This is us waiting at the hospital right before we went in for the surgery
This is me during the c-section I am not sure if they had started yet.
Crew being wiped down right after they pulled him out of me.
This is Crew in the NICU right after I was done with my recovery, you can see he is hooked up to the ventilator and all sorts of tubes
This is when Connor came to visit me in the hospital and the day before he got really sick
Crew in the NICU I took this because he had pulled out his feeding tube so I could see his face
This is from the day Crew came home from the hospital and Connor seeing him for the first time
My boys, how cute are they! Connor gets really excited to touch Crew and he points to his eyes and says eyesSo for those of you who don't know I had Crew on November 22 he was 6lbs 13oz and 18'' oh and five and a half weeks early. I had a c-section scheduled for December 19th but that would not be the case. I know he is almost a month old now and that seems beyond crazy but these last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. So here is the whole story...
Monday morning I woke up feeling like I really needed to pee and ran to the bathroom at about 5 in the morning and almost didn't make it. Now this is pretty similar to what happened when I had Connor so I should have known what was going on but it wasn't quite the same. So basically my water had broke but it wasn't like last time so I didn't recognize it until around 8 in the morning. Anyway so basically my water broke and I am pretty much in denial because that would mean five and half weeks early and scary. So anyway I finally call Kevin and have to convince him that I am not joking and he comes home and I called my Mom to see what her plans were for the day but she was out walking but had also taken a teaching job that day but luckily was able to get out of it and rush down here so we could go to the hospital.
We go to the hospital and basically my Dr. says he can do it at 5 unless the baby or I am showing any distress. It was a pretty long day of just sitting at the hospital waiting being hooked to multiple machines and an IV and not being able to drink or eat anything. The not being able to drink was pretty rough but I made it. At around 4:30 they started prepping me for surgery and I got my epidural, P.S. I loved my anesthesiologist he was awesome. Then they wheeled me in and we were ready to go. I couldn't feel a thing last time I could feel everything except sharp pain and I was freezing cold this time I could barely feel anything and I had this basically blow dryer blanket all around my head so I was toasty warm but I could barely hear what people were saying. Then at 5:18 they pulled Crew out and he was just screaming really loudly so I was hopeful that he wouldn't have to go on the c-pat like Connor because he wasn't screaming like Crew. I also thought he looked just like me when I was born.
Anyway turns out he was having breathing problems so he was hooked to the c-pat and then they finished me up and I went to the recovery room. Kevin went with Crew and when he came back he said they had to put him on a ventilator because he was struggling to breath on his own. That was scary and I was worried but I knew he would be OK, it is really strange how this sense of peace has been with me since he was born. Anyway when I was done recovering, which took forever because they couldn't get my temperature up I was able to go see Crew in the NICU. He was so tiny and adorable even with all those tubes hooked to him and I just hated seeing him like that but I know it could have been much worse there were plenty of babies in there in a much worse state than Crew and that night I believe they took him off the ventilator because he was fighting it and he was doing really well and didn't have to go on the c-pat either so I was optimistic that he would be able to come down to the nursery with me. Because Crew was five and a half weeks early their are many things his body just isn't ready for so he had to stay in the NICU for two weeks. That was really hard because I had to be there four times a day to feed him and just be his Mom but I also had Connor to take care of so it was a very stress full two weeks and it was only made possible by my amazing Mother who stayed with us for two weeks basically taking care of everything, Connor, Cooking, cleaning, playing, dog walking and everything in-between so I just need to tell her how amazing she is and how lucky I am to have her in my life and how I hope to be at least half the mother she is and my boys will be very lucky.
So while I was still in the hospital Connor came down with nasty ear infections and was throwing up and running a high fever and wouldn't let go of Kevin for at least the entire day. So then I was able to go home on Thursday which was nice because my Mom had made a wonderful Turkey dinner and Lindsey and Brody and Debbi were able to come down to our house for Thanksgiving. Thanks to my amazing sister Lisa who made the turkey for us and a delicious Banana Cream Pie! And Kevin and my Dad ran all the way to Orem to find a Pharmacy that was open to get my pain meds.
The next week was a blurr Kevin had to go back to work and I tried dividing my time between being at the hospital and at home with Connor who has gotten very sad anytime our garage door opens. Crew also had a very unfortunate accident that Sunday his IV either pulled out of the vein it was in or the vein just died but he received a pretty severe burn. I know, what, an IV burn. I didn't know that could happen either but basically the lipids they feed into the body through the IV will burn if not in the vein so he had a burn the size of a dime on his inner wrist that is still healing and we have to change his bandage every six hours but he is fine and it doesn't seem to bother him so I am so sorry it happened and I wish it didn't but I know the nurse that was watching him didn't do anything wrong and I don't blame her for anything.
I am so very thankful that he is home now and he has the sweetest little personality and it is coming out more and more each day. He is doing great he has already gained two pounds since he has been home and can't stop eating and pooping, all over everything. Because it is RSV season the Dr's advised us to stay home basically for 3 months so we are really sorry we won't be celebrating Christmas with anyone and if you would like to visit you must not be sick and sorry no kids are allowed and I know I have one here already but we haven't been taking Connor to nursery so he can avoid some contact with other kids for a few more weeks.
Thank you all so much for your amazing prayers and thoughts and meals and everything that we have been blessed with. I know the power or prayer and of the power of the priesthood and the comfort that has brought me through this tough time. Thanks again to my amazing Mom I know I wouldn't have been able to get through all this without her. I especially want to thank Kevin for being so amazing he really has been a huge comfort to me. So here are what people really want to see are pictures of Crew. I think he looks almost exactly like Connor did but I think most babies look the same so you can decide.
