Saturday, October 23, 2010

Some Pictures of Jonas

Our camera needs new batteries so we haven't had a chance to take pictures of Jonas since he got home Thursday but here are some faves from the past week:
That's a feeding tube going down his nose- poor guy!

This is from Sunday night- the first time I got to hold him.

We came in Monday to find him chilling in this "tanning bed" (for his slight jaundice).

And here I am holding him for the last time in the NICU before we brought him home!

Jonas saying a prayer of gratitude for being healthy enough to come home!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

A Few Quirky Things to Remember...

A few strange/humorous/interesting things happened surrounding Jonas' birth that I wanted to remember so I am writing down here:

  • After my grandmother decided my water had broke, she handed me a hand towel to stuff in my under wear so I had quite the padding as I walked into the hospital. I hoped no one would notice my huge, puffy pants.
  • Since my grandmother checked me in, a few nurses referred to her as my mother. I think that compliments Grandma. Way to go grandma!
  • When the anesthesiologist came in, he was stunned as he looked at my grandfather. My grandfather worked as an anesthesiologist for several years here in Shreveport and lots of the medical staff are aware of him. This doctor, Dr. Wheelhouse, stated that my grandfather was there on his first procedure. It's just fun how everyone treats my grandfather like a celebrity.
  • Then, while Dr. Wheelhouse was giving me my spinal block, I got a jolt to my butt. Luckily, the spinal block still worked :)
  • I felt like such a wimp, I was moaning more about how sore I was from them pushing on my stomach than I was about my contractions. I felt like I was going to throw-up but thankfully, I didn't.
  • The night after the C-section, my face started itching. I told the nurse I thought mosquitoes had bitten me all over my face (see, we have a mosquito problem at home and it is not uncommon for me to wake up with bites on my hands and face). The nurse asked me if I felt any bumps and I had to concede that there were none. She told me it was a reaction to the medicine and gave me Benadryl. I felt better after a few hours. I felt a little silly thinking that the hospital had a mosquito infestation.
  • I knew I was in Louisiana because of the very Southern- style meals I had. My Saturday lunch was a chicken and rice dish with okra (a nasty vegetable they like to add to stews here). Dinner was catfish (yum!) and every meal was served with iced tea. I definitely would not have been served iced tea in Rexburg!
  • And one last, embarassing moment. Brian went home for a few hours on Saturday so I tied my own gown on and went up to the NICU to visit Jonas. I had not tied it well and this I knew because I was holding it closed in the back but then I had to wash my hands. A nurse came by and say, "Woah, you are hanging out back here," She proceeded to help me tie it better. Whoops..

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Jonas' Birth


Hey all! Most of you know from Facebook that Tuckling #2 was born last Thursday. I wanted to give the full story here:

Well, first of all, my due date was November 6th. Sydney had come a week late and so I wasn't holding my breath that the little man would come before November 6th. I hoped he would come in October because that would mean only paying COBRA insurance for the month of October and not November too but whatever. Sydney was a C-section and I desperately wanted to try VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean) which my doctor was all for. I had an appt, last Tuesday (Oct 12th) and I was 1 cm. I was happy with that and thought, "Maybe he'll come in a couple of weeks, that would be great". I was also tested at this time for Group B Strep- which I did not think I would have.

Just so you know the timing, my sister Drea was planning on having a baby shower for me on Sat. Oct. 16th. Again, we all thought that I had more time.

Thursday I laid down for a nap. I was kind of in and out but do recall a few painful cramps while I was napping. I had had some in the past week which I knew was normal. (Oh, and by the way, on Oct 14th, I was 36 weeks 5 days). After I got up from the nap and gave the kiddos snacks (recall, I watch my niece and nephew along with Sydney), I leaked. I went and changed my pants and talked to Brian about it. I told him I thought I most likely just had some incontinence. He seriously stated that my water probably broke. But he seemed so calm. Then, I leaked again. This time, Brian went and got my grandmother. She asked how much I leaked and suggested we go see my doctor. I called my doctor's office and they told me to go to the hospital! I was shocked! so my grandmother took me to the hospital, I called my sister and she was on her way home to watch the kids and Brian packed our hospital bag (Two nights before Brian had suggested we pack our hospital bag and I laughed at him).

They gave me a room at the hospital but I had not pre-admitted myself (another lack of preparation piece on our part!) so my grandma admitted me while the nurse asked me 100 questions all about if I was abused at home, my nursing preferences, my drug and health history, etc. After my grandma got me admitted, they started monitoring me and I was having contractions. Jonas' heart rate however was at 180 steady- contraction or not. I got checked in at the hospital at about 4pm. At about 5:30 maybe, the doctor on call came in. What do you know, it wasn't the doctor that I had all my prenatal care with (same thing happened with Sydney). He did not want to try VBAC on me since he did not have a note from my doctor and he noticed the baby's heart rate was bad. Also, it turned out I was Group B strep positive. The doctor checked me and Jonas was really high and I was still 1 cm. Lying in bed, my contractions got to the point where they were 2 minutes apart and very painful. But the doctor was saying I was getting a C-section so I just bore with it for a while. Sometime after 6pm, I was getting a spinal block put in. Brian wasn't there to help me but I managed. Miraculously, when I sat up, I had no contractions through the whole spinal block procedure. Stupid bed.

