Love One Another Notes

One of my favorite Easter traditions is our Love One Another Box.  I put it out at the beginning of Easter Week and encourage our family to write notes about what we love about each other.  On Easter, we read the notes out loud and everyone feels the love.  Our 2011 notes:

I love Lucy because

• She is a wonderful example of compassion and love (Mom)
• She is so helpful and a great big sister (Dad)
• I love her.  She plays computer and Wii or cats or soccer.  And when I get in soccer she can play with me and that's all.  (Adam)
• Playfl (playful) (Isaac)
• She is always happy and helpful (Gma D)
• She plays zip it with me (Kye)
• She plays zip it with me (Kye Kye)
• She is fun (Isaac)

I love Kye because

• He is so fun to play with !!!!!!!!!!!! (Lucy)
• He is a great helper and big brother (Dad)
• He is so determined and hardworking (Mom)
• He is an amazing older brother (Gma d)
• He likes to play with me (Lucy)
• His Pokemon book (Isaac)
• I love to watch his poke park Wii (Adam)

I love Isaac because

• He is always happy! (Lucy)
• His smile makes my heart happy (Mom)
• He always has a smile on his face!! (Lucy)
• Sometimes he is nice to me (Kye)
• He loves to make people smile (Gma D)
• He is so fun and a great big brother (Dad)

I love Adam because

• He is sooooooo funny!! (Lucy)
• He gives me such wonderful hugs (Mom)
• He is always excited to see his mom and dad (Gma D)
• He is so fun and a great big brother (Dad)
• He is fun (Isaac)
• He is funny (Kye)
• He is SOOO FUNNY and SOOO cute and he always wants to play with me! (Lucy)

I love Eli because

• He is soooo CUTE!! (and AWESOME!) (Lucy)
• He makes my heart happy (Mom)
• He is so cute and was in heaven just a few weeks ago (Dad)
• HE IS SO CUTE!!!! (AND SWEET!)  (Lucy)
• He is the newest grand baby straight from heaven (Gma D)
• He is CUTE (Isaac)

I love Dad/Zach  because

• He is so much fun to be around!!! (Lucy)
• He tickles me (Lucy)
• He loves me and serves our family (Mom)
• He is a great example to his family of service and love.  I love him! (Gma D)
• He teaches me soccer (Isaac)

I love Mom/Sarah because

• She is nice to me (Kye)
• She is a great teacher and mother (Dad)
• She is a wonderful wife and mother.  She works hard at teaching the Gospel to her children.  (Gma D)
• She is sssoooo nice!!! (Lucy)
• She is always there when I need her (Lucy)
• I like to have snacks every time and treats and I like to buy games that I can play and that's all (Adam)

MISC:
I love Grandmas because I like to play with them and to play with Catie and I love to play Imagine Learning if I don't know how to play it (Adam)
I love Grandma because she is helping us (Kye)

I love Gapo D because he tickles.  (I love Gpa D b/c he tickles --Isaac)
I love Gramo D because she always makes good breakfasts (Isaac)
I love Ron because he is fun (Isaac)
I love Tnu (Tina) because she is fun (Isaac)

It brings joy to my heart to hear these little notes.  And lest you think my kids are spontaneously loving, please note that I put Skittles inside the box and they get one for every note they write.  Candy is a big motivator around here.

Our Story

In celebration of Eli's homecoming today, I decided to grace the blogosphere with my labor story.  Labor stories to women are what sports talk and war stories are to men, so I feel I have the right to get it out there.  If you have already had children, read on . . . this might be somewhat interesting.  However, folks, if you are inherently against all things pregnancy related, you are a teenage girl who is scared of having children, or are a man that is not an ob/gyn, chances are this story is not for you!  (For the record, I'm pretty sure there are no ob/gyns reading this blog:)

In the hospital room, just before induction: 

Excited to meet our new little one:

  Last pregnancy picture:

I headed to the doctor on Wednesday, March 30, firmly thinking everything would check out fine and we would make a new record of making it past 37 weeks in a pregnancy.  I got in and the nurse took my blood pressure twice.  140/100 = not the best numbers we've ever seen.  It was the first appointment in a few weeks that I hadn't brought my packed hospital bag to.  Zach also insisted on coming with me, and I told him for a week that he should go to work instead b/c everything was looking just fine.  Ironic, isn't it?  Dr. Holmes came in, looked at my blood pressure, measured my belly, and said it was time to go have a baby.

