You’re here! You’re here! You’re here! One week ago right
now, Daddy and I were getting ready to head to the hospital! I spent time
earlier in the day getting a pedicure with Granny, napping, and eating a
delicious dinner made by Nana. I was feeling a little scared and nervous, but
mostly excited to get to meet you so soon! Daddy and I drove 10 minutes to
Memorial Hermann Sugarland and went up to the 3rd floor. I got in my
hospital gown and got hooked up to an IV. My nurse was Claudia and she was
awesome! She carefully described everything that she was doing so that I
wouldn’t feel nervous. She checked to see if I was dilated at all and I was 1cm
dilated on the outside, but completely closed on the inside so she put in some
medicine to start getting my body ready for you to be born. Since I’ve had high
blood pressure this week, they put a cuff on my arm to monitor it every few
minutes. By the time we got everything settled, it was already getting late.
Daddy and I stayed up talking about how excited we were and also about what to
name you if you had been a girl because we hadn’t made a final decision! Daddy
prayed for us and then we both tried to get some sleep so we would be ready for
what was coming.
At 4:00am Claudia came in and started the Pitocin. This is
the part that I was the most nervous about because I didn’t know how long it
would take before I started feeling contractions and I knew that Pitocin could
make those contractions really strong. Claudia also introduced me to my new
nurse, Dorys, who would be with me for the rest of the day. She was so sweet
and kind and was a huge blessing to me throughout the day. I could see on the
monitor that I had little, sporadic contractions throughout the night, but none
that I could really even feel. Well it didn’t take very long for me to start
feeling some contractions after the Pitocin started. At first it wasn’t very
painful, just pretty uncomfortable, but after she turned it up, I almost
immediately started feeling some strong, painful contractions. I really wanted
to wait until I was a few centimeters dilated before I got the epidural because
I knew that the epidural would slow things down. Daddy held my hand through
each contraction and told me as soon as they started going down. At 7:00am my
OB, Dr. McDonald, came in and broke my water, then the contractions really
started to pick up. At about 9:00am the contractions got bad enough that I
couldn’t help but start crying. Dorys had told me that I could get the epidural
whenever I wanted. She checked me and told me that I was 3 centimeters dilated
and that the pain I was experiencing was causing my blood pressure to escalate
and that was probably offsetting any benefit from waiting around before getting
the epidural. She told me not to wait until the pain was killing me because it
would take about 45 minutes to get the anesthesiologist. I told Daddy to go
tell the nurses that I was ready for the epidural and Dorys had the
anesthesiologist in there within about 5 minutes. They wouldn’t let Daddy stay
in the room while he put in the epidural, but Dorys held both my hands,
reminded me to breath, and reminded me that I am strong and powerful and that
she was praying for me and that God was with me and I was going to get to meet
my baby soon. I was trying hard not to flinch, but it was head because at the
same moment, I had a contraction, the anesthesiologist put in the needle, and
my blood pressure cuff went off! I felt a little cold running down my back and
then within 10 minutes I couldn’t feel any contractions anymore. Hallelujah!
They turned up the Pitocin and even though the monitor said the contractions
were really big, I couldn’t feel anything. I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink
anything, but I ate a lot of ice chips.
I was feeling pretty good again and about that time Granny,
Nana, and Papa and Aunt Kristen came over to wait with us. After a while, Aunt Kasia,
Uncle Ryan, Riley and Mason came to say hi too! They were all so excited to
meet you! After a while I started feeling some contraction pain on my left side
again. They said it was a hot spot and they had to turn up the epidural a
couple of times for me. The nurses came in to check me and I was dilating really
quickly. I remember Nurse Rachel coming in and saying, “she was only 2cm
dilated? Now she’s 6!” Not long after that she came back in and announced that
I was at 8cm! They turned down the Pitocin a little. I was feeling the
contractions some on my left side so Daddy helped me by pushing really hard on
that side of my back every time they would come. I actually fell asleep for a
few minutes, but just a little while later a whole group of nurses came in and
asked everyone to go to the waiting room so we could start trying to push. I
couldn’t feel anything because of the epidural so it was really hard for me to
push, but the nurses kept explaining to me what to do and they said I was doing
a really good job. They even brought in a mirror so that I could see the very
top of your little head. I remember Dorys telling me that she could see that
you had a good amount of hair! I would take in a deep breath and push really
hard for 10 seconds. I would do that 3 times in a row and then rest for the
next contraction. It was really hard and I was getting so tired! I actually
fell asleep in between pushes at one point! Daddy kept encouraging me and
helping me count and telling me what a great job I was doing. He helped me
breathe through the oxygen mask when I wasn’t pushing. The nurses told me that
you were trying to come out with your eyes and forehead facing up instead of
the back of your head and that was making it really difficult for you to come
out. The charge nurse came in and said “okay Kate, Dr. McDonald is out there
sharpening her knife, so lets get this baby pushed out right now!” Dr. McDonald
said that we could try to push for another 30 minutes before going to
c-section. We tried and tried and finally the nurse said, “I don’t think this
baby is going to come out. Lot of things can stretch inside you, but not bones,
and this head is not going to come out this pelvic bone.” She said we could try
one more set of pushes, but Daddy knew that it wasn’t going to happen and he
and said, “let’s just go get this baby out.” I totally agreed.
