Bridger's Story

I want to record some of my thoughts and feeling about Bridger's arrival. I think there needs to be some background information first though, so I can compare the two delivery's and you all know where I am coming from.

WARNING: MOM DON'T READ THIS PART JUST SKIP TO THE PICTURES. (you were there you already know what happened, you probably don't want to relive it) Don't be upset I warned you!

My water broke with Cambree but I was not in labor so they had to induce me. I was on bed rest so this was a pretty welcome induction. I got to the hospital about noon on Sunday, march 11th. They started me on petocin and really nothing was happening. By 11:00 that night I was dying with pain and the pain meds they had given me just made me REALLY loopy and silly. I was only dilated to a 1. I got my epidural. Heaven. The next morning the nurse checks me around 6 or 7. I was still a 1. UGH. I start feeling the contractions again. The doc comes in at 8 says if I don't get to a good 4 by noon it is a c section. I get a blessing. the contractions are REALLY hurting. They give me more juice in the epidural. doesn't work. Doc comes in at noon I am a 5 YIPPEE! Still A LOT of pain. they give me more juice then normal without diluting it. some relief for about an hour. pain comes back FULL FORCE. still progressing so that is good. threaten a few more times for c section. I kept reaching the milestones. Kept getting more epidural juice that just numbs my legs like no other but still feel EVERYTHING. eventually stop giving me epidural stuff because I have to feel something to push. 5:00 dilated to a 10. DYING from PAINFUL contractions. ALL IN MY BACK. The baby is still too high. Not sure what is going on. Doc mentions something about C Section. Nurse mentions something about the monitors not picking up ANY contractions anymore. Doc Decides right there it is a C Section. go to the O.R. I tell the OLD anesthesiologist that I can still feel my legs a bit. he tells me they are getting "heavy" and it will be ok. They strap me to the table. Poke around a few times, and I still tell the OLD GUY I can feel everything. He doesn't believe me. The doc starts CUTTING. I start SCREAMING and lifting my legs off of the table. Oh the OLD GUY finally believes me. They throw a mask on my face and I go completely OUT. THE. WORST. FEELING. I. HAVE. EVER. FELT. thought I was dying, literally, weirdest out of body experience of my life. I did wake up and was super RELIEVED. Doc tells me I almost died because my uterus was shredded and on the brink of bursting. nice. Anyway, long story short. They pumped me full of morphine and ibuprofen that really did nothing for the pain just pumped me full of gas. I hated those pain meds. I could not get out of bed by myself for weeks. I could not pick up the baby by myself, I could not even hold Cambree until like 12 or so hours later. it was miserable. I was miserable. I hurt for weeks. I was BLOATED like nothing else for weeks. I could not even wear the same pants out of the hospital as I did into the hospital because they were too SMALL. I was that full of puffiness. Anyway, this background info is getting rather long. Just know it was a NIGHTMARE.

Fast forward to Last month, October 7th. Because of all of the stuff that went on before with Cambree I just opted for the C Section from the get go in hopes things would work and go a little bit smoother this time. I was a little nervous about it all because it was not a regular C Section the first time so I didn't really know what to expect. I was just hoping the spinal they were going to do was going to work and I could be awake. remember I hated the going completely asleep part. I was most nervous about the spinal and the pain management afterward. My doctor and all of the nurses assured me I would not be in pain after everything was said and done. I trusted them. THEY REALLY CAME THROUGH FOR ME!!!

(I forgot to take pics of his first bath, so this is his second "real" bath)

We had to be at the hospital at 5:00 am. I couldn't eat or drink after midnight. the eating was no problem but the drinking was A WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY. I was DYING of thirst. I had the worst cotton mouth on the planet. during pre op. my doctor came in and asked if there was anything else I needed. I plainly stated, "just a drink" he laughed and said I could get one as soon as I got out of the operating room!!! Anyway, they got me all hooked up to IV's and drew some blood and got me all hydrated and ready for surgery. I got a little, or a lot, nauseous and when David finally got to come back I was on oxygen, had a barf bag, and some alcohol pads on my chest. he looked a little worried. but I finally started to calm down and the nausea went away. In the operating room they did the spinal. I was so nervous for this. It was by far the least favorite part of the whole thing. it took longer then what I expected and it HURT. It kept sending funny shooting pains down my back and legs. But once it was said and done I DIDN'T FEEL A THING. OH HEAVEN. it did make me super tired though. They pulled Bridger out and we heard a very gurgley cry. They took him over to clean him up and David went over to be with him. I could hear him cry every once in awhile but I knew something might not be just right. sure enough, the nurse came over and told me they were taking him to the NICU because he was having a hard time "transitioning" and had lots of fluid in his lungs and was breathing pretty hard. David went with him and they finished me up and took me to recovery.


