Baby Pierson is here!

Baby Pierson was born today at 2 pm! He was 3.3 pounds and 17 inches long. Here's the story: I was waking up with cramping again all night. I felt a lot of pressure when I was up. This morning I was emotional and asked Chris for another priesthood blessing. The doctor was worried when I was crying during our visit today instead of smiling. So they kept monitors on and after 4 decelerations in 2 hours, they decided to move me to labor and delivery. Chris and the younger three kids came and when Tim Cluff arrived, I got a blessing. Over there they put in an IV (yuck) then started me on magnesium and gave me another steroid shot for the lungs. Magnesium is awful! I was throwing up and getting hot and felt like I was losing a lot of fluid. My parents came and picked up the kids. Not soon after I had a horrible contraction and called the nurse and told her it felt like a end of labor transition contraction. So she checked my cervix, which they don't like to do with ruptured waters. She said there was no cervix left and she could feel a little bum. I was completely dilated. So they took me into the operating room and he was born via c-section. After a minute he did a cute little cry, but soon had tubes placed to hep with breathing and was taken to NICU. After recovery time I was able to go see him. He can't cry with his tubes, but he looks like he is crying and no sound comes out. Poor baby. But he was pink really quick after delivery, which was great. His hands, feet and diapers are sooooo little! We are all doing well. Thank you again for your prayers!

31!

We made it to week 31 and 6 weeks in the hospital! Yesterday the doctors kept telling me that if we had any more action like all the contractions on Tuesday, then we'd be moved back to labor and delivery. I promised we'd behave and we did have a good day. Marcie brought Bailey to visit me in the morning. In the afternoon a NICU nurse talked to me and gave me a tour of NICU. Needless to say, I have a renewed determination to make it another three weeks. The less time he spends in the NICU, the better!

This morning we had an ultrasound and baby Pierson is still breech and fluid level was a little higher than last week. That is all we found out. My mom and Bailey came for lunch and the Cluff family stopped by to say hi. Chris and the kids came this evening and it was wonderful to see them!

Fun,fun

Another lovely day in the hospital! Unexciting is nice, but I had a few adventurous hours this afternoon when I started contracting constantly again. Pierson did have a deceleration last night so the doctor put me back on monitoring every four hours. Baby did have some issues with some of the contractions. Little stinker! He has been so stable, I was thinking we wouldn't have to worry about this anymore. But we made it through another day! My parents came by earlier and brought me donuts! My father in law brought Bailey after her nap. I spent a few hours with Chris tonight working on office "stuff." It's wonderful to be with Chris, no matter what we are doing.

Spring

It is so nice that March is coming closer to an end. I am looking forward to April. Baby Pierson has been doing great. My main concern right now is that he is breech so we have to keep discussing a c-section. I am trying to encourage him to turn. I have been doing fine. No more close calls since last Wednesday. We are determined to make it a few more weeks.

Brad and Faline's family, Chris' brother's family from Utah, visited this last weekend. It sounded like everyone had fun and I had large groups in my room several times. I enjoyed seeing everyone. Tonight all my family came for fhe.

30!

We made it to 30 weeks! Five weeks in the hospital and four more to go. In the ultrasound this morning, Pierson weighed an estimated 3 pounds. Yay! The fluid was really low, I am assuming from mostly a rough day yesterday. Doctor didn't seem too worried. Just excited to have another day down. I have been feeling better today and only a few contractions here and there.

My sister in law Sue brought me homemade coconut syrup this morning. As soon as she left I ordered a waffle. I am in love! Marcie came to visit and continued cheering me on. I got a little nap then the nurse who gives massages came in. I asked her not to go as deep today and it wasn't torture this time. My mom brought me a mint Oreo blizzard for St. Patricks day. We even played cards. I got Bailey's birthday present ordered this afternoon. Boy, that online shopping sure is fun!

Close call

When I stood up this morning, I got a headache, chest pain, started cramping and felt nauseous. You know it's going to be a great day when that happens. Baby looked good on the monitor, but the nurse said she could tell there was a lot of irritability with my uterus. I text JaNae to see if she could come help with the headache and pain in my neck and shoulders. I started having more pain and asked to be put on the monitor to see if it was contractions. When JaNae got here, I was having one contraction after another. My contraction monitor looked like a mountain range, one mountain next to the other. We were looking at her pictures of Steven coming home at the airport last week. My nurse said she had paged the doctor and was ready to tell him a I was in labor. Then it stopped. The contractions fizzled and I was able to have a massage. I showered and then my mom was here and helped me through the next couple of hours. We did a quick ultrasound and saw baby is still breech. I feel much better now and am thinking we will make it until tomorrow.

