Miracle

It's 5:45 in the morning, and I'm sitting here with my 9 day old baby boy. There were certainly times where I doubted this would ever be able to happen. But it DID finally happen! He's here, he's beautiful, and I couldn't be happier.

This blog is slowly evolving into something more personal. At first, all I did was blog about stupid criminal stories. They were fun, I enjoyed them, but it just seemed like there should be more of me to this. As I have blogged more about my life and the world around me, it's seemed a little empty without pictures that were actually part of that world. It was also very hard to find pictures that actually worked with my topics, and I've worried about copyright issues. If I use my own pictures, that's not an issue.

I've found so many blogs out there where people use actual pictures of their kids, they just don't use their real names. I was still debating the issue when I sort of accidentally posted a picture of the new kitten. I didn't even think about it, and didn't realize what I'd done until a couple hours later.

So consider yourselves lucky that you get to see real pictures of my real family now. :)

And isn't that little tiny person up there just plain adorable??

His birth was quite an adventure:


Pirate Munchkin had gone to bed, and Surfer Pirate and I were standing in the kitchen talking. It was Tuesday, December 21st. I had finished my last shift for the week, and I was really looking forward to the few days I would have to get things done before Christmas. Originally, I was only going to be working up until that week, but we were still so far behind I had promised to work two more days the next week. My house was a mess because I'd been so tired with my job, so I was looking forward to getting the kitchen nice and clean and doing some baking.

Suddenly, everything was very wet. With just a second's thought, I knew I needed to get upstairs to the bathroom to see what was going on. I said to Surfer Pirate "We have a problem", and took off like a bullet up the stairs. The entire way across the main floor and up the stairs, there was more and more. I got into the bathroom, and the flood really started. (Sorry if this is TMI, but I did warn you that this was a birth story!) Being more than 4 weeks early, I was more than a little concerned that my water had just broken! I picked up my cell phone - thankful that I'd had it with me - and called the midwife. She had told me previously that I would most likely know I was in labor before my water broke. But there were no other signs of labor. She told me that sometimes the cervix can open a little and let some fluid out, but then can close up again. We decided together that I would put myself on bedrest and wait and see. I had already set up an appointment with her for Thursday afternoon, so if nothing else happened, at least she would be there soon to see what was going on. In the back of my head, I knew there was too much fluid for it to be something like that, but I didn't want to panic. That was 8:45.

For the next few hours, I laid in bed and watched TV, had a little snack (a big ol' bowl of Malt-O-Meal's Marshmallow Mateys, thank you very much!), and dealt with a VERY stressed husband! He was basically having a panic attack. He was scared to death that he was going to have to deliver this baby by himself. I finally had to call a member of our ND (surrogate) family over to help him calm down. It worked, and Surfer Pirate was able to go to bed next to me and fall asleep.

At 11:45, the contractions started. It was obvious now between the contractions and the fluid that still kept leaking that this baby was ready to come out now! I called the midwife again, and we decided together that with it being so early, it was best that I go to the hospital. I woke up Surfer Pirate and started gathering up anything I could think of that I would need in the hospital for the baby and me. He went right back into panic mode, poor guy. We found someone to be at the house for Pirate Munchkin, loaded up everything in the truck and left town. I had been timing the contractions since they started. While they weren't intense, they were getting closer and closer together. We were only a couple miles out of town when they became pretty steady at 2 minutes apart. We decided to turn around and go back to our local hospital. They don't deliver babies there, but in an emergency, they're sure better than delivering the baby somewhere along the highway in the truck!

The doctor came in to the little ER exam room and checked me out. He didn't believe me that I was in labor! He kept talking about making sure my water really did break, and he checked to see if the baby was in position for delivery. He was pushing so hard on my stomach with that part that I almost punched him! But then the frosting on the cake was when he checked my cervix! If you've never had that done, you're missing out on one of the most painful experiences ever! Only the heaviest contractions equaled that amount of pain! He declared that I was dilated to less than 1 centimeter, and I would be safe to make the 1 hour drive to the nearest hospital that delivers.

