Hospital Food

After staying a week in the hospital, I've come to enjoy hospital food. It really isn't as bad as everyone says it is. Some meals were a bit bland, but not anything a little salt couldn't fix. I even had a choice of two different dishes so I wasn't just brought whatever and expected to eat it. I thought it was great.

Not only am I going to tell everyone the events that took place the day Luke was born, it will also serve as a journal entry for me to remember down the road.

Chris and I checked into the hospital so I could be induced Sunday night, the 6Th, around 8:30pm. After waiting all weekend to get in, we were pretty excited to finally be there. After settling into my delivery suite, which was really nice, I was given medication to soften my cervix before they would start the petocin. Lucky for me, I started contracting on my own around 5:00am so I didn't even need it. With less then an hour of pushing, Luke was born at 5:01pm. I was only in labor 12 hours. I was so glad it wasn't longer than that. That was the part that I was scared the most about and it didn't turn out as horrible as I imagined.

That's the first part. Everything went pretty smoothly until Luke's little shoulders were out....that's when I tore. The doctor who delivered him spent the next 2 1/2 hours stitching me up. I got to hold Luke for a little bit and then Chris took him out to show our waiting family. Plus, Chris couldn't stay in the room with all the bleeding that my parts were doing so Christina came in and talked to me while I sat with my bottom half uncovered for the world to see. The doctor didn't talk much, but I did notice that she shook her head a lot. That was not a good sign. She did finally say that every time she put a stitch in I'd bleed more and that was not good. The main concern was to get me to stop bleeding and stitched up. Once the doctor was finished and she felt she had the bleeding under control is when she learned about my blood problem, pancytopenia. She seemed pretty upset that she wasn't told before, but now realized why I was bleeding so bad and was worried with the amount of blood I had lost. I guess I never thought it was that serious.....boy, was I wrong.

By Wednesday morning I was doing good. I wasn't bleeding anymore and my stitches were looking still holding up. Even though I wasn't on any epidural medication, I still had the IV line in my back and they wanted to take out. I was glad I couldn't feel it. They gave me a transfusion of platelets before the anesthesiologists removed the IV line. He made it sound very scary so I was really freaked out. He talked about having to go into emergency surgery if I ended up having a clot in my spine or something like that. Luckily, I could still feel my legs by the end of the day so it all went well.

Just when I thought I was getting better everything changed Wednesday afternoon. My heart rate went up and I started getting a fever. By the end of the day it was to 103. I started getting my blood every 6 hours to see what was going on and to see what my blood levels were doing. It wasn't looking very good and my arms were starting to look like I was a drug user. Sadly, my white blood cells were decreasing and that was a main concern with the on-call doctor. That night, Luke was discharged from the hospital into Chris's care, but they could stay in the hospital with me. Thursday morning, my OB came in and told me they were transferring me to another hospital and to the ICU. Even though the doctors at the Pacific campus were doing everything they could, they felt I needed to be placed in special care with doctors who dealt with this kind of thing every day. I cried since I would be separated from Luke and I already felt like we had not yet bonded. I felt so helpless, but Chris was doing a great job with the mom duties during our hospital stay together.

First thing that happened when I arrived at the Colby campus of Providence was a blood transfusion. I received two units of blood to see if that would help me. I spent all day Thursday and part of Friday in the ICU. I still had blood draws, but they were only once a day and at 4:30 in the morning. Who does that? Shouldn't patients be sleeping at the time? I was being pumped full of antibiotics so it wasn't that bad since the machine beeped when the bag was empty so I didn't sleep the whole night through anyway. Finally, the doctors had a verdict of what was wrong with me and had discovered I had somehow contracted a bacteria in my blood. They had some theories of how it came about, but nothing to important to mention. My mom brought me a receiving blanket that smelled of Luke and some pictures of him. I cried a lot not being with my baby, but I knew he was in good hands with his dad, Chris, and my family.

