Baby Nathen

WOW!!!! Baby Nathen is one week old today...This last two weeks has really rocked my world and before I forget most of this I wanted to share my story so that I can have it written down.  I had been in and out of the hospital several times this pregnancy.  Starting at 30 weeks my body kept trying to go into labor and I had been given shots to stop it about twice a week.  Finally, when I saw my Dr. on the 28th of December and told him that I had been in the L&D on Christmas morning for several hours trying to get them stopped he was mad.  He said we just need to deliver the baby.  He is done, and your body is definitely done.  He told me if I went into labor again to refuse the medication to stop it.  I didn't even have to go that far, when I went into the hospital on Dec. 30th in the morning my Dr was standing there talking to the nurses, he turned and saw me and said God Bless America please tell me you are in Labor...I was contractions were every two to three minutes and I was so ready to just be done.
During all of my pregnancies I get this itching that NO ONE can determine for sure what is going on.  I don't ever get a rash or anything...Just so itchy that I scratch my skin until I am bleeding EVERYWHERE.  The Dr,'s best guess is Cholestasis of Pregnancy.  It gets worse with each pregnancy and it starts sooner with each pregnancy.  The itching makes life so miserable that I really don't sleep the last couple of months of my pregnancy.  On top of that I throw up morning day and night for the whole pregnancy.  I was on two different medications to try and stop that...nothing ever fully did the trick.
So back to baby Nate...My Dr. turned to the nurses and said do not give her a shot to stop contractions.....she is done, I will see her in a minute and we will talk about inducing.  The nurses weren't happy because I was only 35 1/2 weeks, which isn't ideal.  My Dr. said lets try this one last medication for the itching that another Dr. told me about and if it doesn't do anything we'll just take the baby.  It of course didn't help at all...Then I had to talk with the NICU Dr. so that he could tell me the risks.  He did let me know he might need help breathing, but that in the end he would be fine and that with my body having so many problems it was probably best to just take the baby.  Then my Dr. called a high risk Dr. at Loma Linda and that Dr. concluded the same thing.  It was time to give me the steroid shots 12 hrs apart in each hip to help with the babies lungs.  So at about 6 pm on the 30th they gave me the first shot...then at 6 am on the 31st they gave me the second shot.  They told me to eat because they were going to start the putossin  at 6 p.m.  Wil brought the kids over and we had lunch together...then I had a couple of friends come and visit!  Wil came back to the hospital around 6 pm when his brother and sister in law got to the house to watch the kids for us. We were so ready to get the process started.  They started some medication around 8 pm and everything was really slow go until in the middle of the night when they started the putossin.  It was effecting the babies heart rate so they kept shoving an oxygen mask on me...which was horrible, everytime they put it on me I told them that I felt like I couldn't hardly breathe.  (To make a long story short...) After turning off the putossin and putting it back on a few times and me being on oxygen for about 30 + hrs...I was really going down hill from there.  I was in labor right through New Years Day and onto the 2nd of January.  It was like noon and I was only a 3 1/2 and my Dr. came in to break my water.  Once he did that things went really fast, within about an hour and a half I was a 5 and got my epidural which wouldn't you know it the lady lost the line and had to pull it out and do it again!  Then by 3 pm I was a 10 and ready to go.  My Dr. got there and I knew I was doing horrible when he asked me to take a deep breathe and push...I thought I was going to die, I couldn't hardly breathe.  Luckily this sweet boy was out within 4 pushes and at 3:18 p.m. on January 2, 2011 I gave birth to Nathen Wil Bradshaw who was 6 lb. 2 oz. and 18 inches long.  The NICU nurses were in the room ready to go when I delivered.  At the time of delivery all they did was tell me how much he weighed, then took him away.  He swallowed a lot of Amnionic fluid.  Wil went with the baby and I continued to get worse and worse.  They tried to give me nausea meds in my IV because I couldn't stop throwing up still...They blew the vein and the meds just sat there and swelled up my arm...that felt great, let me tell you.  I wanted to go see my baby so I finally had them wheel me over there to the NICU at about 7:30 p.m.  I was so shaky I could barely touch him, and Wil kept saying are you ok.  (Clearly I  was not OK)  We went to our postpardum room and that's when it got scary.   Wil was sleeping on the pull out chair next to me and I told the nurses I can't hardly breathe, they put the pulse ox on my and said oh my gosh call pulmonology.  I then within the next 24 hrs had 3 chest xrays done, had to wear oxygen again, had an EKG, an echo cardio, an ultrasound of my liver/gall bladder done....the pulmonologist came in and explained to me that I had double pnemonia and they thought that I had maybe aspirated on my own vomit during labor.   Whatever it was, I have never felt so horrible in my life, not to mention I was on so many medications for that they wouldn't give me pain meds for just having a baby.  The nurses that I had that first night were so scared after watching me shake, throw up uncontrollably all night...that the one nurse left early crying.  ( She did however call back the next morning to see how I was)  I'll spare you the next few days of feeling like I was dying!  By tues they thought that I had a blood clot headed to my heart, so I had a CT scan done!!! They read the results wen and ruled that out. My Dr's cleared me to go see my baby (I hadn't seen him since sun.) I called my nurse and said I am getting out of bed to go see my baby. She said let me make some phone calls.  I told her she better be quick because I was ready to see my baby!!!  I went to the NICU (Wil was in there with Nate) and Wil and the nurses were all shocked to see me.  I got to sit and hold my baby.  Then when I got back to my room they told me they were releasing me that day.;)  I was really sad to be leaving my baby boy there, but I knew that I needed to go home and get some rest so that I could physically take care of him myself when the time came to bring him home.  Wen night we went and picked up the other kids from a friends house...my kids were so upset the past week with not being able to see the baby and wondering when mommy was coming home!  It was so great to see them and sleep in my bed, first thing the next day I went to the hospital and was able to nurse baby Nate.  He did really good.  The nurses told us he was getting taken off all the monitors and machines that afternoon, so when Wil and I went back thur night he looked so much better.  The day time nurses said he would probably go home friday, then that night time nurse told us he still would be a little while before he left, that was hard to hear.  So friday morning when my mom and I went over to hold him and so I could feed him the NICU nurse called me as we were walking in and said I hope you brought his carseat with you he is going home.  I of course did not, I called Wil and told him to get the kids dressed and get the carseat and diaper bag and head on over...It was so exciting!  My kids were finally able to see their little brother Nate and we were finally all together.
I feel like the last 8 1/2 months have been miserable for me and very trying on my body.  Then I sit here and look at this PERFECT baby boy and I wouldn't trade any of it.  I love Nathen so much and am so grateful that he has come down to earth to complete our family.  I feel truly blessed.

I have had so many family members and friends that have had us in their prayers, helped with the kids, and cleaned my house. My mom and Dad came out to help which has been great!!!   I truly feel so lucky.  Thank you so much for helping our family get through this trying time.