Baby Love

Jackson Wesley

May 11, 2010

12:09AM

7lbs, 4oz

19 1/2 inches

I had baby! I had a perfect, wonderful, amazing little baby boy who has stolen my heart and change my life forever. Here’s what happened:

My water broke at around 9:15 on Mother’s Day night and contractions starting about 10 that evening. My doctor was not on call at Northside Forsyth, so we were instructed to go to Northside Atlanta, which we did. We checked in a little after 10:30 and after being checked, my doctor told us that my water had broken “prematurely” – this means that normally women have contractions and THEN their water breaks, and mine was opposite, so it was going to be a long night!

I received my epidural and things were moving along slowly, but surely. I also received pitocin to help speed things up. About 4PM on Monday, I had five very strong contractions in a row (which I didn’t know because of the epidural). Jackson couldn’t take it and his heart rate dropped dramatically. Immediately the doctors and nurses went into action. They were prepared to perform an emergency c-section, but luckily, they were able to get his heart rate back up quickly.

About 10PM (about 24 hours into labor!!!), I was finally dilated to 10cm and we were ready to push! I pushed for just over an hour, but something wasn’t right. He would start to come out, but then get pulled back into. Finally, my doctor said that Jack just wasn’t going to come out this way and recommended a c-section.

I was sent to the OR about 15 minutes later for the c-section. Chris was able to be there with me. Needless to say, I was scared. It took about 10 minutes to get Jackson out (12:09AM, to be exact), but I immediately noticed he wasn’t crying. Chris went back to the table in the OR with him. It took a minute or two, but I finally heard him crying and it was the most beautiful sound I have ever heard!

The nurse showed me Jack very quickly and I was informed that Chris and Jack were going to the nursery. I knew something wasn’t quite right, but seeing his beautiful face and hearing his cry, I knew he would be okay. I was sent to recovery and about 20 minutes later, Chris came down. He told me we had a healthy baby boy weighing 7lbs, 4oz! Because I was so tired (it was close to 1:30AM now) and pretty drugged up, I sent Chris back to the nursery to be with Jack. About 2:30, I was released from recovery and wheeled up to my room, where Chris and Jack’s Godfather Jeremy were waiting. But one person was missing – Jackson.

Chris and Jeremy informed me that Jack was in the transition nursery (also known as NICU) – where newborns would were born with issues go for observation. Jackson’s cord was around his neck when he was delivery and he need oxygen when he came out. Now, some newborns are born with the cords around their necks with no problems vaginally, but it turns out, this is why when I was pushing, Jackson would start to come out and then just sucked back in. The cord was wrapped so tightly around his neck that it was pulling him back inside. When he was delivered via c-section, he was blue, but PRAISE GOD they were able to provide him oxygen and within a minute, he was absolutely perfect! They took him to the transition nursery for observation for six hours. The neo-natal doctor observed him and concluded that he was completely and totally healthy and there would be no problems from the lack of oxygen!! Follow ups with the pediatrician have told us the same thing!

Chris and I finally got to have him about 6AM Tuesday morning. It was so amazing to have our little bundle of joy finally with us and, after this experience, we truly feel blessed to have him in our lives! He is amazing and beautiful and perfect. He has a very healthy set of lungs that he enjoys showing off at every diaper change!

Oh, and Chris and I are fine, too – the labor and pushing, while it didn’t really hurt (thank the Lord for the epidural), took a lot of out me, but emotionally, both Chris and I were just exhausted. Poor Chris has taken the worst of it. He was absolutely amazing taking care of me during labor and he is a pro at the Daddy thing.

We stayed at Northside until Friday evening. They released us in the middle of Friday night rush hour, which we weren’t too thrilled about. Unfortunately, though, when they tell you it’s time to go, you have to go. Needless to say, it was the scariest car ride we have ever taken!

