Jonah has arrived!!!

Again, I have to admit that I am not a very good blogger. Not only has my little man made his debut, but he is now 2 weeks old!!! The past two weeks have been the most amazing, stressful, busy, and rewarding weeks of my life. I guess I should just start at the beginning....
On Saturday, April 14, me and Derek decided to have a date night at Davenport's. On our way home, we stopped at Chris and Ashley's so Derek and Chris could put in Jonah's car seat. I was walking beside the car on a slope when my foot slipped out from under me and I fell pretty hard. I caught myself on my hands and my left knee, but it hurt pretty bad. We made the joke that if that don't put me into labor, then we didn't know what would. A joke....but actually turned out to be true. At 12:45 that night, I woke up and realized that my water had broken. I was so excited that it had all officially started. I was in the bathroom, and I called out to Derek that it was time to go. I heard this really weird noise, and when I walked out into the bedroom, I saw Derek limping around the room. His leg was asleep and he had jumped right out of bed! It was hilarious to watch him try to get across the room to our bags. Anyways, we loaded up the car and headed to the hospital. When he got there, they took me into a temporary room to make sure I was truly in labor before they admitted me. I was 2 1/2 cm, and they comfirmed that my water had broken. By the time I was admitted and got into a room, it was 1:45am. Mom and Dad got to the hospital and we all sat around watching CMT music videos (the only thing on that early in the morning), and waiting for my contractions to really kick in. Let me tell you...when they started up, they REALLY started up! I was trying to last as long as possible before I got my epidural, but I ended up really needing it before I even got to 3 1/2 cm. After the epidural, things were great! I could tell when I was having a contraction, but did not feel any pain at all. God bless whoever discovered epidurals. I progressed pretty quickly, and before I knew it, I was pushing. I started pushing at around 9:40, and Jonah B was brought into this world at 10:03. He was 7lbs 5oz, 20in long. Derek was fabulous during labor. He just kept saying sweet and encouraging things in my ear. We were so amazed when we saw our little boy for the first time. He was so beautiful! We were on cloud 9. They gave me Jonah for some skin-skin time. It was amazing. Nothing could be better than that moment. Then things turned bad... I made a comment about him making cute little grunting sounds. The nurse (Megan...fabulous btw!) said they don't like grunting. She put him back under the warmer and looked at him again. She said he was breathing 100 times per minute. They like babies to be 30-60. They called the doctor (Wamack) and he said to give Jonah 4hrs transition time, and if he didn't regulate his breathing, he might have to go to NICU. Well, we hoped and prayed and tried a little more skin-skin time. 4hrs passed and he was still breathing 90 times per minute. I was holding him when Megan came in with a wheelchair and transportation unit for Jonah. I asked what was going on (knowing fully what that meant). She said they were going to go ahead and take him to NICU for observation. My heart dropped. I couldn't stand the thought of my baby being sent to a different part of the hospital. It terrified us that something could be wrong with our perfect baby boy. When we got to the NICU, the doctor told us what the plan was. They would start an IV, get blood cultures and other labs, and start IV fluids since he wouldn't be able to eat. He couldn't eat since he was breathing so fast. We had to leave for an hr and come back after they got him settled. There were 2 possibilities that could be causing his rapid breathing. Either he had fetal lung fluid left in his lungs (normal fluid that normally gets squeezed out during labor), or he had aspirated amniotic fluid (can easily cause infection that would need 2wks of antibiotics). We wouldn't know which one it was for 72 hrs when the blood culture results came back. When we got back into the NICU and I saw that little angel with an IV in his head, sleeping like nothing was wrong, I just lost it. All I wanted was to hold my baby. We were broken hearted. Things had gone so well, up until now. The hardest thing was going back to my room at night and sleeping without him right there next to me. I felt so lonely and empty. I had carried him around for 9 months and then in no time at all, he was here and then taken away. I was very angry. One thing that did help was the outpouring of love and support from our family and friends. We got a call from Mark Harrison and Pastor Kevin Hamm from GFBC. They prayed for us over the phone. It was so touching to know that people knew about what was going on with Jonah and sending up lots of prayers for the little guy.
The next few days got a little better a little bit at a time. The last time his breathing was abnormal was Sunday night around 10:00. He got to eat for the first time on Tuesday and did great. Poor thing was starving! He moved to a regular crib Tuesday night, which meant we could hold him and feed him anytime we wanted, plus grandparents could finally hold him for the first time. Tuesday night we had to stay in the Centennial Lodge attached to the hospital. I had been discharged, but I was not going home without my baby. Wednesday we got the ok to room in with him in a NICU family room. The cultures were negative and he was going to be sent home Thursday! That was such a good day/night. It felt normal, because we had him there with us at all times. They took out his IV, so then I could kiss his wittle forehead :) We snuggled with him and loved on him so much. Thursday was a little stressful trying to get everything out the door, plus we discovered the car had been hit in the parking deck. That made Derek furious! We were just ready to be home. We were discharged around lunchtime, and we headed home!!! Mom and Tanner were at the house when we got there. Mom had made a "Welcome home Jonah" sign for the front yard. So cute! The day was full of love, hugs, kisses, and visitors. Chris and Ashley came over to see Jonah. Kinley and J had some cute pics made together. They are going to be bff's! On Friday, we went to see Dr. Bill for a checkup. He said Jonah was a beautiful baby and he looked just perfect. He had gained weight from 6lbs 14oz at discharge to 7lbs 1oz. He was a little jaundice, but Dr. Bill didn't seem to be worried about that. He told us to come back in 2wks for another checkup.
The past couple of weeks have gone by so fast. Last week was pretty stressful. I cried...a lot. I was just so emotional. I even cried during Kloe and Lamar when Lamar went back to play against the LA Lakers and the fans gave him a standing O and made a video welcoming him back since he was traded. Stupid, I know. Jonah was waking up every couple of hrs at night, and I was so tired. This week has been much better. He eats about every 4hrs at night, which is as good as we can hope for at this point. Derek has been amazing through all of this. He is so helpful and supportive. He loves Jonah so much and gets mad if I try to hog him too much! Nonny and Poppy have been moving into their townhouse in Morris. I am so happy that they are going to be right down the road, even if it isn't everyday. I am just having the best time being a mommy. I love to snuggle with my little man. He is already getting so big! He can hold his head up on his own already! Not for long, but I still think it's a big deal. I have no idea how I waited so long to become a mommy. It's very stressful and busy, but it is the most amazing feeling in the world. Jonah is so perfect and beautiful. God truely blessed us when he gave us Jonah Brandon. I can't wait to watch him grow. We are in for an amazing ride!!!

First Family Portrait

7lbs 5oz, 20in long, born at 10:03am 4.15.12

My NICU baby

First time feeding my baby

His first outfit!

His nurse did this one night...cute!!!

In our NICU family room

No more IV, YAY!

The most precious face I have ever seen!

Going home...Roll Tide!

Uncle Tanner

Aunt LeLe

Mimi

Kiwi and JB

Jonah with his great grandpa!

First bath at home... he hated it!

Not happy :(

Holding his bottle

Poppy!

Nonny!