(smiling at his sister)

In the recovery area I finally got my drink. YAY!!! well it was ice chips, but i didn't care it was cold and wet! It felt like I was only there for like 15 min. but I was already able to start moving my legs. CRAZY! They took me up to my room and the nurse got me a HUGE water bottle, that she ended up filling up like 3 or 4 times in the first hour i was in my room!!! She also told me I could eat whenever I wanted (with Cambree they wouldn't let me have anything but ice chips for the first day then it was clear liquids and then jello and then finally food like two days later) The pediatrician came in and told me how Bridger was doing. that was when they told us he had really low blood sugar levels and was on an I.V. He also said as soon as I could get up I could go down to the NICU and see him. David was still there with him. Bridger was born at 7:30 and by 10:30 I was able to lift my legs off of the bed and the nurse helped me get up and I walked to the bathroom and then the wheelchair to go down to the NICU. AMAZING. Since After Cambree I couldn't get out of bed AT ALL. by the next day I was WALKING to the NICU instead of in the wheelchair. my pain was DEFINITELY TOLERABLE and NOTHING like what I remember. I was able to get out of my bed BY MYSELF. I was even able to pick up the baby BY MYSELF once he got into our room.


(Cambree loves to hold him)

We were able to finally hold him Wednesday (the day he was born) evening. I bawled the entire time! They didn't feed Bridger the whole first day because he was breathing too fast. The next day he was doing much better and didn't have to have help with any oxygen. They started him on formula so that he could get his sugar levels up and get off of the IV faster. HE HATED the formula. He was having the hardest time eating and they could barely get an once in him every three hours. Plus he would barf up most of the formula about every other feeding. But it was enough that we were able to shut off the IV. David spent a lot of time down at the NICU. I went when I could. but it was really warm in there and I would get really light headed and dizzy. plus i was SUPER tired. He would also take Cambree down with him, because if I went she would just scream for me to hold her the entire time and then we would get kicked out. (yes, that happened the first time we took her down)



(I love a sleeping baby. They are just too cute)

Although, I hated having him in the NICU it was sort of nice to get some sleep Wednesday and Thursday night. Granted I still had to get up and pump and the nurses still came in to do their business, but I felt pretty rested the next day. They were still worried about his eating on Thursday because it was a pretty big fight to get him to eat anything, so they kept him Thursday night as well. Friday morning we went down for the morning feeding and he was doing really well. They had even taken out his IV!! The pediatrician let us take him to our room since I wasn't leaving until Saturday to see how he would do. They told me I could nurse him but warned me he probably wouldn't be a "champion eater" BOY WERE THEY WRONG. he strictly nursed on Friday and was a CHAMPION EATER!! We didn't give him any formula all day on Friday and he seemed to be doing really well. He has been a full blown nurser since and is a CHAMP! His weight at one month, 11 lbs. 3 oz, proves it!! I was worried he would be a spitter upper from the barfing he was doing with the formula, but he hardly ever spits up. But he can burp with the best of them!! haha!


(coming home from the hospital, that outfit no longer fits him)

We were discharged Saturday afternoon and I COULD NOT HAVE BEEN HAPPIER. I was so ready to be home and in my own bed and my own house!

More drama ensued when we took him to get circumcised the next week. Everything seemed to go well, but about a week later it was getting REALLY swollen and REALLY hard to push the skin down. The doctor who did the procedure wasn't in his office the day I called about the swelling so we took him to his regular doctor, who we really love. He wasn't sure what to do about it and sent us to a specialist. A urologist. Long story short they had to circumcise him AGAIN. MY POOR BOY!! We still have a follow up with the Urologist but I think this time looks promising.

Bridger is the PERFECT baby. He lets his sister scream in his face and wake him up all of the time, and he is still just PERFECT and laid back. WE LOVE HIM! Cambree screamed her way through her first 6 months. I mean 2.5 years, and this little bugga boo is just so content. So far I can't eat much chocolate because it upsets his little tummy, but I am not a huge chocolate lover anyway, so it really is no big deal. I hope it stays that way with just the chocolate. I felt like I couldn't eat ANYTHING while I was nursing Cambree! He eats every 3 to 4 hours and wakes up only twice at night. Although, I am hoping that with him being bigger he will go down to only once one of these nights!! I do hate that he is already growing WAY TOO FAST. Right now he has on a six month outfit and it fits him perfectly. I would bet he has probably passed the 12 lb mark, but he doesn't go to the doc again until his two month check up next month. we will see how big he is then. He is just the cutest thing and I love him to pieces. he is such a cuddle bug, we ALL LOVE THAT! Cambree was not a cuddler AT ALL. David can't get enough of him when he gets home from work, it is pretty cute!!!

Phew, that was long!