William "Stratton" Staggs

Our little guy was born on July 12th at 7:01 A.M. He weighed 6 pounds and 10 ounces and was 21 inches long!! I need to really give ya'll the scoop on what all has been happening with us, but who has the time!! Here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks. . .

Stratton in the NICU

  

July 12th~ the first time I got to visit the NICU (this was about 10 hours after the c-section)

 

July 14th~the first time I got to feed him

  

Proud Dadddy!

 

Seriously, he's the cutest baby ever, right?

July 20th ~ before we got discharged, sporting his favorite outfit!

 

July 21st~ Good Morning! After our first night at home

 

July 22nd~ supper time!

He Finally Made His Arrival

Well after 4 hours of pushing and and a trip to the O.R. later we finally had our little bundle of joy come into this world Sunday at 7:01 A.M.. It all started about 6:30 Friday night as we sat down to eat supper, not one bite into it Christina stands up and says uh I think we need to go to the hospital I think my water just broke  and sure enough it had. We headed to the hospital where we were sent to triage on the Labor and Delivery floor AKA "The Closet". That's how small it was. After a two hour stint in there we were finally admitted. They started to induce about 6:30 Saturday morning because with her membranes ruptured things were not progressing as quickly as they liked. Well two epidurals later and a whole lot of pain and pushing from 1AM to 6AM the doctor decided that was enough and with the way his head was turned they needed to get him out of there. She was then wheeled to the O.R. to be prepped for surgery. Just over an hour later a 6lb 10oz baby boy made the trip across the O.R.. They were both then moved to recovery for about 2 hours. Christina was then moved to a regular postpartum room and we thought Stratton was going to get to come with us but when his first blood tests came back his sugar was 25 and they wanted it to be higher than 50 so he was moved down to the NICU. Considering we never really thought he was going to be that big and this was his only problem we were still happy even though he couldn't stay with us. Christina is progressing along fairly well she is extremely sore and tired since she basically had him both ways. I have never seen someone exert so much energy in that amount of time i am extremely proud of her. Stratton seems to be coming along well to his billirubin levels have came up and he has been put under the billilight for jaundice which is basically just a blue light. Hopefully if things go well and progress we might be able to get to come home by the weekend. Thanks for all the prayers,cards,calls and visits through this whole ordeal we couldn't have done it without y'all. I'm sure I have left out something, which I'm sure the new greatest mommy in the world will fill you in on later, but just wanted to update everyone. Jarrod

Doctor appointment at the UAMS clinic

We saw a really great nurse practitioner at the UAMS women's clinic this afternoon. I actually liked her better than any of the doctors I have seen so far! When we got to the clinic we had to fill out some paperwork and it wasn't too bad. I was nervous since they said to be ready for it to last several hours, but we were in and out within about an hour. I have lost about 5 lbs in the past few weeks, I think it's due to the diet I am on for my gestational diabetes. They did put me on the monitors for about 20 mins and it just so happens Stratton got the hiccups during that time. . .pretty funny. . .anyway they did see some small contractions, nothing to be too worried about though. Stratton looks great. His heartbeat is strong and from what they can tell he looks just perfect. When the NP came in she wasn't going to examine me at first (seeing as how that itself can bring on labor) but when I told her how much pain and discomfort I have been in the last couple of days, she decided to go ahead. It's scary since I can't feel any "contractions" I hate to think that I might be in labor and not know until it's too late! She checked me and luckily I haven't changed in the past week. She was shocked how thin my cervix is and how low the baby is. She said it was remarkable and just couldn't believe that I have gone this long (not me, that's just answered prayers!). She also wasn't very optimistic that I would last much longer. In her opinion we will be very lucky to make it to 35 weeks, but we will see. She was the first one to actually give me some props for hanging in there so long, which was nice. It seems like all the doctors I have seen think it's no big deal to be in constant pain and discomfort while staying in bed all day!! She also gave me a better idea of what to look for as far as "labor symptoms" since my situation is really different than most pregnancies. She was going to let us get away with not having another appointment till next Friday the 17th (hopefully, the day we get to go home!) but after checking me, she said it made her nervous to let me go that long without seeing a doctor. So I have another regular appointment scheduled for next Monday and then next Friday they will see me and if they think I am the same they will release me. However, at that point they have to make contact with my Dr.and the hospital in Jonesboro and make sure they will take me back at that point. If they say yes, we get to go home! If they say not yet, well we will have to stay here a little longer. It's nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel. . .whether it be going home next week or going into labor! At this point I don't want to deliver a preemie baby, but boy am I getting tired of being in pain and having to be on bedrest with a babysitter all the time! After the appointment we grabbed a bite to eat at El Porton. . .the restaurant, I got to eat in a restaurant!!! The food was alright, but I was so happy to get out for awhile!!

