One Week....

39 Weeks!
Wow! A lot has happened this past week. It has been a wonderful, busy, new adjustment kind of week, but I wouldn't want to change it any other way.

The Birth Story

It all started on Thursday, June 17th. This was the day for me to go into the hospital to be induced. My doctor scheduled it for an evening induction, but I called the hospital earlier in the day to ask them to squeeze me in earlier if there was room. I went about my day trying to be busy, but kept waiting for that phone call to come. The waiting was tough, because every time the phone would ring I was hoping it was the hospital, but no it was usually my sister calling to see if the hospital had called yet....she didn't want to have to be at work any longer than needed to be. ;) I finally got the call around 6:30. Ian was on his way home from work, we still needed to get Boston dropped off at Grandma Talbot's, so I told them it would be an hour before I could get there. Now, I get to make them wait! Like they cared.

We got to the hospital around 7:30. We got registered and yaddi yaddi yadda. I was told the doctor would be in around 8:30 to break my water. However, I needed to be pumped full of antibiotics before I could deliver Blake. To my surprise, I needed two doses of the antibiotics and I had to wait four hours in between each dose! So, Dr. Kvarfordt couldn't break my water until after midnight!

(Just resting & relaxing between contractions. Isn't my husband so HANDSOME! Love him!)

We started the Pitocin and antibiotics a little after 8:00. I was having good strong contractions, but they kept spacing apart. My nurse wanted them to be closer together, so she kept upping my dose of pitocin. My body was having a difficult time going into active labor with the pitocin.

(Here is my dad telling me how to do it.

Come on, he has had 7 kids, he knows what he is talking about!)

The doctor finally came about 12:45 to break my water. After that the contractions were quite painful and were coming right after the other. So, I told my nurse it was time for the epidural. The anesthesiologist wasn't all that happy to be woken up at 1:30 in the morning, but hey it's his job! I finally got my epidural and was able to relax a little.

I felt bad for my team of supporters, Ian, my mom, my sister, and my dad came by for a little while, because it was in the middle of the night and my mom had to work the next day, but after the epidural came and the pain was subsiding we were all able to take a little rest.

The nurse, who was the greatest by the way, came in after 4:00 and said I was a 9+. She had me push for a minute to see if the baby was ready to come. He was! She called the doctor. Everyone was helping get things ready. I started pushing about 4:45 and Blake William Talbot made his way into this world at 4:56 a.m. on June 18th. It was such an easy delivery which made my recovery that much faster.

Here he is!

Blake William Talbot

7 lbs. 5 oz.
20 inches long

Cute As Can Be!

Proud Mama!

Proud Papa!

Proud Grandma!

Blake was happy to have found his thumb!

The Recovery

I spent a couple of days in the hospital. I didn't have a lot of visitors, and Ian spent some time at home with Boston, so I get to cuddle and enjoy Blake all to my self!

On Friday, I felt pretty good. A little tired, but all of the excitement of having a new baby kept my body going.

By Saturday I felt and looked like warmed-over death. Good thing I didn't get any pictures of my beautiful self this day. I was very tired this day, and my body hurt from sitting in that hospital bed for too long. We checked out of the hospital this day, and I was sure excited to sit on my own couch and sleep in my own bed.

(I tried to get a picture of his feet. This was the best I could do. He is definitely his daddy's baby!)

By Sunday, I felt and looked like warmed-over death that had been reheated! Oh man, the exhaustion sure kicked in this day, fortunately I have a wonderful husband and parents that helped out a lot. My parents took care of Boston for the afternoon, so Ian and I could get some much needed rest. I don't think we actually slept a whole lot, but being able to just relax was enough.

By Monday and the rest of the week, I felt great! Still tired, but my body has recovered quite well, and am antsy at times to get out of the house. More so to get Boston out of the house, he is going quite stir crazy.

Going Home

We got home on Saturday about 5:00 in the evening. My wonderful sister bought us a Papa's Murphy Pizza and Breadsticks, so we were fed well that night.

