Thaddeus James

So, we've been internet MIA for several days due to the early arrival of our little man. I've been debating whether or not to post what's been going on this past week, and we've decided to let you all in on the drama.

Birth Story:

I spent Monday the tenth baking. I baked four loaves of bread/muffins and did not nap all day. I fretted and fussed about the house. At four thirty when Matt came home to send me out to work, he said simply "you're going to be tired". I had no doubt he was right. Slightly more painful contractions than the Braxton Hicks plagued my shift and evening on the couch. We awoke at 7:30am to the good stuff. Abdomen-low back pain coming with regularity. Matt wanted me to call as soon as the clinic opened. Knowing this was too early and probably false labor, I wanted to wait till the afternoon. I made it to 10:30am. The hospital staff was not interested in delivering a baby at 36 weeks, so they looked for every excuse to send me home. It took them until 2:30 in the afternoon to admit me. This labor was drastically easier than Aurelia's. I progressed steadily and with my contractions never indicating a real pattern. They started to be truly, when-will-this-be-over painful around 8pm. And I was only 8 centimeters. The reason things were less intense and a bit slower (the problem) was that my water hadn't broken. The midwife offered to pop it for me, convinced that once it was gone, he would be born within the hour. But the contractions would become significantly more painful--scary; this hadn't been so bad. We went for it. Let's have us a baby, y'all! She was right, on all counts. The last half and hour sucked (royally), and he was born at 9:35pm. A medication-free fourteen-hour labor through which I was able to talk and move around and enjoy the thought of holding my boy sooner rather than later.

Now the not-so-magically, cruelly-ironic part:

Thaddeus was premature, and as such has been having some trouble breathing. Although he was a good size (large even for his gestational age) at 7lbs 13oz and 20 inches long, his lungs are not strong enough to do all the work on their own. He was put on oxygen almost immediately, and it has been the longest four days of our lives. I can't tell more of the situation again; it's hard enough to update Patty once a day when I go hang out with her and Aurelia. Long story short, he's in the NICU on antibiotics for a possible infection and fluid in his lungs and oxygen to give his lungs time to practice working for themselves. We've been working on nursing, and he seems to like that (as do I). The prospectus we received on Friday from the neonatal specialist we are lucky to have watching over T.J. indicated that he would home with us late next week. He has to pass a few tests first, and progress is necessarily slow.

The moral of the story:

Keep that baby inside you as long as you frikin can! Yes, he may be ten pounds, but his lungs will work and you will get to be the one who comforts him when he cries.

Thaddeus will be home with us soon (not soon enough), and this shouldn't have any lasting damage.