Addison's Birth Story & a BIG Suprise!

I knew when we had NBC that her whole birth story and experience was going to be quite different than that of her brother’s; however, I never would have imagined it to be quite like this. Ms. Addison really rocked our world when she took our life of trucks, balls, and the color blue to now a world of dolls, bows, and the color pink! Who would have guessed that was only the beginning of our adventures with Addison!

(Saturday)- It all began Saturday, which was a beautiful, typical weekend for us; Rachel came after Jr’s nap to babysit while we went on our date night. After a great supper, movie, and dessert we headed home. It really was a perfect date night and so nice to have some quality time with Adam. Later on that evening I had a dull lower left side ache that would not go away. After calling it a night, I slept for a couple hours and woke up around 3 feeling absolutely horrible. I ended up getting really sick (both vomiting and diarrhea). Once I finally crawled back into bed, I was able to get some more rest before we got up and headed for church. I still wasn’t feeling the best (couldn’t and definitely didn’t want to eat/drink anything), but I really didn’t want to miss church on Palm Sunday and I figured getting out might help me get over whatever was going on.

(Palm Sunday)- At church I felt absolutely horrible. I couldn’t get comfortable, felt sick, tired, and just wanted to lie down. After church we headed back home; Adam and Jr ate lunch and then we had some good quality family time together. Who would have guessed it would be the last time we’d spend an afternoon together as a family of 3? Adam knew I wasn’t feeling good at all, so he brought some toys up to our room for the Tike to play with, while we just relaxed/rested on the bed. I started having some, what I thought were Braxton Hicks, contractions around 11 or so. Nothing consistent or regular, so I thought they would go away over time (like they usually do). The Tike played till it was naptime for both him and I. I told Adam I was going to see if I could sleep a little and hopefully wake up feeling better. I only slept about 30 min total, between the contractions, my lower back aching and just feeling sick. I finally just go up and went to see what Adam was up to (this was around 2 or so). As we were talking I told him I started having lower back pain, Adam instantly got up and started packing his supplements. When I asked him what he was doing, he quickly responded, “Oh, I know what this is!” I said, “No sweetie, let’s just see what happens these next couple hours.” Adam just shock his head at me and said, “I think we’re going to have a baby soon!” Adam called our nanny to give her a heads up about what was going on and told her we might need her to come over later. I talked to my parents and also gave them the heads up about what was going on. My parents and Adam were convinced it was time to make the trip to Denver, however I was still a little iffy and really didn’t want to make an unneeded trip down there for a false alarm. I just wanted to see what was going to happen the next couple hours before we decided to head to Denver. I started timing my contractions and though they weren’t regular I was having about 3-4 every 30 min (lasting 30 sec - 1 min). I took an online quiz thing about whether or not you’re in true labor. After answering all the questions and reading the description (which told me “You’re most likely in labor and should call your doctor soon!”). I just laughed a little to myself and really began to wonder if today was “Game Day!” Was today going to be the day I was finally going to meet NBC face to face. We got the Tike up at 3, gave him a snack and headed outside for our usual afternoon walk. I knew walking would either speed up or slow down what was going on. Not even 5 min into the walk I told Adam to call the nanny and see when she could come as it’s time for us to go Denver. We cut the walk short and headed home to finish packing and get ready to leave. The poor Tike knew something was going on and was really confused as to why nobody was really paying attention to him. The nanny finally arrived and those two headed outside to play with bubbles while we finished packing. We left the house around 4 or so and not even halfway to Denver, I looked at Adam and told him it was a good idea we left because everything had really started to pick up. I’m pretty sure the little bit of walking we did on our family walk helped to get things rolling a little faster. We called the OB floor and gave them the heads up that we were coming. Once we got to the hospital, we had to be checked out to see if I was truly in labor or if it was just my body “practicing!” They hooked me up to a fetal heart monitor and contraction monitor. When the floor OB walked in, she asked the nurse how my contractions were. The nurse just pointed to the paper and then the OB (with excitement) says, “Well those are coming very consistently.” The OB then checked me and said, “Well you’re 3, so that’s good.” I then informed her that I was 3 on Wednesday, so I haven’t changed at all. She then suggested we go walk around a little, but don’t leave the hospital. They needed to see a change in my cervix before they could admit me and say that you are in true labor. So a little disappointed, Adam and I headed down to the first floor around 7 and I began doing laps around the entry way. By 7:30 the contractions had picked up and the pain in my back was killing me. Every time I had a contraction I was bending over in pain (I usually tried to find a chair to sit in until the contraction would pass) and knew that there was no doubt I was now in “true labor.” The OB had told us not to come back until 8:45 or so in hopes that when she checked me again there would be a change and they could admit me. However, by 7:45 I was pleading with Adam to go upstairs; he somehow convinced me to stay put until a couple minutes till 8. We finally headed up and heard those magical words every pregnant lady loves to hear at the end of her pregnancy, “You’ve changed. It’s time to admit you and have a baby!” By this point, I was just concerned with getting an epidural. When I had Jr I went all-natural, however this time I was so excited to receive an epidural. Finally after getting to our room and getting situated (changed, IV in, etc) around 9, I was given my epidural and “heaven” began. It wasn’t even 5 min after I received it that I was experiencing contractions and didn’t even know it. I progressed fast and everything seemed to be moving along great; however, I needed to be on my antibiotic (for Group-B strep) for at least four hours before they would like me to deliver. I started receiving the antibiotic at 9, which meant if at all possible we’d wait until after 1 to break my water if it hadn’t broke on its own. Adam lay snoring away on the couch while we waited for my body to prepare for the arrival of NBC. Kevin (who took pics of Addison when she was born) and I rested our eyes’ (yes, I said rested during labor; the epidural was amazing). By midnight I was 9cm and my sack was “bulging” according to the OB. A little after 1:30 or so, they decided it was time to break my water and begin to “push.” After about 20 solid pushes NBC officially met Mom and Dad face to face! I wanted Adam to tell me whether we had a daughter or son (just like we did with Jr), so when they pulled her out Adam did a “double take” as we both thought we were having a boy; he then tells me, “We have a daughter!” I replied, “Are you serious?!” The whole delivery room laughed! I still can’t believe we have a daughter though! When Adam was taking a minute to tell me what we had, I tried to see for myself, but the umbilical cord was obstructing my view. It truly is a priceless memory that I’m so thankful to cherish!

