First few days home...

We were finally able to come home Sunday evening. My blood pressure was still pretty high, but they were discharging Grant no matter what that day and knew that if they made me stay there without him, my blood pressure would just get higher! They sent me home with some BP medication and strict orders to take it easy these next two weeks. My main job was to take care of Grant and cleaning and cooking had to wait! No problem here since all I wanted to do was love on my little man anyway!

Our first night was a little interesting. We were slightly anxious and we could tell Grant just wasn't sure what was going on, where he was and what he was supposed to be doing. Needless to say, he was up a lot during the night. J was amazing and got up to help a lot so I could catch a few minutes of shut eye here and there.

Most of the day today was spent sleeping and eating. Not bad at all! Although now that I am awake with him at 1:30 am, I am starting to wonder if Grant is pulling a day and night confusion.... I was hoping that he was just going to sleep all day and all night but I don't think I am going to get that lucky!

Here are a few pics of our first days at home. We just love our little guy so much and are taking in every minute of his amazing life!

Our story...

I started off Tuesday just like any other... going to work. It was a busy day in the office which it always is on Tuesday. Around 4, I noticed that my ankles were starting to feel tight. When I looked down, I also noticed that my legs were looking a little swollen which was a new development. I had a scheduled OB appt at 5 :30 so I figured I would just wait and talk to Dr G at my appt. Once at my appt, I stepped on the scale and I noticed a dramatic increase in my weight from just the previous week which I figured was all water from my ankles and legs. When the nurse went to test my urine, she asked if I had been told I had protein in it before... nope, that was something new. When she went to take my blood pressure, she said she was going to try again.... hmmmmm things were starting to add up here.... My second blood pressure was 150/100- I had the signs of preclampsia. Dr G came in and promptly told me to go home, get my husband and my bag and go to the hospital for 24 hours of testing. I think I just sat there for a while, not sure what to do- did she just tell me to go to the hospital????

I checked in Tuesday night and started my testing. My blood pressure remained high and after 24 hours, it was evident that I definitely had preclampsia as the protein in my urine was around 7000 and Dr G was expecting it to be 400. They woke us up on Thursday morning and promptly said to get ready- we were having a baby today! They started Pitocin right away and broke my water around noon. By 4, I was begging for an epidural and at 8:51, Grant Weston was born!

Grant is doing very well for being 3 weeks early. He has a little bit of jaundice which is typical in early babies, but otherwise, he is amazing! We just love holding him in our arms- that is something we have waited so long for.

I am doing better. I was immediately put on Magnesium Sulfate to bring my blood pressure down which made me really out of it and really sick. I wasn't able to take any visitors or take care of Grant Friday as I had to lay on my side and give everything I had to getting my BP down. I was finally able to come off the Mag Saturday morning which made me very happy! I started a different med in hopes that it stays down. But once I am home, I pretty much have to take it easy for the first two weeks to make sure that I don't have any seizures. Guess J is going to have his hands quite full taking care of me and Grant!

We are hoping my blood pressure stays where it is and we will be able to go home this evening. I will post some more pics when I get a chance, but right now I am just enjoying spending every waking minute with my baby... MY BABY, oh it feels so good to say that!

He's here

Grant Weston Schrotenboer

October 1, 2009 8:51

weight - 6 pounds 14 ounces

21 inches

After many years of pain and trying we are happy to announce our new baby boy. We would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers through these last few years. We could not have done it without you. Will post baby story soon. Mother and baby are doing great

Nursery

The final touch was put on the nursery this weekend and I am so excited about it! When we were pregnant with the girls, I had always dreamed of having a verse from a Christian song put on the walls as a type of prayer over them. When we lost Brooke and Alexcyn, I ended up taking a different verse from that same song, transforming it a little and using it in their obituary. At that point, my dream of ever seeing that song on the walls of a nursery was crushed. I am so happy to say that on Thursday, I finally saw that dream become a reality.

Find Your Wings by Mark Harris

Here are a few more pics of the completed nursery... hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

36 week belly

getting so close...

