Leifur Cullen Árnason decided to show up a month early on December 8, 2014 at 9:02am! Árni and I couldn´t be happier. We kept his name a secret until his birth and hope you like it, we do! For those of you wondering it's pronounced Lay-fur. We may call him Leif as well, not sure yet but the important thing to know is it is not pronounced like a "leaf". His middle name is not an Icelandic name, just a name I really liked and his last name of course, is staying with Icelandic tradition. Leifur is Árni´s son so as in the naming tradition he received the last name Árnason. If you would like to know more about the Icelandic naming traditions click HERE . We spent 5 days in the hospital and came home Saturday evening and we are really enjoying life right now, even with VERY VERY little sleep!
I am now going to tell you guys about his birth, I doubt it will be too graphic, but if you just plain don't want to know then skip to the bottom where you will find pictures of our boy!
On Monday morning at 3:30am I woke up and thought "Crap did I just pee myself?!" You would think it would have occurred to me that my waters may have broken, but if you have ever experienced pregnancy or had a close loved one go through it, it's not too far fetched to literally have urinated oneself. So anyway I wake Arni up, tell him I peed myself (hey if I got to be up he has to be up too) and he mumbles something half asleep about don't worry we will change the sheets, lol. I went back to bed and thought, "No way I did it again!" That's when things were clicking and I consulted Dr. Google. That and text my two night shift health care friends hoping one was up. That would be Beth. She immediately said "Your water broke, call the doctor." Did I do that though? Nope! I went back to bed and told myself I was having bladder issues. The voice of reason , my husband, finally convinced me to call the doctor and the whole time I was thinking how embarrassing it is going to be when I show up at the hospital and they tell me "Go, home you peed yourself!" I was scheduled to work that day in the PACU so I texted my friend who was working the 6 am shift and told her, I was going in to OB to get something checked, which is probably nothing, and I'm still planning on being at work at 730am. After all, I felt completely fine except the fact I keep leaking! We checked into the hospital at 0430am and as you can see things moved VERY fast, he was born at 9:02am.
The hooked me up to the monitors and did the litmus test which confirmed I did, indeed break my water. Meanwhile I have no idea what's going on but a swarm of nurses show up and start doing things all at once. That's when I knew something was up. Now I'm on oxygen have 2 IV's going, the ultrasound on my belly and they are telling me to try and relax, my baby's heart rate is a litttle high. RELAX?! That's the last thing I could do, and being a nurse I knew too much. At this point I am texting my NICU friend telling her what's up and she's relaying info back to me, also trying to calm me down, even though I think she knew that things were serious. We eventually got his heart rate down with the supplemental oxygen and laying on my left side, and at that point I knew I was going to deliver that day. They started asking me about epidurals and my birth plan and through all that my biggest concern was I didn't want Pitocin contractions ( which are said to be more intense). Little did I know Leifur had different plans. The doctor came and was looking with the ultrasound when she said to me, your baby isn't moving like he should, I am going to wait for your blood work and then check him again in a few, let me know if you start feeling any movement. It was then that it occurred to me since this whole ordeal started I hadn't felt him move that much. I tried to concentrate and stay calm and was hoping for some movements but I didn't feel anything, although I knew he was ok I could hear his heart rate on the monitor, I was a little scared. A short while later doctor returned to ultrasound again, and this time she said, your baby needs to come out, now. That set things in full craziness, next thing I know anesthesia is in my room, I am signing consents, Arni is getting into scrubs and it was also at this moment I realized how much I loved my baby. I was terrified for his little lungs because it was too soon for him to come out. I was 35 weeks and 5 days. They can't predict how well a 35 weeker will do, but they hope for the best and prepare for the worst. The whole Operating room experience was surreal. Being on the opposite side of what I usually do was strange although not scary. I was nervous sure, but to see all my coworkers there and have them comforting me and caring for us was amazing.
Leifur was born in no time at all, I was completely numb from my spinal but could feel a lot of tugging. When I heard him cry for the first time I cried myself. What a good sound. They had to work on him for a bit and he was on cpap ( positive pressure oxygen) for a little while. I could only touch his cheek briefly before they wheeled him to NICU. I sent Arni with the baby and I went to recovery where I was greeted by more of my peers.I can't say thank you enough to everyone for such great care!
Leifur spent 4 days in NICU learning how to "suck, swallow, breathe" and weaning off the IV fluids. All in all he was a rockstar and surpassed their expectations, they had originally thought he'd stay about 2 weeks. We are home with him now and life is swell. Thank you to everyone who sent flowers, gifts, and stopped by!
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| 2 days before I delivered |
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| First time holding my son |
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| Going home |
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| First bath at home |