Nothing new

I would have posted sooner but there is absolutely nothing going on. Things are still the same, still having some pains but they are always sporadic. Jarrod and I spent the weekend in the "cave" as my Mom has dubbed it. We slept late, watched tv and took lots of naps. Saturday night we were sitting on the couch watching the Daytona 500 (yeah, I was trying to be a good wife and do something Jarrod wanted to do) and it was 8:30pm and we were both just struggling to stay awake. I suggested we watch the rest of it in the bedroom, at least then if we fell asleep we'd already we in bed. So, we were in bed by 9pm!! What's even worse is we both slept till about 9:30am!! That's crazy for Jarrod, who is usually up and ready to go at the crack of dawn. I would love to tell you how much I am enjoying this time of rest and relaxation. . .but it's not as fun as it sounds. I have lots to read and we have our computer, and two tv's, but somehow I am still bored! I am actually excited about my doctor appointment tomorrow because I get to get out of here for a little while! I am trying to talk Jarrod into taking me out to eat afterwards too, but he is being a real stickler for the rules! I guess I shouldn't complain, he has been taking great care of me. This weekend he brought me breakfast in bed and took all my vitals so I could go back to sleep for a little longer. He went back to work today, and then will take off tomorrow to go with me to the doctor. The information we received said to be prepared for the appointment to last several hours! I have no idea what they will do. I don't know if they will examine me and put me back on the monitors for awhile, or if it will just be a normal checkup kind of appointment? I am hoping that nothing has changed and they will tell me they want to keep me here just one more week, then they will send us home! My mom is here with me today doing our laundry and that kind of stuff. She and my Aunt Judy went to our house this weekend and cleaned house!! I am so thankful that we have our family taking care of us! Uncle Brian has been going by our house and taking care of Taki and the plants everyday. So it gives me some peace to know that she is in good hands and at least we won't be going home to a dirty house and dead plants!

CAMP

We didn't think we had Internet in the rooms until this afternoon Jarrod went to the hotel's business center to check his email there and he saw a sign that said something about in room internet service. So he went and asked at the front desk and they gave him the cable we needed to get connected! So while I can't lay in bed and surf around like I had been, I am just thankful that we have a connection at all!! I was worried I would have to go to the lobby to check my email and update the blog, so this is much more convenient!! The "Angels" program (Antenatal & Neonatal Guidelines, Education and Learning System) is really neat. They put us up in this hotel (we are paying extra to be in a suite)they provide meals and snacks for me. They also gave me the equipment to check my vitals and a nurse calls once a day to get that information and make sure that I am doing ok. I will see a doctor at the clinic here once a week. My first appointment is on next Tuesday. I guess that will be the only time I get to get out of here! The hotel also provides a free shuttle service, in the case that I need to go to the hospital and there isn't anyone here with me, or they will even take Jarrod and I to my doctor's appointments if we needed them to. The hotel is ok. It's thousands times better than the hospital, but it's nothing special as hotels go. In fact if we were just staying here for leisure. . . .well we probably wouldn't be staying here. . . I am really, really picky about hotels! But under the circumstances it's like a 4 star resort compared to the hospital room!! Our room has a small living room/dining room area with a small kitchenette. A bathroom and a separate bedroom with two queen beds. The living area has a sofa, a recliner, a desk and a table with two chairs. They have a laundry room on site which will come in handy. And they also serve a continental breakfast, so that's nice. Yesterday was my first full day here. It's nice not to constantly have nurses in and out, I could actually get rest! I slept till about 9am and then took a nice nap about 2pm! Since Jarrod has been going to work my mom has been staying here with us. She got here Sunday and left last night. Luckily, the sofa makes out into a bed, so she didn't have to sleep on the blow up bed again! She cooked us supper last night and pretty much did everything for dinner tonight, too. All Jarrod had to do was turn on the crockpot! She also cleaned, went grocery shopping and did our laundry! Today Jarrod is off work for the 4th of July (since he doesn't work on Fridays they give them Thursday off)and we have done absolutely nothing! In fact I am still in my pj's! He didn't get around till this afternoon and took my car to get the oil changed since he needed to do that a couple of weeks ago and just haven't been able to get that done, he's been a little preoccupied! He also ran to Kroger to get some more snacks. Still no change with me. No one has said how long we will be here, but I don't think they will let us go home before I am 35 weeks and that will be on the 17th of July. That is as long as nothing changes. It's hard to think that we will be here for 2 r three more weeks, but at least we aren't still in the hospital. Thanks again for all the calls, cards, thoughts and prayers. We are so, so blessed!

