Hospital Videos

These are moments I never want to forget.  I'm so thankful to have videos to remember these special times especially between Logan and Landon.  

Landon's first bath (I'm not sure why it's sideways)

Holding his baby brother

Checking out Landon's diaper for the first time

"Do babies sneeze?"

Landon 8 days old at home

Landon's Arrival in Pictures

I hated sending Logan to school that morning, but I knew he would have been so bored just waiting at the hospital. Left him a special note to find at lunch.  

A little basket of treats for the nurses who took care of us

Coming out!  Happy Birthday, Landon!

Mommy's first glimpse of him

Moments after he was born

Meeting Mommy and getting some kisses

Official birth weight

Baby Footprints

Uncle Josh and Ani

Granddaddy

The Sevin men

Logan wasted no time playing animals with his brother

When Logan had to go home, he left this one with Landon

Granddaddy & Barbara's visit

Even cousin David came to visit

Sweet baby!

Logan couldn't get enough of his brother

Daddy's newest Saint's fan

I caught the twins (see their arms?)

Loving on him some more

Baby leg warmers...too cute!

Someone was enjoying my bed!

Our first day home...we had to take a family nap together

Off to Landon's first doctor's appointment.  All bundled up

My big helper at the appointment

Sleepy smiles and big brother already messing with little brother.  

Landon's Birth Story (the long version)

Our last picture as a family of 3!

We woke up around 5am on Wednesday, February 11^th and got ready for the big day.  We packed everything into the car, got Logan up and dressed, and headed to his school to drop him off.  We dropped him right at 7:00, and were cutting it close to be at Northside Hospital by 7:45. 

We pulled in, parked and headed to Admissions.  After just a few minutes of waiting, we were taken back to our pre-op room.  I got changed into my hospital gown, filled out tons of paperwork, got the monitors hooked up and the nurse put my IV in.  My dad showed up a few minutes later and we just hung out until the doctor came in to do my epidural.  I was worried about this because I jumped pretty badly when they did the epidural for Logan’s birth.  I did much better this time, because I knew what was coming.  They had me sit on the edge of the bed hunched over a pillow.  I felt the needle go in, which wasn’t too bad, but then he started putting the medicine in.  That was pretty painful.  I cried a good bit, but I think it was a mixture of pain and emotions of knowing what was about to happen.  Then we waited a few minutes and the nurse wanted to make sure that I was all numb.  She placed an ice pack on my legs and tummy.  I couldn't feel the cold on my left side, but I felt everything on my right.  She tried giving it a few minutes, but I could still feel everything on the right side.  She added more medicine, and after about 10 minutes, I was finally numb and ready to be wheeled back to the Operating Room.  Right about this time I got the sudden urge to throw up.  This didn't happen during Logan’s birth, but the nurse told me it was totally normal.  She said it had something to do with my blood pressure and the medicine.  After getting sick a few times, I felt completely better.  Susan and my mom both snuck in my room and gave me a hug and kiss before I went back.  Dr. Bassil also came by my room and reassured me about the surgery and what he was going to do with the scar.  He was so nice and made me feel so at ease. 

Chris had his scrubs on and followed us back to the OR.  They had him wait outside while the got me prepped.  I was a little foggy, but I do remember the room being very bright and the team sliding me from my bed onto the operating table.  They laid my arms out to the sides and put the curtain up in front of my face.   Chris came in and sat right by my head.  The shakes from the medicine started to get more intense and I got the feeling that I was going to throw up again.  Just like a few minutes before, the sickness hit me quickly, I got sick, and was almost instantly better. 

The team then started the operation.  I remember looking at Chris and then feeling lots of tugging and pulling.  Dr. Bassil said that there was a good bit of scar tissue from the previous c-section and that it would take them a little longer to get through it all.  Once they were through, they told me to get ready for lots of pressure and pulling.  It was pretty rough and quite painful.  All that pain soon went away as I heard the most precious sound…my baby boy crying.  They told Chris to start taking pictures and I heard the camera snapping away.  They held him up over the curtain so that we could get a look.  He was so beautiful!  They told Chris to get a picture of something, but I wasn’t sure what it was.  I remember the doctor saying something about his cord and he would tell us later.  They quickly assessed Landon and did his Apgar scores.  He was an 8 and a 9, which was great.  I was so worried that he would have to be taken to the Transition nursery like Logan did, so I was so relieved when they said he was perfect.  They brought Logan over and Chris laid him right next to me by my face.  I was able to kiss on him and hold him with my right hand.  He was beautiful and perfect in every way. 

The doctor finished closing me up while they took the baby and Chris to recovery to get him weighed and cleaned up.  Dr. Bassil closed me in a different way due to the fact that I get keloid scars.  I remember started to feel a few pricks as they were finishing and then I remember them placing this huge piece of white sticky tape across my stomach.  The nurses then wrapped an abdominal binder tightly around my stomach and placed a few warm blankets over me.  Next thing I remember is being rolled down to recovery and seeing Chris standing in the room holding our new baby and waiting for us with a huge smile on his face.

Once in recovery, they gave Landon to me where we went ahead and breastfed for the first time.  He latched right away and even ate from both sides.  I was so happy!  Several nurses came in to check different things and I remember they had to start mashing on my tummy.  It hurt pretty badly. 

