Joel Jr's Birth Story

The last few weeks of my pregnancy were extremely painful and I was a ball of nerves worrying about baby Joel! At my last ultrasound, he was measuring almost 9 lbs so I went to see a specialist to get advice on whether or not I should even attempt a vaginal delivery. At that ultrasound he measured 13 lbs, but the doctor admitted there is a large error margin so I still wasn't convinced. I know lots of people who have had big babies without any problems--my brother was over 10 lbs and my mom didn't even have an epidural!

The specialist said that of all the cases he had seen all year, mine was the most strongly he felt about having a c-section. Because I am type 1 diabetic, baby Joel had an extremely high chance of getting his shoulders stuck against my pelvic bone ("shoulder dystocia") and the doctor said my chances were even higher based on his size and broad shoulders. I was devastated that I wouldn't have the delivery I wanted, especially because I was able to avoid a c-section with the twins and thought that having a single baby would be a much easier delivery. Thankfully I felt a lot of peace with our decision knowing that we wouldn't be putting his life at risk if I had this surgery. Looking back, we made the right choice without a doubt in my mind! So grateful for medical technology!

I felt absolutely horrible from not being able to eat or drink after midnight. By the time we arrived at the hospital on Thursday morning, I was having extremely strong contractions from being so dehydrated. I had the most amazing anesthesiologist Dr. Johnson who was the most kind and caring doctor I've ever met! He helped comfort me through the entire c-section and did my spinal block without causing me any pain at all. Once I got the spinal block and lost feeling from my toes up to my boobs, I felt so much better. It was so funny feeling the nurses lift my legs and body when they were so floppy and I couldn't even control my legs flopping off the side of the narrow table. :-D

This was my first surgery so it was really scary. I tried to just take deep breaths the whole time. Because they knew he was going to be a big baby, I had two doctors delivering him instead of just one. They said that they had to use some maneuvering for shoulder dystocia that they normally only use in vaginal births--in other words, he was so big they had a hard time getting him out!

Dr. Melendez on the left and Dr. Aagard on the right

Once he was born the nurses went to work trying to get him to breathe and cry. He didn't really cry at all for a few minutes, then he let out a few cries and they cleaned him up and took him to the NICU with daddy.

He was quite blue when he was born :(

All stabilized and looking much better!

Once I was all put back together and in the recovery room, I had really bad nausea from the medications. I couldn't get out of bed because my legs were still numb, so I had to wait until late that night to finally get into the wheelchair and meet my sweet boy.

Meeting my "little" Jr.

Overall my recovery has been physically and emotionally rough. The first 3 days were very very physically painful. I read so many things on how to recover best from a c-section, but none of those things really worked for me. It just plain hurt! I extremely sad the first two days because I didn't get to hold him until Saturday (he was born on Thursday). It has been much harder having my full-term baby in the NICU than it was with my preemies because I wasn't expecting it with him.

We are praying that he gets to come home tomorrow so that we can be a complete family! Summer & Emsley are going to be great big sisters and I'm sure "JJ" (as the girls say) will be thoroughly entertained by their daily antics. :)

Joel Wills Brandon Jr.

Joel Wills Brandon Jr. was born on May 9th, 2013 at 12:23 in the afternoon.
He weighed a hearty 14 lbs 0 oz and was 22" long.
And yes, in case you were wondering, he set some records in the hospital! My doctor had never delivered such a big baby in ALL of his years of practice, including his residency.

Our sweet boy is 1 week old today and still in the NICU on an oxygen cannula and feeding tube. He has started eating all of his feedings through breastfeeding and bottle, so we are hopeful that his feeding tube will come out tomorrow.

This little love skipped newborn AND size 1 diapers. He currently wears size 2!

We aren't sure yet what we're going to call him for his nickname--options include JJ, Joel Jr, Wills, or even LJ for little Joel. We are waiting to really get to know him before anything sticks. But I will say that Summer and Emsley have already said "JJ" and it was adorable. :) Joel has the sweetest disposition of all time. He is very laid back and has the cutest, husky, low-pitched cry.

We never ever thought we'd have to leave the hospital without our 38.5 week full-term big baby, but unfortunately his lungs just weren't developed enough when he was born and his heart also had some troubles. There is nothing more painful than being discharged from the hospital and getting in the car with flowers on your lap and an empty backseat.
Actually, I take that back. There is something more painful....doing it twice.

Thank you for all your prayers for our sweet marshmallow of a boy! Birth story to come!