Content

Baby Pierson has been looking really good on the monitor. My doctor tonight took me off the medicine trying to stop contractions and said we could now monitor every 6 hours instead of 4. I am excited to have only one monitoring in the middle of the night.

All the family came last night for my dad's unbirthday cake. He said he is done having birthdays. I think that I am about through having them too. Bailey thinks every time we do cake, we are having her birthday. She came to visit me today with the grandparents and my brother Mike and his baby. She got new Dora sandals this morning that might not ever come off her feet.

Staying put

Believe it or not, we are still in antepartum! Baby Pierson has looked good on his monitoring. About half way to where we want to be- 4 1/2 weeks of the 9.

Yesterday was full of visits. Michelle Burk and Jen Richardson brought in lunch and we had fun talking about what has been going on. My parents came and brought several Nancy's cookies that my sister in law, Lynae had gotten us. They are my favorite kind- ginger with almond icing. I have been sharing with all the nurses. It is always great to see my dad on the weekends. Rebecca Jarvis and her son Joseph entertained me for an hour in the afternoon. Joseph was showing me homework, reading and singing to me. Rebecca tried to get a little visiting in too. Chris, Patsy and Lloyd came later and brought dinner in. Chris realized about quarter to nine that it was March 11-the day the new ipad came out. He tried to figure if they could make it to the apple store in the mall in the next 15 minutes. Not that he needs the new ipad, but he is big into apple products.

Today was low key. I did a lot of reading and my parents came this afternoon with Julie and Bailey. Julie was spoiled today by her Aunt Jen and uncle Tom. Jen fixed her hair at the salon, then Tom took her to lunch and to Wahooz to play. I think her birthday is officially over now, and Bailey is excited for hers in a couple of weeks.

29

We are 29 weeks today! Getting to close to the 30's! The doctor asked me today if I felt comfortable monitoring for one hour every 6 hours. I told him every 4 hours. So they moved me over to antepartum and let me pick out my room. I picked 2113, the one I was in last week for 10 hours. Baby has been looking good on the monitors still. I got to see Bailey, my in laws and my mom earlier. My mom helped me unpack everything. Hopefully we are here for awhile! We had a quick ultrasound and baby is still breech and his fluid was a 4, a little lower than the last couple of ultrasounds. But all in all, a good day!

Month mark

Yesterday baby looked good. So the doctor this morning asked if I wanted to go off continuous monitoring since Pierson had looked good for 24 hours. I said one more day. Then late morning he had a couple deep decelerations. He knows. He wants to show those doctors that he needs the constant monitoring.

I was trying to stay upbeat. But knowing that I won't see Chris today really affects me. He had stuff to do after work and then young mens. And it seems when I am sad, baby has a harder day. So I prayed for someone to come visit. My mom brought Bailey which is always a highlight if I get to see my baby. Tiffani Clinger was an answer to my prayer and offered to bring lunch. Thank you Tiffani. But she wasn't the only one inspired to come, Mark and Melissa Lyons came to visit. They brought me a fruit edible bouquet. I ate the whole thing this afternoon! The chocolate covered strawberries were incredible. Thank you so much! I really wouldn't be able to do this without the answers to prayers I have had, not only the last month, but during this whole pregnancy.

Yesterday my in-laws brought Bailey for a little while, then my mom brought lunch (cafe rio!). As she was leaving Bonnie brought me some of my requested coconut cupcakes. Amazing!!! We had a nice time talking and those visits lasted from noon to 4 pm. It was a great way to pass time! Chis brought Lexi and Julie that evening. I am really missing my family and really appreciate the meals and service that has been given them! As you can tell, visitors and food are the highlights of my days. 4 weeks, one month in the hospital tomorrow.

Another day

The doctors have said that every day baby Pierson stays inside me, it saves him 3 days in the NICU. So we are grateful for another pretty low key day. Baby has looked good today and yesterday. I even got permission to get up to use the restroom. I had an air matress put on my bed yesterday, so that is helping with some of the soreness.

Chris and the kids spent most of the afternoon here yesterday. We had a birthday party for Julie. My sister-in-law, Lynae made the cutest and yummiest "purse" cake for her. It had jewelry, lip gloss and finger nail polish on it. There were 18 family members in my room to celebrate and I loved it. My family stayed and watched some movies and had scriptures and prayer. I just miss being with them, of course.

