Meet Jonas Jorge Avesani

If you've been keeping up with my blog, you've read how I was admitted to the hospital last week with pre-term labor.  I am so happy to announce that our second baby boy was born on Tuesday, September 28 at 11:24 am.  His name is Jonas Jorge Avesani... but you can call him JJ if you want.

The last time I posted, I was in a state of limbo.  The doctors didn't really know what plan of action to take and we were just waiting for my body to give us a sign as to what we should do.  Well, it did.  On Tuesday morning, after being off all meds for 24 hours, I awoke to a sharp pain, gush of blood and the onset of contractions.  These were the same exact symptoms I'd had when I was admitted to the hospital the Tuesday before.

The doctor came in to check me, and I was still at 1cm dilated. He was a bit concerned by my bleeding because it hadn't stopped and we still had not determined it's place of origin.  The contractions were not strong enough to even bother me, but I knew I was having them.  He ordered blood work to see what the results would be for my hemoglobin and other levels.  Within a half hour, the nurse arrived and said "Alright, let's go have a baby".  That's it.  No other explanations.  One minute we were undecided, the next I was being taken to the operating room.  I was still going to need a c-section because he was completely breeched.

They prepped me for surgery, talked over procedure with the anesthesiologist, and we were given paper scrubs to wear.

I know I look cool, calm and collected, but do not be fooled... I was nervous!  I've never had any kind of surgery before.  

When I was taken in to the OR, I was immediately given the spinal tap and started to feel the effects right away.  Before I knew it, I was numb up to my chest and my hands and fingers were tingly.  They put up a sheet in front of my face, so I couldn't see the gore.  It made me anxious not being able to see what was going on, but I'm sure they have their reasons.  I felt absolutely NO pain, but I did feel a lot of pressure, pulling and pushing.  About 10 minutes after laying down, I heard the cry of my beautiful darling. 

Being able to hear him cry was such an incredible relief.  As you may have read before, Marco did not cry when he was born... he only whimpered.  This was a sure sign to us that something was wrong.  When we heard Jonas wailing, we were so happy and knew that he was going to be a strong and healthy premie.  

They had a team of NICU doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists on hand to evaluate Jonas' condition right away.  They cleaned him up, showed him to me and took him off to the NICU.  This is one of the hardest parts about having a premie... you don't get to hold and love on him right at birth.  As a mother, your body cries out to hold your baby, but you can't. 

After they completed cleaning out my placenta and performing a tubal, they stitched me up and stapled me shut.  Then, I found out what happened.  Remember that up until this point I didn't know WHY they had all of a sudden wanted the baby out.  The doctor told me that I had a huge blood clot on the back side of the placenta.  This is why the ultra sounds couldn't pick it up.  They showed me my placenta (I saw Marco's too), and the front of it was a beautiful meaty red.  The back side was slimy and black... the clot was covering most of the back.  According to the doctor, it was only a matter of a day or so, and my placenta could have detached, causing hemorrhaging and possibly death of the baby and myself.  This is called a Placental Abruption.  He said that I would have experienced a lot of pain, followed by a pint of blood spilling out onto the floor.  At that point it would have been an emergency situation and the end result could have been devastating.  

Jonas was 3.7 pounds and 15 3/4 inches long at birth.  He was placed in the NICU and given the c-pap, which is a mask that blows air into the nose to help encourage breathing.  He was on the c-pap for less than 24 hours!  He's had to be on light therapy for the past two days because he is slightly jaundiced, but this is expected with premies.  Basically, the biggest concern is his feedings.  Right now he's being fed through a tube that goes down his nose, throat and into his belly.  He started off at a very low amount of breast milk (4 ml), and will increase gradually till he's at 1 oz (30 ml).  Today he was at 7, so we're working on it.  Once he's taking the full ounce every 3 hours, they will pull out the tube and try to bottle feed.  Premies typically do not know how to coordinate suck-swallow-breathe, so it may take a while.  Once he's able to bottle feed, they will call me in to breast feed.  He can go home once they are certain that he can breast or bottle feed for all of his feedings successfully.  This seems like a cinch, but could actually take weeks to master.  They have told us that most babies go home close to their due dates... that would be in 9 weeks.  Our babies are little miracles, and I know it'll be sooner than that. 

I am so amazed by God's power and control in our lives.  He is always one step ahead!  He always manages to blow us away with the way He takes control of our lives and releases all stress and burden.  I am so comforted by His love and power. I know that BOTH of my babies are living miracles and that his hand is always holding onto them.  

Jonas

Mauricio is demonstrating how large his head is, between his middle finger and thumb.  His head is about the size of an orange.

Don't tell me I look tired... this was 6 hours after being sliced!

