Monday, June 8, 2009

So Precious!

Here's some new pictures of Ridge. Isn't he adorable!?


Sunday, June 7, 2009

Ridge Jeffrey Weston

Ridge Jeffrey Weston
Born May 28, 2009
5:37 pm
3 lbs. 4 oz.
16 inches long



























It has been quite the whirlwind the past week and a half. I went in last Thurs. May 28th for a follow up appointment with the perinatologist. He did another thorough ultrasound and explained to me that the placenta situation had gotten worse and that the baby's body had gone into a defense mechanism mode where his body was pumping as much blood as it could to the brain and heart (the most important organs) to make up for the lack of blood flow through the umbilical cord. He said not to worry that so far there was no permanent damage but his little body wouldn't be able to keep that up much longer so he needed to come out that day. He said I needed to go straight over to labor and delivery and he recomended that I have a c-section because with the baby being in that kind of stress he didn't think he would tolerate labor. You can imagine how shocked I felt only being 33 and a half weeks pregnant and thinking I had a few more weeks to prepare for the arrival of this baby. I called Jake at work and told him that they wanted to take the baby right then and he said he'd be there as fast as he could. I then called my sister Candace to see if she could come stay with me until Jake could get there. I was pretty freaked out. My mother-in-law, Joyce, was watching Dalton and Gunnar so I called her to ask her if the boys were ok to stay for awhile and if she could make arrangements for them for the next few days. The perinatologist called Dr. Hartman, my OB, and he called labor and delivery to tell them to go ahead and admit me. They hooked me up to the fetal monitoring machine and watched his heart rate for awhile. I had a few braxton hickes contractions that I've been having since about 24 weeks and each time I had one of those contractions the baby's heart rate dropped. The nurse said that there's no way he would tolerate labor. Dr. Hartman got there and he also agreed that I needed a c-section. Jake got there in about an hour and Candace went home. They scheduled me for a c-section for 5:00 that night so we just had to wait for awhile. My appointment with the perinatologist was at 9:00 in the morning. The past two weeks I had been eating every two hours but they won't let you eat anything when you're going to have surgery so I was starving! Right before they took me back to do the c-section they had me drink this stuff that tastes like rotten sour grapes that's supposed to neutralize my stomach acid. Jake and I said a prayer and then they took me back to the surgery room. They took my blood pressure right before they prepped me for the c-section and it was 174/103! I guess I must have been pretty freaked out. I've never had any type of surgery before and I was pretty scared. When they finally got me cut open and got the baby out we only got to see him for about two seconds and then they rushed him to the NICU. He cried pretty good when they got him out so that was a good sign. When I saw him I just started bawling, he was so tiny and perfect! I'm crying now as I type this. I am so grateful for modern medicine and all the miracles they are able to perform. I asked the doctors and nurses if I could see the placenta. I know what a normal placenta is supposed to look like, I saw both Dalton' s and Gunnar's after they were born. A normal placenta is close to the size of the baby. Ridge's placenta was about the size of my fist. There was hardly anything left to it. He was basically starving to death! A few more days and I'm sure he problably would have been still born. I'm so grateful that my doctor was on top of things and that he caught this early and sent me to the specialist. I'm thankful that I happened to see the best specialist, Dr. Ball, both times and that he was able to see what was going on and make the best decision for Ridge. The nurse I had when I was first admitted had this same problem with her third baby so she was so helpful. I'm thankful for all the prayers and fasting that were offered on mine and Ridge's behalf. He is doing so well. He is breathing on his own, thanks to the steroid shots I had the week before, he is gaining weight, he is wiggleing like crazy. The nurses say he is fiesty, he even pulled out his feeding tube! It is so great to see him wiggling and moving around because he hardly moved when he was in my tummy. I had a lot harder time after having him, but I'm doing tons better now. I wasn't able to see him for 24 hours after having him because I kept passing out and was practically in a coma for a full day. I thought it was some sort of reaction to the drugs but later found out that my blood platelet count was really low. It was at 42 before the c-section and it went down to 21. So I basically lost half my blood. I have a huge hemotoma (blood tumor) about the size of a large lemon right underneath my incision so apparently the internal bleeding associated with that and the amount of blood I lost during the surgery attributed to my platelet count being so low. So my doctor decided that I needed a blood transfusion, so after a lot of prayers and several priesthood blessings I got two units of blood on Sunday. My platelet count still isn't up to where it should be so I still feel kindof weak and a little out of it, but I'm feeling better and better every day. I'm so thankful for little Ridge, he is such a blessing to us already, I am so grateful that the Lord chose to let us keep him. I'm thankful for all our family and friends who have helped us so much. So many people have been offering to take the boys and bringing in meals, we are so grateful. I am so thankful for Jake. He has been amazing! He stayed up at the hospital the whole time with me and took care of me. They released me on Monday and he has been here practically waiting on me hand and foot. I told him that I am so twitterpated with him. I have refallen in love with him all over again. These past two years have been really hard with all of our spare time being devoted to working on the house we really haven't had any time to spend together. It's to bad that sometimes it takes a situation like this to make you realize what's really important in life and to reevaluate your priorities. The mundane trivial stuff we stress about really doesn't matter. Jake said, "so you're telling me that in order for you to feel this way about me I have to take a week off work, give you my undivided attention, and wait on you hand and foot?" I said, "ya, pretty much!"
The NICU nurses told us to plan on Ridge staying in the NICU until his due date which my doctor just changed a few weeks ago to July 13 (it was July 6th). But if he's doing well and meets all the criteria they need him to meet he may be able to come home a little early. We'll just keep praying for him to continue doing well.





Friday, June 5, 2009




Here's some before and after pics of my tummy. I'm putting these on here so one day I can show them to Ridge. Sorry to gross anyone out. I was bruised from just below my belly button to about halfway down my thighs. It's starting to get a little better now.