Before I was moved from the ICU on Friday I finally got to take a shower. I had gone way too many days without washing my hair. Boy, did I look terrible when I hit the bathroom and took a look in the mirror. Why didn't any of my family mention that to me? I hadn't walked anywhere since Sunday night so taking the walk to the bathroom wore me out. That afternoon I was moved to a regular floor and I was lucky enough to get my own room. I must be loved...I even had my own bathroom with a shower. That day my temperature was steadily dropping. I was at 99 degrees all day and by Saturday my temp was normal. A new doctor had come in to tell me that they are taking cultures of the bacteria to find out what antibiotics would cure me. Still I wasn't told I could go home yet. Saturday I was getting up and around more and feeling good, but by that night I was tuckered out. Chris came and brought a game for us to play, but I kept falling a sleep during his turn so I finally called it quits. I didn't like that hospital room much because I thought it gave me bad dreams. I had to sleep with the light on the night before and didn't want Chris to go home that night either. It was probably from all the stuff they were pumping me full of. I was getting an antibiotic every 6 hours and a different one every 8 hours. Plus I was getting doses of iron every morning.

Sunday morning my doctor came in and told me the bacteria was sensitive to a certain antibiotic and asked me if I was ready to go home. Heck yes I was. He did tell me that I would have to take the antibiotic intravenously for a few days and then it would be a pill. So I was going home finally. I called Chris since he hadn't gotten to the hospital yet. He was so excited and so was I. I cried again since I would finally be able to hold my little baby boy and do all the mommy things I hadn't gotten to do yet.

There you have it. I'm now a seasoned mother of two weeks and loving it. Luke is such a good baby. He doesn't cry unless he is hungry, has a dirty diaper or a bubble in his tummy. I am so lucky he is that good. I think I'd be more exhausted if he weren't. Chris and I are adjusting to baby life and I'm thinking my maternity leave is getting eaten up too quickly. Before I know it, I'll be back to work and it makes me sad to think I won't get to be with him all day any more. I've got to soak it up while I can.

He is so adorable!!

Luke William Walchli

Born April 7, 2008 at 5:01pm - 7lbs. 10oz. - 19 inches long
I will have more pictures and the story of what happened after the birth of our beautiful baby soon. I'm still in recovery at my parents house.

Where's Luke?

Today is my first day of maternity leave at work. It sure was nice not having to get up and drive an hour to Kirkland this morning. I still woke up at my normal time, though. I still had a few things to do today and I don't know when I would get another chance to do them. Who knows...I could go into labor tomorrow.

I finally feel like the nursery is ready. My mom and I went out to get the last things on my list. This was the first time she and I went baby shopping together. While working I only had Saturdays free and that day she has church duties which take up the whole day. It was really nice going together.

I've decided to go back to my original due date: April 3rd, but I have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday at which point we will find out when this baby wants to come out and play.

Showers!

It's getting down to crunch time. A little over two weeks to go and I am not quite ready. My co-workers threw a surprise shower for me and I also had one with my family and friends. This baby sure has been spoiled! Chris and I are have been so blessed to know such great people. Thank you everyone!

One of our biggest gifts we received was the travel system that my work bought. I've got it assembled and practiced pushing around the stroller to get the feel of it. Being tall I wanted to make sure I didn't have to lean over any to push it. (Don't laugh). Now I just need to figure out the base and the carrier and how to strap it into my car. I wasn't old enough to drive when my nieces and nephews were babies so I don't have experience in that department. Something I did notice the stroller is super heavy. I don't know how mothers lift this thing in and out of their cars.

Other shower photos:

Nearing week 35 and counting...

A friend suggested I take another prego picture and post it for all to see. Don't I look great? Lucky me gets to renew my license next month so I'll have a head shot of this for the next few years. I think I'll fib a little and stick with the weight I already have on it instead of what I currently am at. I might get there again sometime soon (unfortunately, I wasn't there pre-pregnancy...I'm so terrible!)

I've been tagged

I'm kind of excited since I haven't tagged been before. I should be working on my talk for Sunday, but instead I'm spending my friday evening catching up on my friends lives via blog. Chris and I already had our date.....spent time at BabysRUs registering .

