A Lot has happened..

Well, today is March 22, 2009 and Hayden Ryan-Zephryn Mattox is now 5 months old! Wow, Time definitely flies by! He is such a blessing! A lot has happened since the last time I posted so I will try and fill in the time gap before Hayden wakes up from his nap.

The BIG DAY--Birth Day!

Hayden was born via c-section Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 7:40 a.m. We arrived at the hospital (Huntsville Hospital Women's and CHildrens) at 5:30 a.m. At the hospital, we had Nanny, Poppy, Granny, and Isaac. Brooks and I were excited and anxious to meet our little bundle of joy. The procedure was a breeze and the epidural did not hurt at all. When Hayden made his appearance into the world, he weighed in at 8lbs 10oz and was 19 inches long! He had a head full of dark brown/black hair and blue eyes. It was the most joyous moment of my life to hear him cry for the first time. I couldn't really believe that he was mine and that I was really a MOMMY! The NICU dr's and nurses were in the delivery room because he was born at 36 1/2 wks due to my blood pressure issues. Brooks went with Hayden and the nurses to the nursery while they stitched me back together again. I got to give Hayden a kiss in hopes that I would see him again in about a hour after I was in recover. But what I didn't know was I was going to be taught a lesson in faith and hope and PATIENCE and it would last for two weeks!

So, I made a friend in the nurse that was taking care of me. Actually, I made friends with all the nurses in the OR. I was so happy that I bought them all pizza for lunch! Well, I didn't pay for it but they did get feed courtesy of Papa John's. It was funny, as they were stiching me up, I asked them "ARe you guys hungry?" and my OB/GYN informed me that she had to "stich me back up before I could eat." Anywho, the nurse in recovery called down to the nursery for me and checked in on Hayden. She was told that they took him to the NICU for observation because he turned blue in the well-nursery. But, not to worry because it was just a percaution. I knew Brooks was with him and that made me feel much better. Actually, Brooks never left his side except to come and check in on me. So, they took me to my room and settled me in when I got the news that around noon they had to make the call if Hayden was going to stay in the NICU. I was told, that once he was in the NICU he would have to stay there for the duration. Which meant, no staying mommy's room, no feeding him, no holding him, no visitors to show him off too. But, no one really knew if he would have to stay or not. He was in the NICU because his lungs were not fully developed which Dr. Raiford told us could happen because he was 3 1/2 wks early. Well of course, I was guilt stricken because I felt it was my fault that I couldn't hold him in longer til he was fully developed. At noon, they decided to keep him in the NICU. I had to wait til the spinal block wore off before I could go and see him which was not til 3:30. I was so sad because I had only seen him long enough to kiss him on the head and then they wisked him away.

So the timeline goes like this:

Hayden born at 7:40 a.m.

Andrea out of recovery at 9 a.m.

Hayden's "Observation" til 12 noon

Hayden admitted into the NICU at 12:15 p.m.

Andrea gets to see Hayden at 3:30pm.

Andrea back to the room at 4 p.m. doesn't see him again until the next MORNING!

At the end of this blog, I will post all email traffic from the days we were in the hospital.