Dakota Scout King

For those who have been keeping up, Friday was the 17th and was Cannon's last day of recovery from surgery.  We let him go outside a play basketball, jump on the trampoline, ride his bike, sweat, and do what boys do.  He had a great time!  Friday night, we went to Humble and met with my folks who'd received a gift card on Cannon's behalf and wanted to treat the boys to their first new bikes.  We met at WBT (If you've ever worked at Toys R Us, you may know WBT stands for We Be Toys) in Humble and let the boys peruse their bike selection.  We moved on to WalMart where we scored a couple new bikes the boys and the budget agreed on.  They're 6 and 4, they don't need freewheel BMX supercross bikes with a freestyle package and trial riding gear.  They need wheels and pedals.  WalMart sold wheels and pedals, WBT sold small expensive versions of adult bikes.

On Saturday, we stayed at the house most of the day and cleaned in preparation for having Scout come home the following week.  Daddy worked outside to get things in shape (I spent a little time on the boat: the rain the night before filled the boat and helped me find a leak on the starboard stern, which I epoxied.  Then I moved the boat to the slab and flipped over in preparation for paint).  We went to church Sunday AM, then continued in our quest to get the house ready for Scout.  Finally got to bed at 1 AM and got a few hours sleep before we had to get up at 5:30 to get to the hospital by 8.

On arrival, we met with the family so they could take possession of the boys and see Tori before going to the OR.  By 8:15 Tori was getting into a hospital gown, getting baby monitors installed on her belly, a nice little shave and an IV.  At 9:00, the whole family joined us in pre-op where we could just sit around and wait for the show to start.  A previous operation that morning was keeping the OR staff busy and a little late.  The family started talking about memories, and we remembered that 4 years ago in April we were doing our best to convince a 2-year-old Cannon that we were going to the hospital that morning so mommy could have baby brother.  Cannon was so used to coming to this hospital to get poked/prodded by the cardiology team trying to diagnose his heart condition, he thought any trip here was just for him.  He wasn't convinced until he saw doctors and nurses were coming in and doing things to mommy that they usually do to him.

Here's a pic of Tori in Pre-Op, looking at me over that little pooch of a belly:

At 9:50 Dr. Laden arrived and it was time to get started.  Tori walked back to the OR under her own power, I stayed in the holding cell until they were ready for me.  At 10:15 I was invited into the OR, they were well under way with Tori.  I started the video recorder and documented the whole deal.  At 10:25 I got to see my first dotter for the first time!  She was covered in white cheese and red splotches and looked like a bull dog for all the rolls of skin on her.  She weighed 9 pounds and 10 ounces, the biggest mommy has had.  But I have to say it runs in the family, Tori was 110 pounds when I met her... she'd only put on a hundred pounds since she was born (she was a 10-pound baby). 

I was running the video camera and had my finger on the photo button which allows me to take a snapshot while recording.  With both boys, I got pics of Dr. Laden holding them up over the curtain and I wanted to make sure I got a good pic of Scout as soon as Dr. Laden held her up.  So when she did hold her up, I hit the button.  The WRONG button... I hit the 'stop recording' button instead and missed my shot!  I quickly hit the photo button even though I'd quite video recording and got a nice, blurry, can't-tell-who-it-is-in-my-dotter's-first-picture.  Nice fumble, Daddy.  I can hear it in 10 years: "Daddy, how come you got good pictures of Cannon and Colton in the OR, but not me?  You don't love me as much, huh Daddy?!"  Oh well.

By 11:05 we were back in the recovery room and immediately trying to get Scout to latch on and feed.  Since "she's so fat", we also had to watch her blood-sugar level to make sure she's not diabetic.  Of course, mommy and daddy don't think she's fat, but according to statistics she is, and the hospital has policies regarding large babies.  I was amazed at the special treatment "fat" babies get.  She had to have her blood sugar checked before each of the first three feedings.  It had to be over 45, and Scout's was always in the 60s.

Through that first day, we had many visits from staff... never more than 10 minutes of peace.  But all was well with Scout. 

When Cannon was born, he didn't have any issues in the hospital either.  His heart defects weren't really known about until a week or two after he was born.  In the hospital, we'd only gotten a small indicator from the pediatrician that he might have a small hole in his heart, and it was common and would likely heal on its own.  Check the previous three months of this blog for the rest of that story. 

On the other hand, when Colton was born, he had some difficulties those first days.  He'd inhaled some fluid during birth and ended up in NICU the first couple days with breathing problems.  He also had jaundice.  All of which he recovered from 100% and has no medical issues at all today.  So in summary: both previous births had their issues, and Scout was our first "non-issue" birth.  We finally got one right!  So far.

Scout only cried that first day when she was hungry or had a dirty diaper.  She cried all day.  She was constantly after mommy's breast, and had more than average dirty diapers.  It was a fun day, with Aunt Nell and Uncle Bill visiting on the way in from Colby's place.  We got flowers from our awesome church family.  Papa was watching the boys, so when my parents went on a small shopping trip Tori and I both got a small 10 to 20 minute nap.  That was a good deal after having just a few hours of sleep the previous night.  Between the visits from friends and staff, and just holding my girl, I didn't take the time to blog.  Sorry to those who are waiting on this for an update!

