b + g pollock: Everett Gray Pollock

Our darling baby boy surprised us when he made his entrance into the world 4 weeks early! I really want to remember everything that happened so here's the story.

Tuesday, September 24th, I took my maternity pictures with Jamie who is a family friend through my sister-in-law Ashley. (I'll share those in another post). I went home after and felt like I might have peed my pants a little, (TMI I know, stop now if you don't want to know about my bodily fluids), but I thought maybe that's what happened the last month of pregnancy. I went to bed and the same thing in the morning, I thought I peed a little. Nothing substantial to make me think, "oh my water broke!". So I went on a Costco run and came home and started making chili verde, it takes like 4 hours to make and I had all the time in the world! Around 2 I went to the bathroom again and started to get suspicious but didn't want to make a big deal about it because I tend to think something is wrong when it's not through my pregnancy.
So Grays and I headed up to my mom's house for him to get a hair cut and me to hang out while he went to school so we drove separate cars. I had a feeling I should call my doctor, so I did. I explained what was going on to the nurse, emphasizing that I wasn't contracting (although I had very painful contractions the past 2 days) and I felt just fine so I wanted reassurance that nothing was happening. She told me to stay by my phone and another nurse called me 30 seconds after telling me to come in immediately because it sounded like my water had broken.
We got to my mom's house and I told Grays I would just go get checked out when he left to go to school because I was sure it was nothing. He left around 3:30 and my mom and sister said they wanted to go with me just for fun so we headed to the hospital. When we arrived about 4:30, we went to labor and delivery and checked in. They put me in a triage room and the nurse came in and started asking questions. She didn't think anything was wrong but would check just to make sure. She tested the fluid and said if the testing swab comes back yellow to green, it's normal fluid. If it comes back dark green to black it's amniotic fluid and your water broke. She tested it and in 1 second it turned black. She told me to call my husband because we were having a baby!

just got my epidural, happy girl!

lumpy belly (baby boy's bum, sticking out like always!)

I called Grays and he was pretty shocked but excited! Luckily I had my hospital bag and diaper bag packed and ready to go so he just picked them up, told his teacher he couldn't make it to class, and came to the hospital. Then the waiting game started, my dad came, I got my epidural, and by 11:45 pm I was ready to push! My doctor was monitoring me from home and walked in about 12:00 am. I started pushing at 12:06 and at 12:15 our baby boy was here!

and he's out!

Since he was 4 weeks early they had NICU nurses there to check him so they took him right over and I kept asking them how he was and they said, "It looks like he's had a really rough day..." Not exactly what a new mom wants to hear. They brought him over to me and held him up so I could see him. He had a huge bruise that covered most of his forehead an his only little button nose was smashed to one side. I just wanted to hold him and protect him but as I reached out and touched his face they said they had to take him immediately to the NICU. Grays went with him and my doctor told me he thinks Everett was down in the birth canal, face against my pelvic bone for at least a month maybe 2. He thought everything would go back to normal but couldn't be sure.
My mom came in to be with me while grays took my dad and sister down to see the baby in the NICU. I felt so empty without my baby kicking inside me and was so sad that I couldn't even hold him. Finally 2 hours later they took me down to see him. He had been on oxygen but quickly did so well that they took him off and they fed him sugar water with a nasal tube. I held him and just cried, I couldn't believe that this sweet baby boy was really mine.

After about 10 minutes they told me I had to go upstairs so they could check me and see if I was still doing okay and the NICU nurses said they would call us when it was time to feed him and give him a bath. Once we got upstairs the nurse told me I was hemorrhaging a little and went to get the doctor on call. Of course that's when the NICU nurse called and said they were ready for Grays and I to come down. We told then to bathe him and we would hurry down so I could try to nurse him. The doctor cleared me and we went down to the NICU and they said if he nursed for 10 minutes I could take him upstairs with me and he didn't have to be officially admitted in the NICU. He nursed for 9 minutes, so they said it was close enough and we took him upstairs.
That whole next day is kind of a blur filled with friends and family coming to see the baby and we felt so loved. Grays' mom was on a cruise (I promised her I wouldn't have the baby while she was gone, sorry Larene!) so his sister Ashley came to be the stand in mom. Such a good sister! Plus she likes to hold babies when they're 'fresh' (born that day) so it worked out beautifully!