Austin Brandon Moller

On Sunday, January 9th, Austin Brandon was born at 4:46 pm, 7 lbs 5 oz, 20 in long.  This is going to be a long post...

Due to the fact that he had been measuring big the doctor decided to induce me as soon as I hit 39 weeks.  At the last ultrasound it said that he gotten smaller.  This also worried the doctor. So, I was scheduled for induction at 7 am on the 9th.  When we got to the hospital I was about 1 cm dilated.  The nurse told me that it would probably take more than 24 hours to get me into active labor.  They gave me a drug to focus on softening the cervix and put me on the monitors.  After awhile, regular contractions started.

Around 10:20, all the sudden five nurses came swarming into the room.  They told us that during a contraction his heartbeat would dip down to around 90 bpm.  They shot me up with drugs to stop the contractions and had me lye down with the oxygen mask on.  His heartbeat returned to normal and they said that they would wait until 4 hours after they gave me the original medicine to start labor to give me potocin.  My doctor was called into the hospital and watched us closely for the rest of the day.  To be honest, I just wanted them to take him out right then and there so that he could be safe but they have to exhaust all options before a c-section can be done.

Around noon I was put on pitocin.  My nurse said that they were all taking bets on how long he would be able to stand it before his heart rate dropped again.  The thing with pitocin is that they can stop it at anytime and it would stop working in just about 3 minutes.  This way, if anything was to start stressing out Austin, they could stop it immediately.  He lasted for a long time on it, and around 2 I was checked by the doctor.  I was about 1.5 cm this time, and that was slightly depressing.

There were a few times that his heart rate dropped down, but it wasn't consistent so they didn't stop the drugs.  My nurse told me that we would probably be doing a c-section and started to get me ready.  Then, the doctor was able to break my water around 4.  There was a slight meconium color to the liquid indicating that Austin was under stress.  Around 4:30 his heart rate was jumping from 90 to 160 and back to 90.  My wonderful nurse rushed in, had me drink this nasty stuff that would make it so if I threw up on the table, my stomach acids would not eat away at my insides!  Next thing I know, the doctor and the anesthesiologist were in my room explaining what I needed to do and what was going to happen.  At this point I was worried about Austin and I didn't care what they had to do to get him out of me, but that they do it as soon as possible.

I was wheeled down the OR and given my spinal tap (weirdest thing ever!), and prepped.  Brandon came in and the anesthesiologist told him that if he gets dizzy to sit down immediately.  Then they started the c-section.  As I was lying there I could feel this tug-a-war going on inside of me, but of course no pain.  Brandon watched the entire procedure and thought it was the coolest thing ever!  After maybe 5 minutes, I heard the doctor say "Oh, that is a grumpy face!" and then Austin cried just a little.  Apparently, his umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around his shoulder, and would pinch off, stopping blood flow during a contraction, which is why his heart rate would drop.  This also is the reason that he lost over a pound in a week and a half.  When they cut the cord, it just started to shred into pieces!  I am so happy that the doctor decided to do it the day he did, and to take him when he did!

Due to the meconium, they had a respiratory team on stand by in the OR and they quickly took Austin and made sure he was breathing okay, and to get out any meconium that he may have had in him.  I just laid there on the table wishing that they would bring him over for me to see.  As they were working on him, he was hardly crying.  Brandon said that he just laid there quietly.  After about 10 minutes, they brought him over and said that he had been having slightly labored breathing, and were going to monitor him downstairs.  I got to see him just for a second, and then they took him away.

I was wheeled back into my labor and delivery room, and they wanted to make sure that I was doing okay for an hour before they would take me to Mother and Baby.  I was taken downstairs around 6, but I didn't get to see Austin until about 7:30.  He is the sweetest little boy!  He is very calm and really only cries when he is hungry or needs to be changed.  We have been spoiled the past few nights with him sleeping about 3 to 4.5 hours at a time.

 

 The way that he got here was not the way that I had wanted or hoped for, but that doesn't matter to me.  All that matters is that he is safe and healthy.  I am doing great, I am up walking about and I hardly take the pain meds.  I am not 100% better but more than 70% better.

Ultrasound Pictures of a LARGE baby

Due the fact that I am so far along, they don't even ask if we want 3D pictures of the baby.

It will be interesting to see who he looks like more, and how close to this he looks.  He is measuring with an expected due date of Dec. 29th, so we have another ultrasound on the 28th to see how much weight he has put on.  He is supposedly already 7.5 pounds!  The doctor didn't want to make a rush decision and take him before the next ultrasound because they can be off by a bit on the estimation of the weight.  Depending on how much he puts on in the two weeks, will decide whether or not we have a c-section or inducement.  There is not really a chance that things will happen naturally unless I go before then, which is very unlikely.  Who knows, I could have him in a week or so...

