Introducing Brecken Ty McLachlan!!!
August 31 - Bradlee officially completed her first week of first grade, and I was able to drop her off and pick her up everyday. After school I got the kids ready and took them to my mother and father in law who were taking them camping. My mom went with me to drop the kids off, and then we went straight to City Creek because she said she was going to walk me until I went into labor. Keep in mind, my due date wasn't until Monday, September 3rd, but Bradlee was 11 days early and Brock was 9 days early, so this was by far the most pregnant I had ever been. That night I started having some mild contractions. Nothing special, and I didn't really think much of it. Tyler and I made plans to go see Bourne Legacy the next day, and Tyler joked about how we would for sure have the baby tomorrow just because we had made a plan to go do something together.
September 1st - My contractions started waking me up at about 3:00 am. They weren't super consistent, so I wasn 't really worked up about them. At about 5:00 am they were painful enough that there was no way I could sleep. I laid in bed timing them and they were still not really consistent. At about 5:45 am I decided to get up and take a shower thinking that they would probably just go away if I got up and started doing something. To my surprise, once I started moving around they just came harder and faster. While I was showering they were only about three minutes apart. I decided I better wake Tyler up and give him a chance to get ready as well. I am terrified of going to the hospital and having them send me home or having to be there for like a day and a half, so I decided to not really rush and finish getting completely ready. In hindsight, that was probably a poor choice. We left for the hospital at about 6:55 am with my contractions only about two minutes apart.
We checked in to the hospital at about 7:20 am. Shortly after we were told that there had been some kind of mix up and my doctor did not deliver at the Jordan Valley Hospital. However, they were able to get one of her colleagues to come out, who just happened to be the same doctor who delivered Bradlee! I am not the type to get attached to my doctor or anything, but it was nice to have a farmiliar face and someone who knew and remembered us. When I was first checked I was dilated to a 7. The nurses asked me if I wanted an epidural, and I said no. I had Brock without an epidural, so I was pretty determined to do it again. Tyler was against my decision, and kept asking me over and over again if I would change my mind. I think that was the only time I ever got snippy. I just said, "I need you to stop asking me that!" The nurses checked me again, and said I would be ready to push as soon as my doctor got there. I always test positive for Group B Strep, and at this point I had only been in the hospital for a little over an hour. Clearly, I didn't get a full course of antibiotics before he was born. Guess I should've come sooner!
Brecken was born at 8:51 am. He was 7 lbs. 9.9 oz. He was 18.75 in, and his head was 35.5 cm.
My mom and dad got to the hospital just in time to hear him cry. Which, by the way, is not your ordinary quiet and cute newborn cry. We all got to hold him and feed him for about 20 minutes before they took him to the nursery. Meanwhile, Tyler had been trying to get ahold of his parents who were still camping with our kids and did not have cell service at their campsite. Lisa was headed up there that day anyways, so that was helpful.
While in the nursery he started having some apnea, and the doctors moved him to the NICU. I was pretty shook up, but glad to have Tyler and my dad there to give him a blessing. All I can really remember about this stretch of time was that they were gone for forever, and I was getting worried. Finally, my dad came back to my hospital room, and when I asked him what was going on, he just stood over my bed and cried for almost a solid minute before he pulled himself together. In that minute, I really thought I might've lost my baby. Finally he said it had just been a really special experience to be there and to hear his blessing. I could've killed him!
The next time I saw Brecken, he looked like this...
A lot of family and friends came to the hospital to meet Brecken, but no one got to hold him. Megan was there right when they were moving him to the NICU, and she didn't even get to see him. Molly and Craig even happened to be in town. At least they got to see him, but they couldn't hold him. No kids are allowed in the NICU, so Bradlee and Brock didn't even get to see him the day he was born.
Just had to get a picture of his fuzzy head...
On Sunday, Brecken was taken off his oxygen, and the NICU nurse wheeled him down to the window for Bradlee and Brock to meet him for the first time. This picture makes me smile and makes me a little sad all at the same time.
Monday was a super crappy day. First thing in the morning we were told his blood culture had come back positive for some kind of bacterial infection. The doctor said it was possible that it was just a skin contaminate, so they were going to take another culture to be sure. I was discharged from the hospital that day, and I can't even describe what that felt like. I thought I would be fine, but I sooo wasn't prepared to leave the hospital without him. Tyler had to go to work that day, so my dad came to the hospital to sit with me. I thought I would be fine without him, but it was a good thing he was there because I totally melted down. I didn't feel like I knew what was going on exactly. It didn't seem like anyone was really giving me any real answers about why we were there. Brecken's IV in his hand broke, and then the IV in his head broke and the nurses started talking about having to do a picc line. T.C. finally laid the smack down and was able to get some real answers from the nurses. Turns out we were looking at about 72 more hours in the NICU at least until we got final results from the second blood culture. Oh yeah, and they put him under the bili lights. I never did really get a straight answer as to how high his bili levels were. I kinda got the feeling it was more of a well, he's here already, might as well put him under the lights type of deal. Anyways, all of his other blood work and vital signs were looking perfect. No more signs of apnea.
So Monday, night after we left the hospital it was late, I was super tired and in a lot of pain. I literally had a panic attack and hyperventilated. I felt so guilty for leaving Brecken at the hospital alone, and so guilty for leaving Bradlee and Brock with my parents and not being there for them. Tyler took me to my parents house late at night and he and my dad gave me a blessing. The only thing I really remember him saying was to pray to my Heavenly Father and actually listen for guidance and comfort. That night after I prayed I just sat there by my bed, and I had a perfect picture come to mind of my Grandma Bricco standing over Brecken's crib in the NICU. It might sound silly, but it helped me a lot to think that she might be there when I wasn't. I was much more calm after that.
We never had to do the picc line, but they did have to put a new IV in four different times. Two in the hand, two in the head. You're looking at the second one in the head in this picture...
Thursday morning we got word that his second blood culture had come back negative and there was nothing else keeping him in the hospital. The last thing to do was the car seat challenge. They strapped him in his car seat still hooked up to his leads for two hours. If everything stayed good for those two hours he would be cleared to go home. Thank goodness he passed!
I had my mom pull Bradlee out of school early that day so she could come meet her brother! Here are all three kids together for the very first time.
And, finally, here he is at home safe in his own bed!
Bradlee feeding her brother!
Special thanks to my parents for keeping Bradlee and Brock for so long. I never would have made it if they hadn't been perfectly taken care of. Thanks to Tyler's parents and Jordan and Josh for relieving my parents whenever they could. I know they would have done more/everything if we had let them or if they lived closer. Thanks to everyone who brought dinners and came and visited us!
