and the growing begins.

I'm trying to catch up to present day with zeke and his milestones, but I'm not sure I will ever get that accomplished. So here's a small step in trying...
I took Zeke to his first pediatrician appointment three days after we left the hospital and he had lost even more weight than in the hospital, so the doc wanted him back the next week. We went in the next week and he'd lost even more weight. doc told me he wanted me to feed him around the clock every two hours and to check back at the end of the week. FINALLY he started gaining weight and the doctor was happy. I think his weight was fine because he came out all swollen and didn't really weigh 8lbs, 15 oz, he was full of water weight, but the doctor wouldn't listen. Oh well, it all worked out in the end.
Funny story I failed to tell that happened at the hospital. My favorite nurse, Angie, found out I was a photographer and told me that the hospital was changing photography companies and asked if I'd be interested in giving her my card to give to the lady in charge of hiring. I said sure, I'll hear what it's all about. She ended up calling me while i was still in the hospital and after leaving, decided to accept the job, so I now work for Bella Baby Photography on the maternity ward! Pretty funny. I started work when Zeke was 7 weeks old, which was a little early for my tastes, but it's not a full time job and I think it works out nicely. My parents take Zeke 2 or 3 days a week and I take pictures of newborns all day. :)
Zeke started sleeping through the night a couple of weeks after I started my job and before that only woke up once during the night. He still does awesome with sleeping through the night, although in the past couple of weeks, he's gotten up twice at 2 a.m. for no reason. :( Completely random.
Zeke weighed 12 lbs, 14 oz and was 24 in long at his 2 month appointment. 75th percentile for weight and 90 percentile for height. Not surprising if you know his dad.  He got his shots and had a terrible reaction to the shot area on both of his legs. His legs swelled 3x the size and were SUPER red. It was like he had a fever in his legs. He woke up crying and couldn't stop. He wouldn't let me touch his legs, but wanted held. It was terrible, I felt like a horrible mother because I just wanted to make everything okay. We gave him some Tylenol and it eventually took the swelling down, but he was still pretty grumpy.
At his 4 month appointment, Zeke weighed 16 lbs 2 oz and was 26 3/8 in long. 75th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for height, which again, is no surprise if you know his daddy. :)  I told the pediatrician about his previous reaction and he seem perplexed and told me if that happens again to bring him in immediately, so of course, I freak out. I didn't want it to happen again and prayed that it wouldn't. It didn't!!! Whooo. He did real well with them...no fever, just spit up more than normal for a few days.

More random notes continued...

birth story of ezekiel abraham part 4.

They take me to PACU where I can "recover." They tell me I can go to my room when I can move my toes. After about an hour, persistently trying to move my toes, I was able to. They told me, I could go to my room now and it would be soon. They failed to bring me my baby like promised. I clung to the picture they took of my baby boy when he came out. An hour and a half later, I'm wheeled to my room and I meet my parents in the hallway. I get to the room thinking my baby will be there, but no, he's not. Neither is my husband. About 20 minutes go by and still not word where my baby was or husband. My sister proceeds to walk down to the nursery when she meets them in the hallway.
Three hours later, I was able to hold my baby boy who was in my belly for 37 weeks and 5 days. I was upset and stressed, but ready to hold him. He was and is perfect.
My experience at the hospital was less than perfect with details that I could go on and on about, but I'm not sure I'd like to remember those parts.
I do want to remember, the birth of my first baby boy and how everything worked out how it was supposed to even if I didn't think that's how it would happen. Before Pffeifer left the c-section room, he told me congratulations and said, "Good thing we did a c-section because his head wouldn't have fit through." I think God knew what His plan was for me all along, I just didn't know. and I didn't need to know. 
A day went by and we finally decided upon a name. Ezekiel Abraham, so strong and old school.
We so lovingly call him Z or Zeke.

He was born on September 22, 2010 at 5:21 p.m.,  weighing in at 8 lbs. 15 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long.


Tony and I tried to have a baby for 2 1/2 years and FINALLY got pregnant! We couldn't be happier and it was completely worth the wait. We look forward to many more!

birth story of ezekiel abraham part 3.

