He's here!

My view the last few weeks

It's so weird to think that a little over a week ago we were getting ready to go to the hospital to meet our baby boy. For my memory sake, and the ability to be able to tell him what his arrival to the world was like, it's time to blog! So ---- 

 39 weeks pregnant

 Audrey loving on her baby brother

January 2 we packed up our stuff, took Audrey to her grandparents, and went to the hospital. The labor and delivery floor had a LOT of activity going on... The worst part about being induced at night is being hooked up to fetal monitors all night. I moved a wee bit, and the heartbeat would be lost, beep, nurse fixed it, sleep for a little longer, and repeat. Needless to say, neither one of us got much sleep. I also had no idea that while I was talking to the doctor I was actually having contractions... 11 the first hour I was hooked up to the fetal monitor. Ignorance is bliss! I'm not sure if Shannon preferred the recliner he slept in to the cot he had with Audrey.... but, whatever. It's not a cruise ship or a vacation. 

Landon David Brown

Loving on my baby boy

January 3 -- Doctors/Midwives change, nurses change, and now the real party is about to get started. Midwife started the pitocin and it didn't take long for it to break my water. And, with how much water came out, I am so glad it broke in the hospital versus ANY other location! I asked the nurse -- Did I pee myself, or was that my water breaking? Thankfully, it was my water breaking and I swear it felt like about a gallon, or two!!!, of water leaving my body. Those of you who have had a baby - you know there is no sense of modesty when it comes to labor and delivery. But I was embarrassed when some poor lady came in with a mop (clean up in room 568!!). Sigh. Of course, now the normal things started to progress - more intense contractions, more frequent, more painful... My IV meds came right in time, kind of knocked me out a bit, but not like the meds I had when Audrey was being born. After about a half hour of having the meds, I felt the urge, and need, to push. The nurse checked me, and after a confirmation from the midwife (who was amazing!!!!!!) it was go time. First push, I was ready to give up. I was relieved when a short 16 minutes later I had a beautiful, screaming, DARK haired baby boy on my chest. Landon David Brown entered the world at 10:56 AM weighing 8 pounds, 11 ounces, and measuring 20.5 inches. Minus the dark hair, I felt like I had just birthed the same child, but almost four years later. Landon and Audrey look so similar as newborns! Remember how I said the labor and deliver floor had a lot of activity? Well, while my midwife, Kim, was stitching me back together, another nurse came running in because another momma was crowning. Kim left my room taking off scrubs to take care of her, leaving me waiting for her to come back. Guess it's a good thing I only needed a few stitches!

Landon's bassinet info

Shannon, Landon and me

Landon may not have enjoyed his forced evacuation, and he hasn't had the easiest transition from womb to world. He had a difficult time stabilizing his glucose levels, nursing didn't come easy for him either. Since he was born, every day for a week he was poked, prodded and had blood taken out of him :( 

Landon's IV :(

The night he was born, a hospital pediatrician came in to see him, concerned about his glucose levels. He decided to put him on an IV. Do you realize how disturbing it is to see a less than a day old infant with an IV in his hand? And then the new momma realizes he was actually pricked TWO other times BEFORE the IV actually went INTO his hand?! That didn't help with the nursing either -- trying to juggle the IV tubing and the board that his little hand/arm was on.. We couldn't wait to get that off of him. In the wee hours of January 4 he was finally cleared to be off the IV not totally removed in case his levels dropped, but that was a step in the right direction. Later that morning the IV came out... and then we waited for a doctor to do his circumcision. Shannon and I actually made a bet because everything happened on 'hospital time' -- similar to a clock during a football game. Ya know, there may be a minute left in the game, but it takes 5-10 to actually get the play clock to 0:00... We were SHOCKED when one of the doctors came over during office hours to perform the circumcision.. Good timing because Shannon was already out putting bags in the car -- and brought in the car seat. We figured we'd be in about another hour, two tops and then we would be home.. 

Audrey loving on her baby brother

My loves

Nope. Nurse did another jaundice check and it was higher than before. Blood work was ordered, and we had to wait around for the lab. We had no idea if we would actually be going home that day or not. I lost it. I had just witness my son being checked from his circumcision, heard what his bilirubin level was, and that we may not be able to go home after all. Our nurses and midwife were super supportive about everything - they knew we wanted to just go home. It didn't help that I had JUST had a baby and my hormones were EVERYWHERE. The hospital pediatrician decided that since he would not be seeing Landon in the future to let us go as long as we made an appointment with our pediatrician. Done. Bring on the discharge papers!

I'm in love with this kid...

January 6 -- we see our AMAZING pediatrician, he orders another round of blood work for Landon. His bilirubin levels continue to rise, but we are home. We are trying to adjust to a family of four, figure out nursing, dedicate time to Audrey, and recover from delivery. Over the weekend we do more rounds of bilirubin tests, and each time the number climbs. As we leave the hospital on Sunday (since the labs are closed) we hear back from the doctor. I wasn't planning on hearing from him for a few hours, so I had a feeling the news wasn't going to be good. I was told to stop nursing for 72 hours and supplement with formula. (Audrey was a nursed baby at bedtime until she was almost 18 months old). This broke, no, actually shattered me. 

It's amazing how a shower makes ya feel so much better!

Shannon admiring his son

January 9. We go back to our amazing pediatrician. One of the first questions he asks is about nursing. I loose it. The last thing I wanted to do was have my baby on formula unless I wasn't able to produce enough milk for him. It takes a great doctor to turn all of your fears into something that doesn't even matter. First order of business, go back to nursing. Second, Landon needs lights and he turned into a glow worm. Third, he is a healthy, full term baby and the only check he had against him was a bilirubin level of 21 on Sunday. It also takes an amazing doctor to turn your frowns into smiles, and also apologize for the weekend we endured. We had convinced ourselves that we were going to need to have Landon re-admitted to the hospital and put under lights. Doing a little bit of home therapy was music to our ears!

As of today, January 11, we are still adjusting, but we have a glow worm, he's nursing well, he's sleeping well (Last night he barely stirred at 4:30am.. I needed to wake up, but he is a great sleeper. I hope this trend continues!!!!) and we are all taking some time to adjust to a family of four. We are beyond grateful for the thoughts and prayers from our friends and family while we were in the hospital, as well as while we struggled and worried about our newborn son and what was going to happen to him.

My world

Audrey is adjusting to not being the only child in our home. It will take some getting used to, but she really has been a great helper with Landon. We give her small tasks to complete to make her feel the part of the big sister. I have been thankful that Shannon is/was able to take time off and be able to dedicate time to Audrey while I do the same with Landon. 

Stay tuned for more updates and news about our family. It's amazing how fast they grow up, literally before our eyes.