Meanwhile, Surfer Pirate was so stressed and freaked out about the whole thing that he started hiccuping and didn't stop for over an hour!

Back in the truck and back on the highway. The snow was drifting all over the road. There was fog so thick that you couldn't even see the side of the highway. Surfer Pirate was doing his best to drive safely, hiccuping the whole time, while I said silent prayers through the contractions that we would arrive safely at the hospital before the baby was born. I kept my mother updated via text message. She and Dad were scared and worried, and feeling very helpless that they were so far away. Thankfully, the only animals were saw on the road were staying out of the way. We saw four HUGE snowshoe rabbits, and my mom was amused that even in during labor and a very stressful drive I managed to inform her about the bunnies. I saw one deer as he was leaping off the highway, but Surfer Pirate saw a large herd of deer in one of the places where the fog was lighter. Luckily, this drive is one I do to get to church every week, so I am very familiar with the drive. I was able to keep Surfer Pirate (and the parents via text) how many more miles we had to go.

Finally, the lights of the city were in view! We got into town and found our way to the hospital. (Previously, we didn't even know where it was, so they printed us a map at our little local hospital.) While it was tricky to find the emergency room door, we were thrilled to get there in time. We got inside, answered what questions we needed to to get me admitted, and they brought me a wheelchair. (Thank goodness! That was a LONG hallway to the maternity ward!) I was taken to a very nice, modern birthing suite and introduced to Laura - world's greatest nurse. She told me she actually worked full-time in the bigger hospital 90 miles away. She filled in part-time at this hospital. The doctor checked my cervix (OW! OW! OW!), had me sign a bunch of paperwork, and then he left the room. Surfer Pirate went out to our truck to see if he could take a little nap. When the doctor came back, he told me that after checking my delivery date, I was only 35 1/2 weeks, meaning my baby definitely qualified as a preemie. They didn't have a NICU unit in their hospital, so they would need to send me via ambulance 90 miles away to the other hospital! I was pretty upset about that, but I knew it was for the best. Laura told me she would be working the next night there and would see me then.

For the record, if I had known this hospital didn't have a NICU, I would have gone to the other hospital in the first place!

Surfer Pirate decided that he would go home first so Pirate Munchkin would find out from him what was going on. He was going to see her off to school and bring back the baby's car seat since we'd forgotten it in the rush to leave the house.

I was strapped onto the ambulance gurney and loaded up. The car lover in me was very interested in the hydraulics on the gurney and how it smoothly loaded into the ambulance with very little jostling of the patient. By now, it was REALLY early in the morning and I had been awake for almost 24 hours. The contractions were exhausting, and they were just getting more and more intense. The EMT kept talking to me throughout the ride, keeping my mind moving as much as he could while timing the contractions. I was so tired that I even dozed off between contractions while we were still talking. Let me tell you, contractions and bumpy, snowy, rural North Dakota roads in the dark of the early morning are not a good mix. Most of the hard labor happened on the ambulance ride.

We finally arrived, and I was hurried down the hall and into an elevator. Through the pain, I was still able to see the humor in the people who were waiting to get on, but chose not to climb into the elevator with the woman in labor! Smart thinking on their part because I had a contraction start right as we got on and spent most of the ride screaming. I was brought into a much more industrial-looking delivery room, but it didn't matter because the exhaustion and the contraction pain made it almost impossible to open my eyes. Tammy (a great nurse, but not as great as Laura) told me that all the screaming and moaning weren't helping my labor along and I needed to focus on just breathing through the contractions. She was my cheerleader and my coach through the contractions, and she was there waiting with a spoonful of ice as soon as the contraction ended. When I got there, I was dilated to a 6, and it didn't take long until I was up to a 9 - about 10 or 15 minutes, I think. At one point, the nurse had just given me my ice when the next contraction started. She told me to breathe, but I couldn't because of the ice. I finally just spit the whole mouthful out onto the bed.

