An update on us

I apologize for the lack of posts and info and pictures going out about the new baby etc. It has been a very "bumpy" last few days. Here is the update on us and what is going on and what we know.

-7/1 Jaxson William Peacock was born at 7:37 pm. He weighed 7 11 oz and is beautiful! Lots of dark hair, beautiful skin, and as the nurses have all commented, "Such sweet sweet baby!" We'll hope he stays that way. I was induced 2 weeks early with Jaxson due to PIH (pregnancy induced hypertension aka toxemia.) My blood pressure was quite high when I arrived and actually got even higher once I was induced which was worrysome. The epidural was done quite early to help get my blood pressure down a bit which it did, which is good. PIH can be very dangerous for both baby and mom because of the risk of seizures, stroke, placental tears, etc. So my BP was very closely watched. The only real "cure" for PIH is to deliver the baby. I have had this issue with all of my other pregnancies but Sadie so it is a familiar road. While at the hospital, our other kids were at my parents' home and we find out that Sadie has had a rough day with a high fever, very irritable at times, etc. NOT what I want to hear. Unfortunately, this meant that Rob couldn't stay here at the hospital with me and the new baby for very long at all after he was born because he needed to be with Sadie. I got settled in my room that night and spent hours just adoring my new beautiful baby boy.
-7/2 - At about 3:00 am , I got up to go to the restroom and noticed some pain in my left leg, but didn't think much of it. Again at 5:00 I got up, but this time the pain was much more noticable and intense. I have had quite a large vericose vein in my left leg for some time. It first became noticable when I was pregnant with Sadie. I have never had any problems with it and it hasn't cause me any pain etc. While pregnant with Jaxson, it had gotten worse, but still no pain or problems with it. However, the morning after I delivered Jaxson, I was in horrible pain with my leg and quickly realized that it was due to this group of vericose veins in my leg. They had become very hard and painful and went all the way down my leg. Within a few hours, the was a read rash surrounding the veins that kind of "tracked" everywhere the vein was. It is very difficult to walk because of the pain. The dr immediately ordered aspirin and an ultrasound. The bad news is that I definitely have blood clots in my leg. The good news is that so far, they are superficial, not deep, which means they aren't the kind that will break off and go to my heart and lungs. I was immediately put on "compression boots" which is actually like large blood pressure cuffs on each leg from top to bottom that constantly compress on and off to help with blood flow.
-I was in contact with Rob throughout the day to check on Sadie. She had a rough night last night, but after a Priesthood blessing and Motrin, her fever appeared to have broken around 3:00 am. (As you may or may not remember, we have to be VERY careful with Sadie and fevers after the little stinker scared us to death with a febrile seizure due to a high fever when she was younger.) Her fever had spiked quite high to around 103 the day before so we were relieved to see that she was doing better. She was tired, but at least the fever was gone...or so we thought. Rob took the kids to Chuck E Cheese - our family tradition when Mom has a baby. And then came here to visit. By the time he arrived here, Sadie was not doing well, was clingy and crying and I could immediately tell that something was wrong. Rob took her on a walk while I introduced the older kids to their new brother. They love him! I felt so bad that Rob couldn't even hold Jaxson, but Sadie would not let him go and was a mess so he took the kids and went home. I was really sad that I didn't get to spend much time with Rob and that he didn't get to even hold the baby. I guess we just roll with the punches.
-On Thursday evening, my leg was actually getting worse and the rash was spreading. I was put on aspirin and also an antibiotic just in case there was any infection.

Friday, July 3
-After a pretty rough night for both me and Rob, we are both pooped. He was up a lot in the night with Sadie who's fever had come back on full force. Because of the holiday, our doctor's office was closed. I asked Rob what Sadie's symptoms were and he said it was just the fever. He said that she had said that her mouth hurt and that is when the lightbulb went on. He checked her mouth and sure enough, she had little blisters in her mouth. I've seen this before with my other kids in years past- hand, foot, mouth disease. Fortunately, our pediatrician had come in to do Jaxson's circumcision so I talked to him about Sadie. He said that definitely sounded like what it was and that because it is viral, there isn't anything they can do, other than motrin and tylenol. I think everything at this point just came to a boiling point. I was dealing with exhaustion, mommy hormones already but then to add blood clots, pain, and a very sick little girl at home, and I had really had it. My poor doctor had to witness this meltdown. Fortunately, amidst this, my blood pressure had remained down at 131/83. But I was really worried about going home. I knew Rob wouldn't be able to help me with the baby because he was going to be on full time duty with Sadie. I also knew that because of the pain of my leg, I couldn't get around with a newborn. We asked if I could stay another day but because of insurance reasons, we were told no. It was a rough day yesterday, but we put our heads together like we always do and made a plan. Rob would take the kids to the Riverton Parade and then come and get me and we would just "wing it". Unfortunately, my check out time was earlier than we planned so he had to break the news to the kids - no 4th of July parade. He got the kids in the tub, I got everything packed here at the hospital and we were all ready to go home.
-6:00 - The nurse came in to do my check out and final vitals and out of the blue, my blood pressure had spiked up to 174/92. We thought it must be a fluke so the nurse got a different machine and tried again. This time it was 172/92. The doctor was called and I was immediately given a booster dose of blood pressure medication to get it down ASAP. After the medicine and waiting 20 minutes, my blood pressure was now 176/88. Obviously, there was a lot of concern. I was put back in bed, given 3 more doses of blood pressure medication, and told that I wasn't going anywhere. I was staying another day. Seriously. I made the call to Rob who had to tell our poor kids that not only had they missed the parade, but now we weren't going to be bringing Mommy and baby Jaxson home either. Poor kids! They did okay with the news due to a trip to Artic Circle and a movie party. I actually felt a little relieved to be staying another day to try and let me leg hopefully improve and get some strength back so I could take care of my new baby. At this point, another little "bump" was brought up - they had already discharged Jaxson because they thought we were leaving. So I was a patient, but not him. AAGH! After A LOT of phone calling and figuring things out, they were able to cancel his discharge and let him stay here with me.
-Saturday, July 4 - Happy 4th of July....I guess. It is morning and I am waiting to hear from the doctor to find out what is going on. My blood pressure isn't as high due to the meds they have had me on. But it is still too high. This morning it was 141/79 and just now it was 133/87. I guess we'll just play it by ear. I haven't talked to Rob to check on the status at home. He has been such a trooper through all of this! I can't even express how grateful I am to have a husband that is handling all of this. Not only is he taking care of 4 kids all on his own, he is dealing with a very sick little girl and still trying to make things fun for the kids. I am not one that likes accepting help and I definitely do not like being told I have to "take it easy" so this has been challenging. I know we are going to need help for the next little bit until I can get these blood clots under control and my BP figured out. I am so thankful for a great family, neighbors and ward members who have helped.

So, we'll post pictures of this cute little guy as soon as we catch our breath. And I will update the blog as soon as I know more. We would really appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers right now for our family. Thanks so much!!