How long have you been together? Married 3 years in July.
How long did you date? 10 months - engaged for 5 of them.
How old is he? 31...I told him he could never call me his "Old lady" since he's older than me.
Who eats more? Chris, definately. My family calls him "Beefcake".
Who said "I love you" first? He did and then he said I didn't need to say it back. I did, but it was weird since I wasn't sure at the time.
Who is taller? Chris is by an inch or two. If I'm wearing shoes and he's not, I swear I'm taller.
Who sings better? I sing better. When I met him, he was in this band (as the singer) but it was the yelling kind. He doesn't sing much anymore.
Who is smarter? We are both smart in different things. His knowledge is in the random and weird.
Who does the laundry? We both do it although he's shrunk a lot of my stuff. He's now learned that some of my things don't go in the dryer.
Who does the dishes? If I make dinner, Chris does dishes. If he makes dinner, I do dishes. He usually does the dishes more and I'm thankful. I would rather clean toilets than do dishes...seriously.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I sleep on the right side. He switched for a bit, but I didn't like it.
Who pays the bills? Lucky me!
Who mows the lawn? We don't have a lawn to mow, but I'd make him do it. I mowed the lawn too many times in my youth.
Who cooks dinner? Most of the time I do it.
Who is more stubborn? Probably me.
Who kissed who first? Chris went in for the kill first. I hadn't kissed anyone for a long time so I was totally scared. I'm glad he was brave.
Who asked who out? We were kind of hanging out with friends at first and then he asked me to see a movie and go to dinner.
Who proposed? Chris did. The day was a suprise, but I knew it was coming.
Who is more sensitive? I am more sensitive. And that's not just because I'm preggers right now.
Who has more friends? Girls usually have more friends.
Who has more siblings? We each have the same amount (3 sisters and 2 brothers)
Who wears the pants in the relationship? Sometimes I think I do since he makes me be in charge of some things, but it's his duty as the man of the house.
Who are you tagging? If anyone reads this who hasn't been tagged..."You're It!"

Some of you know I work at an elevator company. It has it's ups and downs...hehe. Going through some of my old emails from co-workers I ran into this and I wanted to share. Even those at ThyssenKrupp (my company) know how to have a sense of humor about their job.

1) When there's only one other person in the elevator, tap them on the shoulder and then pretend it wasn't you.

2) Push the buttons and pretend they give you a shock. Smile, and go back for more.

3) Ask if you can push the button for other people, but push the wrong ones.

4) Drop a pen and wait until someone reaches to help pick it up, then scream, "That's mine!"

5) Bring a camera and take pictures of everyone in the elevator.

6) Move your desk into the elevator and whenever someone gets on, ask if they have an appointment.

7) Lay down a Twister mat and ask people if they'd like to play.

8) Leave a box in the corner, and when someone gets on ask them if they hear something ticking.

9) Ask, "Did you feel that?"

10) Stand really close to someone, sniffing them occasionally.

11) When the doors close, announce to the others, "It's okay. Don't panic, they open up again."

12) Swat at flies that don't exist.

13) Call out, "group hug!" then enforce it.

14) Grimace painfully while smacking your forehead and muttering "Shut up, all of you, just shut up!"

15) Crack open your briefcase or purse, and while peering inside, ask, "Got enough air in there?"

16) Stand silently and motionless in the corner, facing the wall, without getting off.

17) Stare at another passenger for a while, then announce in horror, "You're one of THEM" and back away slowly.

18) Wear a puppet on your hand and use it to talk to the other passengers.

19) Listen to the elevator walls with your stethoscope.

20) Stare, grinning at another passenger for a while, and then announce, "I have new socks on."

21) Draw a little square on the floor with chalk and announce to the other passengers, "This is my personal space."

22) Make race car noises when anyone gets on or off.

23) Whistle the first seven notes of "It's a Small World" incessantly.

24) When arriving at your floor, grunt and strain to yank the doors open, then act embarrassed when they open by themselves.

25) Greet everyone getting on the elevator with a warm handshake and ask them to call you Admiral.

26)On the highest floor, hold the door open and demand that it stay open until you hear the penny you dropped down the shaft go "plink" at the bottom.

27) When at least 8 people have boarded, moan from the back: "Oh, not now, dang motion sickness!"

28) Meow occasionally.

29) Bet the other passengers you can fit a quarter in your nose.

30) Frown and mutter "gotta go, gotta go" then sigh and say "uh-oh!"