The Return

Thanksgiving Day we returned home from the hospital after giving birth to our precious little girl. While in the hospital, we had a few complications. Harper had been born with the cord around her neck. She had trouble breathing at first but the NICU nurses were able to help her take her first breath. She continued to breathe on her own and was fine. While still in the hospital, she was also diagnosed with an Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) as well as a Ventrical Septal Defect (VSD). Basically, she has two holes in her heart; one that needs to be monitored and possibly operated on once she gets a bit older.

Throughout our stay in the hospital, I had, unknowingly, been having symptoms of a heart attack. I woke up on two different nights gasping for air, having chest pain, and was drenched in sweat from head-to-toe. KJ and I believed I was suffering from anxiety as we had been dealing with uncertain news about Harper’s heart condition as well having a scare with her not breathing after being born with cord wrapped around her neck.

Thursday night, after returning home, I suffered the same symptoms as I had in the hospital. However, this time was different. I struggled to catch my breath for the remainder of the night and into the early morning. I believed I was having an asthma attack and took my inhaler a few different times, even though I kept telling KJ something was very different from my typical asthma experiences. My asthma had been a learning process throughout my entire pregnancy as it had been dormant since I was little and only returned when I became pregnant with Harper.

By 4:30 in the morning on Friday, November 25^th, I was still suffering from the symptoms I had awoken with in the middle of the night. I was hardly able to breathe and had attempted to give myself a breathing treatment by shutting myself in the bathroom with the hot shower running. The steam was minimally effective. In addition, I was still having a tightness/pain in my chest. KJ had been trying to get me to go to the Dr., but in my gut I knew I needed to go to the ER, I just didn’t want to admit it to myself or anyone else for fear of having to leave my baby. By 6:30am I was only able to breathe if I was sitting up and leaning forward. I was trying to get some rest and take care of Harper at the same time, but my lack of oxygen intake was making me extremely uncomfortable. We had an appointment at the hospital that morning to get Harper’s Billy Ruben retested. Just walking from the car to the lab where they took her blood completely exhausted me. At this point, I still thought I was having asthma/anxiety. It was a chilly morning and I became extremely cold and feverish as well. I was so feverish, I felt chilled to the bone. I was walking slower than I ever had, yet feeling like I was sprinting the last lap of a race. I asked KJ to bring the car around to the valet because I didn’t think I could make it all the way through the parking lot.

Once we were home, I attempted to rest in bed. I was shivering and felt chilled to the bone, but didn’t have a fever. Since I could only breath sitting up and leaning forward, it was nearly impossible to fall asleep. I ended up falling asleep for 10 minutes on my right side. I awoke even more miserable than before. KJ had been out running errands when I woke up. I texted him to come home, that I wanted to go to the ER. I was scared and extremely uncomfortable. It killed me to leave my baby girl behind. But I knew my mom would take good care of her until I could get back to her in a few hours.

A few hours turned into four days…

Harper's Arrival

Tuesday 11~22~11

4:15am

The early morning started out very routine as KJ left the house just before 4am for work. At 4:15am, just as I was falling back to sleep, my water broke. I was very excited and a lot nervous all at the same time. I called KJ and texted immediate family members to let them know the news. Once KJ returned home, I took a nice, long, warm shower. I remember thinking to myself, the next time we come home to our little apartment things will be much different. I had absolutely no idea how right I was.

5:15am

Once we arrived at the hospital the time was passed by the long process of being admitted. We were asked a million questions, hooked up to IVs and monitors, and I was started on Pitocin. My contractions slowly moved closer together and became stronger and stronger, but still, the pain was manageable. Once I was about 5cm dilated, I began to realize that if I didn’t ask for pain medicine or my epidural soon, the contractions would become almost unbearable. After speaking to my nurse I was informed that I should be having my epidural soon so we decided to wait it out. Not much longer after we made that decision, the nurse returned and said that the anesthesiologist had several patients ahead of me, still waiting for their epidural. I knew I would not be able to handle much more pain so I asked for pain medicine. I got substantial relief from the pain medicine, but could still feel pressure. Once I received the epidural, things moved quickly. I reached 9cm in less than an hour and it was time to push. From the time I began to push to the time Harper was born was a total of 30 short minutes.

4:20pm

Harper was born with the umbilical chord wrapped around her neck. Through the panic of the NICU nurses rushing into the labor and delivery room and assisting her breathing, my Dr. was concerned about my retained placenta. As she was literally fishing for my placenta with her hand, I was praying my heart out that Harper would be ok. Just as I would find peace and trust in the Lord, I would begin to panic again. This cycle of panic and peace through prayer lasted several minutes until I finally heard Harper’s little tiny cry for the first time. It was the best sound I had ever heard. Eventually, I was able to hold my baby girl on my chest and adore everything about her. Through all of this KJ was my rock. He took care of me and let the nurses and doctors take care of Harper.

