Finally, a new post!

Can you believe it? I'm posting!!! Sorry it has taken me so long. I am starting to feel better and spending most of my days at the hospital. I want to try (don't hold me to it) and post just about every day. I want to share the story - so much went on and I know that not all of you got the full story and then also put updates. I'll break the story into little pieces so that you don't have to spend 2 hours reading it.

Jacob update: he is doing good. He looks sooooo good. He is 2lbs and 11oz. His nurse today said that he is the smallest one in level 2 nicu (that is where he will go home from - they don't have a level 1, odd) and the only reason why he is there is that he is doing so well medically. We had a rough day today and I didn't get to hold him as much as normal. He was just a little bit agitated. I think it is because I got there an hour later than normal...he is his mother's child. They are going to start increasing his feedings. He is fed through a tube through his nose (the part of his brain that tells him how to suck isn't developed yet and will take another 2-3 weeks). They feed him 3 milliliters every 3 hours and will be increasing that 1 milliliter every 9 hours. He is our beautiful baby boy!

Mommy update: I'm feeling pretty good. I stay on my pain medicine, but am starting to be able to go longer between pills. I'm very emotional and cry a lot. Today I'm having a rough day and am overwhelmed with how long it will be before I get to bring my baby boy home so I've had lots of tears. Everyone says I am looking smaller. I lost 17lbs in a week! That is how much water I was retaining and I still have some to lose. What a great diet! I walk everywhere now and don't need a wheelchair for the hospital anymore. I'm slow, but I make it!

Jacob's Story Part 1: The story really started before last Tuesday. The first complication I had was swelling in my hands and numbness in my fingers. I wore a brace at night that helped with the pain, but there was nothing we could do for the numbness and it would only go away with delivery.

Just when I was getting used to that, I started to itch. I itched and itched and itched. Mostly at night. I think that started 4 weeks before he was born, but I don't remember. My feet also began to swell and swell. At some point they tested me for preclampsia (don't know if I spelled that correct). I had spots in my vision one night (12/03) and I went to the hospital. They checked on the results of my preclampsia test and it was negative and they sent me home.

I seemed to be doing OK, still itching, but doing OK.

Monday night (12/10) I had a really bad night. I was so itchy and irritated and felt like I was going to jump out of my skin. I didn't sleep at all. I called the doctor that Tuesday and they worked me in. They ordered more tests and thought I might have something wrong with my gallbladder and that would be causing the itching. If that was the case, then they could give me another medicine (I was already on one that wasn't working) and I should be good to go. The only problem was that it took 7 days to get the results back. So, that Wednesday I went and got my blood drawn for that test and waited.

The next Monday (12/17) they called and said the results were back in and were positive and that the doctor wanted me to come in so that they could go over everything. I made an appointment for 9:40 Tuesday morning (12/18). I was excited because finally we had a reason for my itching and they could fix it.

Meanwhile, my feet were continuing to swell and my ankles were huge and (sorry it I gross you out) my urine had started to get really dark, but I was drinking a ton and my trips to the bathroom were not increasing that much....to be continued.

I'll post more pictures later as I get further along in the story. Here is Jacob's first picture ever. Here he is only a couple of hours old!