Today was a whirlwind of emotions. The day started early when I was woken up at 4am with concern that the baby was in distress. A full birth story with more details will follow soon.
The first time I got to see Emerson was as I was coming out of recovery, about an hour after delivery. The nurses wheeled me into the Special Care Nursery, and I remember just staring, amazed that he looked so good. He was breathing on his own! I only had a few moments with Emerson but the nurses reassured me that I could come back down later once the spinal tap wore off.
Back in my room I remember feeling really itchy, so the nurse gave me some Benadryl to help. That made me really loopy, along with the 1 hour of sleep I had I was pretty out of it. I do remember visitors coming by. My father in law, Larry, Aunt Cyndi, Aunt Terri, Kelli and Abigail came in for a short visit. My sister Kelly and Brother-In-Law, Tony also stopped in for a short visit. After that I faded in and out of sleep for probably 4-6 hours. Grant would come in every hour and check in on me. He took video of Emerson that I remember just watching in awe over and over again. He looked so good for 32 weeks. It was such a relief!
Kendra and BJ came for a visit and I finally started to wake up and become a little more coherent. After our visit, the nurses had me get up and just dangle my feet on the side of the bed. Getting up was a little rough, but when I sat up I was feeling pretty good. Next they had me get out of bed and just walk around the room. That is when I started to feel a little light headed. They helped me back in to bed and had me order some food and said we can try walking around again after I eat. Our goal was to get in a wheel chair and go see baby boy! It was probably around 10pm when we tried to walk around again, this time I was feeling much better. The nurses helped me in a wheel chair and pushed me down to the nursery.
I remember those moments leading up to seeing Emerson. I was nervous, anxious, excited! We got into the nursery and I remember just staring at this beautiful baby boy. He looked just like a mini Grant. He had his jaw line, height, legs, arms, hands, feet...even his knee caps were just like Grant's! He reminded me of pictures of Grant had a kid. And the hair, he had this blonde peach fuzz hair. Adorable! And than I noticed how well he was doing. Breathing on his own, super active moving his arms and legs, and even smiling at me! The nurse said that he had peed and pooped on his own to! This was one of the things we were really worried about with the Down Syndrome diagnosis. Digestively we couldn't detect if he would have any issues on the ultrasound. I was able to put my hand in through the hole on the side of the islet, and touch his very soft skin. I was a little nervous to touch him at first because he was so small and had so many things hooked up to him. But as I rubbed his soft skin and he moved his hands towards my finger all those fears quickly went away. Through all those hard weeks, I was now meeting my son. And he was ok. Those first moments were to incredible to describe.
We had a short visit and I went back to my room to get some rest. I was anxious for tomorrow to come so I could visit him again. And even more anxious for that first time I would be able to hold him!
Notes from MyPreemieApp:
September 7, 2013 – Emerson Robert Goulet was born today and weighs 2 lbs 12 ozs. The nurses taking care of Emerson Robert Goulet are Anne and Kelly.
Something happened for the first time. Pooped and Peed: Emerson pooped and peed for the first time around 9:00pm. This was an important sign that the digestive system is working properly.
Another big event. Visitors: Grandpa, Cyndi, Terri, Kelli, Abigail, Kelly, Tony, Marie, Kendra, BJ
Melissa is feeling Grateful.
Melissa is looking forward to: Holding Emerson!
Melissa is grateful for: the amazing medical staff that is taking care of both Emerson and me!
More about today: Emerson was born without needing the ventilator and also needed minimal oxygen.
The doctor that delivered him was the chief of the labor and delivery unit.
Our midwife, Trish, just happened to be the one on call when he was born.
He was born en-caul, meaning, still in the sac.
The first time I got to see Emerson was as I was coming out of recovery, about an hour after delivery. The nurses wheeled me into the Special Care Nursery, and I remember just staring, amazed that he looked so good. He was breathing on his own! I only had a few moments with Emerson but the nurses reassured me that I could come back down later once the spinal tap wore off.
Back in my room I remember feeling really itchy, so the nurse gave me some Benadryl to help. That made me really loopy, along with the 1 hour of sleep I had I was pretty out of it. I do remember visitors coming by. My father in law, Larry, Aunt Cyndi, Aunt Terri, Kelli and Abigail came in for a short visit. My sister Kelly and Brother-In-Law, Tony also stopped in for a short visit. After that I faded in and out of sleep for probably 4-6 hours. Grant would come in every hour and check in on me. He took video of Emerson that I remember just watching in awe over and over again. He looked so good for 32 weeks. It was such a relief!
Kendra and BJ came for a visit and I finally started to wake up and become a little more coherent. After our visit, the nurses had me get up and just dangle my feet on the side of the bed. Getting up was a little rough, but when I sat up I was feeling pretty good. Next they had me get out of bed and just walk around the room. That is when I started to feel a little light headed. They helped me back in to bed and had me order some food and said we can try walking around again after I eat. Our goal was to get in a wheel chair and go see baby boy! It was probably around 10pm when we tried to walk around again, this time I was feeling much better. The nurses helped me in a wheel chair and pushed me down to the nursery.
I remember those moments leading up to seeing Emerson. I was nervous, anxious, excited! We got into the nursery and I remember just staring at this beautiful baby boy. He looked just like a mini Grant. He had his jaw line, height, legs, arms, hands, feet...even his knee caps were just like Grant's! He reminded me of pictures of Grant had a kid. And the hair, he had this blonde peach fuzz hair. Adorable! And than I noticed how well he was doing. Breathing on his own, super active moving his arms and legs, and even smiling at me! The nurse said that he had peed and pooped on his own to! This was one of the things we were really worried about with the Down Syndrome diagnosis. Digestively we couldn't detect if he would have any issues on the ultrasound. I was able to put my hand in through the hole on the side of the islet, and touch his very soft skin. I was a little nervous to touch him at first because he was so small and had so many things hooked up to him. But as I rubbed his soft skin and he moved his hands towards my finger all those fears quickly went away. Through all those hard weeks, I was now meeting my son. And he was ok. Those first moments were to incredible to describe.
We had a short visit and I went back to my room to get some rest. I was anxious for tomorrow to come so I could visit him again. And even more anxious for that first time I would be able to hold him!
Notes from MyPreemieApp:
September 7, 2013 – Emerson Robert Goulet was born today and weighs 2 lbs 12 ozs. The nurses taking care of Emerson Robert Goulet are Anne and Kelly.
Something happened for the first time. Pooped and Peed: Emerson pooped and peed for the first time around 9:00pm. This was an important sign that the digestive system is working properly.
Another big event. Visitors: Grandpa, Cyndi, Terri, Kelli, Abigail, Kelly, Tony, Marie, Kendra, BJ
Melissa is feeling Grateful.
Melissa is looking forward to: Holding Emerson!
Melissa is grateful for: the amazing medical staff that is taking care of both Emerson and me!
More about today: Emerson was born without needing the ventilator and also needed minimal oxygen.
The doctor that delivered him was the chief of the labor and delivery unit.
Our midwife, Trish, just happened to be the one on call when he was born.
He was born en-caul, meaning, still in the sac.
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