Today Chris came for lunch and we got some work done. I think he is starting to appreciate the things I do at home and office.:) JaNae came for another heavenly massage this afternoon and brought donuts-my favorite treat ever! I ate both of them after dinner. I am really getting into comfort food, which there is a good chance I'll regret in a few months when I am trying to recover from this crazy pregnancy and find my figure. Oh, well!

Baby Pierson

I am pretty sure we've decided on the name Pierson. Friday the doctor started me on medication to stop contractions. I wasn't feeling any, but baby's heart was dropping a little in a pretty consistent pattern. One side effect is lower blood pressure, which mine has been low already. I seem to be doing ok with the meds though.

Yesterday he was doing a little bit more of the pattern dropping. I woke up to what felt like a pretty painful contraction, but it wasn't. This craziness started 6 weeks ago with a huge cramp that lasted for at least a half an hour.I had a lot of cramping yesterday. The first one lasted an hour, and I had several more half hour ones during the day. In the evening, baby's heart rate was a solid line on 150. My nurse said that was worse than the decelerations. Baby's heart rate needs to have a small variability to show baby is doing well. So the doctor was called and I am now not allowed to get up. They put a gown on me and said if baby acted up one more time an iv would be placed. Not that! I hate iv's! But we didn't end up getting one. We had a pretty good night and he's looked good this morning. He has also been quite active.

Julie went to Utah with my in-laws for the weekend, so she got to spend her birthday with her cousin that is her best friend. Chris took Lexi and Hunter to McCall and they skied and snowmobiled, enjoying all the snow. My parents took Mason and Bailey. Mason might have worn out their wii.

2 forward, 1 back

It's Thursday!!!! 28 weeks today, our first major goal has been achieved! 3 weeks in the hospital and hoping for 6 more. You really have no idea how long 3 weeks really is until you are on bed rest or in the hospital. 6 more sounds really long, so we will have to take it a day at a time!

Last night at our 10 pm monitoring, baby's heart was at 60 when she put the monitor on (it is normally 150s). He came back up and after a few minutes was down again. So I was turning from one side to the other to try to get him back up. About the time the nurse was going to take off the monitor, he fell to 60. So we tried one side, then the other, then back to the first and then hands and knees and it still wasn't coming up. When I looked up to get the oxygen they wanted to give me, there were 3-4 nurses in the room and the resident doctor. Baby stayed about 60 for 3 minutes, then was about 120s for 7 minutes before he came all the way back up. Resident called the high risk doctor and we were moved back to labor and delivery. We had to do hands and knees again over there to get heart rate back up, but he has been pretty good since. We decided he doesn't like antepartum. He thinks he needs constant attention. So with the flair for the dramatic, I am thinking the name Romeo might fit this little guy.

We did have an ultrasound this morning and he measured in at 2 lbs. 4 oz. And with the possible degree of error, he could basically be anywhere from 2-2 1/2 pounds. His fluid was still 5.5 like last ultrasound, which is good for low fluid. She said she could see hair on him and that he was holding his leg above his head, which is high as he is still breech. I was excited he was over 2 pounds and looking good.

They offered me my old room back and I took it for the windows. They brought over an antepartum bed, as they suspect I'll be here awhile. So back to room #2406. Visitors welcomed!

This post is getting long but I have one more story. When I first came to St. Luke's downtown, I was in antepartum for one night. I woke up about 11 pm and pulling sheets over myself, I knocked a full glass of ice water all over myself and bed. The next morning we had the scare that sent us to labor and delivery. Last night while the nurse was monitoring me, she knocked my glass of ice water over and again, my bed and I were soaked. Crazy and cold. Maybe I don't like antepartum very much either.

New address

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have moved to antepartum and am now in room #2113. I woke up this morning to a really good contraction and asked to put baby on the monitor. He has been known to struggle during contractions. He looked good and at lunch time we made our move. The room is nice, it has a fridge, microwave and desk. My only complaint is I have about 1/4 the windows so it isn't as bright. I should've known that would happen when all the doctors and nurses kept commenting on my nice big windows in my last room. It's only temporary.

March!

We made it to march! Baby has been looking so good that we only monitored for a half an hour every 4 hours. He had some decelerations during our last monitoring, so we stayed on a little longer. I will be moved to antipartum tomorrow. We will have an ultrasound Friday to check his size. Two people today said that my belly is looking bigger. Yay!


I had lots of visitors today. My friend Becky is here from Utah and spent a few hours with me. My in-laws brought Bailey for a good cuddle in front of the tv. Marcie came to cheer me on this afternoon. JaNae gave me another much needed massage. My mom brought Mason for dinner and blizzards tonight. As they were leaving, Chris and Julie came for about an hour.I sure appreciate all the support!