Alexander Samuel Pollock

Gary and I are happy to announce the arrival of our sweet little guy, Alexander Samuel Pollock.

Born: May 29th, 2014
Time: 4:25am
Stats: 6lbs 15.8oz, 19 inches long

Alex was about 6 days past his due date and we love how small and precious he is!

On Tuesday, May 27th, around the afternoon, I had my first minor contraction. It was just a baby one and I realized they came every 20-30 minutes. I texted Gary to give him a heads up, but told him not to rush. Later that evening, still mild and bearable, they grew closer together, about five minutes apart. Knowing they would probably send us home, we went to the hospital as instructed to get checked out. Sure enough, after some observation, I was told I was barely over a centimeter dilated and to go home. The contractions didn't stop, however, and continued overnight, becoming a little more painful and keeping me awake. 

The next morning, they were still bearable, but annoyingly more painful as they continued every 5-7 minutes. I had a regular prenatal appointment that morning, so Gary and I went together as he took the day off "just in case". Once again, I was told I had barely stretched to a 2. It was frustrating as the contractions would not stop and were gradually getting worse. So, Gary and I did everything we could that day- climbed stairs, did a lot of walking, squats and exercises, and even ate a "pregnancy pizza" as suggested by his sister. The contractions continued to worsen throughout the day, but I still avoided the hospital. Around 7pm, however, Gary noticed me crying after a few back-to-back contractions. I was unable to focus on anything else, so he took my hand and said, "we should go." So, off we went. My contractions were mostly in my back and hips, which is called "back labor", due to the baby's positioning. He was still where he needed to be, but he was facing the front instead of my spine (90% of the time the baby naturally flips around closer to delivery, which he did). They were awful and just as bad as you'd expect, if not worse. 

After monitoring me for a bit and checking me out, I was relieved to find out I was now at a 4 and good to be admitted (I was determined to stay at the hospital as the contractions were too painful, even if I had been a 2). Over the next half hour, I went to a 6. It was a process getting the epidural, but oh my, that was a relief! My water broke right after the receiving the meds.

My parents had arrived around 11:30pm and we waited. I was instructed to get as much rest as possible. At one point, the whole team of nurses and the doctor quickly came into the room and gave me a shot to stop the contractions. Apparently my contractions were way too close together- and because my water had broken, the cord was being squeezed with each contraction- meaning the baby's heart rate dropped with each contraction. Too close together= baby's heart rate too low for too long. At this time, the doctor went over the idea of a C-section if this continued to happen and said it would possibly be an option. They had to pump amniotic fluids back into me to give him more room to "swim around" and take pressure off of the cord. 

Another few hours had passed by and again they had to give me a shot to stop contractions as they were too close together- and I was still at a 6.

Around 4am, the doctor came back into the room and told me she wanted to discuss having a C-section after all since I wasn't progressing and the cord issue was still a concern. However, she said she wanted to give me one last check to see if I had dilated any more. As she was checking, she said aloud, "Oh, well, you're at a 10! Let's get ready to push!"

After 25 minutes of pushing, my son entered this world. What a blessing he is! It was also amazing to watch the process through a mirror. They flipped him, cleared out his mouth, and we heard those beautiful first cries. I couldn't stop smiling and even teared up. What a happy momma I was!

 We stayed in the hospital for a couple of days, then we were released to go home. The first couple of nights were definitely hard as the poor guy just cried his little heart out. I tried my best to soothe and feed him, but we couldn't figure out why he was just so fussy. Everyone told us it was a "newborn thing" and completely normal. However, on the second night home, he was having another inconsolable fit. Gary had a sudden inspiration to give him some of the sample formula we had- and he downed 2 bottles. My heart broke. He was just really hungry as I was not providing much milk for him (luckily this has improved over time with lots of work and help). This night did not get better, however.

