Birth Story (Part 2)

After Gavin was born he had a hard time getting enough oxygen and they did a bunch of tests and x-rayed his lungs. I was still sort of out of it when they wheeled me downstairs to our room. The nurses and doctors updated me a few times telling me that hopefully they would be able to bring him to me in a couple of hours. Well those couple of hours turned into a few hours and it felt like an eternity.

They ended up putting him on an antibiotic and in the NICU. Those hours were so hard. It was so hard knowing I hadn't really seen my son yet.  Chris held him up to me after he was born before they took him downstairs but I was so out of it by that point that I couldn't really register anything. I remember at one point when one of the nurses was talking to me about Gavin telling me if they hadn't brought him to me by nine that night that they would take me in to see him and I just cried. I knew he was getting the care he needed but I just wanted to be with him.

At about nine thirty or so they wheeled me in (still in the bed) to see Gavin. It's so hard to see your little baby hooked up to so many monitors with an IV in his little foot. He was so beautiful and I was so grateful to be with him. The next time I saw him was a few hours later when they called me to come in to feed him. I was still attached to everything at this point and it was hard to get around. I remember them calling on the phone saying he's ready to eat and I could hear him cry. That was all I needed to get out of that bed. It hurt and it was hard to get up (a lot of help was required from Chris) but it was so worth it knowing I would get to see my beautiful baby.

Those precious hours we spent in the NICU were wonderful. I would feed Gavin and then Chris would burp him so we would both get a chance to hold him. I think the fact that I had to get up to see him was motivation for me to get up and I think it helped me recover quickly. I remember one of my nurses told me that the best way to recover from a c-section is to act like it didn't happen. I had been so scared to get up and feel the pain from everything in the beginning but having to get up to see Gavin helped me so much.

We were blessed to have Gavin when we did. Had he been born much later in the year and we wouldn't have been able to take anyone in the NICU with us to see him. We were blessed to be able to take two people in at a time to see him. They didn't necessarily get to hold him but I was so proud to show him off. After 48 hours in the NICU Gavin was able to come be with us. What a wonderful gift. Chris and his brothers and his dad helped give Gavin a blessing. I am so appreciative that I have a worth priesthood holder in my home and that can take care of our family. We had to rely on the Lord so much in the first few weeks of Gavin's life. It definitely strengthened our testimonies.

After Gavin came out of the NICU he had to go under a biliblanket because his bilirubin levels were high. They had him on the blanket for a while and were going to check his levels and possibly send us home with a biliblanket. Well when they checked the levels they had gone up even though he was on the blanket. We decided to have him stay a little longer under the lights. It was hard to watch him under the lights because they had to cover his eyes. Gavin has always been a very alert baby and did not like having his eyes covered. He would be fine but any time the door would shut or there was a loud noise he would turn his head toward the noise and lose it because he couldn't see what was happening. Being under the lights helped his levels so much that we didn't even have to go home on a blanket. We only had to go back to the hospital and have him checked once. It was wonderful.

The day that we went home Grandma Debbie and Aunt Amanda picked up Brooklyn so that she could come spend the first two weeks at home with baby Gavin. Our nurse was running a little late in coming to check us out so she gave us all three of the diaper bags that the hospital offers. All of our nurses were so nice and friendly and helpful. I am so grateful for all the wonderful people that took care of me and my baby during our stay in the hospital.

Back to Work

Well today is my first day back to work. I loved the time I had at home with my little man and hope to be home with him again soon. I haven't posted much in the last few months... it's much more fun to spend my time with Gavin then it is to spend time on the computer.

Gavin is being taken care of by family which is wonderful. Being gone from him, it's comforting knowing he's with people that love him. I'm not gonna lie it's been a really hard day and I just held him and cried for quite a while before I left this morning.

Anyway... I'll probably update my blog more often and I can catch up on all the wonderful things that have been going on with our family. Which reminds me I need to change the name of our blog... any name suggestions are more than welcome :)