Everyone started bustling around getting ready to go to the
operating room. They gave Daddy some scrubs and a hair net to put on. Dorys
gave me some medicine to help me with nausea and warned me that it wouldn’t
taste good. She said, “just drink it down like a tequila shot!” I downed it,
but then about 30 seconds later I threw it all back up. No fun. Dorys gave me a
nausea patch to put behind my ear. I have vague, in-and-out memories of what
was happening as we went to OR. I don’t remember much about being rolled down
the hall. I couldn’t see very much once we got in there either. I remember the
anesthesiologist talking to me by my head. I was nervous because I didn’t feel
pain, but I could still feel a lot of pressure on my abdomen. A few of the
nurses used some kind of board or gurney to move me from my hospital bed onto
the operating table. I remember Dr. McDonald getting everyone to make a
prediction about your weight and I think I said 8lb 7oz. I was so incredibly
sleepy. I was trying so hard not to fall asleep but I think I was coming in and
out of sleep as all this was happening! How can you be sleepy when you’re being
operated on and you’re about to meet your baby?! I don’t specifically remember
Daddy coming in, but soon he was right there by my head. The nurse was very
nervous that Daddy was going to pass out I think, because she kept asking him
to sit down and he wouldn’t! He wanted to see you! I thought I would know when
Dr. McDonald started operating, but all I remember was a lot of what felt like
her pushing hard on my abdomen. Then I remember Daddy saying, “I see a head! I
see shoulders!” I heard you start crying and I said, “Is it a boy or girl?!?!”
Daddy looked at me and smiled and said, “it’s a boy!” I still couldn’t see you
though, but I could hear your strong lungs. Daddy left my side for a minute so
he could go over to where you were being weighed and measured. They said you
were 8lb 12 oz! Wow! Big boy! Daddy brought you back over to me and laid you on
my chest. I couldn’t see you very well from lying flat, but I remember you
looked perfect and I kissed your little red cheeks. I remember immediately
seeing that you have dimples like your daddy. I gave you back to Dad and the
nurses picked me up and moved me back to my hospital bed. We wheeled back down
the hall to our room. Daddy went to the waiting room and told everyone that we
were healthy, but that they had to wait to find out the name and gender until I
could tell them. Dad and I got about an hour with you in our room so that I
could feed you and kiss you and we could get to know you a little before
everyone came in. We immediately loved you more than you can ever know.
Finally all of the family came into our room and I said,
“IT’S A…. BOY!” Riley and Mason we’re jumping up and down and everyone was so
excited. Then I said, “His name is Charles Winslow White!” You are named after
your great granddad, Papa’s dad, who passed away just a couple of weeks before
you were born. He loved you so much and he wanted to wait so he could meet you,
but it was time for him to go be with Jesus and with Great Grandma. Before he
passed away, Daddy and I got to call him and tell him that if you were a boy we
were going to name you Charles after him and it made him very very happy. He
kept it a secret like we asked him to and he was the only person on the planet
who knew that was our final choice for boys name. Your middle name is Winslow,
originally after your great great granddad, Joshua Winslow, who was killed in
action during WWII in France. Winslow is also my middle name and Grandma
Cuckoo’s middle name. Everyone comments on what a great, strong name you have.
You are named after some pretty amazing men. Nana, Papa, Granny, Uncle Ryan, Aunt
Kasia, Riley, Mason, Aunt Kristen, Aunt Cynth, and Uncle Rob were all there to
greet you. You have such a big extended family who are all over the moon about
your birth too! We can’t wait to introduce you to everyone.
That evening we moved to the 5th floor and got a
new room. Granny and Aunt Kristen came back over for a visit and Nana and Papa
brought Daddy some BBQ because he hadn’t eaten either since he’d stayed right
by my side the whole time! We spent 2 nights in the hospital. You had
absolutely fantastic nurses at Memorial Hermann. Dorys came upstairs the next
day to check in on us and say hi! We also had a great nurse named Amber for
both the night shifts that we were there. The first night you slept a whole
lot. We kept waking you up to try to eat. The second night though, you started screaming
around 10:00pm and didn’t stop for hours no matter what we did. Daddy and I
felt so tired and frustrated and we finally called Amber in and said “What do
we do about this crying baby?!” Amber asked if she could take you out with her
to the nurse’s station so we could get a couple hours of rest and we said yes.