An Update

So, as you may have read, I've been in the hospital since Tuesday with 30 week pre-term labor.  After much effort, all contractions have stopped, but unfortunately the bleeding has not.  This is a tricky situation because bleeding usually means one thing: Placenta Abruption.  This is a very very bad thing.  
The doctor had given me a sliver of false hope today and said that if everything continued going well (while on drugs), they'd release me tomorrow to have bed rest at home.  I could already feel my little boy in my arms... I've missed him so much!  Then, I began bleeding more than I had in the past few days.  The only reasonable explanation is placental abruption.  Unfortunately, according to the doctor, only 30% of abruptions appear on ultra sound scans, so just because the scan proves to be ok doesn't actually mean it is ok.  And, the doctor revoked my going home hope. 
They have decided to stop ALL meds and see what my body does.  The fear is that my body is trying to release the baby because something greater is going on, but we're not allowing it to because we continue to control the contractions.  So, we're not going to control it any more.  Basically, if I begin to contract, they're not going to stop my labor.  And, if my cervix begins to open, they'll c-section me as soon as I'm at 4cm.  We're in a total waiting game.  What will my body do now?  Are these contractions going to come back once the drugs in my system wear out?  Will they EVER send me home?
Tomorrow, I'll have another ultra sound with a growth scan, so we'll get to see how big our little one is.  Tomorrow I also hit 31 weeks!  Yay!  I didn't think I'd make it.  It's been a rough week, but we're gonna keep on holding on.

Eager Beaver

That's it... my babies are officially too excited to meet their way awesome parents that they simply can not remain in utero as long as normally required.  In case you missed it... I've gone in to pre-term labor and have been in the hospital, fighting to keep this little one inside for 3 days now.
I began going into labor with Marco at 35 weeks, with bleeding, but we were able to hold off a bit and he was born at 36w0d.  The only reason he's a "36 weeker" is because he was born at 1am on the day of my week switch.  He was too early and had to go to the NICU for 6 days because his lungs were not yet mature enough.  Due to the fact that his labor was at an "almost ok" time, the doctors made no effort to stop the process, nor did they give him any steroids to mature his lungs.
I've been keeping positive this whole pregnancy, saying "I'm delivering ON my due date"!  I really really wanted to make it... but it's not gonna happen.  At 30w1d, I woke up with severe pain in my abdomen, followed by a gush of blood... not too comforting for a pregnant woman.  A few minutes after that, I noticed I was beginning to have contractions and by the time we made it to the hospital I was 1cm dilated and contracting ever 3-5 minutes.  That, ladies and gents, is what we call "active labor".  Not a good sign for a 30 weeker!  So, they had two choices, stop it or c-section me.
They considered the c-section because they were thinking that they reason I was bleeding was due to placental abrubtion.  After blood work and a super quick ultra sound, everything looked ok with the placenta, so they decided to stop the contractions.  I was put on a heavy dose of Magnesium for 48 hours.  I was also given steroid shots which help baby's lungs mature at a more rapid pace.  So, if and when he is born, he will have a little extra juice in him!
48 hours after my arrival, they took me off the Magnesium... which was nice.  The Mag makes you really drowsy, head-achy and you can't get up because they insist on putting in a cathetar.  I was feeling good and doing well for about 12 hours, and then the contractions started up again.  Since then, I've been given quite a cocktail of drugs which has made me feel hot, loopy, sluggish, and strange.  Unfortunately, not even this cocktail has stopped the contractions, so now I'm BACK on the Mag til tomorrow morning.  Basically, I was told that the Mag is the "BIGGEST gun we've got".  So, if that doesn't work, I don't think much else will.
I'm just praying to hold off as long as possible.  I've come to terms with the fact that I'll be having a c-section because the baby is breech.  I have come to terms that another one of my babies will be in the NICU for a while.  I have come to terms with the fact that the next few months will be rather difficult.
I know that God is in complete control.  I trust in His unfailing love and know that His hands are guiding me.  I can trust that what has happened and will happen are in His will and that His plan is the best one for me.
Please pray for me as well.

Beating the System

Notice, I said "Beating"... NOT "Cheating".  There was NO cheating involved.  But I do have to brag on this awesome bargain.

It's no shocker or mystery... I hate BabysRUs (BRU).  I think that they are a manipulating monopoly that leaves small town folk little or no option but to shop there.  Really, if you need a nipple shield, where else can you go?  Of course, Target has a minuscule baby section, with all of 3 whole aisles dedicated to baby gear... but how can that compare to a SUPERSTORE such as BRU?  It really can't.

The customer service at BRU is a huge joke.  No one knows a thing, and I feel like I have to do my own calculations just to be sure they don't mess it up.  There are absolutely no perks to doing your baby registry there... it's almost like it's expected... because again, where else is there?  This is not the case with wedding registries.  Companies are competing to get your wedding registry with all kinds of perks, customer service ploys, discounts and coupons.  Shouldn't it be the same with baby registries?  Sadly, it so is not.  In fact, if you have to return something to BRU, you'd better have the receipt.  Oh, it was a gift?  Where's the gift receipt?  It wasn't on your registry... oh well, no refund.  LAME-O!

