Welcome Home, Beckham!

I was dismissed from the hospital the night before Beckham got to come home. Since he suprised us three weeks early, we had a few last minute things to get ready before bringing B home! We went and got Beckham from the NICU about 2:00 pm and brought him back to our first home, 832 Featherston in Cleburne, Texas.


Welcome Home!

6 days in the NICU

Beckham ended up spending 6 days in the NICU at Texas Health Southwest. He had to stay until he was able to get his sugar levels up and maintain them without an IV for 24 hours. Each time he was able to eat and maintain a bloodsugar level above 60, he got to have his IV turned down...the goal was to get off of the IV and then see if his body was able to maintain his sugar levels on his own. He was dismissed from the NICU on day 6 and diagnosed a "perfectly healthy baby boy", he got to go home earlier than his Neonatologist had expected!





Trying to get those sugar levels up!

Beckham's Birthday 03-13-09

It was a busy day, like any other. I taught school, was going to my weekly doctor's appointment with Dr. Howell, grabbing something quick for dinner, and then running back to school for "Open House". Cyrus met me at school about 2:30, we left my car at CGE and headed to the doctor. Since I had gestational diabetes, I had been seeing the doctor weekly since 23 weeks, so by 37 weeks this had become very routine! We get to the doctor's office to find out there was quite a wait...of course, the one time I actually had somewhere to be afterwords there would be a wait! Once we finally got to see Dr. Howell, he told me he was concerned about my blood pressure. It was really high...and had never been high before! He wanted me to lay there in his office for about an hour to see if my blood pressure would go down. After about an hour and a half of being still on my left side and constant checking of my BP, Dr. Howell informed me that not only was I not going to Open House or going back to work for the rest of my pregnancy, but he wanted to admit me to the hospital for observation. He assured me that he would just monitor me for a few hours and I would probably get to go home before bedtime, but he was "on call" and wanted to be able to check on me himself! So, I was admitted to the hospital and hooked up to the monitors and we were waiting patiently for my BP to go down so that we could go home. My mom made it to the hospital to wait with us. Dr. Howell came in around 10:00 pm and said that my BP had still not gone down, so he wanted to continue to monitor me through the night and tomorrow we would talk about induction if nothing had changed. How could I be induced tomorrow???...3 weeks early?? No, I wasn't ready! The nursery wasn't completely finished, we didn't have everything we needed at the house, my sub plans weren't completed, and my car was still parked at Caddo Grove! Shortly after midnight, the doors burst open. A team of nurses came running in, flipped me on my side and put an oxygen mask over my nose. Before I could even ask what in the world was wrong...Dr. Howell came in threw Cyrus a pair of scrubs and said "How do you feel about a Friday the 13th baby... I am taking this baby NOW"!! The baby's heart rate had dropped, that was the reason behind the panic. Cyrus started putting on his scrubs while watching his Orangemen in overtime, and I was swept away to prep for an emergency c-section! There were 7 attempts at a spinal before one actually took, which is when I think the panic started to sink in. Cyrus met me in the operating room and with the help of a small team of 15, Beckham Burton Richie was brought into the world at 12:37 am on Friday, March 13th! He weighed in at 5 pounds 10 ounces and stretched out to be 19 inches long. I was worried because I couldn't hear him cry - - but all assured me he was screaming! After a quick glance at him and we snapped a few pictures, Beckham was rushed to the NICU. As a result of my gestational diabetes, his pancreas produced too much insulin and Beckham's bloodsugar dropped into the 20's. So he was rushed off to the NICU to help him maintain his sugar levels until he was able to do so on his own. So, Friday, March 13th 2009 was the perfect day...our baby boy couldn't wait to meet us and Syracuse won after six overtimes...All was right with the world!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEET BECKHAM !

Meeting mommy & daddy for the first time

Brand New Blogger!

Ok OK!!!... So there are some of you out there who are laughing at your computers right now and saying, "I told you so"! Well, I did it! I caved, just as I did to Facebook. Me, who was "soo not into blogging" now finds myself secretly wanting to blog! My good friend Jenn said, "you will change your tune once you have a baby and you will want to blog all the time"...well Jenn, you were RIGHT! Since I have been on maternity leave the past five weeks, I have found myself with a little cabin fever. What better cure than to "stalk" friends on Facebook and through their blogs. It has become so addicting! And like Facebook, I'm sure I am going to need a 12-step program to help me get past my addiction to blogging too! Besides, not EVERYONE has Facebook or wants one and this way friends and family can keep up with what is going on in the Richie house and how much Beckham is growing and changing everyday! And I am sure when Cyrus talks to his parents in Kentucky he doesn't share every little detail about our B or all the happenings of the Bird's nest, so this way we have it covered! You will have to forgive me, because now that I am all about blogging, I will have to make up for some lost time and catch you up on our new family and our precious baby boy! There are going to be several posts to catch you up on the past month and our new experiences as parents. We hope you enjoy Rockin with the Richies!