Boston was excited to meet his little brother!

Blake's bilirubin tests in the hospital came back a little high, so the pediatrician wanted us to have him tested again on Sunday. By Sunday morning his bilirubin count went from a 10 to a 16. 16 is in the high risk zone, so the pediatrician ordered for Blake to be put on bilirubin lights and have him tested again Monday morning. The lights came Sunday evening and Blake was not very happy to be put on the light table. However, we were able to get him on there for a couple of hours. His way out of it though, was that he would pee all over the light table (despite having a diaper on!), which meant it needed to be washed and dried before he could get back on. What a clever little guy!

We had Blake tested again Monday morning. His numbers were still climbing. He want from a 16 to an 18.2. We met with his pediatrician, and he suggested we keep him on the lights and just formula feed him for the next couple of days until his numbers come down. If Blake's numbers continued to rise to 20 then we would have to consider checking him back into the hospital to be put under the lights there. I was willing to just formula feed him in hopes that his numbers would come down quicker. The formula we put him on would make Blake poop more, and that is how babies get rid of the Bilirubin. We were to get Blake tested again on Tuesday morning.

Due to some confusion with our insurance company, we had to change medical equipment companies and get a new light board. So on Monday evening we got a new light board, or suitcase so to speak. Blake hated this set of lights because it left him completely open to the cold air. He would only last about 10 seconds before he was completely miserable and screaming extremely loud.

Blake hated this setup so much that I couldn't even get a picture with him in it. So, we wanted to order a Bili-blanket. The company that we got this suitcase from said that we couldn't get the blanket unless the prescription was changed. We called the doctor's office to get the prescription changed but couldn't get a hold of the doctor, so we just had to settle for the suitcase.

Tuesday morning Blake's pediatrician called and said that he faxed the prescription over for the Bili-blanket, but he didn't like working with that particular company so his MA was making phone calls to other Medical Equipment companies to find one that would accept our insurance and send over a Bili-blanket. Tuesday morning Blake's numbers began to drop. He went from a 18.2 to a 17.5. We were excited about this and so was the doctor. He said to continue to keep him on the lights and we will retest on Thursday morning. By Tuesday evening we got another set of Bili-lights from a different company. We had three sets of lights in three days from three different companies. Oh the nightmare it was!

Fortunately, we did get the Bili-blanket. The nice thing about the Bili-blanket was that we could hold him to keep him warm, we could also put blankets on top of him to keep him warm. He still didn't like the Bili-blanket and he peed on it a couple of times too (despite our best efforts to stop this very thing from happening), but it was the best option out of the three.

Blake already has a natural glow about him, but the Bili-blanket just enhances it! :)

Thursday morning Blake was tested again. His numbers dropped from a 17.5 to an 11.2. WAHOO! The doctor was very pleased about these numbers and so were we. He even told us that we can take him off of the lights. DOUBLE WAHOO!!!

To top it all off, Blake was circumcised on Monday as well. Which, if we ever have to do Bili-lights and circumcision again, we will definitely space them apart. Blake pooped way too often, which just made those diaper changes all the more difficult for our little guy.

He is now one week old, which is crazy that time has gone by so fast. However, we are ready for the craziness of this week to be over and hopefully next week will bring a little bit of normalcy.

Boston has been doing well with Blake, but he has definitely been pushing our buttons with his defiant little attitude. His favorite word is "No" which has become our least favorite word, and we are tired of hearing it a million times a day.

Ian went back to work on Thursday. I think he has enjoyed getting out of the house a little bit, and it has forced me to get used to taking care of two kids on my own. It is an adjustment, but I really wouldn't want it any other way. We love having Blake in our home. He is a perfect baby. He loves to sleep sleep sleep, which makes it a little easier for me to keep up with Boston.

We've had great meals this week provided by family and ward members. We are so grateful to those who have provided them. Thank you everyone for your congratulations and well wish's!