Unexpected. . .

Summer is over and the school year has begun again! I haven't posted quite as much of our summer adventures as I would have liked, but that will have to wait for another day. . . This month is only half over, but so far it has been quite "unexpected!" The month started out by welcoming 2 new nephews into the world, Hunter and Jaxson. We got a call on Aug. 30th that Brett's sister's water had broken and she was in the hospital. She was 30 weeks+ pregnant with twin boys and the doctors were able to hold her off long enough to give her some antibiotics to ward off any infection and steroids to prepare the boys' lungs. The boys were delivered Sept. 1st, 9 1/2 weeks early. That weekend we were able to make a trip to Pocatello to see those tiny, sweet things! Two weeks out from their very early arrival they are doing very well. They are off all of their oxygen and IVs and only have their feeding tubes left. They have gained a little weight and are so strong and handsome!

Jaxson and Hunter

Just six short days later on Sept. 7th I woke up at about 2:15 AM with a little "indigestion." I tried going to the bathroom and going back to bed several times. I finally realized that I was having some contractions. I'd had a little "scare" the Friday before with some contractions and had been told by the doctor to drink water, eat some protein and put my feet up. Those things worked for me then (I had even had an ultrasound already scheduled that afternoon because I was measuring small and when I went to the ultrasound everything looked GREAT and no signs of contractions) and I hadn't had any contractions since so I decided I had just overdone it the previous day at school (it had been our first day with students). I decided I would just try to relax, drink some water and try to eat something. I grabbed a big glass of water and headed off to the tub. I soaked in a warm bath for a little while and drank my water. Unfortunately, I realized that these contractions were not going away, but instead were getting pretty intense. I got out of the tub and decided I better start timing before I called the doctor so I could let him know what was going on. When I started timing my contractions and found that they were 2-2 1/2 minutes apart and lasting 45-60 seconds I started to feel a little concerned. I woke Brett and called the doctor. When the doctor called me back he told me I'd better get to the hospital and get checked out. Because of the insanely early hour, the fact that I was only 35 1/2 weeks, and that I had only been laboring for an hour and a half we decided to not panic anyone yet, take David with us, and just "figure out what was going on." Brett asked if he could take a shower and I told him no, we just needed to get to the hospital. He asked what we needed to pack and I again told him nothing, we just needed to go now. I needed help dressing (that should have been a sign!) and could no longer walk or talk through my contractions (and hardly in between). They were coming fast and hard. I tried to just keep myself relaxed and breathe through each contraction resting as much as I could in between. Brett told me I could squeeze his hand as we drove, but soon made the comment, "Not that hard! I have to drive!"

We got to the hospital just after 4 am. I got wheeled up to labor and delivery (no chance I was walking now) and with a great deal of help got as changed as I could. The nurse asked me all sorts of questions to check me in and I tried answering as best I could with nods, shakes of my head, and grunts (the contractions were on top of each other now). One question I clearly remember was, "if we keep you, what are your plans for pain relief?" My answer was something to the effect of "don't know" although Brett claims it wasn't in so many words! I have to admit my thoughts at the time were more like "take this stinkin' pain away right now! What was I ever thinking wanting to do this naturally! If I have to do this for 12 more hours I WILL die!" The nurse finally got to the point where she was going to check me. She checked my cervix and then told me to wait a minute because she was going to have another nurse come in and check. The second nurse came in and checked and their conversation went something like, Nurse 1, "what do you feel?" Nurse 2, "the bag." N1, "that's what I thought." After which the nurse informed me I was complete and the only thing keeping the baby in was my bag of waters (which had not ruptured). I questioningly said "no meds then?" to which the nurse kindly told me that pain medication would not be an option and I knew I had better suck it up and deal with it because I had to hang on to my wits until we got this baby here! Brett and David were good to hold my hand and give me some much needed support. At this point in time we realized that we were not leaving the hospital without a baby, so Brett called both our parents to let them know we were having a baby NOW. I tried to suggest some options for David, but Brett just told me we didn't have any time. The nurse reassured me that they would work something out and started making arrangements. The doctor arrived, said hi, and went and changed. The nurse got a toy from pediatrics and another nurse came and took David to the doctor's lounge. The doctor came in, broke my water, and 1/2 a push later our daughter entered the world (45 minutes after we arrived at the hospital). After the doctor finished and I was cleaned up a little Brett left and got David. David was SO in awe of his little sister (and has been ever since). . . it was love at first sight. The nurse told me later that she just prayed the whole time that my water wouldn't break because she knew if it had she would be delivering the baby and the hospital really "frowns" upon that! I now am pretty grateful that we live close to a hospital and that I didn't let Brett take any extra time in getting ready or we very well could have had a baby at home or in the car. But most of all, I am so grateful that our little girl came into the world as healthy as she did!

Since I was only in my 35th week we had a little extra care at the hospital. Rebecca was doing so well when she arrived that the staff gave us an hour of family time before they took her off to the NICU. They kept her there for a 6 hour observation (standard for all preterm babies). She had a little trouble at first regulating her body temperature and had to be put in a warming bed. After a few hours of that they took her out and she was able to keep her temperature up. Since she did so well they let her come out of the NICU to postpartum with me after her observation. She had a second observation on day 2 because she had some spit up that she inhaled and stopped breathing for a little bit. She turned blue and luckily the nurse had just come in. The nurse quickly took her away back to the NICU, suctioning her out the whole way there. She spit up a good amount of stuff and by the time they got there she had pinked up again and was breathing fine. They kept her for just under an hour to watch her, but again she was able to come back to me without any further intervention. Also, since I hadn't been tested for group B strep and with Rebecca being preterm they had to keep us for 48 hours in the hospital to monitor and make sure we were all okay. It was nice not to have to worry about anything (cooking, cleaning, a 1 1/2 year old running around demanding attention), but by the end of day 2 I was a little tired of the confinement and was anxious to get home.

David has been VERY good with Rebecca. He LOVES her and is so proud of his new little sister. He wants to know where she is ALL the time, loves to give her hugs and kisses, and tries to be such a big helper.

He also loves all of his sisters "stuff"--hats, clothes, bouncer, swing, carseat, etc.

He hasn't shown any jealousy of her, but he is starting to do some crazy things to get mom and dad's attention! He is talking A LOT more in the last week and a half (I guess he knows he's the BIG brother now!) and has become such a big boy (where did my baby go?). The other day we had prayers over breakfast and then I got up to get something while he was eating at the table. I heard him talking and turned around to see him with his arms folded saying, "Bless Daddy, bless Mommy, bless Becca. . ." SO CUTE! We are so blessed to have two beautiful, healthy, wonderful children! I can't even begin to express how wonderful life is right now. . . even if it is a little unexpected!