HELLP!

So we ended up coming home from the hospital Saturday afternoon- by Sunday my feet had swollen so much it was scary. I knew that it was more than "normal" after a pregnancy.  I called Lakeside Hospital to let them know- but they just said I was over reacting and it was normal- to keep my feet elevated and I was fine.

Monday we had Braxtons 1st follow up appt with Dr. Adair at her office.  We were so excited to go! However, the excitement soon faded into worry- Dr. Adair examined him and he was losing weight at an alarming rate.  He lost more than the 1 pound that is normal- he was now down to 6 pounds 9 ounces.  He wasnt getting any food from breastfeeding (I told you lactation at lakeside were horrible teachers) - so she made us an emergency appointment with Mercy lactation so we could get Braxton some food.  He also had jaundice- she wasnt sure how severe yet so after our lactation lesson we were told to go straight to lakeside to have lab work done on braxton :(

Mercy lactation consultants are such a blessing!!!!! They are patient and kind and knowledgable and such good teachers- everything Lakeside wasnt!  We were there about an hour- she weighed Braxton before we started, taught us how to properly breast feed, and then weighed him after.  She said we needed to start making sure he got 75cc at each feeding.  I was really confused how to tell since you cant measure breast milk like you do formula- but she said to breast feed and she guessed that would be about 60cc and then supplement with formula afterwards.  She wanted to see him back that Friday to see if he was gaining weight.  And she said we could come in any time for a lesson or weight check before then or call with any questions.  Man, I wish I would have delivered at Mercy!

So, now we were on to tackle our 2nd problem- Jaundice.  We drove over to Lakeside and checked Braxton in-  I just couldn't shake the feeling that I knew something was really wrong with me and the swelling I was experiencing. So since we were already at my doctors building I called up to her office and asked for an appointment.  Again,  I was told I was fine and it was normal to experience swelling.  I literally begged for them to get me in, I told them I was just downstairs in the lab with our baby so they finally agreed to see me in 30minutes.

It was so sad to see them draw blood from your baby- they stuck the needle in his heel- I made Brian hold him- But once the needle was out, he was fine.  They put a STAT Rush on his results so they would get them in faster.

Then we headed upstairs to take care of me- one look at my feet and my blood pressure results and I could read my doctors face- I knew it wasn't good.  She said that I needed to go downstairs now and do lab work and that they were going to rush those results too and should have them back within a few hours and until then I needed to rest and not get up for anything- ha yah right- I have a newborn!

That evening the phone rang- and it was Dr. Adair personally calling, not just a nurse- thats never a good sign.  She said Braxtons levels were at a 16 and would be at 21 by the morning- anything over 20 is life threatening so we needed to get him help ASAP.  She said Home Health would be coming out with a machine of lights for him to stay under.  She said they would test his blood every day and that until his levels got under 12 we could not pick him up or hold him except to feed him and change his diaper. We both just started crying. We have only had our baby 4 days and it already felt like he was being taken away from us.  We were scared and so emotional.

I will never forget what happened next.  We were sitting on our love seat, holding Braxton so tight, cuddled up crying when the phone rang again- not even 5 minutes later.  This time it was Dr. Hall- again the actual Dr. Hall- not a nurse..... she said my lab work came back and it wasn't good.  I needed to be rushed to the hospital immediately to be admitted- and she didn't know how long to expect me to be staying.  I knew it was REALLY bad when she asked to talk to Brian- she wanted to prep him emotionally, mentally, and physically for what was about to happen.  As if Braxtons news wasn't enough now I was going in too? My poor husband- sleep exhaustion plus high emotions are not a good combo.  Now he had his new son and his wife both requiring medical attention- and it was scary.   I started crying hysterically on the phone with Dr. Hall because I thought I was going to have to be separated from Braxton and that Brian would have to go back and forth.  But thankfully she agreed to work with Dr.Adair and Mercy and allow Braxton to be in my room with me and for his lights to be delivered to Lakeside instead.  I will be forever grateful for her taking the time to make that happen- I know it wasn't easy.

