Owen came into the world via c section and the amount of time it took them to hold him over the curtain felt like an eternity. I couldn't see what they were doing, I couldn't hear any baby cries and at some point my mind took over and began to panic. When my doctor finally showed him to me he was very blue and purple. I knew that all babies are a little blue so I tried to remain calm. I made it this far, no need to raise my blood pressure now. Colin went over and cut the umbilical cord and a few minutes later, the neonatologist was over telling me that he was being intubated due to them not getting him to breathe. The hope though, was that it would only be for a few hours. Little did we know, Owen's lungs weren't inflating and there was fluid. He was sent straight to the NICU.
June 2nd- Happy Birthday, Owen! You were born at 7:49AM, were 21.5" long and weighed 8lbs 10oz. You had some trouble breathing so you were sent to the NICU with fluid in your lungs, a breathing tube in place so a machine could breath for you and had a central line put in your belly button. Your central line was so that they could draw blood as frequently as needed without hurting you as much each time. Mom finally got to really see you after she got out of recovery. They wheeled her whole bed in the NICU to your bed. Love at first sight! This whole time after being poked, prodded, intubated, you never needed to be sedated. You stayed as cool as a cucumber. You are your daddy's boy. Your doctor was really worried about the fluid on your lungs and said it might be better for you to be in St. Louis or Kansas City where there were specialists to help you breathe. At one last attempt to get you to breather, over night they tried a new ventilator that shook your whole body and it worked! Your lungs began to open and the fluid began to disappear!
June 3rd- This was a BIG day! Mom & Dad finally got to hold you for the first time! Your breathing tube came out, mom got to feed you for the very first time and daddy got to change your diaper & take your temperature for the first time. Good job, daddy!
June 4th- Nurse Lisa helped us to give you your first bath, your central line in your belly button was taken out, and you nursed for 30 minutes! Downside of the day, we had to move your IV to your head. Sad moment for your momma. You were weighed again this day and went down to 8lbs 1 oz.
June 5th- We got to feed your for the first time overnight this night. Your nurses would call mom and dads room to come to you. At one point during this night, you woke up earlier than usual and pretty upset. Even though it wasn't time to eat, your nurses ended up calling us to come to see if we could help. Mom and dad got there and you immediately calmed down. In that moment, it finally felt like everything was going to be OK!
June 6th- Going home day. You had to sit in your car seat hooked up to all of your monitors for 90 minutes to make sure your breathing or heart rate wouldn't drop. You also had to have your hearing test which you failed on the right side but don't worry everything is good now :) You were eventually unhooked from all of your monitors and your lines came out. We said our goodbyes to your nurses- Lisa & Jamie, to your doctors- Dr. Merrihew & Dr. OConnor, and to mom's nurse- Lisa. We were all sad to leave them but excited for our journey as a family of 3 to begin!
Owen hit the 1 month mile marker TWO weeks ago. I can't believe it. As you can imagine, I don't get much time to write a blog much less edit any photos I took of him (unless it is a quick instagram) so I apologize for this monthly update coming a bit late.
At his one month appointment Owen weighed a whopping 11 1/2 lbs and was 24" long. My baby is going to be a big boy! His weight is in the 80th percentile and height is in the 90th! Wow! It's hard to believe he is the same 7 lb little baby we brought home from the hospital. He is starting to smile at his mom and dad, is holding his head up like a champ and even pushing on his legs. The first month with Owen was obviously a learning one for everyone involved. Though I will say becoming a mom and watching Colin become a dad has been one of the greatest joys of my life. I am sure every stage will be my "favorite" but goodness I love waking up to this boy every day.
I have never been very good at the whole blog thing. I always have great intentions of doing one and keeping it up to date but as you can see, I haven't written a post since 1 week after our wedding day and our 3 year anniversary was just last week.
Since that blog post LOTS has changed for these Campbell's, one major thing in particular. We are officially a party of 3 and I can't think of a better reason to try and keep up to date with our blog. I don't want to forget any details of the day we welcomed Owen into the world, so to kick it all off, here is Owen Keith's birth story.