(Monday)- Happy Birthday Addison! Addison Jo Carriker was born at 2:09 am. She weighed 5 lb 7 oz and was 17 ¾ in long! She scored 8 and 9 on her APGARs. Most importantly though she got to be in our arms for about 15 min before they took her to the NICU. After our much needed snuggle time with our daughter they wheeled her off to the NICU. Adam followed and spent time with her while the OBs took care of me. I couldn’t get up until I could lift both my legs up on my own. After I was able to move, they moved me to my room and then we got to go see Addison. To be honest, at first it was really hard for me to see her hooked up to so many lines and not being able to hold her, but I just prayed the instant I saw her and asked God to give me strength to be strong through all of this. I then placed one hand on her head and one on her side and praised God for my beautiful baby girl! We spent a little time with her before we headed back to the room to get some much needed rest. I could only sleep for a couple hours, as I was just so excited she was here! Our morning was spent waiting on the results of her first echo (which was done as soon as she got to the NICU) and of course spending time with our daughter. We called to cancel a couple previous appointments we had for the week, one of them being a sonogram that was scheduled for Monday morning. When I called to cancel, I talked to my regular nurse and explained to her that I wouldn’t be at the ultrasound appointment, as I don’t need to see Addison on a black and white sonogram screen anymore because she’s here in person! The whole office was excited and thankful that I made it to 37 weeks, after quite a roller coaster ride! Aunt Gina was Addison's first visitor; she had just flown into Denver after being gone over the weekend,s o it worked great for her to stop by and meet Ms. Addison! Grandma & Grandpa Mc brought Jacob down after his afternoon nap and he got to meet his little sister for the first time! I was already with Addison, when Adam walked in with my parents and Jr. Jr didn’t know what to think of all the lights and sounds that are in the NICU. He did acknowledge the fact that there was a baby lying in its isolette; in fact he grabbed the end of her isolette and gave it a little shake. Must have been his way of welcoming her to the family! After a couple quick first family pics, we headed down to grab some supper. Jr was a bit wild pretty much the whole time he was at the hospital. We didn’t keep Jr in the NICU very long as they suggest keeping them in only a min for their age. Grandma, Grandpa and Jr all spoiled Addison with lots of PINK things (cloths, blankets, bibs, socks, a teddy bear, a balloon, a “It’s a GIRL” sign and so much more)! The dr gave us the news that there was no sign of a coarc, so they would stop her medicine that was keeping the duct open and do another echo on Wednesday to see if there is in fact a coarc or not. We were very happy to hear that there was possibility of no coarc, but kept ourselves grounded as this has been an up and down roller-coaster ride and we didn't want to get too excited. We just continued to pray that God would have his hand over this whole situation and that his will would be done. At the end of a very eventful day, everybody left to head back to Loveland and I headed to do my mommy duties.

