Mr. Brightside

I'm coming out of my cage

And I've been doing just fine

Gotta gotta be down

Because I want it all.

The Hutchman Commeth

First, this is our 100th blog written and could it be more fitting that it is our most important story thus far?!

The most anticipated debut of our lives has arrived. Ethan Samuel Alexander Podrazik was born on May 31, 2011 at 6:14PM. Our ‘Little’ bundle of joy weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds and 10 ounces. But it wouldn’t be a good blog without the entire story right?

My parents, sister and nephew came early to be certain they did not miss the arrival of our first child. We had the full weekend before to spend with each other, and wait as we all hoped Hutch naturally appear before his induction. On Monday, when we realized that wasn’t going to happen KP and I set off toward the hospital.

Mercy Medical Center Downtown Des Moines, Iowa

I looked and felt like the Kool-Aid man but we were more than excited to have our baby in our arms.

Because I don’t want to get too graphic or type out a thesis about what happened next, here is the shortened and enhanced version of the birth story.

{May 30}

10pm - Meds Administered to start induction process. Slept.

{May 31}

3am - Contractions and labor began

9am - My family came into the suite to await the birth. They ended up being there for hours and hours, eating 3 meals in the hospital cafe, playing cards and pacing the halls.

5:30(ish)pm - Dr. P came in to tell me it was time to move to the next stage. The pitocin we started earlier in the afternoon had been maxed out and I wasn’t progressing past a 6-7. It was this reason right here, I didn’t have a specific birth plan. I didn’t want fear or anxiety to run me over if it didn’t go as planned. Kenny scrub’d up, my family was moved into the waiting room and we were wheeled into the OR.

6:14pm - I hear the doctor say, “We have a bruiser in here, folks - after this baby is weighed, someone come and let me know. Wow!” The instant cry of my son and oohs and ahhs filled the room. Kenny was there watching it all. We decided he would leave me and follow him to the nursery to be assessed.

The surgery took longer than normal as I had a couple complications. While in the recovery room, little did I know my Hutch was in the same boat. They couldn’t get him to progress in the nursery. He was unable to breathe on his own for a full hour and his o2 saturation was below normal. They also noticed his blood sugar was low. They put him on oxygen and wheeled me into the nursery on my bed to see him. With the thoughts he was coming into the room, we went back to get situated. It was 1am when his bassinet came around the corner. The nurse informed us he was not there to stay. She only came by so we could see and hold him on his way to the Neonatal Intensive Cafe Unit. (NICU) My heart sank. We felt helpless.

Kenny jumped up and went to be with him.

Our sweet son

Long story short, they started testing/treating him to be proactive. They treated him with several doses of antibiotics and tested both his oxygen and blood levels constantly. I made the trip from floor two to four, being pushed by my supportive husband in a wheel chair while wearing a hospital gown, as much as I could to be with our son while trying to take care of myself too.

On June 1, both sets of his grandparents and my sister were allowed in to see him. My poor nephew, after a 9 hour trip was not allowed in because he was too young, but did get to see him only minutes after his arrival though the windows of the nursery. (my family looked like the paparazzi!) My nephew brought us flowers and a balloon that had a smiley face on it. The gift truly made my heart happy at every glance.

My nephew's sense of compassion played a huge part of my attitude throughout this entire event. He hugged me when I was sad and was extremely well behaved while waiting several hours. The best part of this balloon was he didn't let the flower lady talk him into the one with the baby on it...he stuck to his guns. He wanted the smiley face for his new cousin.

Right back at 'cha Benjamin!

The initial threat was over but they weren’t going to let him leave that easy. They continued testing to make sure all results were negative before discharging us both on Friday, June 3.

It was a long week. We were blessed to have our family and friends come and support us while we were in the hospital. We took each minute for what it was worth. We spent as much time getting to know how to be parents from the nurses and doctors there and once we were headed home, we realized just how dang lucky and blessed we truly were. Ethan, although in the NICU, was the healthiest kid in there - and the biggest for sure. He won the hearts of all the nurses and gained the nickname, “King of the NICU Nursery” with a corner suite big enough for his court.

Again, here we are. Able to see the positive and have a little humor in what was going on with us. This was our first family photo in the NICU. The nurse gladly took the picture.

Home we are, healthy, happy and celebrating our son’s first week birthday!

P.S. Charlie is lovin' this kid.

More pictures to come!