The nurse starts my pitocin and says it could be a little bit before anything happens...every couple of hours I notice a nurse is upping my pitocin intake, but i'm really not feeling much. I would get super hot every time a contraction came, but they weren't too uncomfortable. During all this, people are trying to stick me for blood work and in case I want an epidural, which never works. I had at least 7 people try and find a vein and 2 blowouts, which hurt like crazy!
My favorite nurse, Angie, is my nurse today and she checks me a couple times to see if I'm dilated and never really said much about it, so I figured I was only like a 1 or 2 and knew I was in for the long haul. Something was going on. Finally, Angie says she's calling the doctor and I had no time to ask her before she walks in with Pffeifer. They both proceed to tell me that it had been over 11 hours of me enduring pitocin and it hadn't done a darn stinking thing, nothing, zippo. I hadn't dilated, nothing. Pffeifer told me my cervix wasn't even close to soft and he couldn't break my water till I was a 4. I wasn't anything close to a 4, let alone a 1. My baby wasn't wanting to come! Pffeifer said since the baby was doing so well, he would let me labor like this for a couple more days in hopes that something would eventually happen, but if the baby's heart rate went down or any other sign of distress on the baby, I would be whisked away for an emergency c-section. There's the word!! Ahhh. I wasn't ready to hear c-section. I had never really given the possibility of a c-section thought other than, that's not gonna happen to me. Pffeifer told me I should consider a c-section that day instead of laboring because the chances of anything working were slim. He left and I chatted with Angie a little bit. Angie told me that she had progressively turned my pitocin level up all day, so much so, that she had to look up the maximum legal amount she could give me and then she stopped. I was at 40 something and she told me that people who are at 8 are usually screaming, scraping the walls there in so much pain. I was sitting there, exhausted only because I hadn't slept and VERY hot. I wanted to meet my baby, but wasn't prepared for a c-section. I asked Angie what she thought I ought to do. She said, "If I thought this pitocin had ANY chance of working on you, if I saw a sliver of hope that this baby could come naturally, I'd say wait it out, but I honestly don't think it's gonna work. I think you should do the c-section."
I ask Tony what he thinks, and he doesn't have much of an opinion other than, do what's best for the both of you. I immediately call my parents and tell them what went down. They tell me they are coming up there, so I wait it out a little bit. I call my confidant, Ashley, who just had her third c-section and tell her what's up. I ask her everything I can think of and it seems to calm me. My parents get to the room and tell me, they think it is best that I have the c-section and I was glad because I had made up my mind it was the right thing.
At 5 o'clock, I walk into the c-section room, which is too clean, too white and too bright. I feel awkward, exposed and uncomfortable. They tell me to get on this teeny little table that I just knew I wouldn't fit on. They ask me to sit up and lean as far forward as possible. They rub alcohol on my spine, then tell me my back will tingle. It does and before I know it, they tell me to lay back down, they are finished. WHAT? I didn't feel a GIANT spinal needle in my back. Apparently that numbing stuff did the job. This guy started pinching me asking if I could feel it in different places. As he was doing that, distracting me, they cut me open because I see Pffeifer and feel nothing by tugs. I'm scared, wondering where Tony is. The doctors and nurses are talking like they aren't operating me, but like they are at a dinner party talking about fishing and golfing.
In walks Tony and I finally feel safe. I hold his hand, and suddenly I feel a huge push on my abdomen. Baby's head...Pffeifer asks if Tony wants to see. He leans over and sees our precious boy's head. Another bigger push and out comes the body and all the nurses are screaming saying how big he is! I WANNA SEE!! I got a glimpse of my baby boy before they whisked him away. They called Tony over there with them and I asked Tony to stay. He was still talking to me, comforting me, but the nurse dragged him over there. I cried because I wanted him by me.
Doc was stitching me up and it was really starting to hurt. BAD! I asked if I could have more pain meds, the nurse said I would probably fall asleep, and I said I didn't care, give them to me. I was crying because of my pain now and Angie, my nurse comes and holds my hand and tells me he's beautiful and everything's okay. They'd give me my baby within the hour...

birth story of ezekiel abraham part 2.