Finally, it looks like we are getting out of here!

Unless something drastic happens we will be moving to "CAMP" (Centralized Antenatal Monitoring Program) today. We will be staying at the Markham House Suites. We really don't know much else. I will update later tonight, that is if the hotel has wireless internet!

So frustrating!

So, all weekend all we have heard from the doctors and nurses was that we would be going to "camp" on Monday if I had not dilated anymore. Well, I have not dilated anymore and I am still at the hospital. Hmmm??? The doctor that came in this morning didn't even bring up the option of leaving until I asked and then she said that she would have to talk to the rest of the staff within the hour and get back to us. . .this was at 8am. At 2pm a nurse came in to check on me and I asked her if she could find out what was going on, if we were getting released to camp or not? Well, she goes "Oh, yeah you're not going to camp" just like that, without much thought or care. She said that one of the other nurses had called down to the doctor's office to check on a patient of hers that was supposed to be getting released and they told her that her patient wasn't going anywhere and to tell our nurse that we wouldn't be leaving today either. I guess instead of coming to our room and telling us then, she just thought she'd wait until we asked?? I was SO mad. I asked her if she knew why, and she said no but she could call the doctor herself and find out. [uh, THANK you!] I asked her to do that and if possible we would like to talk to the doctor ourselves to find out just what was going on and why they wouldn't release us. She came back and said that they just couldn't get the release approved and if we wanted to talk to the doctor she would have her to call us because she wasn't going to be able to get back up to the room to see us. At first I told the nurse not to worry about it, I knew I was too upset to talk to the doctor rationally anyway. But Jarrod decided he needed to know more so he had the nurse call the doctor and she called us in our room a while later. She did apologize to Jarrod for not getting the news to us sooner (or at all.) she said that her rounds took longer than she thought and then after their meeting she had to go to the clinic and got busy. . . .she also said that they couldn't get everything arranged and coordinated today between the hospital and the hotel, then she told Jarrod that the main doctor who everything has to go through decided that he just wasn't comfortable letting us go today. She said she couldn't guarantee anything but really felt that if he decided to let us go tomorrow everything would be in place where we could move tomorrow. I was really frustrated. I am so tired of being here and not knowing anything from day to day. I feel like this must be a good hospital for emergency care, but they could definitely work on their long term patient care and the patient-doctor communication. We have seen 5 different doctors since we have been here and have yet to have the same nurse for more than a shift. It's hard to get a straight answer from anyone, but I guess that is a problem with all hospitals! Anyway, I am in a better state of mind tonight, but I was really upset this afternoon. I really had my hopes up and I was just really disappointed. I hate to get my hopes up again, but I am really praying that we can go to camp tomorrow. I am beyond tired of being here. I haven't had a night of uninterrupted sleep in 10 days! It's funny that I am on "Bed-Rest" and while I am in bed, I am definitely not getting much rest! Sorry today's blog is mostly a rant. I am still feeling fine, no pain, no contractions. My mom is here to stay till Wednesday. Jarrod is staying the night at his friend's house in Sherwood and is planning on going to work tomorrow and Wednesday. He will be off on Thursday and Friday, they are getting their 4th of July day off on Thursday and then of course he doesn't work on Friday's anyway. Maybe this weekend won't be quite as bad if we are in the hotel.