Sure, BRU does offer coupons... that last for like 3 minutes and exclude everything you'd want to purchase with it.  Literally, the coupon says "20% off ANY baby item" and then goes on to list about 1,000 things that are excluded.  Uhh, since when are diapers and formula NOT baby items?  Oh, another funny and oh so BRU typical thing I saw at the store... a sign that read "All customers 85 years and older are given a 1% discount on sales tax for personal use items".  Really?! What can an 85 year old buy that's for PERSONAL USE at BRU?!  I know they sell diapers, but not adult sizes!  BRU, thanks, but keep your 4 cents.

So, anytime I get to take advantage of their system I do.  They currently have a promotion going on, called The Great Trade-In.  Basically, you take any old/used crib, car seat, pack n play, stroller or high chair and give it to them.  In return, you get 25% off of a NEW crib, car seat, pack n play, stroller or high chair.  This seems like a pretty good deal.  Problem was, we didn't have any old gear that we needed to get rid of.  In fact, all of Marco's old stuff is still in really good condition, so we're reusing it for #2.  But, we did need to buy a crib.  What to do, what to do?

Since the boys will be sharing a room, we wanted to get the same crib for #2 that Marco currently has.  He's not ready for a "big boy bed" yet, so we need a separate crib.  When we did our registry (at BRU, unfortunately), we noticed that our crib is discontinued.  They only had 50 in stock for the entire east coast!  The good side of this, was that the price was now reduced from $500 to $350.  But we still had to buy the rails to make it into a full, which was an additional $140.  Since the crib was discontinued, we HAD to buy the rails now, or else we wouldn't have them when we need them, in 2 years or so.

We were in a bind... we had to buy the crib now, or risk not getting it at all... but we didn't really have the money.  We HAD to take advantage of the trade-in promotion.

We went on to craigslist to see if we could buy some really cheap baby gear to make the trade-in.  We were able to find this car seat for just $5.  Note: I would NEVER buy a used car seat for my child... this was JUST for the trade-in.

Because we traded in this car seat, we got 25% off of the $350 crib.  There was also another promotion going on, that if you were purchasing baby furniture and spent more than $400, you were awarded $50 off!  So, all in all, we were supposed to have spent $500 for the crib and rails, but ended up getting 25% off the crib + $50 off the total and we ended up spending only $375!  

So in essence, because of a $5 crappy, used and gross car seat, we were able to purchase this BEAUTIFUL crib for baby #2! Oh yeah!  That's what I call, "Beating the System"! 

I swear my son does NOT have ADD

We've been going to free classes at the library since Marco was 2 months old.  Our main class has been "Bouncing Babies", which consists of babies ages 0-18 months.  In this class, there is story time, with two books, songs, dancing, instruments, bubbles, finger play and free play.  It's truly an awesome class and I'm so glad that our county offers it... and for FREE!

When we started going, Marco, being only 2 months old, was completely oblivious to everything going on around him.  In fact, he was usually fast asleep before the class was over.  It was fine with me because I got to go out and meet other moms and just be out of the house (for crying out loud!).  Little by little he became more observant and started to notice the music, and then the puppets and the bubbles and the other children.  He didn't mind doing his tummy time during the class because he could watch the other children and get inspired by their mobility.

Then he started to crawl, and things began changing.  Marco is such a confident boy... he's never met a stranger.  He hugs and kisses other babies (even against their will), he goes up to every person and talks (or screams) at them, he steals the puppets from the teacher and erases her board.  I swear he thinks he owns the place.  If he could talk, he'd probably be saying "Hey guys, thanks for coming to MY bouncing babies class".  


Now that he can walk, he knows he's big.  He is taking advantage of this by being a little bit aggressive.  I'm worried that when we go back to Bouncing Babies, he'll be too rough for the little ones.  I've decided to begin trying out some of the other classes offered to see if it'll be a better fit him.

Today, we visited a new class... Mother Goose on the Loose.  It's similar to the previous class, only most of the music is sung a capella and there is no free play time (which totally bums me out).  Marco was ON FIRE today.  All of the children were sitting with or standing near their mothers... not Marco.  He was running around, trying to open doors, talking/screaming at other children, stealing diapers from my purse, etc... basically anything and everything he WASN'T supposed to do, he did.  I was drenched in sweat by the time the class was over because I was trying to contain him... it didn't go so well.  And people wonder why I have only gained 2 pounds this entire pregnancy... uhhh, chasing around a toddler, that's how!

I was kinda shocked with the way he acted in comparison with other children in his age group.  He's NOT a bad boy... but he IS incredibly active, rambunctious, fearless, social and very outspoken.  He's going to be the child that learns by doing.  He's going to be the child that does not enjoy sitting at his desk but would benefit from centers and group work.  He's going to be the child who's favorite subject is RECESS!  And that's fine with me.

Come on, you've got to admit it... this is one COOL kid!