9:30pm

Harper and I were kept in the labor and delivery room for several hours and were continuously monitored by the nurses to make sure the breathing and retained placenta issues were completely resolved. Once we were moved to our post partum room, we got settled for the night. Shortly after falling asleep for the night, I woke up in the hospital bed gasping for air, drenched in sweat, with a tightness/pain in my chest. It felt like an elephant had been sitting on my chest. Since this was my first time giving birth, I thought that it must be something to do with exhaustion, hormone levels changing, and possibly a bit of anxiety from the events of the day. I tried to process through my emotions to assess whether or not I needed to call a nurse. After a few minutes, I began to feel a little better and managed to fall back to sleep.

Wednesday 11~23~11

The day was exciting as KJ and I had visitors, throughout the day. We were so in love with our baby girl and very much loving showing her off to anyone who walked through the door. We were both exhausted, but thriving off of being brand new parents. Nursing was going well, and Harper seemed to be content. KJ and I both were looking forward to going home by the end of the day on Wednesday and spending our first night at home as a family. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. We were told at the end of the day that Harper’s Billy Ruben levels were too high and the pediatrician was not going to release us. She believed Harper was at risk for having Jaundice. After we dealt with the obvious disappointment, we settled in for the night. Once again, I awoke, not long after falling asleep, to the same shortness of breath, sweating from head to toe, and tightness/pain in my chest. I began to think that something was actually wrong with me. I thought that I was having severe anxiety. This worried me. I thought that the anxiety may be a sign of Post Partum Depression. I woke KJ up and told him my symptoms and explained to him that the same thing had happened the previous night as well. We made sure I was drinking water and stayed up for a while reading scripture and praying together.

Thursday 11~24~11 (Thanksgiving Day)

We were both getting very anxious to leave the hospital and go home with our precious baby girl to spend Thanksgiving as a family. Nurses had come into our room at 3am to take Harper for her Billy Ruben test. Later that morning we were visited by the Pediatrician who also informed us that, even though Harper’s Billy Ruben levels were stable, she believed Harper had a heart murmur. She had called in a Pediatric Cardiologist to visit Harper in the hospital and we would have to stay until he checked her out. Once again we were disappointed to not be able to go home, but concerned about this new development in Harper’s health. Once the Cardiologist arrived, he performed an ECHO on her heart. He informed us that she has two holes in her heart. One of the holes, she would most likely outgrow, however the second hole was larger and cause for more concern. He told us what her condition was, drew us a diagram, asked to see her when she was 3 weeks old, and requested that we not look her condition up on the internet. At this point, even though the cardiologist released us to go home and didn't find her heart condition an immediate concern, I completely broke down in the hospital bed next to my precious baby girl who had a broken heart. It was a lot to handle as a brand new parent. Fortunately, at the end of the day, we did end up going home. Family came to visit and brought us Thanksgiving dinner. It was so nice to be home.

Preparing for Harper's Arrival

We have been excitedly preparing for Harper's arrival. It seems like almost yesterday that we found out we were pregnant, and now we have weekly Dr. visits that keep us on our toes! There has been so much involved in preparing for a new addition to our little family! I sometimes feel overwhelmed, but mostly, we are excited and can't wait to hold our little bundle of joy in our arms. I have been dreaming about how beautiful she will be and the last few nights, I have been sleeping better than I have this entire pregnancy. Possibly God has given me a peace and contentment that I need in order to prepare me for what will come.

Family and friends have helped us prepare for our time with Harper as well. I have been blessed and truly appreciate the other mommies giving gentle advice when asked, as well as family members sharing in our excitement. We have had two showers already and are preparing for a third this weekend on the coast. We have been so richly blessed by the gifts from people that have truly helped us attain the necessities in order to raise up our little girl!

Our hospital bag is officially packed! I was a bit stressed about this part, as I had no clue what to bring and looking online and in all the parenting books, every one of them said something different to think about. I finally just settled on what I think I may need to get through a couple days in the hospital.

Harper's nursery is pretty much complete, with the exception of her bumper pad and dust ruffle that my mom is currently sewing together for her. Her dresser turned out lovely and both KJ and I love that we both took the time to refurbish it for her. The crib and changer are all ready to go, clothes washed, diapers prepared, and pretty much all we need is our little baby girl to complete the room!

At my Dr. appointment today, I was told that she has turned in my belly and her head is down in my pelvic region. Harper has officially assumed the position required for her to be brought into this world. However, I was not dialated yet, so the Dr. felt pretty certain she wouldn't come into our lives this week. As much as I was bummed to hear that because I can't wait to meet her, I was relieved to hear it as we don't want her to be too small or premature, and we are planning on doing some traveling to the coast this weekend to see family and friends.

We took our maternity pictures with KJ's cousin Ginny and loved how they turned out, but honestly would rather have pics of us with our baby girl in our arms. Check out our pics and we will post again once Harper has arrived!