So we got all our bags packed and Braxton packed- even though they were letting him come with us, they made it VERY clear he was no longer their patient and would offer no help, assistance, or supplies for him.  This was very stressful on 4 day old parents!  We really had no idea what was going on- and no one was really explaining anything. All we knew at the time was I had post pardum eclampsia and it wasn't good.  On the way to the hospital I googled it- and I read causes siezures, strokes, and death.  That was enough for me, I put my phone down and took a big deep breathe.  In my head I was just praying to God that I made it to the hospital without have a seizure in the truck and praying that I came out of all this alive and healthy and able to be a wife and mother.

Once I got checked back in they immediately hooked me up to an IV with a Magnesium drip.  Let me just tell you how bad that IV hurt.  I screamed and cried my head off- and my blood pressure skyrocketed up to the high 180's. The nurses tried to calm me down and it wasn't working- I begged for numbing cream, and again they refused.  They kept telling Brian he had to figure  out a way to calm me down and get my BP numbers to drop because I was at serious risk of a seizure, stroke, or even worse slipping into  a coma.

Postpartum Eclampsia

Postpartum preeclampsia is a rare condition that occurs when a woman has high blood pressure and excess protein in her urine soon after childbirth.

Most cases of postpartum preeclampsia develop within 48 hours of childbirth. However, postpartum preeclampsia sometimes develops up to four to six weeks after childbirth. This is known as late postpartum preeclampsia.

Postpartum preeclampsia requires prompt treatment. Left untreated, postpartum preeclampsia can result in seizures and other serious complications.

Complications of postpartum preeclampsia include:

• Postpartum eclampsia. Postpartum eclampsia is essentially postpartum preeclampsia plus seizures. Postpartum eclampsia can permanently damage vital organs, including your brain, liver and kidneys. Left untreated, postpartum eclampsia can cause coma. In some cases, the condition is fatal.
• Pulmonary edema. This life-threatening lung condition occurs when excess fluid develops in the lungs.
• Stroke. A stroke occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is interrupted or severely reduced, depriving brain tissue of oxygen and food. A stroke is a medical emergency.
• Thromboembolism. Thromboembolism is the blockage of a blood vessel by a blood clot that travels from another part of the body. This condition is also a medical emergency.
• HELLP syndrome. HELLP syndrome — which stands for hemolysis (the destruction of red blood cells), elevated liver enzymes and low platelet count — can be life-threatening.

What is HELLP Syndrome?

HELLP syndrome is a life-threatening pregnancy complication usually considered to be a variant of preeclampsia. Both conditions usually occur during the later stages of pregnancy, or sometimes after childbirth.
HELLP syndrome was named by Dr. Louis Weinstein in 1982 after its characteristics:
H (hemolysis, which is the breaking down of red blood cells), EL (elevated liver enzymes) and LP (low platelet count).
A suspicion of HELLP syndrome can be frustrating to the physician when all requirements for its certain diagnosis are not apparent. In some patients who are developing HELLP syndrome the primary preeclampsia indicators of high blood pressure and protein in the urine may not be present, and its symptoms can be mistaken for gastritis, flu, acute hepatitis, gall bladder disease, or other conditions. While some of these other conditions may also be present, there is no evidence they are related.
Early diagnosis is critical because the morbidity and mortality rates associated with the syndrome have been reported to be as high as 25%. As a result, patient awareness of HELLP syndrome, and how it relates to preeclampsia, is helpful to ensure optimal and timely medical care for mother and baby.

Who is at risk of getting HELLP syndrome?
Among pregnant women in the United States, 5 - 8% develop preeclampsia; 15% of those women develop evidence of HELLP syndrome (15-20% of those with severe preeclampsia), meaning as many as 48,000 women per year will develop HELLP syndrome in the US. 