Dr. Bassil came in a little later to check on us and he also wanted to explain the importance of the picture of the cord he had Chris take.  He began by saying that all babies are miracles, but we had a double miracle.  He explained there was a large knot in the cord, which we could clearly see in the picture.  Had the large knot tightened while he was still in the womb, we wouldn’t be holding Landon right now, and the outcome would have been devastating.  I had never heard of this, so I started asking questions.  He explained that it probably happened around 15-16 weeks.  When I asked about seeing this on the ultrasounds, he explained that there’s not really a way to see the entire cord on ultrasound and that ultrasound is 2D, so this would have been missed on ultrasound.  I immediately began to think of how different this pregnancy could have been and it made me stop and thank God for our precious miracle.

After feeding Landon in the recovery room, the nurse checked his blood sugar and even after nursing it was still too low.  The informed us that they would need to take him upstairs to the nursery for two hours to have some formula and run the blood sugar test two more times.  We kissed Landon and told him we would see him soon.  While having him taken away killed me, I knew that he would be okay and I was still so thankful that his breathing was okay.  I’m sure the drugs helped keep me calm, too. 

After about another hour, they finally wheeled us up to our private room, Room 678.  We got settled and our families came trickling in to see us.  Landon’s blood sugar was good, so he joined us in the room not too long after we got there.  Mimi and Pop had gone to pick up Logan from school, so he could come to the hospital to meet his little brother.  As soon as he walked in to the room, I began to cry.  I missed him so much and watching him meet his brother was so beautiful.  He immediately wanted to hold him.  The nurse came in at the exact same time and was trying to tell me some things about recovery.  I really couldn’t pay attention because I was trying to watch Logan and Landon meeting for the first time.

The pain was pretty bad the first day and the mashing on my tummy didn’t help things.  The nurses came in about midnight and told me it was time to get up and use the bathroom.  As much as it hurt, I knew the sooner I got up and walking the better I would be.  The next morning, they removed my IV, my epidural, and the worst was that huge white tape across my stomach.  The nurse didn’t really warn me, she just pulled and ripped it off like a humongous Band-Aid.  It hurt so much, I actually cried.  When I looked down, I realized she also ripped a piece of skin off on my left side.  They started me on Motrin and Morphine since the epidural was removed.  Luckily that helped the pain and kept it around a 3 or 4 on the pain scale.  Seeing Logan and Landon and being able to kiss both of my babies really helped to not focus on the pain. 

Our hospital stay was great.  We couldn’t have asked for a better experience.  The nurses were all so great, my care was exceptional, and Landon was cared for perfectly.  The next couple of days were spent snuggling Landon, resting (a little) and establishing breastfeeding.  Landon was a champion feeder right away, just like his brother.  We were able to go home Saturday afternoon, which happened to be Valentine’s Day.  I’m pretty sure I had the sweetest Valentine of them all!  

All bundled up, ready to go home

Arriving home as a family of 4!

"Knot" Your Average Miracle

"All babies are miracles, but you have a true miracle baby."  I will never forget hearing Dr. Bassil say those words to us in the recovery room.  

I remember right when Landon was born, he told Chris to start taking pictures.  Chris took several and then I remember hearing the doctor tell Chris to get a picture of the umbilical cord and he would explain later why he wanted him to do that.  I didn't think anything about it really.  I was too busy listening to the sweet sound of my baby boy crying and anxiously awaiting to see his face and kiss him for the first time.

A little later, when we got to the recovery room, Dr. Bassil came by to check on us.  He then wanted to explain the importance of the picture he asked Chris to take.  He said that Landon's cord had what they call a "true knot".  Often times the baby's cord can get wrapped around them, but this was different.  It was an actual knot in the cord.  He said that had the knot tighten while he was in the womb, we would be dealing with a very different outcome and probably wouldn't be holding our baby today.  

I was in a bit of a fog from the medicine and the surgery, but I remember asking how this happened and how long ago.  He said it most likely happened around week 15 or 16 when the baby is still small and has lots of room to move and flip around in the waters.  I asked if they should have found this on the ultrasounds and he explained that it would be very hard to find it with ultrasound because the ultrasound is 2D and it's hard to get a good view of the entire cord.  I squeezed Landon and thanked God again for this precious baby.  Not only was he our miracle after 15 months of trying and 3 loses, but he proved to be even more of a miracle.  

I did a little more research once we were home and found that true knots occur in only 1% of pregnancies.  One report also stated that tightened knots are associated with a fourfold increase risk of fetal death.  

Here are two more pictures of the knot.  

****Warning.....You can see blood in these pictures so view at your own discretion.  I just think it's too amazing not to share.****

Landon's Nursery

I'm finally able to catch up on my list of posts that I've been meaning to write.  It felt so strange sending Logan off to school and being home, but I'm embracing the time with Landon and loving being able to catch up on rest and some things around the house.

We started working on Landon's room as soon as I found out I was pregnant.  We had to rip out everything and start from scratch so I knew we would need some time to get it all done.  I am so happy with how it turned out.

This is how the room looked after we tore out all of the crown molding, floor molding and the huge piece of marble on the window.  Our little helper was ready to paint his brother's room.  

His crib and my favorite picture in his room.  

His bedding from Pottery Barn

Changing area and dresser

Banner that my friend, Amanda, made for Landon's shower

Reading spot in Landon's room

Love beads and L frame

Glider and elephant painting Amanda made

I love the way the room turned out and it makes me smile every time I go in his room.  He has yet to sleep in his crib, but hopefully he will like it once we transition him in there in the next few weeks.