I know that some of you have been waiting and waiting for a new post, but I honestly haven't had time to sit down and get this done. I didn't think it would be much different to have a baby in the house since my other kids are older, but I was WRONG! Because my other kids are older there are so many more things that I have to do, but right now I am going to try to update this blog!As I sit here typing this, to my right is a sweet, cute, bright-eyed baby boy wearing a onesie that says "so cuddly" (which is very true), sucking on a pacifier and staring at the TV. A baby boy I never anticipated having, but couldn't imagine my life without! He is 6 weeks old (yesterday) and a true blessing to our entire family.
Here is the run-down of what has happened over those last 6 weeks......
On August 18 we went into the hospital to have the C-Section that would bring our newest blessing into this world. He was born at 11:34 a.m. He weighed 6 lbs 12 oz (a bit smaller than I expected) and was 19 inches long (my shortest baby yet). He was absolutely beautiful!! I remember Ben bringing him over for me to see, and I immediately thought he reminded me of Cole when he was born. I remember laying on the operating table looking back over my left shoulder at Ben holding his baby boy with a proud look on his face. Then it seemed like everything was spinning....I saw Ben leaving the room with Benjamin but I didn't know why. I remember trying to ask him where he was going, but then everything went black. 3 hours later I woke up and was being wheeled to recovery. Cole, Jacob and Annalisa were all waiting for me to come out of surgery and there were tears from Cole and Annalisa--they were a bit worried about me since they saw me with the O2 tube on my face. While I was in recovery I hazily remember the nurse telling me she was going to take Benjamin to the NICU because his O2 levels were not good. I never thought that he would actually stay there.
What happened to me.....I had a lot of adhesions due to prior C-Sections and also the right side of my uterus was bleeding pretty bad and it took them a while to get it to stop. The doctor said I almost ended up getting a hysterectomy, but thankfully they were able to stop the bleeding. Because they had to separate my uterus from my abdominal wall I was very bruised and sore--much more sore than with the previous C-Sections. Also, I lost quite a bit of blood, so I had to have a blood transfusion the next day. After the transfusion I started to feel better and not so tired all the time. I must say that God totally had His healing hand on me through the whole procedure and recovery....and STILL!
What happened with Benjamin.....when I was 8 weeks pregnant I was told that I had antibodies in my blood. This was not good news. Because I am Rh- and Ben is Rh+ I have always had the Rhogam shot which is supposed to prohibit the formation of antibodies in the mother's blood.....but obviously it had not worked for me when Annalisa was born. Since I had the antibodies we spent the entire pregnancy monitoring the antibody levels and checking Benjamin through ultrasound for signs of anemia. We never saw anything to indicate that he would be anemic at birth, but we still knew it was a possiblilty. The other possibility was that he would be severly jaundiced due to the antibody levels in mine and his blood. It turns out that he had both the anemia and the jaundice. He ended up staying in the NICU for a full week. During that week he was on oxygen, under the special lights to bring his bilirubin levels down, and he had a blood transfusion as well as a blood exchange. Through everything he was a real trooper. It was very difficult to have to leave my baby at the hospital when I went home, but thankfully I had my wonderful mother-in-law here to take me to the hospital to see him every day. Benjamin got to come home to us when he was 1 week old, but he was still on the O2. The doctor's wanted to wean him off, so he stayed on for another 2 weeks and then they let me turn it off. He has been off of the O2 since the 1st week of September and he has done great!
The other kids LOVE having him here. Whenever he makes the smallest "peep" they run to get him, comfort him, hold him, change him...whatever they think will make him happy! I am so glad that they love him so much! God has truly blessed me with this wonderful family!!
While I was in the hospital Cole turned 11....his birthday is August 20. He had a fun time with family at Amazing Jake's and I got to see lots of pictures of all the things they did. On September 4 Annalisa turned 7 and we took her out to dinner and bowling to celebrate her birthday.
I am loving being a stay-at-home mom again! My kids are getting to do things that they couldn't have done if I were still working because there is no way I could have had the time off to get them from meetings or practices. Ben is traveling a lot with his job, but we are so thankful for the paycheck.
