Zephen John

August 11 at 9:32 am we welcomed number 4 into our family.

Zephen John

Sorry it has taken me this long to update the blog with his birth. As some of you may know its been a little crazy around these parts and not because we just had a baby and my first went off to school but because I also had a freak reaction to the drugs they gave me with the c-section and spent another four days in the hospital.

So I will do my best to catch you all up in the next week or so.

ZJ's (D's nickname for him) birth story...

We had to be to the hospital at 7:15. My mom came to stay with the kiddos till they were up. Funny though...they were all up before we left. I guess they knew it was a big day.


We arrived and got prepped. A little different as this is not the way I have ever done childbirth but I mean why not experience it all. You name it..I have probably experienced it.

My platlet levels (blood clotting mechanisms) were low again - surprise, surprise. Fortunately the anthesiologist on call was willing to still try a spinal rather than putting me all the way under like I had to with Sage. So this time I sat for the spinal (it was successful) and then D and I waited as they preformed the c-section and it was different as he got to be there the whole time. It didn't take to long and before I knew it I saw this sweet baby boy, who resembled Sager.

d with a picture of Sager when he was born

They took him over and checked him out and cleaned him up. D got to the cut the cord.

Then the two of them got to hang out by me till I was ready to go back to my room.

He was healthy and strong.
9lbs 12 ounces and 20.5 inches long

Another big healthy boy.

And he had lots of visitors but some were extra excited to love on the new little brother.

He did have a few blood sugar problems so we had to supplement formula a bit till my milk came in in order for them to be normal. They got a little low a couple of times but thankfully they came up and we didn't have to send him to the NICU at all. Plus he learned how to take a bottle which came in handy a little later.

We tried to go home early but my blood pressure was pretty high so they wanted me to rest and continue to monitor it. They released me on Thursday but put me on blood pressure medicine in attempt to get it to go down. Post pre eclampsia possibly?

Of course...we had some favorites from the hospital

And finally a family of six.

And our week afterward...
So we went home and then went to a open house at school that night with all four. What were we thinking? Oh yeah...we weren't. It was exhausting and I was an emotional crazy as you can imagine.

We spent friday regrouping and had a couple of long nights. The little man didn't really like laying down unless he was in someone's arms. Thankfully things are on the mend with that issue.

On Friday I started having some right chest pain and by Saturday it hurt when I would take a deep breath. I was really swollen (like feet, arms, face, etc) and super super thirsty. I called the nurse that morning and they suggested I head to the ER. What?

Thankfully my brother and sis in law had taken all the bigs the night before and we just had Z-man. We went to the ER. After a long long time and some testing. They admitted me with high liver enzymes and creatinine level of 2.5 which is a problem with the way your kidneys are functioning (normal is 0.6-1). HELP syndrome is what they call it. Something the OBs hadn't seen so they called in an internal med physician and they did some tests and pumped my body through with a ton of fluids. Like an IV all day, everyday for 3 days kinda thing. I was so swollen and fat I looked nothing like myself. Finally by Tuesday my levels were dropping 1.74 now and I was allowed to go home. And let me tell you - I feel a lot better.

However...they think it was a reaction to all the drugs I was given like ibuprofen, tordal, etc. So for the moment I am going to the doctor for blood work to make sure my numbers are more normal and hoping my blood pressure continues to come down.

All in all...it was quite the ride. I mean I was bummed (like crying and teary for no reason) that I missed Shadd's first day of school, had to spend additional time in the hospital, and irritated that it was a lot of testing without much explanation as to what was going on with my body.

However, I got to spend some time with my momma in the middle of the night, chatting and singing songs. Snuggling my newest love. Was blessed by all my friends - like concerned texts, flowers, visits, and even some extra breast milk for the Z-man. It was a challenge as D balanced work and home and I needed someone with me 24/7 as Zephen was just a visitor this time on the OB floor. But the hospital was super accommodating and helpful and our nurses were amazing.

Anywho...he is crying upstairs and D can't feed him so I need to go but I will post more pics tomorrow hopefully. As always fingers crossed.