Lately

Well, I have been feeling like there has been nothing to post for a while now, but I have decided to try and be better about blogging.

About a month ago Brandon went to Costco and found this box of dog toys for a really good price.  When we got it home Gus took to just about all the toys right away which was a first.  What you must understand about our dog is that he loves toys that have squeakers in them, and most of these toys do.  One night Brandon and Gus were playing with one of the toys and Gus decided that it was time to find that squeaker.  Next thing we know, the head of the fox toy is completely ripped off the body and Gus is taking out the filling to find that squeaker.  I was a little worried that he would eat the filling, but instead he would take a little out and throw it to the side.  Eventually, he found the squeaker and this was the result:

Brandon and I couldn't help but laugh at him.  Shortly after the video ended Gus punctured the squeaker making it so that it had to be thrown away.  I have never seen him more concerned and upset about anything, but he was definitely concerned about why the super fun squeaker was being put in the garbage.

Gus also loves rawhide bones.  We just can't afford to have them all the time.  Gus can finish a good size bone in just about 2 hours.  Therefore, he tends to not get them as often as he would like.  However, this past week we went grocery shopping and they had a three foot long rawhide bone.  This thing was huge!  Brandon however decided that we just had to buy it for him, and so we did.  Gus was so excited when we took it out of the package.  However, as you can tell from the following pictures that it was as big as him!  All he did for the first couple of days was lick it, because he couldn't figure out what else to do.  Brandon eventually took the saw to the bone and cut off a piece.  Gus was in heaven and has been happily enjoying the monster rawhide since.

The bone was as long and tall as him!

Well, baby Austin should be here anytime.  The crib is put together, just need some sheets, and the changing table is together.  We have the car seat ready to go.  All we need now is the baby!  Brandon is so excited to be a dad.  I can tell that he is going to be great!  Even though he says that we are not Gus' parents, he sure treats him like a kid.  We will get to see our baby on Tuesday, so I will try and put up a better picture.  The doctor wants to see just how big he is so that we can start making plans according for birth.  Brandon was 10 lbs so the doctor wants to make sure that if he is larger, that we know before hand and can have him early.

Oh sleep....

... where have you gone!  It is hard to get to sleep, stay comfortable, and get back to sleep when I wake up to change positions.  I know that I am just complaining, but still I would like to have one week of really good sleep.

It is a....

BOY!!!

We could not be more excited! We even bought a cute outfit for him at Target.  It has dinosaurs on it, with the hood to the coat having dino spikes.

This is his profile, he had his hands by his head most of the time.

Summer is over

Well, it is official. Summer is over for both of us. Today was the first day of school for Brandon, and I got a new batch of kiddos a week ago. It is very hard for both of us to wake up at the very early hours that school demands. This morning was 4:50 and I didn't care, I didn't want to go. However, once Brandon is up and going Gus wants to go on a walk, so that is my job Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Joyful! Needless to say it will be a night to get to bed early...

Oh, and we will find out on Thursday how the baby is doing and the gender. We can't wait!

He's back

I am happy to say that Brandon was released from Fort Lewis on July 29th! When I saw him I asked him how he was and all he said was "Let's get out of here." I can't blame him. He ate a bunch of MRE's (Meal Ready to Eat) which are not the best cold. Most of the time they didn't have time or were too hungry to wait to heat up the food, so cold it was. It you have never had an MRE and would like one, just let me know, we have plenty in our food storage.

I was able to drive up to Washington with my mom, spend some time with them, and then pick up Brandon at the Fort. My parents, our nephew Seth, and I went on the morning he was being released to watch the graduation. In my opinion it wasn't all that interesting, but to my parents and nephew it was.  Seth is 11 almost 12 so this was the first time he had ever been on a base before. He was very impressed with all the accommodations that they had like Burger King and Popeyes, not to mention the movie theater. We told him that it was it's own city and he just kept saying wow! It was very funny to see a child's perspective of a base. I think that the first one on went on was actually the Air Force Academy after we were married. Growing up and having no family in the military limits that, so Seth is one lucky kid.

After the ceremony was over we hopped in the car and headed farther north to Seattle. This was Brandon's first time there so he had a blast. He also proceeded to eat lunch with the family; buy chocolates later (which were almost gone in 30 minutes); and then a chocolate, banana, almond crepe all under 2 hours! I understand that he had been eating food that wasn't the best for a month, but it was still very funny.

We had a grand time in Vancouver with my family but a very glad to be back home. There is just something nice about coming back to your house.

9th Regiment Alpha Company 2nd Platoon

 This is Brandon's platoon from Fort Lewis. There were 5 platoons in each company and two companies in each Regiment. With two different regiments that made about 500 Cadets that graduated on the 29th. I am so proud of you Brandon!

On a different note we have our 16 week doctors appointment on Wednesday. Time is just flying! I can't believe that I am almost half way done.