Then came time to push. With each contraction, I was to push 3 times. Then, rest. I did that several times. Then at one point, I could hear Tammy telling me to push, and I realized I'd blacked out. A few more pushes, and another blackout. I kept listening to the conversation the doctor was having with the nurses. They kept saying how well I was doing, and how this was a perfect birth. That was really nice to hear because they weren't talking to me, so I knew they meant it and weren't just trying to cheer me on. I got to the point when I could feel the head and I knew we were almost done. Tammy told me to rest, and I said no. She told me it was okay, that if I felt the need to keep going, I should keep going. I pushed 3 more times, and the head was out! One last push, and the baby was all the way out! The little cry was immediate! It was the greatest sound in the world! I sat up and looked at my gorgeous baby. My first feeling was recognition - that I'd seen him before. Someone said "He looks great", but no one had announced if it was a boy or a girl. There were so many hands around him that I couldn't see for sure. I asked if it was a boy, and someone made the announcement official. I had a son!

Pirate Baby was born at 8:59am, weighing 5 pounds, 15 ounces. He was 20 1/2 inches long, but they didn't actually measure his length until the next day.

From there, everything was a blur. H was taken to be cleaned up and evaluated. I kept watching him and all the action around him. I got to hold my baby. I kissed him and talked to him. He was kind of gray, and he kept grunting. They said he was struggling to breathe and took him back from me. I was disappointed, but I knew his health was more important than my need to hold him. The doctor told me I needed to push again because the placenta was coming. He said I had a small tear and would need a few stitches. Stitches were done (OW! OW! OW!). The doctor kept saying "Everything we do down here is painful." I was cleaned up and was able to sit up. I sat there eating my ice with a spoon and watching everything going on around me. The nurse asked me what his name was, and I spelled it for her so she could put it in the computer.

Meanwhile, poor Surfer Pirate was trying to get to the hospital on nasty roads while functioning on no sleep. He had checked in with his job, made arrangements for the dogs and our daughter, got Pirate Munchkin up and off to school, grabbed the car seat and was on his way. He was about a third of the way there when I called him and told him we had a son. He didn't process what I said at first because he was distracted by hearing Pirate Baby crying in the background. It still brings tears to my eyes thinking about how he choked up when he realized what was going on. I filled him in on what details I could and encouraged him to pull over if he needed a minute to regroup before finishing the drive (he didn't). Next, I called my mom and told her about her new grandson.

Eventually, Pirate Baby was taken to the NICU, and I was taken to my regular room.


*There is much more to the story, since we were in the hospital for 5 days - over Christmas. I'm not sure yet how much detail to include, so Part 2 will continue sometime in the future.

December, the Month of Family Additions

It's official!!! The stork has arrived!

Our baby boy arrived 4 1/2 weeks early on December 22nd, 5 pounds, 15 ounces and 20 1/2 inches. He had a little fluid on his lungs, but otherwise, he's healthy and wonderful! I'll fill in his very interesting birth story sometime when I'm not half asleep.


I'm also thinking I may change how I do things on this blog. More to come.


Oh, and update on the newest furbaby. After 5 days in the hospital with Pirate Baby, we came home to a happy and very healthy kitten! Her breastbone and shoulder blades are still sticking out more than they should, but her little spine has a nice little layer of fat around it. She is one cute little girl!

Our Newest Family Member

Yesterday, we went out to the farm to let the dogs run around in the snow. Since we don't have a fenced yard and our town has strict leash laws, I don't like to let them run around too much in our yard. They do have a tendency to try to check out the whole neighborhood.

While we were out there, we needed to make sure the barn cats had been fed. Surfer Pirate fed the kitties and whistled for his favorite kitten.

We've been told that usually the friendliest kittens don't make it through the winter on the farm, so we were already a little prepared for what we found.

The poor baby was sick, shivering and WAY too skinny!