http://www.preeclampsia.org/health-information/hellp-syndrome

Turns out my blood pressure was sky high and the blood work had revealed that my liver was not functioning- it was shutting down.  Once the Magnesium IV was in - which is a strong neurological drug- they put a No Visitor sign on the door, turned off every light and told my mom and Brian not to talk to me or turn on the tv- I was to have no stimulation what so ever- my life was in danger.  I couldn't eat, couldn't move, couldn't hold or feed my baby, and couldn't go to the bathroom.  Even putting a catheter in me would have caused too much stress on my body and caused me to have a seizure, stroke, coma, or even worse.  So I had to have a bed pan- by the way those are absolutely awful.  I was so dehydrated I begged the nurse to let me have water.  The only way I was allowed to drink water was that they had to measure exactly how much I was drinking and then had to measure my output.  As long as the two were the same amount I could continue to drink, but if not I would not be allowed to drink anymore. Thankfully my measurements were the same and I was able to keep drinking.  The drug is so powerful- my eyes were twitching, I couldn't see straight- I was having double vision and just felt completely drugged unlike I have ever felt before.

Every hour or so the nurse would come in and they would check my feet and legs.  they would rotate my ankles in circles and push on my feet.  I dont really know what they were doing, but I know I was failing all the tests because they brought in all their students and nurses in training to do a real life lesson of HELLP syndrome- thats not really the test dummy you want to be!

The other huge obstacle we had- feeding Braxton. They absolutely would not allow us to incline the bed up so I could breast fed- they would not allow me to move an inch from being completely on my left side.  So- they had to bring in 3 of the pediatric nurses plus Brian and they had to manually express my milk to feed to Braxton.  It was a nightmare! We had a pump but the way I was laying the milk wouldn't flow from the pump to the bottle, so they had to "catch" it in these little cups and then pour it into Braxtons bottle- it was so difficult to do and they were losing over half the milk in the process. So he was ending up getting about 1/4 breast milk, 3/4 formula.  And he was still under the lights.

My poor husband- he  had only been a dad for a few short days and he was having to do EVERYTHING himself- and worry about me.  Thankfully we had family to help us out- my mom was there with us  24/7 and they would take shifts sleeping and feeding Braxton- at this point he was eating every 2 hours- so they also had to take turns getting milk out of me every 2 hours with the nursing staff.  I was missing out on so much- I hadn't learned how to feed him, burp him, change his diaper- I wasn't getting to be a mom.  I felt like a vegetable.  And I felt like I was dying.  I really honestly thought this was going to be it.

The next day my blood pressure had lowered a little and my liver was doing better but both were still in the danger zone.  We had family coming to check in on us- my oldest brothers wife came and stayed with us during the day to give Brian and my mom some breaks- she has 3 boys herself so she knew how to take good care of Braxton, Brians sister Shannon came and she was able to stay one night with us in the hospital, my dad and his wife were there, our friends Taylor and Teresa- and of course my mom was there the entire time.  We were so blessed by the people who came to help us during this time- they will never know how much it meant to us.

The 2nd night we were there they said I could come off the magnesium- I was so thankful! But coming off of the drugs was hard on my body- more double vision and one of my eyes would not open at all.  It took awhile and finally they said I could take a shower, assisted.  Luckily they let Brian assist me instead of a nurse- I don't remember much about this, but apparently we were pretty funny- the only thing I remember was sitting down in the shower and telling Brian "I'm not a car wash, be more gentle!".  Our family and friends in our room were just cracking up listening to us in there.  And finally I was able to eat!! Whoo hoo!!!!

The next day Dr. Hall came in and said that the numbers were still going down but that she was still concerned.  She felt safe enough to send me home- on powerful medication- and on complete bed rest.  

They re-tested Braxton at the hospital and his billirubon levels were still at 13 :( So we hadn't made the magic 12 mark yet...so the lights came home with us....

At this point both Brian and my mom had used up all their time off, so I was left home alone to recover from post partum eclampsia and to take care of a newborn all by myself.  Needless to say by this point I had fallen into a depression.  I just cried and cried wondering what I had gotten us into. This was so overwhelming and not what I had thought being new parents was going to be like-  I had wanted to be healthy, i wanted newborn pictures,  I wanted to BE a mom- and instead I couldn't hardly do anything for my baby.  