After our naps, Nana and Gupa brought some Olive Garden for dinner and I got to eat like a King (since I wasn't sleeping like one).  We ate on the back porch at the cafeteria while the boys ran around.  Then everyone left and Tori and I started our first night with Scout.  The problem was, Scout didn't know what "night" meant.  We tossed her back and forth for hours trying to get her to calm down, but she wasn't obeying our commands.  I even threatened with spankings, told her she wouldn't get a phone till 20, none of this worked.  They offered us the use of the nursery, and at midnight we finally gave in and let them have her.  We slept fast and by 2:45 they brought her back for feeding.  Tori tried to feed her for the next two hours, but Scout was diligently NOT learning to breast feed.  While I was diligently trying to sleep!  I was able to get a bit more sleep through the morning, but Tori never did.

The next morning, Scout finally passed out from exertion.  This would be a great time for us to catch up on sleep, but we had visitors to tend to!  Besides, we wouldn't have slept because that would just put the whole family on a nocturnal schedule and you can't let the kids rule like that anyway.  Gonna make her fit into OUR schedule.  It might take until she's 2, but we'll get there.

And here she is sleeping, I present Dakota Scout King:

 

At about 10, Tori noticed a new pain in addition to her belly: her neck.  It seemed to be a severe crick in the neck, but steadily got worse over the day.  To the point that at about 2 in the afternoon she had to get back in bed.  In the process, I helped her ease down onto her back.  It was clear she was in great pain, but as soon as her back hit the bed she started crying and couldn't breathe.  I've known this girl for 14+ years and have seen her endure some terrible things, but never seen her cry from pain.  And seeing your loved one not able to breathe is a whole new experience for me!  I pulled her up a quick as I felt she could tolerate... she was able to breathe again but was still in severe pain.  I called for a nurse since we had an emergency, and while we waited for them Tori and I started trying to ease the pain and troubleshoot the cause.  A hot rag helped the pain, but we couldn't figure out the "why".  After some discussion, we figured it was likely from spending the whole day before looking down at a baby that wouldn't breastfeed.  But why the whole "couldn't breathe" thing?  We actually didn't know what to tell the nurse, and since we'd gotten the severity of the pain to drop off by keeping Tori vertical, we didn't press the issue that the nurse no-showed during our emergency.  When she finally did show up, we discussed and came to the conclusion it was a pinched nerve and the severity of that pain has the ability to keep you from breathing temporarilty... your body kind of tries to stop all movement to avoid the pain caused by the moving.  OK, whatever.  Up the meds and don't be late!!!  The nurse agreed to talk to the doc, who approved to increase pain meds.  We called every 4 hours on the dot and made sure they were en route.  They never were.  This continued for the duration of our hospital stay, but we never let Tori go without the meds!

Pastor Reeves came to visit, and at the same time Caroline and Liz Glasgow came as well.  We had a great time talking to them and enjoyed having new faces around (even if we didn't enjoy the faces... haha!  Don't worry, they'll understand).  Like all parents, we enjoyed showing off the new kid and letting everyone have a chance to hold her.  Tori eventually got to take an hour nap with Scout in her arms once everyone left; she was up to 8 hours of sleep in the last 60!  The boys and my parents came back that evening.  The boys had slept until 6 or so because Papa had worn them out in the hotel pool.  They got Sonic on the way over, and I went and picked up Wings n More for the rest of the adults.  We just hung out in the room and enjoyed quiet time... Scout had been sleeping ALL day.  We knew what that meant for the upcoming night.  She even stayed asleep while the boys held their little sister.  Cannon especially LOVES to hold her!  Here is is sitting between my folks asking serious questions:

By 9 PM, all the family had left and we got ready for a long night.  Scout was now awake and wouldn't stop crying.  She wouldn't latch on to mommy at all.  We asked for a breast pump, with the idea that we would pump and get an idea of how much Scout was getting out.  We pumped... and got nothing.  No wonder she's crying.  She's hungry.  We discussed this with our nurse and decided on a game plan: use formula to keep her fed, but don't allow formula until she's tried for a while to breastfeed.  I let Tori have the first formula-feeding for all her efforts, and it was funny to watch.  Like giving a glass of Vodka to a former alcoholic... that girl hit the bottle and within one taste went ballistic.  The bottle didn't have a chance.  She went through half the bottle in no time and was finally QUIET and awake at the same time.  A feat we'd had yet to accomplish.  She shortly went down in the bassinet and at an early 10 PM me and Tori got down to some real sleep.

Through the night, we had the usual interruptions for staff to monitor our patients.  At midnight, they took Scout back to the nursery for some more quiet time for us and to weigh her.  She'd dropped to 8 pounds and some ounces, which is normal and backed up our theory that she wasn't getting a whole bunch to eat.  I took a turn feeding her at 5 AM, she kept going back down after getting fed.  This whole newborn thing is easy!  Just feed 'em formula and they go to sleep for four hours, then repeat.  I'm going to try this with the boys when we get home.

That takes us to this morning.  Tori and I got up and had both gotten good sleep the night before.  I took the liberty of staying on the couch till after 7 to make sure I had enough sleep to drive us home safely (see how I did that?  Use a "logical theory" as an excuse.)  By 9 AM we'd seen both doctors and both have discharged our ladies!  It's almost 11 and we're seeing indications they're working to get us out of here!  We took bets last night on discharge time, and I bet 4:15.  I hope I lose!  I'm going to post this and then shut down and pack up the room.  I'll update again as soon as I have something worth writing about.  Also, I don't have the software with me to get the pics off the "good camera", the pics above are just pics with our phones.  When we get home, I'll try to get some good pics up here from the SLR.

Thanks for reading!
Marc, Tori, Cannon, Colton... and Scout!