This week we hit 36 weeks! Oh my goodness- it is finally starting to set in that we may actually bring home a baby! Seriously, up until this point I really haven't given it much thought. I wouldn't allow my mind to go there. I wanted to protect myself in case something happened. Well, I think it is time to climb out of that box and start thinking about what I am going to do with a newborn baby! Our anxiety is quickly switching from my water breaking too early to the pains of labor and delivery and how we are going to deal with a screaming baby boy that is dependent upon us for everything!

I have one more shower this weekend and then I am going out for the final shopping trip to make sure I have all the necessities- you know the stuff that no one wants to buy like bottles and a trash can. After that, we just wait..... I think you all know by now that I am not a patient person- I hate waiting! Especially when waiting involves swelling of my cankles and face, intense braxton hicks and extreme weight gain! Oh, the lovelies of the final weeks of pregnancy! There are lots of people that believe I am going to have this baby early, but my OB thinks that I will go right up to the due date so I am trying not to think too much about an early baby. After all, we have spent the last 9 months praying that this baby would just stay in there. Now, he probably won't come out!!!

I plan on putting the finishing touches on the nursery today. Stay tuned for pics when I have it all complete.

Finally, since we are getting so close, it is time for your final name game clue. This one is a collection of words that are to clues to both the first name and the middle name. Can you figure it out????

Wild
Actor
Location
Weight
Memorial


If you want to participate in the name game, put your final guess in the comments of this post.

Our week in photos....

***Updated with pics of my friends shower***

This week is all about baby showers for us! I had one Wednesday night with a few friends, last night we had a couples shower, tonight I have a shower with a different group of friends and then Saturday I sit back and relax at a friends shower! Phew- I am totally exhausted already and am only half way through!

We started the week off by purchasing a glider for the nursery so now all the furniture is in and we are just waiting for a woman to come paint the walls next week and then it is complete!

My friends shower on Wednesday....

And finally, the gift I have been waiting for........





I can't even tell you how much better I slept last night just knowing it was in the house!! Now, I can practice hooking and latching and folding and tightening....... And, most importantly, now I have something to bring my baby boy home in!

**Last night I had my friends shower and it was so much fun! Once again, I was totally blown away by all the amazing gifts baby boy recieved- he sure is spoiled!

Now I need to find a place to put all of these fabulous gifts!

Bad blogger....

I have to apologize for being such a bad blogger lately. For some reason I just seem to be having writers block and have found it much easier to just read others blogs than to actually write on mine!

We actually are 34 weeks this week! Everything seems to be going well so far, although I can definitely tell that I am slowing down a bit energy wise and I am starting to feel like a 90 year old when I try to stand up from a seated position!

It seems like I wake up everyday and the belly just gets bigger and bigger! I am constantly amazed when I step on the scale at the drs office and see how much I have actually gained-yikes! Hope that old wives tale about breastfeeding and losing weight is actually true!

We are still working on the nursery. I have someone coming to paint words on the wall in a couple weeks so everything is on hold until she does that. I am also frantically trying to find a glider/rocker for the nursery that I don't have to pay an arm and a leg for. If any of you have recommendations, I would love to hear about them!

Other than that, I have just been driving J crazy with my current obsession, the car seat! We still have yet to get it and I keep having nightmares that I am going to go into labor and we will not have our car seat yet. Knowing that they won't let us leave the hospital with baby boy without one makes it kind of important to me. But for some reason, it seems like I am the only one that is concerned about this! I am pretty sure this obsession stems from my biggest fear which is once again leaving the hospital without a baby. We weren't able to bring Brooke and Alexcyn home like we should have... in their car seats and not having one yet makes me feel like that could happen again.

I have also started packing my hospital bag and have a great friend who made me a fantastic list which has helped me a ton. If any of you have things that aren't on the typical list that you recommend, leave me a comment- I would love to hear your ideas.

Well, I guess I did have a few things to say! I promise to try to keep up with this better. And, just because you were all so patient with me, here is another name clue...

Name Game Clue # 7:

Walking in circles over the name? Look to the sky and it just may lead you in the right direction.