At 38 weeks (1 day before my scheduled c-section), I went in labor. It was Friday, July 9th and I had had contractions all day. I had been ignoring them as they weren't bad and I new I as having a c-section the next day. When Chris got home from work, I was starving and looking forward to my dinner at the local Mexican Restaurant. I craved tacos my entire pregnancy and I was really looking forward to "my last meal". Once we were on the way, Chris noticed that my contractions were close together. I, on the other hand, was still ignoring them. I was hungry and focused on food. He convinced me to time them and to my disappointment, they were 3-4 minutes apart. We called the on call Dr (my Dr was on vacation), dropped Mia off with her uncle, and headed to AAMC. Thankfully...Dr T was on her way home from the beach and came in to deliver him (we love her). At 9:11pm, Paxton Christopher Nahas was born. He weighed 6 lbs and 12 oz and had a head full of black hair. He was precious.
This was definitely a different experience from the first time around. The memories are vague, but I do remember Jimmy Buffett playing and the nurses and docs singing along, the epidural hurt SO much more this time, and the epidural took FOREVER to wear off. I was in the recovery room for hours. They finally moved me (even though I still couldn't feel my legs). This time around, I also got sick from the meds. Oh well...I was just so happy to have a healthy little boy. Once again....I had a big surprise coming my way....
From day 1, Paxton had trouble eating. It seemed like all he wanted to do was sleep. It took hours to feed him 1-2 oz. We kept telling our pediatrician, but he brushed it off and said just try to keep him awake. For the first 4 weeks, Chris and I didn't sleep. We were trying to feed him for just about 24 hours straight. It was crazy.
Finally...at 4 weeks, the mystery was solved. We ended up seeing another Pediatrician and he listened to Paxton's heart and heard a murmur. We were immediately sent to a Pediatric Cardiologist. He told us that Paxton had a hole in his heart and would need open heart surgery. We were speechless.
When we finally got ourselves together, I called around for a second opinion. Luck was finally on my side and we got in to Johns Hopkins for the very next day.
Unfortunately, they confirmed our fears. Paxton had not one, but 2 holes in his heart (ASD and VSD) and he would require open heart surgery. They wanted to wait until he gained a little weight so they sent us home and asked us to come back in 2 weeks.
On August 27, 2010, we went back in for our follow up. Paxton had not gained any weight and we were admitted that day for a feeding tube. Let me just say...this was unbelievably difficult. I have a whole new respect for parents who go through this. I stayed at the hospital, by his side. The plan was for us to be released on Monday and bring him home with the feeding tube. He was scheduled for surgery in September. On August 29th, we were informed that Dr. V had an opening in his surgery schedule and that Paxton was going to have his surgery the next day. I guess this was a good thing as it left me very little time to worry,
On August 30th, Chris and I went back to the OR with our 7 week old, 7lbs baby boy while they put him to sleep. That is a memory that will be forever engraved in my head. His tiny body laid on what looked like bubble wrap while they placed a mask over his face. Then, we waited. We waited for hours and finally, it was over. They said they were able to fix both holes and Paxton was taken to the PICU.
We stayed in the PICU for a few days (a little longer than normal as he developed a bronchial issue from being intubated). I stayed with him and slept in the mothers room. It was a long few days. After that, he was moved back to the 6th floor and a couple days later, we brought him home.
It is hard to believe that just one year ago, he was so small, so fragile, and so sick. Today, he is a 24 lbs little man with a ton of energy and smiles.