My life verse is Is. 40:31 "They who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint." It seems that in our marriage we have done a LOT of waiting on the LORD--this is also HOPING in the LORD--but just when it seems we can't wait any longer His promise comes true....we soar on wings like eagles....we are able to make it through the days without losing our hope in Him. Man, I love GOD and I love that He loves me!!
Here is the run-down of what has happened over those last 6 weeks......
On August 18 we went into the hospital to have the C-Section that would bring our newest blessing into this world. He was born at 11:34 a.m. He weighed 6 lbs 12 oz (a bit smaller than I expected) and was 19 inches long (my shortest baby yet). He was absolutely beautiful!! I remember Ben bringing him over for me to see, and I immediately thought he reminded me of Cole when he was born. I remember laying on the operating table looking back over my left shoulder at Ben holding his baby boy with a proud look on his face. Then it seemed like everything was spinning....I saw Ben leaving the room with Benjamin but I didn't know why. I remember trying to ask him where he was going, but then everything went black. 3 hours later I woke up and was being wheeled to recovery. Cole, Jacob and Annalisa were all waiting for me to come out of surgery and there were tears from Cole and Annalisa--they were a bit worried about me since they saw me with the O2 tube on my face. While I was in recovery I hazily remember the nurse telling me she was going to take Benjamin to the NICU because his O2 levels were not good. I never thought that he would actually stay there.
What happened to me.....I had a lot of adhesions due to prior C-Sections and also the right side of my uterus was bleeding pretty bad and it took them a while to get it to stop. The doctor said I almost ended up getting a hysterectomy, but thankfully they were able to stop the bleeding. Because they had to separate my uterus from my abdominal wall I was very bruised and sore--much more sore than with the previous C-Sections. Also, I lost quite a bit of blood, so I had to have a blood transfusion the next day. After the transfusion I started to feel better and not so tired all the time. I must say that God totally had His healing hand on me through the whole procedure and recovery....and STILL!
What happened with Benjamin.....when I was 8 weeks pregnant I was told that I had antibodies in my blood. This was not good news. Because I am Rh- and Ben is Rh+ I have always had the Rhogam shot which is supposed to prohibit the formation of antibodies in the mother's blood.....but obviously it had not worked for me when Annalisa was born. Since I had the antibodies we spent the entire pregnancy monitoring the antibody levels and checking Benjamin through ultrasound for signs of anemia. We never saw anything to indicate that he would be anemic at birth, but we still knew it was a possiblilty. The other possibility was that he would be severly jaundiced due to the antibody levels in mine and his blood. It turns out that he had both the anemia and the jaundice. He ended up staying in the NICU for a full week. During that week he was on oxygen, under the special lights to bring his bilirubin levels down, and he had a blood transfusion as well as a blood exchange. Through everything he was a real trooper. It was very difficult to have to leave my baby at the hospital when I went home, but thankfully I had my wonderful mother-in-law here to take me to the hospital to see him every day. Benjamin got to come home to us when he was 1 week old, but he was still on the O2. The doctor's wanted to wean him off, so he stayed on for another 2 weeks and then they let me turn it off. He has been off of the O2 since the 1st week of September and he has done great!
The other kids LOVE having him here. Whenever he makes the smallest "peep" they run to get him, comfort him, hold him, change him...whatever they think will make him happy! I am so glad that they love him so much! God has truly blessed me with this wonderful family!!
While I was in the hospital Cole turned 11....his birthday is August 20. He had a fun time with family at Amazing Jake's and I got to see lots of pictures of all the things they did. On September 4 Annalisa turned 7 and we took her out to dinner and bowling to celebrate her birthday.
I am loving being a stay-at-home mom again! My kids are getting to do things that they couldn't have done if I were still working because there is no way I could have had the time off to get them from meetings or practices. Ben is traveling a lot with his job, but we are so thankful for the paycheck.
My life verse is Is. 40:31 "They who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint." It seems that in our marriage we have done a LOT of waiting on the LORD--this is also HOPING in the LORD--but just when it seems we can't wait any longer His promise comes true....we soar on wings like eagles....we are able to make it through the days without losing our hope in Him. Man, I love GOD and I love that He loves me!!