I had been holding him and rocking him around 12:30am Sunday morning when suddenly he started gasping like he was having trouble breathing. I sat him up and tapped him a bit, to make sure this was really happening. It continued, so I called out for Gary and placed him on the bed to begin CPR. However, he started seizing at this point and his breath returned. My heart still in panic mode, I raced to the nursery where my mom was sleeping (thank goodness she was staying with us), and woke her out of a dead sleep by saying, "something's wrong with Alex!" She flew out of bed and turned on the lights- then assured me he was breathing just fine, just lethargic. I told her I believed he had a seizure. After telling me he was going to be okay, it then hit me I probably passed him the seizure disorder in my family (I had them, two of my siblings had them, my dad had them, and my niece had them). I knew there was a 50% chance of passing it to him, but for some reason we hadn't even thought about it. We were too busy enjoying his newborn-ness to even let it cross our minds.

We decided we would wait until morning for Urgent Care, unless more seizures happened. I still didn't feel comfortable, however, and refused to go back to sleep. Around 4am, I was feeding him, when he began spitting up- and again, the breathing stopped. This time he turned blue. Let me tell you, there is absolutely nothing more terrifying than watching your 3-day old baby turn blue. He had been wearing a breathing monitor (attached to his diaper to monitor the movement of his stomach), and the alarm sounded- meaning he had been without air for at least 15 seconds. I had been in the living room and called Gary to come out. This time Gary took him and held him and said he was fine- then mentioned Urgent Care again. I wasn't okay with this- Urgent Care didn't open until 9. It wasn't long until Gary finally witnessed another seizure (I was the only one to witness the first two). Once Gary saw his color turn blue, it was enough for him to jump up and say, "we're going to the emergency room."

Alex had two more seizures while there- once in the emergency room (which we were immediately let in for care), and once in the NICU with the doctor. We explained my family history of seizure disorders, and thankfully the doctor on duty had dealt with them before, as rare as it is. However, they had to rule everything else out, which meant he had to have several tests run over several days. This included the spinal tap to rule out meningitis. Unfortunately, it took 4 tries over the week since the doctors kept getting blood in the sample from nicking a capillary. Spinal taps, or lumbar punctures, are painful procedures. We were pretty upset they couldn't get it right. The poor guy did not have a good week. Neither did his parents, especially me, his mommy. We spent all day with him in the hospital, then Gary would force me home every night to get some sleep. Being away from my baby was one of the most difficult things I've ever dealt with. 

Daddy makes it better

No more needles in my head!

The doctors then decided they wanted to run the course of antibiotics, just in case it was meningitis. This meant they wanted him for another week. We weren't happy with this- Alex had no symptoms or signs of an infectious disease. He was eating very well, was alert and active through the day, and seemed super healthy. The day after we discovered they wanted him for another week, we had an appointment with his neurologist who said they were able to gather enough evidence he doesn't have an infectious disease, and they were confident he'd be fine if we stopped the course of antibiotics and brought him home. A part of me still wanted him there for that week, just to be on the safe side, but the other part definitely wanted him home. We prayed over the decision, then decided we would stop the medication and bring him home. They left him off of the antibiotics for almost 48 hours just to observe, and he was still fine and healthy. So, we were finally able to bring him home on Saturday. I have to say, however, the nurses were amazing and he was so well taken care of. I was able to learn a lot from them and they've been so helpful in handing over everything we need.

He's been great since! He sleeps well (probably due to the anti-seizure medication), and eats super duper well. He has a huge appetite. As for the seizures, he should typically grow out of them by 1-2 years, so he will continue to be on meds until he's weened off around that time. The meds keep him seizure-free.

He's a happy baby- especially after a full tummy. He's active at night, but still does great. We just love him so darn much! It is true I gave birth to my heart- it's overwhelming how much love I hold for him. I never thought it was possible to love so much! We are excited to have this new life with him.

Also- he does not like getting dressed/undressed, does not like bath time, does not like his arms being swaddled, and doesn't like poopy diapers being changed. He definitely likes to have an opinion about everything! On the other hand, he loves being held, loves skin to skin with mommy, loves to eat, loves car rides, loves making eye contact (to the best of his abilities), loves watching everything around him, and is just a happy, care-free baby. What a brave, perfect little guy!

We're going home!

Um, dad, I'm hungry! He's just so little! Seriously, naked babies are the best.