Baby Powell

We are already 23 weeks pregnant! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going! I know it will go even faster when school starts and things get hectic and crazy ( in a good way). We had a baby gender revealing party on July 23rd and are excited to welcome a baby girl. Many names have been discussed and the one I believe we have decided on is... Harper Lynn Powell. Now that we know the gender, nursery planning, etc has been put into motion! We also decided to do cloth diapers, HOWEVER there are many new cloth diapers on the market that are much more modern and convenient than the old school cloth diapers that were folded and pinned with a clothes pin. We are excited about GDiapers which give mommy and daddy the option to insert disposable or cloth inserts depending on the situation. We are also excited about Fuzzubunz, Thirsties, and Charlie Banana cloth/reusable diapers (all of which can be ordered online at Target). We are currently registered at Babies R Us and Target. We look forward to bringing home baby Harper in early December and starting this new journey in life and parenthood!

This week Harper has been kicking and moving around like crazy! Our trusty pregnancy bible (Pregnancy by Dr. Laura Riley) mentions she will be more active this week than ever, her brain will be growing, and most major organs will be fully developed and working hard! Mommy will be forgetful (nothing new) and a bit more fatigued than normal. Surprisingly, my energy levels have been doing well. Next week with Vball double workouts and classroom preparation may be another story.

Pictures of the gender revealing party to come soon!

Lately...

... Two things!

I passed the CSET Subtest I!!! Woohoo! Two more to go. I am thinking that I will try and take them both at the same time in Novemember! The next test date is September 11, but there are so many festivities going on in September for us, I figured I would be more motivated to study for the November test date. However, once I pass those tests, I only have two more courses and my TPA's. I will then, officially be finished with school! Just have to wait for approval on the student teaching waiver, and I will be a credentialed teacher with a Master's in Elementary Education! The countdown is on!!!!

Next, my wisdom teeth extraction went well! I was so drugged up I was telling the dentist to just yank harder and the teeth would just come out! Apparently, I was ready for them to be out of my mouth! LOL! Even though I was awake through the entire surgery and remember pretty much the whole event, I was on a lot of sedation pills that made me quite loopy! KJ came to pick me up for the surgery an hour and a half after I took the first set of sedation pills, and I did not recognize him. I was asking how he got into my house. Once I finally remembered who he was, I was extremely difficult. I was all over the place and saying crazy things! This, I don't remember. Nor do I remember my father picking me up from the surgery! My dad said that I was awake and slurring my words the whole way home, but I literally have no recollection of any of this. It is crazy how the drugs worked for me. I wasn't supposed to remember the surgery, but I did. I was supposed to remember everything before and after the surgery, but I didn't.... hmmmm.... let's just be thankful I don't have to deal with medication on a regular basis!!!!

Since the surgery, healing has been a slow go, but I had no swelling at all. I followed the dentists instructions and drank pineapple juice for two whole weeks before the surgery. It is really complicated to eat these days. I had the surgery over a week ago now, and I am still in pain here and there. Eating is complicated and painful at times. You would think I would have lost my appetite, but no, I am still loving food. I just take 10 times longer to eat than normal.

Done Housesitting for the Summer!

Although we thoroughly enjoyed all the housesitting that we have done this summer, it is nice to be back home in our own bed! It was such a blessing to be able to take care of people's homes and animals, especially in Chowctaw Valley where it is beautiful and peaceful. We didn't have the opportunity to take a summer vacation together so we kind of considered our housesitting adventures as little getaways.

After arriving home yesterday, I realized just how much I had been wanting to do to our apartment for so many months now. So, I took yesterday to finish decorating the guest bedroom, decorate some of the bare walls, and FINALLY got some frames purchased so we can get some prints of our wedding up on our walls. Redecorating, cleaning, and laundry took the entire day, but is well worth it. I love the smell and sparkle of a freshly cleaned home! I literally did every bit of laundry and after all this time, realized that we actually do not have enough hangers to hang all of our clothes if they are all clean at the same time.... back to Target we go.

Looking forward to Church today, especially since the Powell family will actually be complete. Dustin and Rebekah are home from their summer project in Tampa. I only heard Rebekah's stories, but it seems that God was moving in mighty ways in Tampa!

As much as I hate the dentist...

... I will be relieved once he yanks out my wisdom teeth!

Since Monday, I have been dealing with excruciating pain in the lower right wisdom tooth. I literally have been unable to function normally since the pain started. I was taking regular anti-inflamitories but they hardly helped. Ice packs on my cheeks as well as mushy foods were also only a bit of help. I finally decided on Thursday that I needed to see a dentist. I went to my dentist on Friday afternoon and he said, "WOW, that is really bad." I told him that I extremely dislike going to the dentist so it has to be really bad for me to even show up! The quickest they could get me in to do the extraction of all 4 wisdom teeth is August 4th! I have to wait a week and a half in this awful pain! In the meantime the dentist gave me vicadin.... I hate that stuff too. It makes me feel soooo gross, AND it only really relieves a small bit of pain as well! GOODNESS.. this is going to be a long week and half, especially considering that I will be teaching several of those days before the surgery.. :0(