I was now doing expressed breast milk in a bottle.  I didn't have the strength to breast feed and it was dangerous for me to be sitting up that long and by doing expressed milk we were able to keep track of exactly how much he was eating and make sure he was gaining weight.  The only downfall was the amount of time this took.  It took me about 30 min to pump and at this time he was taking an hour to eat- gosh he was such a slow eater- so that was  1 1/2 hours- by the time I cleaned the pump and changed his diaper I had about 10 minutes before the entire cycle started again.  I would have given anything for someone to be home with me helping me out.  

Mercy sent out a Home Health nurse that would come visit Braxton every day and do lab work on him to test his levels.  Finally we reached the magical number 12! And the lights went bye bye! We were soooooo excited!!!!!  Braxton is a kicker, has been since day 1 in my belly- so he didnt really like the cover of the lights over him and he definitely kicked a hole right through it :)   It felt so amazing to be able to hold him and cuddle him again!

The blood pressure meds I was on were not going over well with my body at all. I was drowsy and dizzy and not able to function normally at all.  At this point I was taking about 5 different medications- all of them with the side effect of "extreme drowsiness"  and one morning I woke up, REALLY tired, and went to take one of my other medications, when as soon as I swallowed the pill I realized I just took a double dose of my blood pressure medicine.  I started to FREAK out- I was already on a max dose so overdosing was very serious at this point.  I called the  hopsital they said to monitor my levels very closely and come in if they got too high or too low.  I did fine all day long- until 4am in the morning.

At this point, me and Brian were pulling shifts to take care of Braxton. I would go to bed from 7pm to 1am and Brian would sleep from 1am to 6am.   (Welcome to the life of new parents!)  Well at 4am, I got dizzy and I felt like I was about to have a heart attack.  I got up off the couch to try to get water and go to the bedroom to get Brian and I couldn't make it.  I ended up falling over our dining room chair- I couldn't see, couldn't breathe, it was awful.  I tried to yell and couldn't. Somehow I dragged myself back to the bedroom and woke him up- he didn't really understand what was going on and bless his heart he was so exhausted I think he was just mad I woke him up he didn't understand how serious it was.  He left me in the bed and went to take care of Braxton- I had told him to take care of me and call 911 but I guess he didn't hear.  I tried to find anything close to the bed to throw to make noise so that he would come back, I had left my cell phone in the living room so I couldn't call him. My chest was in extreme pain- I knew I was having a heart attack.  I just closed my eyes and prayed harder than I have ever prayed for God to take this away and to keep me alive.  I struggled for a good while and then it all let up.  I ended up falling asleep and thanks to the good Lord I woke up that next morning alive.

I ended up back in the hospital 3 more times before it was all said and done- Lakeside was not the place to be for something this serious. Brian and my mom...and me...were getting more and more frustrated with them each time.  After the 3rd time we decided no matter what we are not going back, its Mercy from now on.  Luckily, I didn't have to go back a 4th time.

Long story short, I ended up being on complete bed rest- home by myself with a newborn- for 6 weeks.  Finally my blood pressure dropped to the 130s over 90s and I was able to come off the medicine.  About 8 weeks I was in the high 120's over high 80's.  I don't really know why all this happened to me- I have had perfect blood pressure my whole life and entire pregnancy.

I always wanted a huge family- but seems like God has different plans for us.   I have a 60% chance of having HELLP syndrome again and it gets worse with each pregnancy. I also would be at an increased risk of not only having post partum eclampsia but pre eclampsia too, putting our baby's life at risk.  We now face the difficult decision to go ahead and risk my life and the babys life and have another kid- putting Brian and Braxton at risk of not having a wife and mother, or we can just try to be as safe as possible, or we have make a permanent decision.

