Calvin's Birth

Well, Happy New Year to anyone who is still reading out there.  I see my last post was on December 7th so this is the longest blog break I've ever taken.  Don't be alarmed-I have a good reason.  It all started on December 13th.  Every year we take pictures with the Santa at the mall and pay way too much for the overpriced photos they take for you.  It's fun because we have matching pictures every year since 2012.  The night was Wednesday and we had already tried Monday only to find the set closed for unexplained reasons and a surly mall employee fending off all the annoyed people by explaining that Santa had to go back to the North Pole for some business (har har har).  Tuesday we had the sense to check the Internet and it was the same old story.  So finally on Wednesday we made a quick stop before Justin went to his dart league.

Now, I don't know if I mentioned this in a post long ago but the due date for the new baby was December 28th and, although I had been showing signs that labor was near at my last two appointments I really did not think it was possible for me to have a baby before 40 weeks.  As I was hiking around the mall the night of the 13th to say I wasn't feeling my best was an understatement.  That night, I managed to get the kids to bed and headed to the basement to wrap presents because Justin planned to bring them when he went to the NDSU game that Friday since we weren't planning on leaving home for Christmas.  My back was killing me and I just knew something was amiss.  Justin got home and we made the call to the neighbors before it got too late that we were going to the hospital so they came and got the kids and off we went.  We arrived at 11:30 to find I was 5 cm dilated and indeed in labor.  

Now, if you recall, back in August  made a post announcing we were having a girl and we found out in grand style by shooting off a pink firework.  As we sat up all night we filled out the birth certificate form with her name and I was almost going to order her a Christmas stocking to match the others.  Something stopped me.  Well, at 4:25 a.m. our fourth baby was born and...it was a boy.  It was...a lot to take in.  He weighed 6 lb. and 14 oz. and looked just like the other kids.  That was enough of a shock but on top of that he was having trouble breathing.  He was taking rapid breaths and he ended up in the NICU.  We didn't really know what was going on.  At first they thought it was an infection but after chest x-rays it was discovered he had small pockets of air around each lung which meant they couldn't fully expand.  The only remedy was time and extra oxygen.  So began our five day stint in the NICU. 

Everything finally settled down and It was 6 a.m. and I had been awake since 5 a.m. the morning before and all the emotions hit me.  I was sitting in the room with no baby and the girl I had been dreaming about didn't exist.  It's hard to explain but she was like a real person who was just gone.  I kept seeing that pink firework shooting into the sky and I kept thinking about the boxes of girl clothes in the basement waiting to be worn again.  Then I felt guilty because there was a tiny little boy in the NICU who I couldn't hold or feed and who didn't have a name.  

So, we moved ahead and I got busy pumping.  The birth for me physically was no problem and after it was over I barely felt like anything had happened.  About an hour after the nurses come to hoist you out of bed and I jumped up by myself as they were asking if I had an epidural and one said, "I guess not..."  I was discharged the next day and we managed to choose a name...Calvin Harold.  Calvin was a name we had on our list back when Ben was born.  Harold was my grandpa's name.  You might be wondering what the girl name was...it was Geneva Mary.  

The kids were not able to see Calvin because they weren't allowed in the NICU but they had some treats for older siblings and they received some fun wristbands and those cool felt coloring pages that come with markers. 

I loved these when I was a kid!

Leaving the hospital without a baby was the weirdest feeling.  They gave us our going home box with cheese and meat and bread and sparkling grape juice and Milo was kind enough to carry the baguette upstairs for us.  

I spent the nights at home and actually got sleep which also made me feel guilty and weird and spent time at the hospital during the day.  Calvin graduated to an oxygen tent and started receiving milk through a tube in his nose.

On the 18th I moved into an overflow room at the hospital and stayed so I could nurse him for 24 hours to prove he was able to eat on his own before we were discharged after he was weaned off the oxygen.  On the afternoon 19th we headed home!  

This is the picture we put on the hospital website. 

All ready to go!

It was very strange driving myself home from the hospital!

The bus dropped Ben off right after we got home so he got quite a surprise when he walked in the house!  

Tessa brought him one of her favorite stuffed animals to hold!  That is Amber, a beanie baby cat from the 90's.  

Milo has been very interested in the baby holding equipment and he suddenly looks like a giant.  

These pictures are out of order but they were taken when the kids saw Calvin through the window of the NICU for the first time after he was taken off the oxygen flow.  

Our first family picture!  Not the cute hospital room photo everyone plans on but still special!

I will wrap this post up for now.  I am way behind but I want to document Calvin's early days.  This blog has become a record of our big moments in life and I don't want his story to be missing from it and also we have Christmas to cover!  So check back-I am BACK!