Anyways, they start cutting into me and I can feel Jonas up by my ribs. The doctor said there was a lot of scar tissue. Then, the nurse and anesthesiologist were pushing on the top of my stomach. Turned out that Jonas was so high, the doctor could not reach him. They pushed so hard I was sore later on. I heard Jonas' cry and Brian and I looked at each other and smiled. It was such a sweet little cry. The first comment I heard from the doctor was, "He has a big head for a 36-week baby!". Turns out, Jonas Kirk Tuck was 7lbs 2 oz and 20.5 inches long. That is a good size for a pre-mature baby (which he is technically since he was more than 3 weeks early). They washed him off and Brian held him for a minute before they took him to the nursery and Brian stayed with me while they stitched me up. I was so sore from where they pushed on me, I was moaning. It ached! Because of all the scar tissue, the doctor used metal staples on me and I have to say they look pretty freaky.

Anyways, shortly after getting into the nursery, nurses noticed that Jonas was breathing fast, so he was admitted to the NICU. One nurse told me that was common and he would probably be there only 24-48 hours. He was breathing at about 100x per minute and the normal range is 30-60x per minute. Because they wanted to reduce his stress, I was not allowed to hold him. I was wheeled to him Friday morning and could only look on as Jonas had all kinds of wires strapped to him and a IV in his hand. I was told not to even touch him. That was kind of hard on me. He was not positive for Group B Strep so they were not really sure what was wrong with him.

By Sunday. I was discharged from the hospital and Sunday evening, Jonas' breathing had improved enough for me to hold him. Brian's parents came into town Saturday as well and got to hold him Sunday night, too. I started pumping Friday morning and sending my colostrum/milk to the NICU which he started receiving via feeding tube on Saturday. He is now bottle-feeding. They did an xray of his lungs this morning and discovered some pneumonia and so they are finishing up two more days of antibiotics and he should be home Thursday!

It has been hard but I have appreciated all the support I have here, Brian, my sister Andrea and her husband, my grandparents and Brian's parents. Thank you everyone for your well wishes and prayers.

PS- The name Jonas mainly came to us from the Weezer song "My Name is Jonas" but it means "a gift from God". Kirk is the name of Brian's late brother, who passed away 4 years ago.

And a huge shout-out to my husband Brian. He was so amazing! He packed things I had not thought of, he was so calm and collected through the whole thing which really helped me to stay calm. He helped me out in the hospital without complaint even when I was waking him up every 3 hours to help me pump. He helped me shower and put on my underwear, fetched me whatever juice I wanted, gave me full reign over the tv and countless other things. He even went home for a few hours and helped clean up our room so it was so beautiful and spotless when I got home! He was super amazing and I am so happy to have him for a husband. I don't know what I would have done without him. I love you babe!

Better pictures to come soon.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

What I've been up to...

Sorry no current pregnancy photo. I've been meaning to get a recent one taken but here is one from 2 weeks ago when I was 34 weeks along.

I am now 36 weeks along! I feel great! I can still wear my wedding ring and I have not developed carpal tunnel (yet, knock on wood) like I did with Sydney. I did a little photoshop playing around and from pictures, it seems that at 30 weeks with Sydney I was the same size as my 34 week photo you just saw. So, I definitely think I am doing better this time around. I'm gaining less weight and since I lost all the pregnancy weight related to Sydney, I hope to do the same this time. My goal is to be back at me pre-pregnancy weight by the time the baby is 6 months old. And if I did not have stomach issues this time around, that would be great, too!

Well, I just wanted to show off a little of what I do. On the side from watching my nephew and niece during the week, and tutoring some math occasionally, I also design digital scrapbooking kits. These are two kits I released last week.
Still not making amazing money with this but I hope to be getting my name out there and do better in the future.

And here are some of the recent digital layouts I did and really liked how they turned out.
Yep, Sydney's going to be a lady bug this Halloween!

You can't tell too well, but with these black and white photos, I selected out her blue eyes so actually her eyes are in color and everything else is black and white. If you enlarge the photo, you might might be able to tell better....


I am working on a Halloween wreath which I got the idea for from here: http://northridgemedia.net/blogs/create/departments/holidays/boo-wreath/

I'll show you a pic when I am done. It will not look anything like that example because I'm cheap and only bought 3 types of Halloween ribbon but it still looks cute I think.

Ok, done making my blog spot a brag spot.

Love,
Megs

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Happy Birthday Sydney!

We celebrated Sydney's 2nd birthday with a party yesterday. Brian's parents were able to come in from Alabama and we had my sister's family and our friend Christine's family so it was a blast! We went swimming first for an hour and then the party was right at Sydney's nap time so she was kind of quiet during the whole thing.

The beautiful cake Christine made:

Sydney with her pumpkin I helped her decorate. We got small pumpkins and stick-on faces.
Her dad got her this singing balloon. You tap the balloon and it sings to you about your birthday. Sydney got good at singing that song! She also referred to this day as "Happy Day!" all day long!

Sydney with Grandma Tuck.
Sydney thought that some of the cat whiskers from the pumpkin decorations would be better on her face.
Sydney with Grandpa Tuck.
She knew what to do when the lit candle was placed in front of her

The bow on top was made of marshmallow-based fondant and Sydney couldn't resist trying a bite!

Sydney with some of her loot. She loved all her presents. Thank you everyone!

Happy Birthday, sweet Sydney!