TAMMY & DYLAN
So... here we go!
Horrible morning sickness from the day I peed on that stick! Diagnosed with gestational diabetes as well and a full time head of Year job and moving house... my pregnancy to say the least was no breeze!
But we were excited and felt blessed with the exciting journey that lay ahead!
Being advised to be induced two weeks early as I had a ‘big’ baby... we followed the doctors advise and booked in 2 weeks before due date at 9am Monday morning for a induction. Crazy as it sounds we actually thought we would be walking out with our beautiful baby 2/3 days later.. this partially down to a promise I made to myself to stay away from google and off mums net or any sites that would stress me out. I was born a worrier, I really didn’t need any help in that field from google, so we went in ‘blind’....
I’ll keep this part short... but after a NOT so short 4 days in hospital... of induction hormones, acupuncture, reflexology, long walks, curry, you name it... we were wheeled into theatre for an emergency C section.
Thanks to Rachael who had prepared us in our antenatal class of what could happen in a C section we felt relatively calm- well I did anyway and that’s due to the lovely drip of goodies being poured into me- Ben not so much but managed to keep calm even though he was wishing he had that drip of goodness in his arm!
This next part has been written with the help of Ben's memory as it all happened really quickly and is still all foggy for myself and is actually still very difficult to think about. However every smile and laugh from our little boy means it was ALL worth it... but unfortunately no ‘wonderful’ birth family photo for us.
After 4 days of the induction process not working we agreed to book Tammy in for an emergency c section on Thursday. She went in at 10.30pm. The staff were excellent and I've never seen a team of people work together so efficiently and quickly!
When Dylan arrived he was having big problems breathing and he ended up in ICU on oxygen for about 6 hours. Super scary as everything happened so fast and we didn’t even know if it was a boy or girl till after he was wheeled out! They let him out of ICU around 4pm Friday as he'd shown massive improvement very quickly. This was the scariest moment of my life by far! I think Tammy handled better than I did because she couldn't see what was happening.
Following surgery Tammy was put in the recovery unit and I was running back and forwards for 6 hours with my phone filled with photos of our baby boy! They got Tammy up and moving very quickly so she could come to ICU and see him which was great.
Fast forward 24 hours and he's doing well. We stayed in hospital until Monday as Dylan was on twice daily doses of antibiotics to ensure his lungs were clear of infection.
Safe to say this was a massive deviation from our birth plan but we're rolling with the punches and the rewards far outweigh any hardship! We both love our little man to bits! Love at first sight even if it wasn’t straight after birth for Tammy!
So days all rolled into one with hourly checks from health staff checking temperatures and heart rates etc. Ben finding it very challenging to get any sleep in the chair they provide and many a trip to the hospital canteen for coffee and chocolate! We hadn’t packed for more than 2 nights so Ben went home with a list from me to stock up!
Fast forward to that wonderful moment they discharged Dylan... packing up and waiting for the discharge papers... I start feeling very cold- checking the heating and putting on all the clothes I have. I wake Ben and ask if he is cold...skimming the boring details my temperature spiked to 41 and within an hour I was back in the recovery unit with bags of antibiotics in me treating possible sepsis.
So another five days in hospital tried and tested everything we had but we embraced what we could... the three of us could really get to know one another’s rhythms, patterns and grow together in the tiny hospital room!
7 days after Dylan was born and 14 days after I was admitted to hospital and we could finally pack up our room and take our beautiful baby boy home.
Our boy has the best nature and the sweetest soul and he has been super healthy since his birth and for this we are blessed. Raising a child ... especially in that newborn fog stage is so challenging and we really missed family being close by but this whole experience has really brought us closer and our little family feels fully complete now.
Massive High Five to all the baby mamas and papas out there! X