Xander's story thus far is a little more interesting than Nate's was at this point. Nate was conceived easily and carried through a very uneventful pregnancy (yay!). I was monitored closely for Lupus and Antiphospholipids (blood clotting) and Nate was safely delivered at 37 weeks, 3 days on July 20, 2006 at 11:37 am after a 27.5 hr induced labor. Nate's life hasn't been the easiest. He was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at 20 months. At 3.5 yrs, Nate is still not talking. He does do some signs and can say cookie, chicken, and bacon though it is difficult. However, Nate is making slow and steady progress and attending both a regular and a special ed preschool class. While it is very difficult to have a child with Autism, we're blessed with such a happy, loving child!
Fast forward to Spring 2008. We decided we were ready to try again. After a couple months of no results (Remember, Nate was conceived easily!) we stopped and started again in Nov 2008. After a miscarriage in December and 2 more months of no progress, we did tests at the OBGYN to make sure it wasn't a problem. While I was ovulating, it was late in the cycle. We tried clomid for 2 months and then I had a bout of back spasms. So in June 2009, I took a month off of the clomid and surprise! On July 8, 2009 we found out we were pregnant! Two days later, I was put in the hospital overnight for a severe migraine. From there, morning sickness began and didn't end until about 22 weeks. At 8 weeks, I began spotting and continued until 11 weeks. I was staying nauseous and having migraines constantly but the ultrasounds showed strong heartbeats!
At 17 weeks, I had a major scare. I began bleeding again. I was so scared. However, the Ultrasound revealed a healthy, strong baby BOY! I was convinced because of how sick I was that I was having a girl. However, we were excited to know our baby boy was healthy. Bleeding continued off and on until 21 weeks. At that time, my OB decided I needed to be on bedrest for the remainder of the pregnancy. Ignoring all of the drama with work, etc., it was a necessary evil. I was exhausted, vomiting almost daily and having weekly migraines. I was going to the doctor's every 2 weeks. At 32 weeks I began my 2x a week visits to make sure our baby, Alexander Ulysses, was growing strong and not under stress.
On February 24, 2010, at 37 weeks, I began feeling ill. Later that afternoon, I began having back spasms. In severe pain, I went in to the OB. My blood pressure was high and there was trace protein in my urine but we chalked it up to the spasms. After a sleepless, painfilled night, I called the doctor at 7 am on Feb 25. They decided to bring me in and check me out at the hospital. The blood tests revealed the beginning of HELLP syndrome, which is related to preeclampsia. My liver enzymes were elevated, my blood pressure high, and my platelets were low. They repeated the tests and saw slight increases and decided to go ahead and start inducing at 1 pm.
Everything was going well. About 9 pm I was able to get my epidural. I actually got some sleep. At 4 am, I was 5 cms dilated. By 5:30-6 am, I was 7-8 cms. About that time, I started to feel pain. They put more medicine into my epidural but it wasn't working. Around 7 am, I was 9.5 cms dilated and the doctor realized Xander was turned slightly the wrong way. Meanwhile, I could feel everything and was experiencing back labor. The meds weren't kicking in and I had to push to help the doc turn Xander. Let's just say, I was begging for a C-section! Finally, at 8 am, the new anesthesiologist on call realized that my epidural came out. I was able to take a break from pushing, given a sedative, and had my epidural redone. Finally, some relief! By the time it kicked in, I was fully dilated and ready to go. I could feel the contractions in my back but it was so much better!
At 9:01 am after 3-4 pushes, Alexander Ulysses came into the world with the cord wrapped around his neck twice and a knot in the cord as well. It was very scary. The NICU doc worked on him. He wasn't crying but his heart was beating perfectly. After some help, I held my baby boy. It was amazing. Initially, we had some severe reflux problems but by the time we left the hospital, all was well. I was kept an extra day to monitor my liver enzymes and platelets but we both seem to be recovering well!
Nate hasn't paid much attention to his brother yet but when we got home, we knew our family was complete. God has blessed us with 2 beautiful boys. I never knew if I could have children and now I have 2 amazing children that we both adore and love with all of our hearts.
This blog will chronicle our life as a complete family. Between Nate's accomplishments and Xander's developmental milestones, we're sure the next year will be busy and amazing and we want to keep a written dialogue of it to share with our family and friends!
