I work in a tax and accounting office, so with the biggest deadline of the year looming in two weeks, needless to say it was pretty hectic at work. I started realizing in the afternoon that I hadn't felt Brodie moving much, and I didn't know if it was because I had been crazy busy and not really noticed, or if he honestly hadn't been moving a lot. I called my doctor's office and the nurse gave me some advice, and said in the end if I felt like something was off to go get checked out, just to be safe. I felt little movements but nothing as strong as usual, and not as frequent. After work I picked up Hagen, got dinner, etc. Later I was getting ready for bed and decided I would go to the hospital to get checked out, so I got dressed again. Shawn asked if I wanted him to go with me but I said no; I didn't want to wake up Hagen and scare him for no reason if it was nothing (it was about 10:00 or so). The hospital isn't far and I told him I would call him if I needed him. I was hoping it was no big deal and I'd be home in a couple of hours. Boy, was I wrong...
When I was initially hooked up to get looked at, we heard the heartbeat right away so that made me feel good; I figured if that was strong, everything was okay. The nurse started asking me addmittance questions to get that out of the way for when I came in for my scheduled c-section. Being a planner, that sounded fantastic to me! We were talking while she was waiting for the sonogram tech to come take a look at Brodie, and she said after a little bit that he didn't like me lying on my back and for me to roll over onto my side, so I did (no easy feat for a 9-month pregnant person). Shortly after that I needed oxygen, and more nurses were coming in. Eventually someone said they had called Dr. Sadler and she wanted to take him tonight, which sent me into a panic. That was NOT what I planned on! One of the nurses told me to calm down because my blood pressure was going up, and one nurse was rubbing my back and hand, telling me it would be okay (I think that's what was happening; I was crying pretty hard so I'm not sure). I called Shawn, freaked him out, and asked if they could wait for him to show up. They asked how far away he was. Oh, boy. They said they would start prepping me and they would wait. I give lots of kudos to Shawn; he called our parents, my boss' husband, got Hagen up and not only dressed but dressed in his "big brother" scrubs that we were planning on having him wear for the big day. Luckily they made it to the hospital in time, and wee baby Brodie was born at 11:55 that night, weighing 4 pounds, 7 ounces and measuring 17.5 inches long.
I am really glad we chose the hospital we went to (Medical Center of McKinney). All the nurses that night were so great; one watched Hagen while Brodie was being born because Hagen couldn't be in there during surgery. The anesthesiologist was so calming and comforting. I can't remember his name but I'm sure it will show up on a bill somewhere. One of the nurses that was there for the delivery gave me the Penn State shirt she wore into work because she hardly ever wore it and thought it was cool that Shawn went to Penn State. The nurses in the Special Care nursery where Brodie was for 10 days were all wonderful - one nurse, Deborah, made little name signs for each baby to hang on their little cribs. He was in the Special Care nursery basically because they needed to keep his body temperature up, and eventually also make sure he could eat either with a bottle or breast without being tube-fed every other feeding. He was so little that it was hard for him to suckle for all 8 feedings in a day; it would wear him out. Once he got over that hurdle and was able to nurse or bottle feed for a 24 hour period he was cleared to go. He also had to be on special extra-calorie formula for the first two months to catch up (think Cartman and Weight Gain 2000 - Brodie was our little beefcake). He had a couple other minor issues while he was there, but nothing was ever life-threatening or permanent.
Hagen was able to visit his brother in the Special Care nursery after his shot records were faxed over from his pediatrician's office. Over the course of Brodie's stay, when we would visit the nursery, Hagen would read to Brodie and he even colored pictures to be hung by Brodie's crib (which the nurses did). Hagen even got to hold his little brother and I think that made him quite proud. When we were in the hospital he would say, "I want to go see my baby".
Thankfully, everything turned out all right. It was hard for me because NOTHING went according to my plan, and I like to be prepared. Nothing went "my" way; Brodie didn't get to be in the room with us at all; I hadn't packed the things I wanted ahead of time; he wasn't able to go home with us; I wasn't prepared to start maternity leave before the tax deadline. I had to tell myself that it wasn't about me and what I wanted. It was about the fact that Brodie was okay, even though he was tiny, and we are blessed beyond belief. He was in the Special Care nursery for 10 days; I know there are people who have had their babies in the NICU for weeks, months, years, or who may never get to come home. I finally realized a week and a half was nothing, and the fact was that he was (and is) perfectly fine.
Arrangement from Hagen's best friend, Sam's, family. This was the talk of the L&D floor for the duration of our stay!
Flowers from Grandmommie, Granddad, Opa and Oma.
Flowers and balloon from my boss. The balloon is STILL inflated - it's in our kitchen!
Random pictures from the hospital stay.
Home! Brodie came home April 14 after his noon feeding. He wore a preemie outfit that said "Little Brother".
Here are some random pictures from the first few weeks at home.
So that is the story of Brodie. We like to think it would be really funny if he ends up being taller than Hagen, but I don't think Hagen thinks it's as funny as we do.
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