(Tuesday)- Addison’s first full night in the hospital went well. I feed her with a syringe every four hours. Tuesday morning we finally got the news that every NICU parent looks forward to hearing, “You’ll be able to hold your baby!” I couldn’t stop smiling, as I knew I was going to finally get to breast feed her too. I breastfed her just a little when she was born, but was excited about the opportunity to finally get to do some good, solid, mini feeding with her. My world really did light up when I walked into her NICU room and saw the rocker in the corner! I know, who would think a rocker could mean so much to someone, but when you know it’s for you to finally be able to sit and rock with your brand new baby, a rocker is like winning the lottery! So as of Tuesday early afternoon I had won the lottery in my own little world! Her first feeding went really well, along with the following feedings. She’s a tad bit hard to wake up at first (takes after her Daddy already), but once awake she’s been having some good feed times and wake time. (*wrote in real time)*I just got to hold Addison for the first time since I had her. She truly felt like a little angel in my arms. I’m so overjoyed with emotions right now. Addison latched on right away and acted like she knew exactly what she was doing. Adam got to do skin to skin with her. A and I are floating on cloud 9 right now!*

Addison’s hair is a bit crazy right now, so we now call her our “Little Rock Star!” She was born with so much hair and then we’ve only been able to do one wash, so it’s kind of all over the place. I think she might have some curls too, because she gets these little flips going at the end! Tomorrow is a big day for us as we will officially learn if Ms. Addison really does have a coarc or not. Adam and I spent some good quality time with her today. Feeding, skin-to-skin, and just showering her with lots of cuddles and kisses.

(Wednesday)- (all written in real time) Addison had great feedings through the middle of the night and has become a breastfeeding champ! Between her feedings I packed up my room, just in case they make me move (since technically I need to be discharged). Addison is really doing well eating, pooping, peeing, and sleeping; which in the life of a newborn is all you need to do! Her echo was done this morning and now I’m waiting patiently to hear back the results. I was a little restless last night as I just prayed for God to have performed a miracle and that Addison would be able to go home with us very soon with a healthy heart. Poor Daddy has been making the trip back and forth to Loveland so he can get his workouts in and keep up his training. My parents headed back to the farm yesterday with Jr. Depending on what we hear in a couple hours about Addi’s echo, will ultimately decide when we get Jr back.

With a quiet knock at my hospital door, the ped dr walked in and gave me some of the best news I’ll probably hear in my life….”The duct has closed and the aorta looks perfect. You can take her home!” In disbelief I couldn’t believe what the dr was telling. The dr then told me we’d be more than welcome to take her home tonight or tomorrow as long as she keeps eating well and her glucose levels are doing good. Adam was unfortunately not here to hear the great news, but I instantly called him to share that our prayers had been answered! Adam went home last night and was suppose to work out this morning and then be back to the hospital this afternoon; however, the whirlwind days seem to be causing his body to shut down a little and now Adam has the flu. He’ll stay home today and get some much-needed rest before coming to pickup his girls and taking them home tomorrow. I called our families to let them know the exiting news and truly just can’t stop praising the Lord! God is GREAT & I’m so thankful for answered prayers! We truly can’t stop praising and thanking the Lord for our little girl who has been full of surprises from the beginning!!! Addison really is a surprise all around. We were surprised when we learned I was pregnant with her, surprised when she was GIRL, and now surprised that there is no coarc! Who can only guess what other surprises Ms. Addison has in store for us! Thank you Lord for our answered prayers!!!

Psalm 98

 ¹ Sing to the LORD a new song,
   for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
   have worked salvation for him.
² The LORD has made his salvation known
   and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
³ He has remembered his love
   and his faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
   the salvation of our God.

 ⁴ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth,
   burst into jubilant song with music;
⁵ make music to the LORD with the harp,
   with the harp and the sound of singing,
⁶ with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
   shout for joy before the LORD, the King.

 ⁷ Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
   the world, and all who live in it.
⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands,
   let the mountains sing together for joy;
⁹ let them sing before the LORD,
   for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
   and the peoples with equity.