Jacob is 2 weeks old - 1/3 of the way there!

Jacob update: He is doing great! I don't have any new pictures so the picture below is his Christmas picture. Isn't he cute?!? Today was a big day for him...they took him off his IV! He was getting a combination of breast milk (I pump and take it to the hospital - it has become my least favorite part of this. I feel like a cow being milked and don't get any bonding time with my little boy.) and IV fluids. As they increase his food they decrease his IV and today they completely took him off of it and removed the IV line in his arm. He is 2lbs 14oz. He had a big poop and lost a little weight. He is handling his food well. They are increasing it every 6 hours now. He still can't take a bottle yet. Hopefully next week they will start trying. He had an episode where he stopped breathing Monday because he was sucking too hard on his pacifier. His brain isn't quite developed enough to suck and breathe or even sleep and breathe sometimes. They say on average they stay in the NICU 6 weeks, so that is why we are 1/3 of the way there. He is still beautiful and such a fun little man!

Mommy update: I'm doing well. I went to the doctors today and my blood pressure is normal and I lost 35lbs! I'm below my pre-pregnancy weight. This was the best diet, but I think next time I'll do it the old fashion way. Now I just have to rest. It is hard because I have things I want to do (like clean out the cabinets and organize Jacob's clothes) and I just have to remember to take baby steps with it. I get to drive now and am looking forward to driving myself to the hospital tomorrow. I'm normally there everyday from noon until about 2 or 3. If you want to come visit you can while I'm there, just give me a call (407-421-8944) and let me know when you want to come (I normally have my cell off while I'm there).

Jacob's story part 2: I went to my doctors appointment again just thinking that I would get some medicine for my itching. When they took my blood pressure the top number was 141 which is high, but it has been high. I then had protein in my urine and of course had all of the swelling and had gain a good amount of weight since I had been there last. The doctor checked me out and decided to put me on bed rest (she even gave me a note for work) and that made me cry as I realized how sick I really was and said she wanted me to go to the hospital 2 times a week and get monitored for 30 min (they would monitor Jacob's heartbeat and mine and my blood pressure) and then come back every 2 weeks for another doctor's visit. She wanted me to head over to the hospital then to get monitored and have more blood work done. While I was still there, she called over to triage and told them that I was coming. As soon as I stepped out the door I had a call from Stacy (my cousin who is a labor and delivery nurse). She was working in triage that day. I was so glad since I was alone that she would be with me.

Once I got to the hospital, Stacy hooked me up to all kinds of monitors and I called my mom to update her. Before I finished that phone call completely Stacy had an update for me and I knew it wasn't too good so I got off the phone. When I was at the doctors, she did tell me that if the hospital didn't like my blood pressure, they might keep me overnight to monitor me longer. Stacy had the pleasure of telling me that she had to admit me. My blood pressure had gotten as high as 160/110. Also, I was told that they might have to do a C-section soon. I definitely had preclampsia, it was a mild case, but bad enough for them to keep me.

So, we headed over to labor and delivery and I was given a room. Stacy called my mom and Adam for me as I was just slowly taking in everything. At that point, I wasn't convinced that they would take Jacob so early. Once I was in the room, the doctor came in and said that basically if my blood pressure didn't go down soon, they would be doing a C-section and even if it did go down, they were keeping me in the hospital until I had the baby. They started me on this IV medicine to lower my blood pressure. It first made me feel like I was on top of a volcano. I felt hot all over. That lasted about an hour. Oh, did I mentioned that I hadn't eaten anything since the morning and they wouldn't let me eat anything. They had admitted me around noon and I was hungry and not too satisfied with just ice chips. Anyway, then the medicine made my muscles relax and made me just feel a little out of it.

I had some visitors which was nice to keep my mind off of everything. Adam and my mom got there soon after I was admitted. Everyone was nervous about what was happening to me, but I wasn't too bad yet. Stacy gave me a steroid shot that would help Jacob's lungs develop quickly. It hurt like crazy! She gave it to me around 2pm and it is a series of 2 shots, 24 hours apart and then they like to wait at least 12 hours before doing the C-section, but any amount of time that the shot is in me is helpful.

They left me on the blood pressure medicine, but told me that they couldn't leave me on that too longer because it would start to affect Jacob and his heart rate would drop and that would be dangerous for him. Stacy kept popping in and out, checking on me and answering questions. It was so wonderful to have her there and have her be the one to break all of the bad news to me. They did let me eat dinner that night - the food probably wasn't that good, but to me it was the best. The doctor checked on me one more time before we went to bed (me in the bed you normally give birth in - not too comfortable - and Adam in the recliner - again, not too comfortable), and said I was looking pretty good and it might be even Friday or Saturday before they did the C-section. I was glad about that as every moment Jacob was in me gave him a better chance. So we went to sleep...well kind of. I didn't sleep at all that night. I itched and itched. I couldn't go to the bathroom without help because I couldn't stand by myself (the medicine relaxed my muscles too much and I just sunk down). My blood pressure was taken on the hour and the nurse came in on the half hour. So, that was my Tuesday excitement!

All in all I was in good spirits. It was only the grace of God that kept me calm and not really thinking about all of the scary possibilities. I know I had everyone worried, especially Adam. To be continued...