Samuel Jeffrey

I started having contractions on January 1, 2013. We had taken a family outing (with my parents, my two youngest sisters, my niece, and our family of 4) to Cabellas. I finally had to sit down cause my contractions were too painful to walk around. I had been throwing up all morning and I was hopeful that an outing would distract me and help me feel better. I was very dehydrated and was having a hard time even keeping water down. We finally decided to leave Cabellas and on the way home I knew I was not doing good (between hard contractions and the dehydration).  I wanted something to stop the pain and I knew I was getting close to the 24 hour mark of not keeping anything down...so we made a stop at the hospital.  Luckily Megan and Maggie were in our car and they dropped us off and took my kids home. SO THANKFUL FOR FAMILY!!!

Long story short, we were only 35 weeks and I seriously did not want to have our baby and I asked them do whatever they could to stop the labor and to get me comfortable and back home. After about 6 hours I got to go home and my family went into overdrive to help me keep baby in as long as possible.

My mom decided to stay with us and she helped out so much that week. But on Friday (January 4th), we got word that her brother had had a stroke and had bleeding on his brain and he wasn't going to make it very long. She and my Dad made plans to fly out to California that Monday and my sister Christine made plans to come and get my kids on Tuesday and keep them in East Texas until Thursday.

Tuesday (January 8th) I had a follow up appointment (I had one on Friday, January 4th) and I had lost 5 lbs between those two appointments. My doctor monitored my contractions, they were minor and bearable, we did a stress test (baby seemed great) and we did an ultra sound to make sure baby had enough fluid (which he did). She told me to stay off my feet and take it easy. Watching my kids leave was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life...yet I was so thankful for Christine's help. Wednesday I seriously laid low all day and I felt pretty good. But I woke up feeling horrible on Thursday (January 10th). I was in pain, the contractions were hard again, and I was just physically and mentally tired. By 3:00 I was truly uncomfortable and made a call to my doctor. She wasn't there so I talked to her head nurse and after our 15 minute conversation she told me to get to the hospital. I called Bryan and he said he'd meet me there and I tried to find a ride to the hospital (everyone was busy that Thursday afternoon)!

Luckily, my relief society president lives literally around the corner from my house and she came and got me. We pulled up to the hospital right as Bryan was walking up to the doors. I brought a hospital bag with me...I knew something was going to happen.

They admitted me immediately, watched me for 2 hours, and then my doctor said she felt impressed that we just needed to get him out. My gut was exactly the same. Bryan had to leave for a few minutes, and I called him to tell him to get back cause we were having a baby right now. I scared him to death.  I think he thought something was really wrong and it was a life and death situation. It wasn't...we just had a strong feeling like my pregnancy had reached its limit and it was time to get that baby out. As soon as I got off the phone, they started prepping me for surgery. Like our previous c-sections everything went quickly and smoothly...until I got into the OR.

In the operating room, they got me on the table and the anesthesiologist had me lean over and he shot up my back. Again totally like the other two. He laid me down and about 2 minutes later is when things start to change. I felt really weird. I felt myself kinda coming and going between awake and out of it. I could feel my body shaking and I felt like I was going to vomit. This was nothing like the other two. Bryan was only a few feet outside the OR and it usually was about 5-7 minutes after getting me in that he comes in. This time it was over 30 minutes before he came in. I knew they were having a hard time stabilizing me. And my anesthesiologist was very focused on my vitals. The last two times, my anesthesiologist was telling jokes and taking tons of pictures for us. There was a different feeling in the room this time and for the first time I was scared to be on that table. I kept thinking about not getting off that table and not going home to my kids and all I wanted was to go home with my babies...all three of them! 

They finally started to cut and that part always goes fast. They said they could see his head and a lot of hair and then they had him out and lifted him for me to see. He was born at 8:58 pm. He looked huge. My other two babies were 5 lb 15 ou and 6 lbs 14 ou and this guy came out at 7 lb 8 ou! Three weeks early (36 weeks and 6 days) I had my third and final baby. They asked us what his name was and we told them we had no idea!

Baby looked great. he screamed great. had great color. responded to everything he should. They cleaned him up and I got stitched up and we all left the OR room together. I was so relieved when we left that room.  All the bad feelings stayed in that room and they took me to the OR recovery room. And that's where things changed with baby. All of a sudden his breathing started to change. I couldn't see any of this, but Bryan was with the nurses who quickly called the NICU nurses who came and watched baby and then suggested he visit the NICU for a few hours. I was totally at peace with that. Bryan was worried. For whatever reason, I wasn't worried. My gut said everything was ok and if they needed to watch him they could give him great care and it was ok. 

After the first two hours, they decided to admit baby into the NICU for a minimum of 24 hours. They rolled my bed into his private NICU room as they took me to the maternity ward. Baby was on his belly and hooked up to a ton of machines. He had a feeding tube through his nose. And as we looked at him, he stretched out his neck and lifted his head and even though his eyes were closed, he looked right at us. And again, I had an overwhelming feeling like everything was ok. They said he was having a hard time breathing, which isn't uncommon for preterm white males. I think they called it something like lazy white boy syndrome (seriously!)

They took me to my room and told me I could call the NICU anytime and to try to get some sleep. Bryan went back over to the NICU about an hour later to see him. I decided to try to go to sleep. I woke up at 3:00, Friday morning and called the NICU. His nurse, Pam, said he was doing great and breathing better. I went back to sleep until 6:00 and then I called my nurse and asked her to take me to the NICU. They put me in a wheelchair and rolled me over to him. They said I couldn't hold him yet, but they let me touch him and he grabbed onto my finger. Later that morning I got to hold him and tried to nurse him for the first time.

He only stayed in the NICU for 24 hours. Friday night they let him stay in my room so I could nurse him and first thing Saturday morning they officially released him. Later that morning Benjamin and Jamie came up to meet their little brother. I think it was shortly before they came that we finally settled on a name...Samuel Jeffery. We had such a hard time deciding on a name. Nothing felt right. And oddly enough, we had never really considered Samuel...it kinda came out of left field, but we both love how it seems to fit him. 

We are so excited he is here, and healthy, and I'm no longer pregnant. It's been 2 1/2 weeks and the feelings of gratitude and happiness just keep growing. It is an amazing thing to have the spirit of a new baby in your home. You talk softer and kinder and feel a little bit of heaven literally in your home.