1 Month Already?

Chaz will be one month on Tuesday... in some ways it feels like it's been maybe a few days and in other ways it feels like he's been here for a year!  Maybe that's how long it feels since I've had a good night's rest  :).  He is so fun and has really started showing his personality.  He's definitely got the Hopkins genes in the appetite department... I can only imagine what it's going to be like when he's eating real food.  He's getting better with sleeping and Ryan and I have figured out that he always wants a little more to eat about an hour after we feed him... we call it his dessert.  He won't take but just a bit...so this kinda messes up our schedule during the night, but hey... I like a little dessert after dinner, too!   

We have enjoyed all the company and wonderful dinners everyone has brought!  My college friends and I still get together once a month and eat dinner somewhere in Memphis, but this month- they brought dinner to us... Here's Chaz meeting everyone.

First Bath... I think he liked it!  And... yes, his hair is curly when wet!

His sweet cousins love him so much.  Mattie wants to hold him and Reid just waves at him and says, "Hey, Baby Cha"

Just playing...

09-28-10

Sorry it has taken me so long to write about our "eventful" night when Chaz was born.  We've been busy changing diapers and making bottles!  Below is a "short" version of the events leading up to Chaz's birth.

Monday, September 27th

8:40am
I had a doctor's appointment to see if I had dilated any... and I did not.  I was a week overdue so you can imagine how anxious I was to get this party started.  My doctor gave me the option to schedule a c-section for the next day... or to go in at noon on Monday and receive some medicine to help my cervix thin.  I chose to go in and try to have him naturally since this was my first baby and we didn't know how my body would react.

12:00 noon
Ryan and I check into the hospital and I received the medicine to help my cervix thin at 1:30pm.  After 12 hours, I would start the pitosin and we would go from there.  Everything seemed to be progressing normally.  I was starting to dilate and have contractions.  At some point during the afternoon, I got up to go to the restroom and when I got back in the bed, the nurse had a hard time finding Chaz's heart rate- it seemed to be dropping randomly. 

Tuesday, September 28th

2:30am
Ryan and I haven't slept at all.  I was glued to the monitor watching Chaz's heart rate since it had randomly dropped a few times and I was definitely starting to feel the contractions.  My body was reacting to the medicine they gave me to thin my cervix and my water broke in between that medicine and the pitosin. 

4:30am
I received the epidural... best thing ever!  And for those who care- the IV in the wrist hurt worse than the epidural.  Chaz's heart rate was still dropping randomly so they had turned the pitosin completely off and I was in labor without any (medicine) help.

6:30am
Chaz's heart rate dropped and the nurses told me they were going to call my doctor and update him on everything.  My doctor was due to come on call at 8:00am and I had made up my mind that I was going to ask for a section if he felt that I needed to... the heart rate dropping had gotten the best of me.  Nurses rushing in the room hourly and me having to flip from side to side wasn't my idea of fun.

6:55am
My family arrived and a nurse I'd never seen entered my room.  I calmly said, "Hey.. you must be my new nurse."  I knew the nurses were on a 7pm-7am shift so I just assumed she was coming to tell me who she was.  Her response as she rips open a new bag for the IV, "We're going in for a section, doctor's done with this."  UMMM... excuse me?  Within the next 5 minutes, I had a team of nurses, 2 anesthesiologists, a doctor (not mine), and a worried looking husband and family staring at me.  They had Ryan dressed in scrubs and we were rolling down a hall into surgery. 

All I can really remember is the nurses discussing what patients I had "bumped" and the doctor telling me that my doctor was coming in from a meeting to do the actual section.  I was so relieved and can remember praying that God would take care of everything.  They rolled me into the surgery room and I realized they had to move me onto the surgery table.  I laughed and told them I couldn't help them because I couldn't feel a thing.  (I think that was the purpose).  They asked Ryan to sit in a room for about 10 minutes while they prep me and I was praying they wouldn't forget to go get him.  Everything and everyone was moving so fast that I could see them delivering Chaz and forgetting to get Ryan.  Within minutes, Ryan was back in the room and holding my hand.

At 7:29am, God gave us the most precious gift in the world... Charles William Abbey.  He was 8 pounds and 9 ounces and was 21 inches long.... absolutely perfect. 

I heard one of the nurses in the room say, "Look at those cheeks!" and another "Look at that hair!"  I couldn't wait to see him.  He opened his lungs for us and it was the most precious sound I've ever heard.

Come to find out- the cord was wrapped around Chaz's neck and every time I had a contraction, it was causing his heart rate to drop.  I didn't know this until a few days after his birth, but I am so thankful that the doctors and nurses knew what to do and we went ahead with the section.  He lost too much weight while we were in the hospital so we had to go to the doctor for a "weight check" one week after his birth.  Let's just say- he's doing good!  His weight is back up and he has the Hopkins' appetite!  It just took him a few days to figure it all out.

We've been doing good at home.  Ryan and I both love sleep so we are adjusting to not sleeping much.  Chaz had his days and nights confused, but he is doing much better... lots of prayers answered.  He's changed so much within the last week- it's hard to believe when I look back at the pictures.  Thanks to everyone for all your texts, emails, prayers, and calls.  I can't tell you how much it means to me and Ryan.  Here are some pictures from our first few weeks.