It didn't take long to decide the baby would be coming home with us. I bundled the kitten up in my coat and we headed home.

Back in this baby's early, early kittenhood, Surfer Pirate had checked for gender and settled on Boy. But after a bath to remove the musty barn smells and renew soft fluffy kitten fur, I discovered our new little one was indeed a Girl.

She's eaten two cans of soft cat food and some dry cat food in the 24 hours or so that she's been here, had a bath (well, technically 3 baths, but I'll get to that in a minute), used her litter box, and has spent lots of time sleeping and snuggling. She's very affectionate. I love the way animals react when they know they've been rescued. We figure she wouldn't have made it through the night if we'd left her at the farm.

She's so very skinny. You can't tell with all the fur, but I could probably count her vertebrae if I wanted to. And her little shoulder blades and breast bone stick out much too far. Poor little thing.

She did have a little adventure earlier today. I took a bath, and had her in the bathroom with me because that's where the litter box is right now. She seemed very disturbed at not being able to snuggle with me and kept pacing and meowing. At one point, she was standing on the edge of the tub staring at what I THOUGHT was the doorknob on the cabinet above the tub. Before I could even react, she jumped over my head and onto the shelf above the cabinet. She landed halfway into the wicker basket that holds all my hair things (bands, barrettes, hair brush, etc). It is a rounded basket and couldn't hold her, so down she came - along with the basket and all its contents, AND my hair dryer! (Bath #2.) She scrambled out of the tub, and while I scooped all the stuff out of the water, she decided that the best place to dry herself off was in the litter box. Yeah. So, once I was done with MY bath, I had to give her ANOTHER bath to get all the wet kitty litter off her lower half. (Bath #3.) Hopefully she won't try that trick again.


Meanwhile, Pirate Baby is due in 37 days! That also means only 39 days until my mom is here!

Regrets

There's that little game that people play. If you could go back in time in your life and change something, what would you do differently?

For years, my answer was always "Nothing." Every choice I have made in my life - even the bad choices - have taught me something. Everything I've done, good or bad, has shaped who I am.

But I started to realize in the last few years that there is just one thing I would change if I could.

Danny.

I would have been friends with Danny.

When I was growing up, there was a family who lived just down the street from us. They had 2 kids - a son who was a year or two older than me, and a daughter who was a year younger. Danny was the son, and he had Down Syndrome.

Sometimes, Danny would go for walks around the neighborhood and would find me playing in our yard. He wouldn't really talk to me, but he would try to play with me. I was afraid of him because he was different and would go in the house. Leaving him outside alone.

That breaks my heart now.

I never gave him a chance. It wasn't until we were in high school that I realized how amazing he was.

Danny is a trouper. He is always happy, always smiling. He wants to be friends with the whole world! He told me once that he was going to be an actor, and I had no doubt that he would be great at it. I swear, he could do anything he sets his mind to. I'm so happy to know that even though the life span for someone with Down Syndrome is fairly short, Danny is still spreading his wonderful spirit to the people he meets. He's in his mid 30's now, and I hope he sticks around for a long, long time.

I haven't had a lot of opportunity to spend with him since high school. I moved back to our old neighborhood, but he was gone for a long time. I was happy to see him riding in his dad's car a few weeks before we moved away.

So that's my one big regret in life. I should have been Danny's friend. I should have learned at a really young age how amazing he is.

I was thinking about him again today. There is a group of kids with Down Syndrome who work at the gas station near my house. Thanks to Danny, I have an immediate love for anyone who has that magic extra chromosome. I make a point to talk to those wonderful kids when I see them, and I hope I'll have a chance to get to know them individually as time goes on. (Kelle Hampton - who's beautiful baby girl is in the picture I posted above - can teach you a thing or two about how special Down Syndrome children are. If you're not already a fan of her blog, I highly recommend it!)

So to Danny - I'm so sorry I didn't give you a chance when we were kids, but know that I love you and I'm a better person for having known you!