Our third baby joined the family two weeks ago Friday. Yes, he was about three weeks early! Needless to say, we were very surprised. We had gone over to my uncle's for Thanksgiving dinner and came home about 7 or so that evening. After we put the boys to bed, we sat on the couch for a while and watched the Colts try their hardest to lose to the pathetic Atlanta Falcons. (And I should know just how bad the Falcons are, I have to hear about it every day here in Atlanta.) Anyway, after the Colts finally won, we went to bed about 11:30. My cousin Stephanie and I were planning to do some shopping on Friday since it is, after all, Black Friday. I woke up about 1:30 am and had to go to the bathroom. My pajamas were kind of damp, but I didn't really think anything about it until I got to the bathroom and realized that my water had broken. I woke Jeremy up with the words, "You're not going to believe what just happened." Then, I called the doctor and he, of course, told us to go right to the hospital. Only one little problem (actually two). I had two boys that had nowhere to go. So after debating, we woke them up and decided to take them with us. This happened after I spent a half-hour packing and panicking at the same time. First, because we had nothing ready for the baby. I mean, no crib, no bottles, no diapers, nothing. Secondly, I had a list of about 100 things I was going to accomplish my last two weeks of school. I had my plans with me, my grading sheets, everything. I certainly wasn't ready for a sub. Jeremy finally convinced me that freaking out wasn't really helping, and we headed off to the hospital.
The nurses were great at the hospital. I was a little afraid that they would be leery of us showing up with two boys, but they took it right in stride. I think my nurse actually convinced the doctor to hold off on the c-section until the morning. Unfortunately, that meant I had to go through about five hours of labor. Not a lot, I know, but there is a reason why I like c-sections. I called my uncle at about 5:30 in the morning, and my cousin Laura came over to the house at about 6 to watch the boys. (That's a huge sacrifice for her since she's 14 and loves to sleep in!) Andrew arrived at 8:19 am. He weighed 7 lbs 7 oz and was 20 inches long.
Andrew right after birth.
Everything seemed fine until we got back to the room. The nurse was getting ready to take him to the nursery when she noticed he was a little sweaty. She checked his blood sugar, and it was about half of where it should be. So he headed off to the NICU. There, they started an IV and gave him glucose. I finally saw him again Friday evening, and it looks like he has veins like mine. The nurse told me I had to be careful of his IV since it was the fourth one they had put in. He kept blowing the other ones out. Poor kid. Saturday, he came off of the glucose, and he was able to spend the rest of the time in my room with me. It was quite an adventerous start for him!
Matthew and Nathan think he is just wonderful. Everyday when they come home, they have to "pet the baby". Nathan did tell us right after he was born that the baby was a girl, and he was going to call her Mark. I think we've finally got him convinced that the baby is a boy, and we're calling him Andrew. Except for some trouble adjusting to sleeping in his bassinet, he's doing great. He likes to sleep everywhere else, he just is not crazy about his bassinet. He's also not nursing very well. The nurse at the hospital told me it would probably take 2 - 3 weeks for him to figure out how to nurse. I had to rent a pump, and I've been looking on ebay for a pump. I tried to get one last night, and I got outbid in the last five minutes by $10. They retail for about $200, and the one I wanted was sold for $60, so I should be able to find one fairly cheap.
Matthew and Andrew ready to leave the hospital.
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