We have been blessed with a sweet son! After a long, grueling labor (my longest previous labor was less than six hours - this one lasted much longer than twelve, and was BACK labor, since baby was turned up, even while head down... for those of you who understand without me being graffic, this turned into a long, excruciating labor, till I finally gave up and submitted to an epidural. This allowed them to help me turn him (I couldn't tolerate any of the positions long enough - my pain was too severe) After he turned, things went much faster, and Erwin Monroe entered the world at 3:20 p.m., weighing in at 8 pounds, 5 ounces. He was not breathing at birth, as his system was in shock... he had two coils of cord wrapped around him, and the combination of that and his veins being constricted for a few moments, left him temporarily neurologically stunned. It was all corrected in less than three minutes, but this caused the nurse to check his blood sugar, which came back at 34. Numbers should be 50 or higher. This resulted in 24 hours of getting his blood drawn every hour, and 1/2 hour after feedings. Once that was cleared, they checked his bilirubin levels, which of course came back high, so that meant a night under the lights, and multiple foot sticks for that as well. The next morning, he was taken off the lights by the doctor, and then he endured his circumcision. After that, we were able to go home.

On Monday, we had to take him to the pediatrician for what we thought was his second newborn screening. It turned out that it was just a checkup. His bilirubin levels we high again, higher than before, so we were sent home and home health came to bring the bili lights to us... so he had another foot stick this morning, and the results showed that his numbers came down to a much better level.

In addition to all of this, and sleepless nights, my body decided to get sick! I am on antibiotics. Ugh. The upside for me is that since I gained so little weight, I have already lost it all!!!!

My baby is only five days old, and he has been through so much!

However, he is a good little trooper, strong and brave. He is so sweet and cuddly. Daddy is thoroughly in love with his little boy. I love watching him with his son! Mark has been wonderful to me, as well - even had flowers delivered to the house for me, not to mention all of the laundry, sweeping, dishes, etc.

We are blessed. I love our little son. Ericha and Ben are wonderful with him, and Olivia and Chris will meet him soon!

Thank you for all of your prayers! I only have the rest of today, and part of tomorrow... then we go to the hospital, and if the Lord wills, we will have our sweet little one! We are blessed.

Please keep one other item in prayer... Ericha had flown to FC for Falcon Days over the weekend, and went to visit some dear friends from the congregation where we used to worship. She has brought home their terrible stomach bug! Please pray that none of us catch this...

Thanks

THIS is a first for me!

Yesterday, at my appointment, the doctor there put me on complete bed rest. My blood pressure is high again, and they want me to take it easy, since this can be very dangerous if it turns into eclampsia, or even severe preeclampsia. I was okay, until I asked her about going to Worship on Sunday, and she did not want me to do that either... then I almost cried right there...

Then I reminded myself that I have less than a week. I can do this, right?

I had my meltdown last night. My sweet husband and wonderful son came to my rescue with hugs and kept me entertained for the rest of the evening. We played a game, then watched a movie together. When it was over, it was time for bed, so the evening passed. Before we had done those things, I did take time to realize that I am blessed...

1. It happened late enough in my pregnancy, that as frustrating as this is, I don't have to do it long. We have an induction on Wednesday, so if not sooner, baby will be here in 4 or 5 days.
2. Our baby is fine. She described it yesterday as "very healthy and happy" in there... no signs of trouble or distress, so we don't have that concern.
3. Since this happened so late in my pregnancy, if anything does start to go very wrong, it is safe for baby to be born, and so we don't have THAT to worry about, either.
4. I have a very supportive family. My in-laws have been here helping when Mark can't be, so the work still gets done - maybe not how or when I would do it, but it does get done.
5. Mark knows how to do housework, and he does it very well, so when he is home and not too tired, he does a GREAT job!
6. Our family in Christ has helped a LOT with food, so they didn't have to cook, on top of everything else they have had to do for me.
7. I have, while off my feet, been able to get SOME things done that are harder to get done when I am busy doing the normal things.

The list goes on, but you get the idea... I am blessed. I am happy. I am loved. Time to stop wallowing... what is four or five days, afterall!

for me.

I know I don't ask for personal prayers very often, but I guess we all should, anyway.

We have a scheduled induction for next Wednesday, if Baby doesn't arrive on its own before then. I guess I am really hoping that the procedure won't be necessary, as I generally prefer for nature to take its course. However, because of my complications, the risks to a mother/baby with AMA, they don't want me to go to the full, 40 week mark. They are still monitoring us closely and will continue to do so till next Wednesday, so things could change, and baby could arrive before then.

NOT that I think we should be making demands when we approach the Father, but I know He has invited us to ask whatever we wish. SO, my wish is that Baby will arrive safely without the need for a C-section, that the labor will be swift and uncomplicated, and that my dear Mark will be able to be present. He has really tried to clear his schedule to be near home these next two weeks. It would be awful if something came up that he couldn't get out of, and that was the day Baby arrived.

Thank you

Thank you, all of you, for your kind comments and encouragement on the post below. I don't really know why I started to feel so anxious - maybe it was because my blood pressure was up? Or did starting to feel anxious CAUSE my blood pressure to go up?

I am not sure, but my BP is back where it belongs, and so is my anxiety.

Strange, I don't remember having felt so anxious approaching delivery before.

Anyway, I went on Monday for my 37 week check up. My BP was high - right at the "If it goes over this it is dangerous" spot. She checked my urine, and there was protein in it, which she described as a "little bit". Because those were my only symptoms, she sent me home with a 24 hour urine collection kit, instructions on how to do it, and orders to come back on Friday to turn it in and have my blood drawn. I had told her about my crazy week, which is why she allowed me to do it Thursday instead of sooner. You see, my daughter Olivia is in the FC chorus, and they were coming to town and would be singing locally enough for me to go hear her, take her and another girl home for the night, and bring them back the next morning. I did NOT want to miss that for anything! However, I did know that I had symptoms of preeclampsia, so I knew that I had better not overdo anything.

BUT, Ericha also had her senior photo shoot that night, so though I rested and took it easy most of that day, I started to feel puny by that evening. My head began to throb, then I was sick to my stomach that night (first time through this WHOLE pregnancy, and it came on suddenly - danger sign combined with my other symptoms). Also, I noticed that though I was drinking a LOT, my urine output did not match my fluid intake. Finally, yesterday afternoon, I called the midwife's office. I was trying to see if I rested, if my headache would go away, but after a nap, my headache was worse!

When she heard everything together, she told me to go right to the hospital. My kids were all really scared! Mark was out of town (seven hours away) so you can imagine how worried HE was! Ericha asked people to pray. His parents took me to the hospital, and they monitored my BP, gave me medicine for my headache, let me rest while they did bloodwork, and amazingly, ALL of my symptoms went away! My BP came down to normal, my headache subsided, I began to urinate more, and there was NO protein in my urine! I am totally amazed, but as a result of all of this, I am on modified bed rest - that means that I can have one major activity per day ( like grocery shopping) then I have to come home and get OFF my feet for the day. I am grateful that baby is due in 2 1/2 weeks. I haven't even been sitting around long, and I find it difficult.. I feel so guilty. My mom told me to remember, I am doing it FOR the baby, so it is nothing to feel guilty about. Today, I have kept busy - a sewing webinar, loading Ericha's senior pics to facebook, writing Thank you notes, reading, etc. The days will pass... and most importantly, we are keeping baby safe and giving it more time to develop where/as it should for now.