I decide to wait it out a little bit and go to church that night because I didn't want to put my mom on the spot and have no one to play the piano, so I went and played. As I was playing the contractions didn't really get worse, just pretty uncomfortable. We decided to leave right after we played and go to the hospital. We went and got to triage. I had a terrible nurse who obviously had no intention of treating me like a human being. I cried and screamed for her to leave me alone, literally, I told her to stop touching me. I was literally two seconds away from walking out the door and going to a different hospital when Tony helped calm me down. I refused to talk to that nurse for the rest of the time I was there that night though. Tony had to answer all of the questions she asked and I absolutely NEVER let her touch me again. If I would have been thinking straight, I would have reported her. Needless to say, I ended up being sent home because I wasn't dilated or anything like the two weeks before this when I was having fairly consistent contractions.
I already had an appointment Tuesday, so Monday I just waited it out all day and took things easy. The contractions came and went all through the day, but figured they were doing no good, so let it happen. Tony had Tuesday off, so off we go to the appointment...
I was scheduled for an ultrasound to check my fluid levels, so the tech called me in. She immediately started saying things like, "well, you will be having this baby within a couple of days...," "i'm not seeing a lot of pockets of fluid...," "has the doctor talked about inducing you?"
This all kinda shocked me because I really didn't think my fluid was going to be much more low than the week before. Secretly, I wanted some kinda good news about the baby coming because I was at the point where I couldn't walk more than 5 minutes without my feet getting 7x bigger than they already were. It was just getting painful, but for some reason I wasn't prepared for this news. I still really didn't know what she meant when she was saying things like this, but she sent me away to the nurse to take my weight, etc. I ended up in the room, waiting for Pffeifer to get there. In he comes about 10 minutes later and says, "You're having this baby today, one way or the other." WOW! I said with a huge smile, "OKAY!" He never really gave an explanation, just told me to call my mom and head to the hospital.
I talked to his nurse and she said just go up to the OB floor, Pffeifer wants a non-stress test first. His nurse, Carol calls up there and they say there's no beds. She tells the doc and he says, "I don't care. They need to make room."
Tony and I head on over, in the meantime, I'm freaking out because both me and Tony forgot our phones. We have no way to call anyone. That was pretty amusing. I get ahold of a phone at DMH before I head up to the OB floor because we were waiting for them to get a bed and I get ahold of my mom and tell her the news. I tell her to text a few people and that I'll call when I can.
A few minutes later, there's a bed ready. I go to triage and they hook me up immediately and find out the baby is doing just fine. His heartbeat and movements are great. They call Pffeifer and tell him and he says to get me a room, they'll induce me in the morning. If you know me, you know I don't sleep in hospitals. Period. I finally got settled into my room about 8 or 9 p.m. and put a movie in. Tony fell asleep, sorta around Midnight. I, however, watched the clock until 5 a.m. for when it was time to start the pitocin...

birth story of ezekiel abraham part 1.

A little over a month before I gave birth, I started having super chest pains where I couldn't breath at all. If I ate it got worse, if I walked it got worse. I finally decided to call my doctor's office and ask the nurse about it. Needless to say, they freak out once they hear the words, "I can't breathe." Immediately, the nurse told me to go to the hospital. I went to the hospital and the nurse hooked me up to check the baby. I hadn't eaten all day long, which for a pregnant person was a pretty big deal. I waited and waited and waited for a doctor to say what they wanted to do. They finally sent me down for some crazy tests, which told us nothing, so I got sent home with some Maalox. Well, the pain didn't go away. I was told if it didn't, go back to the hospital. I called the doctor's office first and they told me to go back to the hospital. In I walk and I have the same nurse from the day before, Angie, who told me she was expecting me. Haha. Took an ultrasound of my gall bladder and found nothing. The nurses sorta, in the end concluded it was really bad heartburn. I'm still not convinced, but just dealt with the pain for the next month.
From that day on, I was in the hospital twice a week for non-stress tests because Zeke was "so big." The tests always turned out fine and I was always sent home. Week 36, I was scheduled for an ultrasound. I was told he was measuring around 8lbs. and I was running on the edge of low amniotic fluid. I was at a 5, whatever that means. No one informed me of what that really means except to say it was getting low.  I got scheduled for another ultrasound Week 37.
When I started these non-stress tests, the nurses on duty would always ask if I could feel the contractions. She would always say they were consistent and I should be feeling something. I did, but nothing that really struck me as "labor" until the Sunday before I had Zeke. That Sunday, was a normal pregnant day. I got a call from my parents saying they locked their keys in their car, can Tony and I come pick them up? So, on our way to Shelbyville, I started feeling a little bit stronger cramp-type pains. We met my parents, ate at Pizza Hut and went back home. I told Tony to start timing the contractions. They became every 3 min or so and 45-60 seconds long for an hour. I never really thought they were terribly painful though, so I was pretty confused. I finally called the doctor's office after an hour and a half of this and the doctor on call calls me back and says, "Congratulations! You're in labor, go to the hospital..."

...to be continued.

and so it begins.

Well, I'm writing this blog because I can type faster than I can write. It seems many people are using the likes of typing rather than the old fashioned pen and paper. I love to write. I'm actually pretty obsessed with handwriting's, I just want to be able to remember this stuff before I don't remember it enough to write it all out. Man, it's hard to come up with a blog name. Everything under the sun is taken, so you just kinda wing and hope that it is relevant to you. It's Midnight and I've been trying for an hour to get a blog name. Baha, kinda ridiculous considering I'm not writing this blog for anyone but myself.
If I end up sticking with this thing, I would really like to just mark my son's milestones, small and large. Pretty boring to the average person, but pretty awesome to me. I really don't want to forget him at any stage in his life and I have already started to forget what it was like to carry him in my belly for 37 weeks. I wanna be able to recall some of those memories also. My life is kinda in the fast lane, it's going by so quickly and I know I think I'll remember everything, but I won't. So here goes...