So September 25th, [(My mother's birthday)](http://imgur.com/LLa9ZMT), I took my toddler to when I thought was one of my last checkups. I stuck him in the stroller and got him coloring while the nurse checked my blood pressure. High. Like *high* high. Shit. That landed me a one way ticket to L&D to be monitored for a while. I knew at this point I was going to be induced. I was 36w6d. But there was no way in hell I was taking a rambunctious toddler to the hospital with no way to care for him so I called my husband and told him to meet me for lunch. We ate at leisurely pace because I was honestly scare shitless about having another 72 hour labor. We finally made our way back to the hospital and I got all hooked up to the NST machines, they also did urine and bloodwork. I was failing, baby was failing, we were a hot mess. The nurse finally came back in and told me they were keeping me overnight at the very least. My husband took our toddler home around 6 and I got to [attend my mother's birthday](http://imgur.com/bKl5Dxc) party via facetime. Husband and toddler came back around 9 to kiss me goodnight and bring my birth bag. We also took the last [photos](http://imgur.com/Zexxbhs) of us as a [family of three.](http://imgur.com/roRmLlA) This was the very first night I ever spent away from him. I cried. My doctor came in around 5AM and confirmed that I did have preeclampsia and since I was 37 weeks exactly they were starting the induction at 7AM. Even though I knew it was coming, I panicked. I called my husband and mother and told them to be here ASAP. I facetimed my toddler. I showered. I reveled in the freedom of not being hooked up to any machines. I cried again. They checked me at 6:30 and I was pleasantly surprised to find out I was dilated to a 2 already. Not much, but it meant that I could skip the cervadil. Little victories! They broke my water and got me all hooked up to pitocin. Since no one was here yet and I was feeling overwhelmed as I signed all the paperwork I facetimed my sister ([she was watching our toddler at this point](http://imgur.com/LTLQU1o), mother and husband en route.) She compared the experience to "[watching an episode of Grey's from the patient's point of view](http://imgur.com/NPLjxAi)." Around 9AM they upped my pitocin to an 8. My contractions were still very irregular but I was making progress. They bumped me up by 2 every hour. My contractions were coming fast and regular by 3PM but I wasn't changing much. I opted to get the epidural at this point. The placing was hell. It took three tries to get the needle placed where it needed to be. The anesthesiologist was a funny little Russian man who kept talking about how sexy big women were. My nurse had to grab my head and stick it between her boobs to keep me from moving. I am fairly certain I almost broke her completely. At one point I had my legs wrapped around her legs, my arms around her waist, and my head between her boobs. Everything seemed to progress quickly after that though. I fell asleep st a 4 and let my body do it's thing and woke up at a 7. I kept wanting to sit up, but the nurses kept making me lay on my side. I later learned that's a trick to help the baby move down. At 8PM little man stopped moving as much so they started me on oxygen. They also started pushing IV fluids at 9PM since I hadn't eaten since the night before. I was on facebook messing around at this point. At 9:40 the nurse checked me and I was an 8. She started walking out of the room when I told her I need to push NOW. She checked me again and I was at 10! She told me wait (HA!) and she ran to get the doctor, who thankfully was sitting at the desk outside my room. I most vividly remember nurses flying around the room trying to get everything ready. My favorite nurse was helping my doctor suit up as Avery crowned. She told me to "stop pushing" at least twice (HAHA!) I only pushed three times. I didn't tear at all this time around. [Avery Richard](http://imgur.com/21Yw6xi) was [born](http://imgur.com/JMFz0WM) at 9:56 weighing 5lbs, 2oz and 18 inches long. [He was so tiny!](http://imgur.com/nZlGVak) He was born with the corn wrapped around his head, neck, and arm like a seat belt. He was born with very low blood sugar and the nurse [pushed formula](http://imgur.com/TNGGb3G) into him immediately after he was born. I got to hold him for a few minutes before the nurse came in and checked his glucose again. It was still super low. She took him to the special needs nursery right away. He spent the next few days in my hospital's "NICU" not [making any progress.](http://imgur.com/A5BK9Nz) They put in a [feeding tube](http://imgur.com/8PE0Ka5)([facepalm](http://imgur.com/iZLbp1i), they put in an IV with glucose, nothing was helping. [We were finally allowed to hold him](http://imgur.com/cW9FEjF), [after all of their poking](http://imgur.com/sFhLYrk) and [prodding.](http://imgur.com/sdbTTRq) They finally made the decision on the day that I was discharged to have him (transferred to Pittsburgh Children's hospital)[http://imgur.com/FKLaLCh} where they could take better care of him. It is a very scary experience watching your new baby [fly away](http://i.imgur.com/ebCANM5.jpg) in a helicopter. We drove straight home, kissed our toddler, packed our bags, and left for Pittsburgh. It is a good hour and a half drive. We didn't know how long we would be staying. I was still recovering from giving birth. It was surreal. You always hear about this sort of thing happening, but never think it will happen to you. Before we even got to the hospital my husband got a phone call asking permission to do a surgery to place a UV line to give him a concentrated line of glucose. When we got there they has him all set up in a twin suite, which means we were sharing a tiny room meant for the parents of twins. We were squished but in the best hands in this side of the state. One one of us could sleep in the room at a time so my husband was often fighting for a place on [the couch](http://imgur.com/oi1sqOw) in the waiting room. Avery developed jaundice at 4 days old. They put him on two light banks and a [blanket](http://imgur.com/rwX6qcf) to treat and once again we couldn't hold him. He got a head ultrasound to check out the bump on his head (a hematoma from birth,) a kidney untrasound, bloodwork every 4 hours, heel pricks every hour, and multiple other tests. It was terrifying. He was also still on his feeding tube with [continuous feeding](http://imgur.com/eVL6bPs) in an effort to keep his blood sugar stable. [Every time](http://imgur.com/Br9fv4T) we got to [hold him](http://imgur.com/TfNjfAP) was a gift. I have nothing but positive things to say about both hospitals though. [Toddler](http://imgur.com/dqj9kLJ) was welcome [and included](http://imgur.com/wkplY2c) as much [as possible](http://imgur.com/6pLTVrl). Children's also gave me [meal tickets for being a nursing mother!](http://imgur.com/WOO2jYv) He even got a [teddy bear from the transport team.](http://imgur.com/uk5bXN0) They were [amazing](http://imgur.com/oMiezM5). And they were wonderful about our use of [cloth diapers.](http://imgur.com/9IvpsQI) We were in the NICU for 14 days waiting on the doctors to figure out what was wrong.They never did. In the end, we were given the diagnosis "transient issue," meaning there was nothing wrong that they could fix. His body had to work it out on its own. And it did! We got [moved down](http://imgur.com/oMUiOaQ) to the [step down nursery](http://imgur.com/o1dNuOB). At that point our only challenges were getting him to finish an [entire bottle](http://imgur.com/mdGDPou) and passing the [car seat test](http://imgur.com/VYmJTRe). He did both within days! We were released on October 13th to [go home](http://imgur.com/tPqCU0L). It was glorious! We still have a few more tests to go to back at children's hospital but they are more of a precaution than anything. Thanks for letting me type this all out babybumps! It took forever but it was so worth it. Again, sorry for the picture heavy post. Here are a few more parting photos for yall! http://imgur.com/DDMnnkC http://imgur.com/pvT79O9 http://imgur.com/96NI4hN Still mama's peanut! http://imgur.com/swxUKBa http://imgur.com/oTmmmKl http://imgur.com/vBNSGic http://imgur.com/LtlqxZK
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