We Have a Son!

Grandma Glupker with her first grandchild!
Ready to go home!
So alert!
I'm sure you all expected more posts from me since I was put on bedrest. But things got a little busy for me earlier this week.

I went in for my doctor's appointment on Monday to find the results of my lab work and to get an ultrasound done. The ultrasound came back fine, the baby was safe and doing well. My lab work was not fine. My blood pressure was dangerously high (my doctor was concerned about a possible seizure) and I had 9 grams of protein in my urine when only 5 grams is not safe. In addition, my swelling was getting significantly worse. I definatley had preclampsia and my doctor told me to leave his office and go straight to the hospital. Ben started smiling from ear to ear and was giddy with excitement at the thought of having a baby that day. I on the other hand was crying because this was not "the plan." I even told the doctor, "But my hospital tour isn't until Thursday." He replied, "Well, now you can go on Thurday and be the one to give the tour."

I ran home, packed a bag, grabbed a bite to eat (against the doctor's orders) and went to the hospital.

I was admitted shortly before noon on Monday morning and because of my condition had to be hooked up to every monitor you could think of. I had tubes coming out of every hole except my ears! I kept thinking, "But I wanted to labor at home, I wanted this to be as natural as possible. This isn't what I had imagined." I had to have an internal fetal monitor (something I did not want) because the baby's heart rate was so low and needed to be carefully watched. I had to have a catheter because of all the IV's I was hooked up too. I had to have an internal tube pumping fluid to the baby because the doctor was afraid the cord was being pinched since his heartrate was so low. I had to have magnesium sulfate pumped in continuously in an attempt to bring down my blood pressure (which didn't really work), but it also slows down contractions so we had to keep increasing the pitosin to make up for the magnesium sulfate. Then I had to wear a heart monitor and keep an oxygen mask on my face. I looked and felt like a mess! To make matters more uncomfortable, I had to lay on my left side the entire time to try and bring down my blood pressure. I thought I was going to get bed sores. To top it off, I couldn't eat or drink anything. These conditions certainly didn't make labor comfortable. I dialated to a 5 fairly quickly, but got stuck between a 5 and 6 for about 5 hours. The contractions were strong and hard, I just wouldn't dialate. The nurse kept asking me if I wanted pain medication. I kept telling her no (and besides, I wasn't in the mood to talk or answer questions, I just wanted to be left alone). At 11:35 p.m. the nurse checked me and I was barely dialated to a six and the baby's heartrate was dropping very low with each contraction. There was no turning back, the baby had to be delivered. She told me she was going to go talk to the doctor and see if we were going to do a c-section. I was in too much pain to talk, but I prayed I wouldn't have to have a c-section. She left Ben and I alone in the room and I told Ben I needed to push. He said, "You can't. You're only dialated to a 6." I told him it didn't matter, I had to push and he needed to go get somebody. He turned to leave and I said, "Don't leave. I can't be alone." So he stayed and I started pushing. The doctor saw on the monitor what was going on and came running into the room to see what was up. In a matter of about 2 minutes I had gone from a 6 to a 10 and was ready to go! Amen!!!! I started to push and the baby started crowning. Ben stood next to the doctor practicially jumping up and down with excitement. Between pushes I asked the doctor, "Does this mean I don't have to have a c-section?" He smiled, and said, "No, you won't have to have a c-section." Ben kept yelling, "Come on Keller! The head is almost out!" I said, "Ben, I can be pushing for a couple hours. This doesn't mean the head is almost out." My doctor replied, "It's not going to be a couple of hours, it's going to be more like a couple of pushes" to which I responded, "Thank you, God!"

So . . . at 11:35 p.m. I was dialated to a 6 and at 11:54 p.m. a baby boy was born! When he came out I actually told the doctor to be careful and not drop him!

We named him John Owen Glupker which has a lot of meaning behind it. We picked this name back in February. John is after Ben's Dad. John Owen of course was a great Christian theologian who Ben admires. And the name Owen we just like. We are referring to him as Owen - yes - we are going to be like those other odd people who call their child by his middle name. We almost changed his name because it has become so popular in the last several months. When we picked it out we didn't know a single person who had used the name. Now, we know 4 other families who have used the name too. But after he was born we decided we didn't care. It's the name we picked and love and we stuck with it.

He weighed 5 pounds 8 ounces and was 18.5 inches long. He has quite a bit of dark hair and so far has dark blue eyes, but I think they are going to turn brown like his Daddy's. He's a sweetheart and we love him SO much!!!! God has been so good to us! He was born without any trouble even though he was 3.5 weeks early. He's breathing fine, eating well, filling his diapers a lot and seems very content.

Please pray for me as I am still struggling with swelling, high blood pressure, and blurred vision due to the preclampsia. I am still on bedrest for at least 2-3 more weeks. If my vision isn't better by Wednesday I have to see a specialist to check out my eyes. We don't have eye insurance so this is a matter of prayer for us. It is rare, but it's possible that preclampsia can cause permanent eye damage. We know God is in control and He is good - all the time!