On top of all this- within the first month of having Braxton I got Mastitis not once, but twice.  I learned about this is class and it was another one of those sections in the baby books I just skipped right over.  But let me tell you- this is worse than any kind of sickness you have ever experienced, worse than the flu, worse than any words could ever explain.  You go from being fine to a waterfall of tears in minutes.  My fever spiked to 102 degrees, I was shaking uncontrollably, I couldn't walk, breathe, wash my hands nothing- the smallest movement made your chest hurt like a thousand knives were going through you. I literally just laid on the bed or couch crying in pain.  The first time I got it, I was really lucky and it was on a Saturday when Brian and my mom were both home with me.  It started with a headache all day, which I never get, and by 6pm I was over 100 degree fever and shaking uncontrollably- Brian got me to the urgent care- they took one look at my chest and said I had it bad in both breasts-  they told Brian I needed to sleep and do nothing but rest for 48 hours and take antibiotics and a large dose of pain medication. Rest wasn't an option though-  we were still pulling 24 hour shifts, so  I only got to sleep 4 hours before it was my turn again.

I got mastitis the 2nd time just 2 weeks later, but this time I wasnt so lucky.  It happened on a week day while Brian was at work.  I had an appt scheduled with my doctor that day for a follow up at 2pm, but by 11am I had the high fever, extreme pain, and uncontrollable shakes.  I called Brian at work crying, begging, and pleading for him to come home. Not only was I feeling awful, but I couldnt take care of Braxton.  I couldnt hold him- the pain was shooting through my body.  His work wouldnt let him leave early- I will never forget that day and just laying on the couch crying waiting for him to come home.

I thought being pregnant was one of the hardest things I had ever gone through, but this recovery was by far the most difficult thing I've ever experienced in my life.  Every single second was absolutely worth it to have Braxton in our lives- I thank the Lord daily for the miracles he did to save both me and Braxtons lives! 

Every day is a miracle- I'm blessed to be a wife and mother!

Braxton's Birth Story!

So life with a baby has been quite busy! And the blog has gotten way behind...Ive decided its time to get caught up! So here is the beginning.....

At this point in my pregnancy I was only allowed to work 25 hours a week, so I was working on Monday/Wednesday/Fridays.  Everyone was telling me we really needed to do a Babymoon or at least a date night before the baby came- I kept saying no, we dont have the money, we cant.  But for some reason on Wednesday I had a change of heart and decided we did really need to have a date night out- so I had a secret date planned for Brian Thursday night- I was so excited!

When I got home from work Wednesday night, I started to feel what I thought was pressure from Braxton's head dropping- it wasn't necessarily painful, but more uncomfortable.  As the night wore on it would kind of peak and then fade away- I remember laying down for bed and being "really uncomfortable" hoping that he would "just move positions" soon.  I woke up on Thursday still feeling what I kept describing as uncomfortable.  Brian went off to work- joking about actually staying home with me in case I was going into labor.  I just laughed and said oh honey, this is not labor- its not that painful...... well as the day wore on the "uncomfortable-ness" seemed to intensify- I started to get worried maybe Braxtons head was in a bad position or something wasn't right, so right before lunch I called Brian at work and asked if I should call the doctor.  He told me to go ahead if I thought something was wrong or if I was in a lot of pain. I felt really silly calling- but it was 11:58 and they closed at noon for lunch, so I thought I might as well call just to put my mind at ease.  I will never forget the conversation I had with my nurse- I told her I was having pressure that was coming and going about every 3 min and the pain was increasing.  She said "oh honey- thats contractions.  You are in labor- You need to get here ASAP".  I called Brian back to let him know we were going in and they said I was having contractions- but I still didn't believe I was in labor.  I wasn't screaming in pain or bending over unable to walk or talk, the pain wasn't near as bad as the Braxton Hicks contractions I had been experiencing.  Of course Brian freaked out when I told him, but I just kept telling him its okay, don't speed take your time.  I said the same thing when he got home and was trying to change clothes and get his hospital bag- I was so convinced it wasn't labor.  But the pain was starting to increase by this time. So much for my secretly planned Date Night!

