November 9, 2010--Part 2

After the kids left, we waited in our delivery room for a couple hours before a room opened up on the 8th floor. Finally we got moved upstairs to our recovery room. There were two things that really surprised me about our new baby. His size--I was not expecting him to be that big.

...and his hair! Our kids are usually so bald when they are born.

I already mentioned that because he was so big, his blood sugar was low. The number has to be above 50, and his wasn't. We had to give him a bottle shortly after he was born to try and get his number up, and we started in on a long series of blood sugar tests. He had to pass three hourly tests, then 3 more tests every three hours. If he didn't pass any of them, he had to start the process over. Each test required a new heel poke and a reading with an instant test. If the number was low, they collected enough blood to send to the lab for a more accurate reading. His poor heels were a complete mess of cuts and blood before the whole process was done. He had to start the process over once in the middle of it. We finally finished up the next day around noon. He was on his final three hour test, and his number came back 49--which meant we'd have to start all over. But luckily, the lab came back as 56, so he passed and didn't have to have any more heel pokes. Through the whole process, though, we had to give him countless bottles trying to make sure his blood sugar stayed up high enough. And, until he passed all his blood sugar tests, we couldn't give him a bath. Babies cry so much during their first bath, which expends a lot of energy (sugar), and since he didn't have any to spare, we had to wait. I was so in love with his hair, and couldn't wait to see it washed, but we had to wait clear till the next day to see it all clean.

So, that first day we just hung out with our baby, did lots of bottles, and lots of blood sugar tests, and tried to decide what his name should be.



We had a few visitors that evening. Scott's parents came to see us, and the Relief Society presidency came to visit. The kids also came to visit again that evening. By this time we were pretty sure his name should be Owen, and we asked the kids what they thought. They all loved the name and started calling him that.


After the kids left to go home, I breathed a sigh of relief. It was great to have them all there, but it was very exhausting. 6 kids! What have I gotten myself into?

After the kids left, we had some quiet time before we settled down for the night. We let Owen go to the nursery so we could get some sleep, and they brought him in every 2 hours for feedings (nursing, then topping off with a bottle). The nurse that took care of him was so nice, and every time she'd bring him in, she'd tell me how she and Owen had been spending their time together.

And then....the stomach flu hit. Not me (thankfully), but Scott. He was up in the bathroom most of the night. I felt so sorry for him. He got up the next morning, still feeling sick, and headed home at 7:45 so he could take the kids to "Donuts with Dad" at their school. After the event, he walked the kids to their classrooms and let them show their teachers and friends a picture of Owen on his cell phone. Then he headed home and crashed. I didn't see him back at the hospital till 2 that afternoon. But, now we are on to a new day....so time for a new post.