Zach and I went over to UVRMC and checked in at labor and delivery.  For some reason, it just didn't feel real to me until I got hooked up with the monitors and started pitocin.  After a few IV attempts, they called in the anesthesiologist and had him hook me up.  Pitocin drip was started about 11:15.  The baby's head was floating a little and we needed some good contractions to start to bring him down.  Funny thing was, as soon as I sat down in the bed, I started contracting myself every 5 minutes for the hour it took to get everything started.  It didn't take long to get my labor moving and it started to get a little uncomfortable pretty quickly.

Dr. Holmes came in around 1 p.m. to break my water.  I insisted on getting the epidural before b/c I knew it would be pretty quick once he broke it.  The nice, nice epidural man came back in and got it going.  I really like that guy.  Can't remember his name or what he looked like, but I just remember thinking he was probably the most popular man on the floor at any given time.  Must be nice to be so loved for what you do.

After the epidural kicked in, Dr. Holmes came back in and broke my water at about 1:40ish.  (And here comes the gore).  Turns out that I had a partial placental previa.  We knew I had a low lying placenta throughout the pregnancy but my last ultrasound showed that it had moved up.  Or . . . really the baby's head was covering a small lip of the placenta that happened to have a blood vessel in it.  Because when my water broke, a whole lotta blood came with it.  I had an abruption and we needed to get the baby out pretty quickly.  My nurse checked me about 10 minutes later b/c I told her I was feeling pressure and I was still about a 4.  She left, saying she would check back with me in about 1/2 an hour to an hour.  Dr. Holmes didn't leave the hospital, but came back in and checked me 10 minutes later.  I was complete and ready to push.  He called the nurse, got into all of his gear and started working to get the baby out.  He was not super gentle because he was so worried about the situation and after 3 pretty short pushes during 1 contraction, Eli David made his entrance into the world. 

He cried pretty good for about 15 minutes, and then he just pooped right out.  Though purple is a fun, lively color, it is not one you want to see your newborn sporting on his face right after birth.  They called over a respiratory therapist and he was rushed away to the NICU, having aspirated a lot of blood.

While he was working on the post birth stuff, Dr. Holmes then let us know how very worried he had been.  He said that I progressed so fast after he broke my water that he wouldn't have even been able to do a C-section in that amount of time.  And b/c my water had already broken, it wouldn't have helped Eli's condition, because he would have aspirated all the same.  All I could think was how grateful I was my water hadn't broken at home because we would have had no time at all and a baby in very serious respiratory distress.  During the blessing I got when I was in PTL at 29 weeks, Zach reminded me 4 times that our little guy would come according to Heavenly Father's will.  I am thankful His will made it possible for Eli to get NICU care as soon as he needed it.

Though it was difficult to have our little guy in the NICU, I couldn't help but feel grateful that we were there with an almost full term baby instead of a 29 week preemie.  We are all asked to go through different trials and/or experiences, and I have to admit I am so grateful that was not what we were asked to endure. 

Well, that about wraps up my story.  3 hours start to finish.  Short and to the point.  I will always remember the special feeling that comes to a hospital room when a new spirit makes his entrance into the world.  It's emotional and beautiful and unlike any other experience in the world.

Meeting "the new kid," as Kye referred to him:

He's Home! He's Home! He's Home!

Yesterday Zach and I spent the day up at the NICU.  They were doing a feeding test to see how much he would eat over a 24 hour period, and then the nurse told us they would have to do one more "on demand" test for 24 hours, so the earliest we would get him was Tuesday, so we started to make plans for that.