I dreamed the ride to the hospital when I was in labor would be like in the movies, water broke, in pain, rushing straight back- but this was nothing like that.  We got to the hospital at 1pm and Brian dropped me off at the front door and I had to  STAND in line and wait...and wait... to check in.  (Not sure if its like that at every hospital, but this is one reason I will not be going back to this one).  As I was standing in line, I started to realize I was in labor.  Tears were now streaming down my cheeks I was in pain.  Finally, I got to the front of the line- I could barely talk to the lady- she put the wristband on me and told me to wait in the lobby to be called back ( reason #2 i won't go back)- and we waited ...and waited...and waited.... and I cried...and cried... and cried...  (Even though I was in pain and crying- it was still nothing like what I imagined!)  45 min later- yes, i think that is ridiculous- they called us back.  We went into a tiny little room where they monitored my contractions and Braxtons heart beat and sure enough, I was having intense contractions every 3 min and was already dilated to a 4!  So....another 30 min later they finally moved us to a labor and delivery room- by this time we called all our family and friends to let them know this was the real deal! My mom and dad and Brians parents were there and our friends Taylor and Teresa.

They said they would get the IV in me and get the epidural ASAP since I was already a 4.  Two nurses came in and they were completely clueless to what was going on- they asked me what I was in for- and I said I'm in labor- both of them looked at each other and said "oh- no one told us that!"  what!?!? (you will see this is a recurring theme with this hospital)... so then they started moving a little faster-  the IV was the worst part of the entire experience by far.  They refused to put the numbing cream on their patients and the first time they put the IV in it didn't work, finally the second time they got it in and I was in so much pain from it.   The anethestologist came a little bit later, she was wonderful.  I was really scared for this-but it didn't hurt at all.  I just leaned on the nurse and held my husbands hands and all 3 of them talked me through the whole experience. It was so much easier and less painful than that stinkin IV. Once the epidural kicked in, I didn't feel a single contraction or any pain the rest of the time!

Dr. Hall came in, she said that she wasn't on call that night, but that she would stay to deliver our baby (thank goodness!!!)  She had a church event from 6-7 that night, but she said we would be in for a long long night and she would come back afterwards and there would be a small chance I would have the baby before midnight.  They went ahead and broke my water- I couldn't feel anything because of the epidural. They had me laying on my left side and left us alone for awhile-Teresa also happens to be my chiropractor so she went ahead and adjusted me while the nurses were out.  My pelvis was out of alignment and she got it back in place and got it to stay.

My whole pregnancy Braxton never really liked me laying on my left side, so it didn't surprise me when the nurses came back in and told me to switch to my right side because his heart rate was dropping.  About 30-45 min after laying on my right side I was having pain that was just too much to take.  I finally buzzed the nurse and told her that position was causing me a lot of pain and I needed to move.  She came in to move me and said well I might as well just check to see if you have made any progress....she checked....and said "well honey, that pain is because you are at a 10 and ready to push" WHAT?!?!  I said you mean, its time?!?!  A group of family and friends had just left to grab dinner because we were all told we would be waiting all night- so we had to make a  few phone calls and texts to get everyone back- and then I realized Dr. Hall was still at church! I kind of panicked- the nurse said it was okay, we could wait a little while to push and she had called Dr. Hall to let her know to come back now.

I had Brian on my left side coaching me through everything and then Teresa and my mom on my left.  We started pushing without Dr. Hall there because there wasn't any more time to wait.  Luckily, Dr. Hall was there by the 2nd set of pushes!  It only took 6 pushes and Braxton was here! I felt no pain at all- it was the easiest part of this entire journey!  All the doctors and nurses were shocked by how easy and fast I dilated and was able to push him out- it was all because Teresa adjusted me and got my body back in alignment so that Braxton could come as easy as possible! It was within an hour or so after being adjusted that I was holding Braxton in my arms!

 I was so scared the entire time just waiting for bad news or complications- the pregnancy had been so tough- I was dreading hearing the words "Time for Plan B" or "C Section"- but God blessed us with a completly easy and pain free labor- gave me a little break from how hard it had been :)  Labor was nothing like I was told or had watched on TV- it was the easiest part of the whole process and the most pain free!

He was born at 7:46pm weighing 7 pounds 11 ounces.  I remember just holding my breathe  praying that I would hear him cry and praying that he would be healthy-  and sure enough I heard the cry and the nurses said "he was perfect". After he was born we did lots of skin to skin time- we let everyone come in and see him, but they had to come back the next day to hold him- they wanted us to stay skin to skin for the night.

Proud Daddy!

There are no words to describe holding your baby for the first time- and becoming a family- the immediate love you have for your baby and how much deeper your love grows for your husband- its just amazing. Its crazy to think that just a few hours ago he was in my belly and now he is in my arms and cuddled up with us!

He was so perfect- and I couldn't believe we were actually holding our baby.  It had been quite the journey and this was the perfect ending!  They said he was completely healthy- thank the Lord!  When he was first born he could only open one eye- I was kind of worried, but they said it was completely normal.

He got his very first adjustment just shortly after he was born!

They had lactation come in to help teach me how to breast feed for the first time- the lady was awful.  She kept getting frustrated and mad at me because I wasn't getting the hold right and finally she just gave up on me and said we would just have to try again later.  I knew right away I did not like that lady!  It didn't get any better the rest of the stay- I actually went to the nursery a few times asking them what we were going to do since he wasn't getting any food because I wasn't getting it down yet- they all reassured it me everything was fine.

The next day Dr. Adair (our pediatrician) came to look him over- and Braxton is truly unique- she noticed that on the palm of his hands he only has one line- only 4% of Americans have one line and it is an indicator of Downs Syndrome.  The second I heard those words I freaked out and started googling and researching- the doctor tried to assure me that she didnt see any signs of Downs in him- he seemed perfectly healthy, she just wanted to let us know.  Brian did some research and found out that Brittney Spears, Robert De Niro, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair also only have one line!   Other than that she said he looked perfect!

*Note: I didnt think to take a picture of his hand until I was writing this blog-- so he is not a newborn in this picture- picture was taken at 4 months old.

He passed his hearing test with flying colors!  They said it might take 45min to an hour and he was done in 10 min!!!

One good thing about the hospital is that they have a photographer come around and takes pictures of your baby- we had so much going on in our room when she came and it was the only time she had open, so we grabbed an outfit- he was in newborn sizes, but we thought he was going to weigh  9-10 pounds so we only had 0-3 sizes :(  so we put him in an osu outfit and got some really good newborn pics.  I meant to take some of him naked, but in the moment I totally forgot!

We wanted Braxton to stay with us in our room the entire time- we were so in love with him already- but the nurses kept telling us we should really send him to the nursery at night so we could get some sleep and rest before we went home, so the 2nd night we were really exhausted- we hadnt slept in so long so we finally decided to take him down there and rest.  It was my first time really up and walking- but when we got there they told us sorry they didnt have room for him :( so back we went- needless to say we didnt get any rest at the hospital!

The day I had labor I hadnt eaten all day and by the time I had him I was STARVING- I think everyone forgot about me though, because they brought Brian dinner- but once Braxton was here everyone loved on him and then left for the night.  And Lakeside doesnt have a cafeteria.  So finally once we realized no one was going to bring dinner for me, we buzzed the nurse and begged for some food for me.  All they had was cold leftovers :( I was dying for a Pepsi and Bueno!

Thankfully the next night, Teresa- who had also been my college roommate, and knows me so well- brought me some Bueno burritos to eat! yummmmyyy!!!!!

We did get Braxton circumcised- I thought he would be in a lot of pain and super fussy from it- but he was just fine when he came back.  Everyone was telling us what a laid back lil guy we had and how lucky we were! We were just so in love!

We had so many wonderful visitors to come see our little one- almost all of our family made it out to the hospital, all except one of my brothers, and we had lots of friends stop by- it was such a happy time for us!

Grandma

Grandma

Aunt Myranda- and the boys in the background!

Aunt Shannon

The Bolner Family

Taylor

Teresa

Gift from Truley & Family!

Diaper Wreath from Teresa!

We couldn't wait to get home and start our family of 3!!!!  I always thought when you left the hospital you had to be escorted out in a wheelchair- but not at this place- we carried everything out ourselves and I had to walk out on my own. We loaded up the truck and headed home (or so we thought)...

We are now a family of 3- and not only are me and Brian best friends, husband and wife- but now we are mommy and daddy.  We are so blessed!!!