The first week home was a whirlwind and we truly appreciate all the cards, letters, emails, texts and dinners! We are adjusting to our new lives as parents and Jack is a great baby! He’s definitely an eater – already back up to his birth weight and he loves his newborn lounger and his swing. The sleep schedule is the hardest to get used to, especially since Jack loves to stay awake after his 3AM and 6AM feedings, but will sleep after his other feedings.

Having Jack has been hands down the most amazing experience of my life. Even when he cries, it is the most beautiful sound. As Chris said, because there was a moment when he was born that we were worried that he wouldn’t ever cry, hearing his voice just reminds us how truly blessed we are.

Bye Bye Work!

Today is my last day at work until the end of July! I really can’t believe it. I mean, I know it’s not a vacation or anything like that, but I have had a job of some sorts since I was 14 years old. I babysat in the summer or worked at the movie theatre or at my mom’s office all through high school and college until I graduated and got my own job. The longest I’ve been off work was for two weeks between my brief stint at that horrible company AppVault and FCS. And even then, I was preparing for my job at FCS. It’s completely foreign to me to turn off work for almost 3 months. At TMP, you were never really away from work because you were always thinking about the next project or ad that needed to be placed. I got into a really horrible habit of checking my work email and voicemail from home and responding to them on nights, weekends, and holidays, something I do now at FCS (even though I do it a lot less). Work is just work. It took me a long time to realize that, luckily, no job I’ve ever had is life and death. No one was going to die if an ad didn’t get placed. The world isn’t going to end if an applicant has problems submitting their documents. But still, it’s important to me to get things done and done well because I do try to be good at what I do and I genuinely want people to be happy and have a good experience with my company.

But for the next 10 weeks, it’s time to unplug.

Because this about Jack, Chris and me. This is about creating our family and building a life together. It’s about giggles and laughter and bottles and diapers and midnight feedings and no sleep and amazement and new discoveries. It’s a time for friends and family to come together and celebrate. I am still amazed about the whole process of pregnancy and the end result. I cannot believe the amount of love and joy I feel for this little person that, just a few short months ago, was just a thought. And for the next 10 weeks, I plan to do nothing but spend every minute learning about him.

So, peace out work! I am sure FCS will survive without me for a few months. And if not and the walls come crumbling down while I’m gone, I’m definitely asking for a raise when I get back!

It's the last...

This is it. The last week. Today is the last Tuesday that I won’t have a son. Sometime next Tuesday, Jack will be here. Of course, it could happen before that, but I highly doubt it. I think I’ll make it to the 11th no problem. Actually, I’ll make it to the 10th and go into the hospital that night and they’ll start the induction process.

I’m having issues with the whole “last” thing. Last weekend was the last weekend that Chris and I have all to ourselves (since my mom’s coming into town on Saturday). That was incredibly hard. I can’t really explain the emotions other than simply putting it like this: Chris and I have been together for 13 years. It’s always been me and him. If I didn’t love Chris with all my heart and soul, and know that he loves me, I would never have had thought about having a child with him. It doesn’t matter how excited and thrilled I am about Jack – it’s extremely difficult for me to thinking about the dynamic of our relationship changing, even if in my heart I know it’s a change for the absolute best. I hope that doesn’t make me sound like a bad person or a bad mom.

ANYWAY – the last few days are going to be busy. The nursery is done! Well, I still have to hang pictures on the wall, but that’s it! We have a diaper bag (Skip Hop Dash Deluxe in Cherry Bloom, in case you were wondering), but still no glider for the nursery. (I guess I shouldn’t have said it was “done”…) We moved my big Crate&Barrel chair from the living room into the nursery, so that will work for now. I have two more doctor’s appointments – one with Dr. Korotkin on Friday and one with Dr. Nezhat on Monday. Friday is my last day at work until the middle of July. Monday night, I will be admitted to Northside Forsyth sometime after 6PM. And then, it’s just when Mr. Baby Jackson Man (Anne Marie’s nickname for him) wants to make his grand appearance.

It’s crazy to think that this time next week, I could be holding my baby. Or I could still be waiting. Or I could be in the middle of labor, screaming my head off.