She wrapped you up really tight and took you out in your bassinet. The next
thing I remember was several hours later and you were back in our room sleeping
totally soundly. She was a lifesaver that night.
Recovering from a c-section takes some time and the first
few days in the hospital were hard, but I was recovering quickly and we were
eager to get home with you. Once I had the catheter taken out, Daddy would very
carefully and very slowly let me grab around his neck and help me walk to the
bathroom. One night Daddy was so sleepy that he didn’t wake up even though I
was calling his name loudly from my bed. I just pushed the button for the nurse
to come help me instead. :o) Your Daddy is a rock star though! He was right by
me and helped me through every single second of this delivery, not to mention
this pregnancy. He has the biggest servants heart of any human I know. He is
already my hero and I know he will be your hero too!
Two days later we got to be discharged after Daddy helped me
practice walking up and down the halls of the ward to make sure I was strong
enough to go home! We put you in your “Tiny Texan” onesie, loaded you into your
car seat, loaded me into a wheel chair, and headed out of that hospital! Daddy
drove so slowly so it wouldn’t hurt my incision. Everyone was so excited to see
you when we got home. There were even flowers and a beautiful door wreath from
Nana and Papa and Aunt Kasia! Nana held you so that Daddy could help me take my
first shower in days and then it sort of hit me that this was the beginning of
our new normal! So crazy and miraculous to be done with the hospital scene and
actually have you home!
The afternoon that we got home, I laid down to take a nap.
All of a sudden, I felt someone touching my arm to wake me up. I looked up and
there was Aunt B! I was so dazed and confused! She was supposed to be on a ship
in West Africa! How could she be here? She and Daddy had been planning this
trip since last October and I had no idea! What an amazing surprise! And the
best part is that she got to be here for two whole weeks to hang out with us!
Before we left the hospital, you had to have your bilirubin
levels checked several times. It was a little high, but they let us be
discharged as long as we brought you back the next day to have your levels
rechecked for several consecutive days. The bilirubin number kept going up just
a little each time and on Monday, we went to see your pediatrician, Dr.
Chauhan, and she sent us back for another check and they decided that you
needed to be admitted to the NICU to be under the bili lights for a night. I
was sitting in the backseat with you at chick-fil-a when we got the call and I
totally lost it when I heard. Daddy assured me that you weren’t in any big
danger and that you wouldn’t have the spend very long in the NICU, but I
couldn’t stand the thought of having to take you back to the hospital and
leaving you there overnight without me. We drove back to the hospital and I
tried to put on a brave face, but of course as soon as I had to face the nurses
in the NICU, I started crying all over again, but they hugged me and told me
that he would be just fine. We got to be in an isolation room, which was nice
because Daddy and I could play music and have a big chair to sleep in. Once
again, you had amazing nurses! What a blessing. Kim was the charge nurse and Kartar
was your own personal nurse. She was so wonderful and she taught me how to use
my breast pump so that you wouldn’t have to take formula even though you were
in the NICU. I stayed with you while Daddy went home and got pillows and his
computer. I fed you and watched you in your little bassinet under the bili
lights hooked up to the monitors and wearing your little eye covers and tried
to be brave and not to cry. Daddy and I decided that he would stay with you
through the night while I went home and slept and pumped milk for you. Granny
drove bottles of milk over to the hospital through the night so that Dad could
feed it to you every three hours. It was so wonderful that Aunt B and Granny
were here to help! Aunt B slept with me to help me with pumping through the
night. We got up at 4:00am and watched Dancing with the Stars while pumping.
:o) When I woke up the next morning, Daddy had sent me pictures of you guys
together and told me that you were out from under the lights! You looked a lot
better! I brought coffee and doughnuts over to the hospital and Daddy and I
stayed with you until 3:00pm when you got discharged to come home!
Your first 10 days have been a whirlwind! We have gotten a
lot of nice down time to spend time at home holding you, but at times it has
felt pretty crazy too. Between all the Doctor’s visits for you and for me, your
first day that you didn’t have to get in your car seat was your 8th
day of life! You sleep a LOT! We often have trouble waking you up to eat. We
usually have to take all your clothes off, change your diaper, squeeze your
little feet and sometimes put a cold washcloth on your back to get you awake
enough to eat! We think you are a night owl like your Daddy! You sleep most of
the day, but at 10:00pm you are awake and ready to go. You usually start crying
a lot late at night. Daddy is good at rocking you and your pacifier helps too.
We’ve been on several walks in the neighborhood and we’re going to give you
your first bath today! Daddy takes you upstairs every evening for phototherapy
and he likes to take you outside to sit by the pool with him in the evenings.
You hiccup more than anyone I’ve ever seen and you always sneeze twice in a
row. You are such an awesome baby and Daddy and I are so in love with you. We
pray for you every day and we can’t wait to live this adventure with you! I
love you my sweet baby!
Love, Mommy
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