Owen came into the world with quite a bang. From the two weeks of bed-rest to all the way to a week after his arrival, we have not been short of any drama around here. If you are up for the story, buckle up because it's a long one!
Towards the end of my pregnancy, my swelling started to get worst and my blood pressure started to rise. On May 5th, at my 33 week appointment, the doctor admitted me for the first time, this time only for a couple hours, to monitor my blood pressure, urine, and Owen's heart rate a little more closely. That is where it all began. My doctor let me go home that night but not without understanding that the possibility of bed-rest was getting close. I began doing 24 hour urine collections, daily blood pressure checks and closely monitoring my swelling. Preeclampsia was coming, we just didn't know when. Then on May 19th, after getting my most recent 24 hour urine specimen back, (which had gone to 500 when it only takes 300 to be diagnosed) I was officially diagnosed with preeclampsia and was sent straight to labor and delivery. This was admittance #2.
I remained at Boone Hospital on bedrest for a full week when my doctor gave me my get out of jail free card and I was sent home. With an induction date of June 1st and the strict instructions of remaining on bedrest. At the time, I hated being on bedrest. I was able to work remotely which helped tremendously, but I was horribly bored. Looking back on it now, I am actually thankful for it. It kept my baby boy safe for an additional week, I had wonderful friends and family who came to keep me company and I made some new life long friends.
Being able to go home for a week was exactly what I needed. I felt like I was able to get a few things wrapped up for Owen, repack our bags and enjoy some time together outside of the hospital. Our last days as a family of 2.
June 1st- We were set to check in to labor and delivery (for the 3rd time) at 7:30PM to begin our induction. Making sure to get my last meal in before a looong 30 hours of no food, we stopped by Olive Garden. This momma wanted pasta! While there, I received the greatest surprise, my sister in law had flown in from TX to be there with me. Now, I love my mom and of course I needed my husband to be there for his love and support but I had been dreading my sister in law not being able to be there for Owen's arrival since the moment I found out I was pregnant. You can imagine the amount of tears that came once my mind registered that it was really her! We then headed to Boone Hospital.
After meeting up with our birth photographer to go over a few details, we headed up to labor and delivery to be checked in. We were shown to our room, met our nurse and so it began. I was a nervous wreck but in an effort to keep my blood pressure down, tried to remain calm. The first part of our induction required using a pill called cytotech that had to be inserted starting at 9PM and then again every 3 hours. I will not name any names but I will be so thankful if I never have to see my nurse from that night again. Imagine very short & stubby hands.
When the 3AM pill time came around, my nurse came in and informed me that due to the baby's heart rate dropping, she was not comfortable continuing and would be starting me on a bag of fluid instead. We would need to wait until my dr arrived and see what course of action would be the best. 5AM rolls around, my dr calls and gets caught up to speed on everything going on. Since I had been having contractions every minute all night it was thought that Owen wasn't getting time between each contraction to "recooperate" before the next one began. They began giving me a medication through my IV that would attempt to slow down my contractions but would also make my heart rate go through the roof. I was just going to have to attempt to remain calm and let the drugs work. At this point..epidural, please?
Once my dr arrived around 7AM, together with her, Colin and I decided that since Owen wasn't handling these very early stages of labor very well and we weren't in fact even in labor yet since petocin had not been started, that a c section would be the safest option for both of us. I was instructed that in order to be worked into the c section schedule, we would be going in around 8:30-9AM. At 7:14 AM my doctor came back into the room and said we would be going at 7:20 AM. Say what?! I quickly started signing papers and Colin began frantically making phone calls.. I walked myself to the OR while Colin got in his surgery scrubs. There were people swarming all around me in the OR. Nurses hooking me up to things all over, the anesthesiologist explaining to me what she was doing all the while I could do nothing but rub my belly one last time. Things had changed so quickly and I was about to meet my baby boy. I was given a spinal, laid on my back with my arms to the side and Colin was brought in. I held his hand probably tighter that needed as tears streamed down my face. Ready or not, here we go.
[a continuation of the craziness that ensued after Owen was born will be in the following post]