I went up at 7 this morning so I would have a chance to talk to Dr. Paxton on his rounds.  I'm pretty sure I love that man . . . in a platonic, patient-doctor relationship kind of way, of course.  He told us Eli did well enough on the 24 hour request that there was no reason to keep him in the NICU.  After lots of last minute things and the nurse telling me how to mix powdered formula (ummm, really?) and put my baby in the car seat, we were released and able to go home at 9 a.m. 

Zach took the morning off of work so he could set up Eli's bassinet and get our room ready.  (We had to get a rocking chair from my sister's and we put a gate up in front of our bedroom door as a reminder to stop and ask before entering.)  We surprised the kids and I just walked in the door with a new baby brother!  They were so excited.  I wish I could have recorded it, but it'll be one of those moments I'll asked to get replayed once I get up to heaven.  We're pretty excited around here.

Breakthrough

This morning when I went into the NICU, Eli had been assigned a different nurse.  (They rotate all the time, of course.)  This nurse is the neighbor of our pediatrician, who had come into check on Eli early this morning.  He pulled her aside and told her, "You have one job today--you need to get this kid to eat!"  She was feeding him when I walked in at 8:00.  She was mentioning all of the same issues we'd been dealing with--his clicking tongue, a little bit of poor tone, etc.  I suggested we try a new nipple--I had brought a selection from home because I was sooooo ready to try something--anything--that might help.

She switched the bottle and found out he did NOT like Avent.  Then she tried the Johnson's Healthflow and he took another 23 mL in 10 minutes.  It is absolutely amazing at how much 40 mL of milk in my baby's tummy via a bottle thrilled me.  It wore him right out and he slept for the next 6 hours straight.  He woke up for his 2:00 feeding and took another 40 mL. 

When we went in for his 8 p.m. feeding, they had moved him from the respiratory side of the NICU to the other side.  It's much calmer over there.  We sat down and did all the feeding techniques we had learned and lo and behold that kid ate another 44 mL in about 25 minutes.  Wonder of wonders.  It's starting to seem less like a fluke and more like our answer.  We'll see how he does again tomorrow.  Yeehaw!!

They also did a head ultrasound today and all neurological stuff came back normal.  Yippee!

Eli Update

Little man Eli is as sweet as can be.  It has been wonderful to see him slowly progress from his traumatic post birth struggles to where he is now.  He is completely off of oxygen and is doing very well at keeping his oxygen saturation levels up and his respiratory rate down.  We're so proud.  :)  He also has jaundice, but has progressed to the point where he no longer needs the billi-lights.  He just looks a little yellowish.  We're just working on his eating now.  He is starting to get interested in the pacifier, so we'll let him use the pacifier for a few minutes to get him going and switch him to the bottle.  The reaction is immediate--he scrunches up his face and closes his little mouth as tight as he can get it.  Sometimes he'll open up and we'll get him going for a little bit.  This evening he ate 13 mLs in about 45 minutes.  Ummmmm, yep.  Still working on it:)  We are sure that as soon as he's ready, it'll go fast.  He's just not quite ready yet.  In other news, he is a champion pooper.  We changed 4 diapers when we were there tonight.  Yay, Eli!

Eli David Bradshaw is Here!

I'll post pictures now and write details later.  He made his appearance at 2:16 p.m. on Wednesday.  He was a whopping 5 lb. 12 oz. and 18.5 inches long.  Trauma from an eventful birth + his slight prematurity=baby boy is in the NICU.  We were hoping for a pretty short stay (as in a couple of hours) but it's been a little longer due to respiratory issues and his complete lack of interest in eating.  I was released today and came home from the hospital for the first time without a baby in tow.  We're probably looking at Sunday as the earliest time for Eli to come home, but it all depends on him:)  And now, for some pictures:

Right after delivery, before NICU:

 Eli on C-pap:

 Minus c-pap, plus ventilator:

 Minus ventilator, on room air:

 Zach and Eli (Bradshaw genes are dominant in this family:) :

 Close up: