Today I look into my sweet, little, baby boy's face in amazement that Kai is already 2 weeks old. He will actually be 3 weeks and one day old by the time his due date actually arrives. His welcome into this world was nothing like Chris or I had in our birth plan or our plan in general, but it was really not up to our plan it was God's plan all along. To say that Kai's arrival was scary would be an understatement, for me it was terrifying. It all started on Sunday evening, August 11th. I had been on bed rest for a week because I was developing preeclampsia and my blood pressure was elevated. I woke up from a nap on Sunday afternoon and realized that the entire left side of my face was in pain and I could not move it. I couldn't close my eye, smile, taste, nothing. I of course start to freak out, call Chris at work and told him I think I'm having a stroke and we need to go to the hospital. He rushes home, we get ahold of my doctor and he says that it is something that is fairly common and it's known as Bells Palsy and it happens to some pregnant women in the end of their pregnancy. He said to come in first thing in the morning and he would check everything out. Let's just say there was very little sleep that happened that evening. I went to the doctor first thing in the morning and they rushed me in, got my vitals and my blood pressure was 150/100 (this is bad and this is really bad for me because my whole entire life, I've had low blood pressure). They get a sonogram to make sure Kai is ok and then they tell me I need to go to the hospital immediately. At this point they have to get me stable because they can't induce me with my blood pressure this high and they can't do a C-section either because my blood pressure is too high for that and they have to get Kai soon. To add to the concern, Kai is only 36 weeks and 4 days, that is still really early for a white, male baby. His lungs may not be fully developed by then. I'm of course in a panic, calling Chris, my parents, friends, etc. and letting them know what is going on. What is adding to my panicy state is that I can't get ahold of Chris. Thankfully my dear friend Lois and Meghan are able to meet me at the hospital and help me get settled in. I got ahold of Chris and he ran home, finished packing our half packed bags and brought them to the hospital. My parents were scrambling 13 hours away to pack up the car and get here as soon as possible. You can ask Chris how much of a scramble it was when he got to the hospital and realized that he had nothing to sleep in. Thankfully, Chris' mom went out and got him some PJ pants. He also realized that he grabbed 5 pairs of underwear and only 2 t-shirts. Thanks, to my parents they brought him some more shirts.
On Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. they started to induce me and by 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday, I was 7 cm dialated. I know this may sound crazy but I was never really in pain with the contractions, it was a little uncomfortable, but nothing major. I do have a really high pain tolerance, but I never really thought it wouldn't hurt. Finally, they told me that I had to have an epideral to regulate my blood pressure, I couldn't do it without it. So, they gave me the epideral and we were well on our way to welcoming Kai into the world. The nurse came and said I was 10 cm and would need to start pushing soon. This was happening, I mean really happening!!! I remembered that they paged my dr. he arrived at 3:42 p.m. and Kai was born at 3:53 p.m. I swear I only pushed for like 20 minutes and that was it. I heard Kai scream and cry and I was overjoyed and amazed. He looked perfect, absolutely perfect. I just kept asking about his breathing and they said it was going to be fine, Thank You LORD!! I said many times that the end of my pregnancy was such a struggle that God was gracious enough to let me have an quick and easy delivery, and He truly did.
Kai was 20 inches long and weighed 7 lbs. 5 oz. He was born at 36 weeks and 6 days. (yes they say that 37 weeks is considered full term, but we found out that is just a number at 40 weeks is the most preferred.)
In all of my focus on Kai, I hadn't noticed how fast my doctor passed off Kai to the nurses and that he was working fast and furious to sew me up because I was losing too much blood way too fast. Evidently, when Kai came rushing out, he hit 2 arteries on his way out and I was bleeding out. I lost 4 pints of blood and was close to having to get a transfusion. At the time and even now I wasn't worried about me, I was just so worried about Kai and him being healthy. Thankfully, we both would recover, but it would be a little bit of a process.
For anyone that has had a pre-term baby, you know there will be challenges and we have had some of those, but nothing too major. Because Kai was early, he had to learn the ability to breath, suck and swallow all at the same time. This usually happens in the later weeks of pregnancy, so since he was early he had to learn in the outside world. This is a struggle for baby and for a breastfeeding mommy. I'm happy to say that after 2 weeks, we have finally overcome this problem, it's just been a process. Also, because of my blood loss, my milk hasn't came in as fast as the average mommy, which is frustrating, but we are making it work and it seems to get better every day. Kai's weight did go down to 6 lbs and that was scary but we are gaining weight now and mommy and daddy are happy with that. Finally, I still have Bells Palsy. It seems to be getting better each day with the help of steroids and facial massages, so hopefully it will go away sooner than later and I won't have any lasting effects from it.
No matter the struggles, I would do it over and over again to have this precious child in our lives. He is so sweet and has brought us such great joy. Being a parent is a love that you will never truly understand unless you have children and we feel so blessed to have the opportunity to raise such a precious gift.
Getting ready to go home from the hospital
His first days home from the Hospital.
