Happy Birthday, Nixon!

We invited family to a pool and pizza party to celebrate Nixon’s special day. Nixon enjoyed eating a slice of pizza, but didn’t know what to do with the oversized cupcake we gave him. I planned for the party honestly since he was born. A birthday is a day to celebrate life, and I was so excited that Nixon was healthy, well and happily turning one.

My favorite part of the day was all of the family who came – my sister and her three children came from Logan, another sister and her four children from Lehi, my parents, Tyler’s parents, Tyler’s brother’s family and sister. We had a really good time!

Stats: Nixon is 52 percentile for weight, 58^th percentile for height and 71^st percentile for head circumference. The doctor said he was socially smart. He smiled when the doctor walked in and crawled over to him to untie his shoe. Nixon’s not walking yet – I think he could, just isn’t feeling it yet. He’s doing great though. He's awesome!

Birth Story - Part 2

The pitocin was started for the induction and an epidural was placed. I was put on magnesium for the preeclampsia, which is so awful. So awful. Tyler sat on the couch and we honestly slept for most of the morning and afternoon. The doctor came to break my water at 1 p.m. At around 5 or 6 p.m. I told the nurse I was in quite a bit of pain and asked her if that was normal. We found out then that the epidural drip system hadn’t started, so I was dilated to a 7 and feeling the fullness. Not terrible, but not comfortable. The doctor called me tough. Not what I was going for.

Everything went pretty quickly after that. The magnesium makes it a little fuzzy. I labored on my left side to try to get the baby to turn. I had a goal to have him the 3^rd instead of the 4^th. I know I kept telling Tyler I think he broke my tailbone (and I think he did). At one point I told Tyler I was sure he was coming out. Tyler tried to calm me, but I was sure Tyler was going to have to catch him before any qualified person returned. When the nurse finally came back to check she couldn’t believe that I was right. He was! She said usually it takes someone three hours to do what had just happened in 30-45 minutes. It was time to push.

And I did – 45 minutes. Tyler was there, the doctor was there and two nurses were there in the corner cheering and counting. That helped. Everyone helped. Tyler said I kept apologizing to everyone. The nurses laughed at me. And then – 10:43 p.m. and Nixon was here! He was screaming! I was so scared. And relieved. He had to go to the nursery for some fluid. His face was purpleish and he had lots of hair. Everyone left me to help him. And I was not doing well.

I was worried about Nixon, and I was really, really sick. I kept throwing up and I was so dizzy. The magnesium had gotten to me. Ugh. They told me I had to move rooms. They got me into a wheelchair and then walked away. I remember yelling at them that I was passing out and then I did. And then I puked. They handed me a pair of socks for the baby. Bad timing. I thought they were jerks at that point. Now I know they were just very crowded. But still. Jerks.

In the new room I discovered I had to go back on magnesium for another day and they had to replace the catheter they had already removed. I remember a conversation with my doctor at 3 a.m. where I was so angry at him and begged him to take me off this awful medicine. They did reflex tests and nothing. I couldn’t think. I was limp and I couldn’t hold my baby. Worse, I still couldn’t feed him. We hadn’t bonded. I didn’t know him and he didn’t know me. Tyler was the only parent available to him. He did amazing, but that’s a tough spot to be. That was a very rough night for all of us.

Things got better. Everything got better. Day by day we learned. And now, we have Nixon. Quite literally the happiest baby on the block. He is so awesome. So smart. So cute. So funny. And right now he’s growling at me and hitting my hands. Looks like he’s up from his nap. Time to play!

Breathing

In. out. In. Out. I’m quite certain my very favorite sound in the world is the sound of my baby peacefully sleeping. I turn the monitor on high and just listen. And breath. When he wakes he moves constantly and everywhere. While so fun to watch, I love the calm. I love his breathing.

Nixon turns one tomorrow. He is not quite so little anymore. I look back, I see what we’ve become. He, an amazing child, me, a mother, Tyler, a father. We, a family.

The day before Nixon’s arrival, I was placed on bedrest. I had been to the hospital the night before with some pain under my ribs, and they were testing me for preeclampsia, but I wasn’t concerned. I had every intention of returning to work the following day. I had items on my “to do” list and was looking forward to walking around at the carnival below my building during lunch. I never made it back. I never sat in that chair, I never said goodbye to those people. I won’t lie and say that was easy. It was so hard. That life was gone so fast.

The evening before Nixon was born, we returned to the hospital where we learned the results of the tests. We were told I would be induced the following morning. Three weeks early. I began to cry. I was so very, very sad. I am a planner to the core, but I didn’t want to plan this. I wanted the rush, the water-breaking, speed to the hospital, wheelchair ride to the elevator rush. I also wanted a healthy baby and knew the closer to due date that better. I was scared.

We went home at 11. We finished packing our bags. We called our parents. We prayed. We slept in, took a shower, then Tyler made waffles. Our neighbor took a few pictures, then we drove slowly to the hospital singing, “Hey I just met you and this is crazy, but here’s my number, so call me maybe!” – that song. With Tyler doing the actions from the YouTube video we’d just watched. I laughed. He always knows how to help.

We walked in, hand in hand. We picked up the phone and I said, “I’m here to have a baby today.” They beeped us in and we were on our way.