay in the normal range then I will continue to be on bed rest. It's still SO weird not going to work and not being on a schedule. I'm secretly thankful for it because I haven't been getting ANY sleep. Wednesday night I literally got TWO hours of sleep. Of course I took a nap in the afternoon....and last night couldn't sleep until 2:45 and woke up at 7am today. It's been crazy but nice not having to go to work and actually function!
My mom is coming over today and we are having lunch. She is bringing a BP device so I can track my own BP this weekend. (She's a nurse and has been nervous since my appointment last week when my BP was so high!) She also bought me a bunch of nursing bras which I'm quite excited about!
Tonight for NYE the hubs and me will pretty much just sit here! LOL. Since I'm pretty much confined to the house we'll just celebrate with a nice dinner. Haven't decided on steak or crab legs...we'll see. I hope everybody has a safe NYE and a super duper happy New Year!!!

Bed Rest!?! EEK

So yesterday during my weekly OB appointment it didn't go quite as planned. Basically in a nutshell my blood pressure has risen. They took my blood pressure about 5 times during my visit to see if it would go down...and it didn't. I even had to lay down on my left side for some time to relax (but really after the 4th time of high blood pressure and you won't let my husband in the room with me...I think YOU would have high blood pressure TOO!). Sooo, the doc finally came in after the 5th attempt...
Doc: Do you work?
Me: Yep
Doc: Well....not anymore!
Me: OMG! Are you serious?!?
Doc: Yes, you are now on bed rest until your baby comes!
Me: OMG! Are you serious?!?

I have another appointment in on Thursday to see if the BP gets back to normal after being on bed rest at home (luckily not in the hospital!!!). Basically they said if it goes down then I will stay on bed rest at home and if it's still high then they will induce laborrrrrrrrr! Are you kidding me?!?! Soooo, I might be delivering this sweet baby in TWO days!!!! That alone pretty much shot up my BP right there!
My appointment was in the afternoon so I went back to work for the remainder 2 hours to finish up anything that I was working on. Of course, that wasn't enough time...so that's all I've been thinking about! I know, I know...I should just wipe it out of my mind but obviously everything took me by surprise and I didn't expect to be leaving so soon!!! It's so weird to think that I won't be going back for another 3 months or so (depending on when the baby comes)! Whew!
Doc told me and Mike a bit about the possibility of preeclampsia which was scary. I came home to do more research and it could be very serious. Gulp! Today is my first day home resting. It's nice because Mike works from home Tuesdays & Thursdays so once again he has proven to be the best husband in the world and comes to check on me, bring me water, talks to Asher, and reminds me to relax. I'm anxious to see what happens on Thursday...I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, I'm praying for Asher and me! :)

One the lighter note...Christmas was amazing. We spent so much time with family. As always I wish ALL of our family could be together, but it was nice being with a good chunk of them that live here in town. We went to the Christmas Eve service with my mom & step dad and also Mike's dad & step mom & 2 step sisters. It was fun. From there we did Christmas at Mike's dads. Christmas day we slept in, opened our gifts to each other and then headed to Mike's aunt's house and then to my mom's house (both in Plano). I got lots of wonderful gifts and ate lots of good food! I'm so glad Jesus was born!!!